PSYC 360 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Mass Psychogenic Illness, Social Proof, Normative Social Influence
Document Summary
Conformity - changing one"s behavior due to the real or imagined influences of others. The consequences of conformity can span a wide range, from usefulness and nobility to hysteria and tragedy. Informational social influence - when we conform because we believe that others" interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more accurate than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action. Sherif did a study in 1936, and in the first phase participants were seated alone in a dark room and asked to focus their attention on a dot of light 15 feet away. The experimenter asked them to estimate in inches how far the light moved. All the participants said the light moved, except it did not. In the second phase, a few days later, the participants were parked with two other people, each of whom had had the same prior experience alone with the light.
