Chapter 7
Conformity
Figure 7.1: Continuum
of Social Influence
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|2
Figure 7.2: The Chameleon Effect
From Psychology, 3rd Edition by Saul Kassin. Copyright © 1997.
Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|3
Conformity
• Tendency to change perceptions, opinions, or
behavior in ways that are consistent with group
norms.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|4
Putting Common Sense to the Test…
When all members of a group give an incorrect
response to an easy questiaon, most people most
of the time conform with that response.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|5
Figure 7.3: A Classic
Case of Suggestibility
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|6
Figure 7.4: Line Judgment Task
Used in Asch's Conformity Studies
Asch, 1955.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|7
What Did Asch’s Participants Do?
• Participants went along with the clearly incorrect
majority 37% of the time.
• However, 25% of the participants NEVER
conformed.
• Still, 50% conformed for at least half of the
critical presentations.
– The rest conformed on an occasional basis.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|8
Sherif’s vs. Asch’s Studies
• Sherif: Because of ambiguity, participants turned
to each other for guidance.
• Asch: Found self in awkward position.
– Obvious that group was wrong
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7|9
Why Do People Conform?
• Informational Influence: People conform
because they believe others are correct in their
judgments.
• Normative Influence: People conform because
they fear the consequences of appearing
deviant.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 10
Types of Conformity
• Private Conformity: Changes in both overt
behavior and beliefs.
• Public Conformity: Superficial change in overt
behavior only.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 11
Figure 7.6:
Distinguising
Types of
Conformity
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 12
Table 7.1: Two Types of Conformity
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 13
Majority Influence: Group Size
• Conformity increases with group size -- but only
up to a point.
• Why?
– Law of “diminishing returns”?
– Perception that others are either in “collusion” or
“spineless sheep”?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 14
Majority Influence:
Awareness of Norms
• Conform only when know about and focus on
social norms.
• Often misperceive what is normative.
– Pluralistic ignorance
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 15
Majority Influence:
Having an Ally in Dissent
• When there was an ally in Asch’s study,
conformity dropped by almost 80%.
• Why does having an ally reduce majority
influence on our behavior?
– Substantially more difficult to stand alone for one’s
convictions than when one is part of even a tiny
minority.
– Any dissent can reduce the normative pressures to
conform.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 16
Majority Influence
and Gender Differences
• Sex differences appear to depend on:
– How comfortable people are with the experimental
task
– Type of social pressure people face
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 17
Majority Influence and Culture
• Cultures differ in the extent to which people
adhere to social norms.
• What determines whether a culture becomes
individualistic or collectivistic?
– The complexity of the society
– The affluence of the society
– The heterogeneity of the society
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 18
Minority Influence:
The Power of Style
• Moscovici: Nonconformists derive power from
the style of their behavior.
– “Consistent dissent” approach
• Hollander: Minorities influence by first
accumulating idiosyncrasy credits.
– “First conform, then dissent” strategy
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 19
How Does Minority Influence Work?
• Does minority influence work just like the
process of conformity?
• Do majorities and minorities exert influence in
different ways?
– Because of their power and control, majorities elicit
public conformity through normative pressures.
– Because seen as seriously committed to their views,
minorities produce private conformity, or conversion.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 20
Majority vs. Minority Influence
• Relative impact of each depends on whether the
judgment that is being made is objective or
subjective.
• The relative effects of majority and minority
viewpoints depend on how conformity is
measured.
– Direct, public measures vs. more indirect, private
measures of conformity
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 21
Compliance
• Changes in behavior that are elicited by direct
requests.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 22
The Language of Requests
• Talking fast and catching people off guard can
improve compliance rates.
• People can be disarmed by the simple phrasing
of the request.
– How you ask for something can be more important
than what you ask for.
– Langer: We often respond mindlessly to words
without fully processing the information they are
supposed to convey.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 23
Langer et al (1978)
Percentage
That Complied
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
No Reason
Reason Given
Irrelevant
Reason
May I Use the Xerox Machine?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 24
Norm of Reciprocity
• The powerful norm of reciprocity dictates that we
treat others as they have treated us.
– This norm leads us to feel obligated to repay for acts
of kindness, even when unsolicited.
• Norm of reciprocity is relatively short-lived.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 25
Sequential Request Strategies:
Foot-in-the-Door Technique
• Person begins with a very small request;
secures agreement; then makes a separate
larger request.
• Why is it effective?
– Self-perception theory revisited
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 26
Freedman and Fraser
60
50
40
Percent That
Complied
30
20
10
0
Intrusive Only
Initial, then Intrusive
Request Made
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 27
Sequential Request
Strategies: Low-Balling
• Person secures agreement with a request and
then increases the size of that request by
revealing hidden costs.
• Why is it effective?
– Psychology of commitment
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 28
Cialdini et al
60
50
40
Percent That
30
Volunteered
20
10
0
Told 7 a.m. First
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Told 7 a.m. Later
7 | 29
Putting Common Sense to the Test…
An effective way to get someone to do you a favor
is to make a first request that is so large the
person is sure to reject it.
Answer: True… Let’s see why!
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 30
Sequential Request Strategies:
Door-in-the-Face Technique
• Person begins with a very large request that will
be rejected; then follows that up with a more
moderate request.
• Why is it effective?
– Perceptual contrast?
– Reciprocal concessions?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 31
Cialdini et al
50
40
Percent That
30
Agreed
20
10
0
Real Request Only
After Declining Initial
Request
Willing to Take Delinquents to the Zoo?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 32
Sequential Request
Strategies: That’s Not All, Folks!
• Person begins with a somewhat inflated request;
then immediately decreases the apparent size of
the request by offering a discount or bonus.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 33
Burger et al
80
70
60
50
Sales
40
30
20
10
0
75 Cents
Reduced to 75 cents
Price of Cupcakes
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 34
Table 7.3: Sequential
Request Strategies
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 35
Assertiveness: When People Say No
• To be able to resist the trap of compliance
techniques, one must:
– Be vigilant
– Not feel indebted by the norm of reciprocity
• Compliance techniques work smoothly only if
they are hidden from view.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 36
Obedience
• Behavior change produced by the commands of
authority
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 37
Putting Common Sense to the Test…
In experiments on obedience, most participants
who were ordered to administer severe shocks
to an innocent person refused to do so.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 38
Milgram’s Research:
Forces of Destructive Obedience
• Conducted his experiments during the time that
Adolph Eichmann was being tried for Nazi war
crimes.
• His unorthodox methods have been the subject
of much ethical debate.
• Description of Milgram’s obedience experiments.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 39
Table 7.4: The Learner's
Protests in the Milgram
Experiment
Experiment 5: New Base-Line Condition. The Learner's Schedule of Protests,
pp. 56-57, AND figure created from Table 2 Maximum shocks Administered in
Experiments 1,2,3, and 4, p. 35 from OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY: AN
EXPERIMENTAL VIEW by STANLEY MILGRAM Copyright © 1974 by Stanley
Milgram. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 40
The Prods Used
in Milgram’s Experiment
•
•
•
•
“Please continue (or please go on).”
“The experiment requires that you continue.”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue.”
“You have no other choice; you must
go on.”
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 41
Table 7.5:
Milgram's
Baseline Results
Experiment 5: New Base-Line Condition. The Learner's
Schedule of Protests, pp. 56-57, AND figure created from
Table 2 Maximum shocks Administered in Experiments
1,2,3, and 4, p. 35 from OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY: AN
EXPERIMENTAL VIEW by STANLEY MILGRAM
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 42
The Obedient Participant
• Milgram’s participants were tormented by
experience.
• No gender differences observed in level of
obedience.
• Milgram’s basic findings have been replicated in
several different countries and among different
age groups.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 43
Are We All Nazis?
• No, an individual’s character can make a
difference.
• Authoritarian Personality: Submissive toward
figures of authority but aggressive toward
subordinates.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 44
Figure 7.7: Factors That
Influence Obedience
Based on Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority, 1974.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 45
Important Factors That
Influence Obedience
• Physical presence and apparent legitimacy of
the authority figure
• The victim’s proximity
• The experimental procedure
– Participants were led to feel relieved of personal
responsibility for the victim’s welfare.
– Gradual escalation was used.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 46
Defiance: When People Rebel
• Social influence can also breed rebellion and
defiance.
• Having allies gives individuals the courage to
disobey.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 47
The Continuum of Social Influence
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 48
Putting Common Sense to the Test…
As the number of people in a group increases, so
does their impact on an individual.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 49
Social Impact Theory
• Social influence depends on three factors:
– The strength of the source
– The immediacy of the source to the target in time
and space
– The number of sources
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 50
Figure 7.8: Social Impact: Source
Factors and Target Factors
From B. Latane (1981) "The Psychology of Social Impact," American Psychologist, 36, 344.
Copyright (c) 1981 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 51
Putting Common Sense to the Test…
Conformity rates vary across different cultures and
from one generation to the next.
Answer: True… Let’s see why!
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 52
Perspectives on Human Nature
• Are people generally malleable or unyielding?
• Cultural differences
– Some cultures value autonomy and independence
whereas others place more emphasis on conformity
to one’s group.
– Within a given culture, these values can change over
time.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
7 | 53