PSYC 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Pole And Polar, Kraljevi Ulice, Diminishing Returns
PSYC104 Chapter 7 Reading Notes: Conformity
- Introduction (254)
oClear that people have an impact on each other’s behavior, but how and with what
effect? Social influence is the ways that people are affected by the real and imagined
pressures of others (255)
oSocial influences vary in the degree of pressure they bear on individuals. People may
conform to group norms or maintain their independence, comply with requests or be
assertive, or obey or defy the commands of authority
- Social influences as ‘automatic’
oHumans are vulnerable to subtle, reflex-like influences
Exp: if research confederates stopped and looked up at a building at a busy street,
80% of passersby looked at the building too
oForms of automatic imitation observed in various animal species
The way humpback whales hunt for fish was adopted by 50% of whales 8 years after
its discovery (256)
Many nonhuman animals form and transmit cultures to succeeding generations
oHumans imitate at a young age
Shortly after birth, babies mimic simple gestures like moving head, pursing lips, and
sticking out tongue
oHumans imitate each other as adults
Exp: participants would mimic confederates’ behavior (rubbing gave, shaking foot)
while working on tasks with them, without realizing. Considered chameleon effect
oReasons for nonconscious forms of imitation
Important social function: being in sync enables people to interact more smoothly
with one another
Exp: told confederates to adopt mannerisms of half the participants. The
participants who were mimicked liked the confederates more
People mimic others more when highly motivated to affiliate
Exp: called ‘digital chameleons’. Put students in virtual reality where 3D cartoon
character argued with student about importance of carrying ID for security
purposes. Half the time, cartoon mimicked student’s gestures. Other half,
cartoon mimicked previous student’s gestures. Found that students liked and
agreed more with the argument if cartoon mimicked their own gestures (even
without their knowledge)
Occur in nonsocial situations (257)
Exp: people heard voice of someone saying something in happy, neutral, and sad
tone. People felt happier when listening to happy tone and sadder when
listening to sad tone
Exp: found that students answering essay questions would write in language that
mimicked the style of writing of the target material
Mimicry is a dynamic process, which becomes more coordinated over time
oExp: gave 2 participants handheld pendulum, and gradually became in sync
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- Conformity
oConformity: tendency of people to change their perceptions, opinions, and behavior in
ways that are consistent with group norms
overy hard for people to breach social norms. However, people don’t like to admit
they’ve been influenced. Instead, try to reinterpret task and rationalize behavior to see
themselves as independent
owhy people are resistant to conformity
characteristic of individuals with high status and seniority in a group (258)
Exp: people judge others by their overt behavior and the degree to which it matches
what others do, but tend to judge themselves by focusing inward and introspecting
about their thought processes, which blinds them to their own conformity
oThe early classics
Muzafer Sherif: how norms develop in small groups
Exp: male students participated in visual experiment. Placed in dark room and
shown dot of light for 2 seconds. Asked to estimate how far it moved, though it
was motionless. Movement seen was optical illusion (autokinetic effect).
Estimations were wide in range. Then asked to go into groups of 3 and estimate
movement, and participants converged on common perception
Solomon Asch: test how people’s beliefs affect the beliefs of others
Exp: 5 confederates and 1 participant asked to determine which of the 3 lines
was the same length as line presented. First 2 times, everyone agrees. 3rd time,
all confederates choose the same wrong line. Participant torn between being
right or conforming. In isolation, participant made no errors. In group, went
along with incorrect majority 37% of the time (259)
Recent research found strong conformity effects on memory, like when an
eyewitness is influenced by reports of co-witnesses
Sherif and Asch’s experiments were different; Sherif’s task was ambiguous, so others
look to group for guidance. Asch’s task was easy, so others went along even though
they weren’t convinced that was the answer (260)
Virtual groups also have power to shape other’s behavior
oWhy do people conform?
A need to be right
Informational influence: people conform because they want to make good and
accurate judgments of reality and assume that when others agree on something,
they must be right
When people in state of uncertainty, tend to follow wisdom of others
A fear of ostracism
Normative influence: people conform because they fear the consequences of
rejection that follows deviance
Individuals who stray away from group’s norm tend to be disliked, rejected,
ridiculed, or dismissed. Interpersonal rejection hard to take (261)
Being ostracized makes people feel numb, sad, angry, in pain, etc.
oCould be due to evolution; we depend on each other to survive and flourish
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oCan also be positive; cause people to seek re-affiliation, increasing sensitivity
to social perception cues that signal opportunities for inclusion (i.e.
distinguishing real smile from fake smile)
Distinguishing types of conformity
Exp: shown 2 shapes and asked participants to determine if shapes were the
same. 4 confederates said the incorrect answers and participants conformed
41% of the time. Hooked participants up to fMRI and found conformity
accompanied by heightened activity in brain that controls spatial awareness, not
in area associated with conscious decision making, suggesting that the group
altered perceptions, not just behavior
Informational and normative influence produce different types of conformity:
private and public (262)
oPrivate conformity: (true acceptance/conversion) others cause us to change
not only our overt behavior but our minds as well. Truly persuaded that
others in group are correct
oPublic conformity: (compliance) superficial change in behavior; pretending to
agree even when privately do not
Private and public conformists look the same on the outside, but private
conformists maintain change long after group is gone
oParticipants of Sherif’s experiment (movement of dot of light) were retested
and estimates continued to reflect norm of group. Participants of Asch’s
experiment were retested and level of conformity dropped sharply
Exp: 2 conformists and 1 participant were asked to identify criminals. In one
case, only shown criminal for half a second (hard-Sherif task). Other case, shown
criminal 2 times for total of 10 seconds (easy-Asch task). If there were low
stakes, both parties conformed 1/3rd of the time. If high stakes, conformed 51%
of the time for hard task and 16% of the time for easy task
Overall conclusion: when reality cannot easily be validated by physical evidence,
people turn to others for information and conform because they’re truly
persuaded by the information. When reality is clear, you pretend you conform,
but still believe yourself (263)
oMajority influence: the process of influencing people through numbers
Group size: the power in numbers
Conformity increases with group size until 3 or 4 confederates present. Past this,
addition to group subject to law of diminishing returns because additional
people have less of an impact (like how one bulb has large impact if only one
other bulb present, and small impact if 10 other bulbs present)
Conformity increases as the number of independent minds increases. People
more influenced by 2 groups of 3 people than one group of 6 (264)
a focus on norms
social norms give rise to conformity only when we know the norms and focus on
them. We are only influenced by norms when they are brought to our awareness
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Document Summary
Social influence is the ways that people are affected by the real and imagined pressures of others (255: social influences vary in the degree of pressure they bear on individuals. People may conform to group norms or maintain their independence, comply with requests or be assertive, or obey or defy the commands of authority. Social influences as automatic": humans are vulnerable to subtle, reflex-like influences. Exp: if research confederates stopped and looked up at a building at a busy street, 80% of passersby looked at the building too: forms of automatic imitation observed in various animal species. The way humpback whales hunt for fish was adopted by 50% of whales 8 years after its discovery (256) Many nonhuman animals form and transmit cultures to succeeding generations: humans imitate at a young age. Shortly after birth, babies mimic simple gestures like moving head, pursing lips, and sticking out tongue: humans imitate each other as adults.
