Heroes are those who can somehow resist the
power of the situation and act out of noble
motives, or behave in ways that do not demean
others when they easily can.
 Evil is knowing better, but deliberately doing
worse.
 The line between good and evil is permeable
and almost anyone can be induced to cross it
when pressured by situational forces.

HOW MANY BEANS ARE THERE IN THE GLASS?
(JENNESS, 1932)
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Definition:
Discipline that uses scientific methods to
understand and explain how the thought, feeling
and behaviour of individuals are influenced by
the actual, imagined or implied presence of
other human beings.
Gordon Allport 1985
CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE
Studied primarily after WWII as a direct result
of the Holocaust.
 Psychologists sought to explain how and why so
many men and women were influenced and
persuaded to commit such horrific acts.
 The effects of social influence.

CONFORMITY
Conformity involves a change of behaviour or
opinion in order to fit in with a group.
 This may be a membership group (family or
peers), or it may be a reference group (pop or
sports stars). This group can be either a
majority or a minority group.

ASCH’S VISUAL JUDGEMENT STUDY, 1951
ASCH
Aim: To assess the effect of social pressure on
an individual to conform
 Participants: 1 naïve participant, 7
confederates.
 Procedure: Each person to say aloud which
comparison line matched the stimulus line.
 Each participant completed 18 trials 12 of
which the confederates gave wrong answers.

RESULTS
75% of participants conformed at least once.
 25% never conformed.
 Average – 36.8%
 After trial MOST claimed they knew the answer
was wrong but did not want to be ridiculed.
 SOME said they genuinely believed the answer
to be correct.

DO WE ALL EVENTUALLY CONFORM?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgDx5g9ql1
g
RELIABILITY
Biased sample
 Artificial task
 Ethical issues
 ‘Child of its time’

RESEARCH INTO CONFORMITY
Ambiguous Situations (Jenness, 1932, Sherif,
1935). Informational influence, situational factor.
 Fear of ridicule (suggested by Asch, supported by
Schachter, 1951) Normative influence, situational
factor
 Individual Differences (suggested by Asch,
supported by Burger and Cooper, 1979). Individual
factors,
 Gender Differences (Eagly and Carli, 1981, Eagly
1978)Individual factors

WHY DO PEOPLE CONFORM?



Normative Influence – compliance. Internally aware that
it is wrong but changes behaviour due to majority
influence.
Informational social influence. – Identification – a
temporary belief both internally and externally in order
to relate to the majority. Task will be ambiguous and the
person will be unsure whether it is right or wrong.
Internalisation – a permanent change in values and
beliefs both internally and externally.
Deutsch and Gerard, 1955
INDIVIDUAL VS SOCIAL FACTORS

Psychologists then began to question what had
the biggest impact on conformity; individual
factors or situational.
Individual
Situational
Gender
Normative
Self- esteem
Informational
Personality
Experience
ZIMBARDO BACKGROUND
Interested in exploring the unrest and riots
experienced in US prisons throughout the 60s.
 By putting ‘normal’ people in these situations
Zimbardo could test which factor has the
biggest impact; individual or situational.
 If the participants behaved in the same way as
the real guards and prisoners then conformity
would be due to situational factors.

ZIMBARDO STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
1971
Aim: To observe the effects of making ‘good’,
‘normal’ people prisoners or guards.
 Participants: 24 middle class male college
students. No criminal convictions. Paid $15 per
day.
 Procedure: Flip of coin decided roles. Prisoners
arrested at their homes. Procedure was to be
as realistic as possible in method, clothing and
setting.

RESULTS




Study planned to run for 2 weeks and had to be stopped
after 6 days.
Guards became too sadistic. (Night)
Prisoners too stressed.
People will readily conform to the social roles they are
expected to play, especially if the roles are as strongly
stereotyped as those of the prison guards. The “prison”
environment was an important factor in creating the
guards’ brutal behaviour (none of the participants who
acted as guards showed sadistic tendencies before the
study). Therefore, the roles that people play can shape
their behaviour and attitudes.
ZIMBARDO INTERVIEW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jYx8nwjF
Q
EVALUATION
Demand characteristics and ecological validity.
 Usefulness.

MINORITY INFLUENCE

List examples in history when the minority has had
influence over the majority.

Minority Influence – when a small section of a
group influences the behaviour and/or beliefs of
others resulting in their conformity.

Without minority influence there would be no
social change. (Majority would maintain status
quo)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAJORITY AND
MINORITY
Numbers
 Compliance or conversion?
 Innovation or status quo?
 Imitation or originality?

MINORITY INFLUENCE MOSCOVICI, 1976

Minorities influence is a result of their
behavioural style
 Active
 Organised
 Consistently
position.

advocating and defending their
Consistent behaviour of minority → social
conflict/doubt amongst members of the
majority → social change.
RESEARCH INTO MINORITY INFLUENCE
Behavioural style (Moscovici, 1969)
 Non Situational Factors (Nemeth et al, 1974
and 1987)
 Situational Factors (Moscovici and Nemeth,
1974)
 Minority and Majority Influence (Clark 1994)

REAL LIFE CONFORMITY


UFO Cult Suicides – 39 Dead
39 members of a cult were found dead, believed to have taken their own
lives in a mass suicide, in San Diego, California yesterday. The cult was
linked with the Hale-Bopp comet by the belief that they would be delivered
to eternal life after death if they committed suicide at the right moment and
linked up with the comet’s tail, it was revealed. The cult known as the
Heaven’s Gate had its own website and left details of the suicide in
videotaped announcements. Police found the bodies of the 21 women and
18 men in a wealthy suburb near San Diego. The cult used purple shawls in
triangular shapes to cover parts of their bodies and all of them were found
in the same position. Their deaths were believed to have been the result of
an overdose of sleeping tablets. The group had prepared themselves well for
their ‘departure’ with suitcases and notes about the drugs they had taken;
these were mixed with alcohol. They had also left official papers to allow
themselves to be identified easily and had written details of their mission
which had been posted on the Internet.