PSYCH 360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Sexual Abstinence, Diminishing Returns, Research Question

• School: UMASS-Amherst
• Department: Psychology & Brain Sciences
• Course: PSYCH 360
• Professor: Tim Hope

Document Summary

Change in behavior or belief as the result of a real or imaged group pressure: three types of conformity. If the person is alone when they are measuring. How far they say the light moved. Then asked groups of men to determine how much the point of light had moved the responses of the men changed markedly: over the course of three days, the average of the three people became closer together. Werther effect / mass delusion copycat suicides and killings when another one is made public. Group size: 3 to 5 people will elicit more conformity that just 1 or 2, groups greater in size than 5 yield diminishing returns. Presence of a dissenting ally: observing another"s dissent can increase our own independence. Awareness of the norm: must be aware of the norm in order to conform to it.