Soc350: Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience Flashcards

Conformity: A person's modification of behavior to make it consistent with the norms of the group compliance: A person's modification of behavior in response to a request by other persons. obedience: A person's modification of behavior in response to the command of an actual or perceived authority

Group of people: different lengths of lines (people conform to group pressure, even when it is obviously wrong) non-conformist was disliked and group eventually ignored him

conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience Using shock machine to determine levels of obedience People conform to authority figure's commands.

group size: number of people in the group would have an influence. if you have only one other person saying the wrong answer vesus 20 people saying the wrong answer. i.e. the more people that are conforming the more likely one is to conform. group cohesion: if there is high group cohesiveness (tighter/closer group is), you are more likely to go along with it status: whether someone of lower status would conform more or whether a person of higher status would conform more? Those of average status conformed the most! Unanimity: extent to which group is unanimous. more unanimous the more likely they will conform. In Asch's group, almost all the volunteers involved conformed to the unanimous decision, even if they knew it was false. Prior commitment: We are likely to stick to any commitments that we make publicly.

Normative social influence: Going along with the group because we want to be accepted by the group. People like us more if we agree with them. Informational social influence: Other people serve as sources of information for appropriate behavior. Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation. The effects of social influence can be seen in the tendency of large groups to conform to choices which may be either correct or mistaken.

Reactance and asserting uniqueness. Reactance is a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom, and it arises when someone threatens our freedom of action.

2 or more people in the same place and the same time

Interacting individuals who share common goals, have a stable relationship, are somehow interdependent, and perceive they are part of the the group

Social facilitation is the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone. Compared to their performance when alone, when in the presence of others, they tend to perform better on simple or well-rehearsed tasks and worse on complex or new ones.[1] The Yerkes-Dodson law, when applied to social facilitation, states that \"the mere presence of other people will enhance the performance in speed and accuracy of well-practiced tasks, but will degrade the performance of less familiar tasks. Arousal improves the person's performance for an easy task, but decreases performance for a complex task (p.268)

Social loafing typically occurs when people pool their efforts and work toward a common goal. People tend to exert less effort when working in a group than when they are individually accountable. Collaboration is a way to get everyone involved in the group by assigning each member special, meaningful tasks.[21] It is a way for the group members to share the knowledge and the tasks to be fulfilled unfailingly. For example, if Sally and Paul were loafing because they were not given specific tasks, then giving Paul the note taker duty and Sally the brainstorming duty will make them feel essential to the group. Sally and Paul will be less likely to want to let the group down, because they have specific obligations to complete. Content identifies the importance of the individual's specific tasks within the group. If group members see their role as that involved in completing a worthy task, then they are more likely to fulfill it. For example, Sally may enjoy brainstorming, as she knows that she will bring a lot to the group if she fulfills this obligation. She feels that her obligation will be valued by the group. Choice gives the group members the opportunity to choose the task they want to fulfill. Assigning roles in a group causes complaints and frustration. Allowing group members the freedom to choose their role makes social loafing less significant, and encourages the members to work together as a team.

Deindividuation leads people to do things they wouldn't normally do. Ex.= Philip Zimbardo's study where anonymous women delivered more shock to victims than did identifiable women Think about \"Mob Mentality\"

In social psychology, group polarization refers to the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. Risky Shift: Risk in an individual can be amplified when put in a group over other risk prone individuals e.g. you and me love jumping off cliffs and when we come together, we are EVEN MORE desirous to do it When people are in groups, they make decisions about risk differently from when they are alone. In the group, they are likely to make riskier decisions, as the shared risk makes the individual risk less. Less opposition

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints, by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences. Symptoms: To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink. Type I: Overestimations of the group — its power and morality Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions. Type II: Closed-mindedness Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, impotent, or stupid. Type III: Pressures toward uniformity Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of \"disloyalty\" Mindguards— self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.Ways to Prevent: Leaders should assign each member the role of \"critical evaluator\". This allows each member to freely air objections and doubts. Leaders should not express an opinion when assigning a task to a group. Leaders should absent themselves from many of the group meetings to avoid excessively influencing the outcome. The organization should set up several independent groups, working on the same problem. All effective alternatives should be examined. Each member should discuss the group's ideas with trusted people outside of the group. The group should invite outside experts into meetings. Group members should be allowed to discuss with and question the outside experts. At least one group member should be assigned the role of Devil's advocate. This should be a different person for each meeting. History: the Nazis showed groupthink by listening to and believing Hitler Real world example: Pearl Harbor, the Titanic, mass suicide of Jonestown

Prejudice: attitude that results from stereotyping Discrimination: behavior that results from stereotyping Stereotypes: Cognitive source for prejudice. The beliefs that we have about groups of people and the individuals that belong to those groups. relevant information is processed faster we pay better attention to information consistent with stereotypes stereotypes are self-fulfilling (becomes stronger as a result) selective attention

Those with high status tend to be prejudiced towards those of a lower status and vice versa.

Even when the ingroup and outgroup have no real difference (like boys arbitrarily separated into groups), there is aggression between competitive groups. People tend to describe their group as more diverse and the outgroup as more homogenous. Think BYU vs. UofU

Scapegoat theory is where there is already a problem and a specific group of people is blamed for it and prejudice forms against that group

relevant information is processed faster we pay better attention to information consistent with stereotypes selective attention

People believe that the world is a just and fair place and try to explain any injustice or unfairness. Therefore, people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Information that reinforces a stereotype is processed faster and more deeply.

Cognitive- Realistic Group Conflict- The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources. Social Categorization- Social Learning-

Self fulfilling prophecy of stereotypes If people are expected to fall under a specific stereotype they will start to

Biological/innate: Is aggression inborn? Premise: innate, unlearned behavior exhibited by all members of a species. We have an inherited fighting instinct that we share with similar species and has evolved because it yields important benefits Frustration: when an obstacle prevents someone from achieving a certain goal Drive theories: Is aggression a response to frustration? Frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard and Miller) Always leads to aggression Frustration- aggression Revised (Berkowitz) Readiness to aggress Social learning:

Premise: we learn to be aggressive by observing and imitating, and by being rewarded and punished In some cases aggression is rewarded-- sports etc. Other cases it is punished Supporting research: Bobo doll experiment supports social learning theory.

Incidents (Page 366-367): Heat, being attacked, and ____ are incidences in which someone is more likely to aggress. Arousal: Arousal intensifies every emotion and can make aggression more likely Media: weakens viewers inhibitions, teaches people new techniques, priming aggressive thoughts and feelings, may reduce emotional sensitivity Sex: men are typically more aggressive (hostile or physically), however women might show more passive or instrumental aggression. Ex. London Riots Group: Deindividuation, lose self-awareness in a large group and more likely to aggress.

Punishment: Punish aggression when it occurs Catharsis: The release of aggression through an act such as yelling into a pillow or punching a punching bag Social learning:If you can learn to be aggressive through social learning (bobo doll) then you can also learn not to be aggressive through social learning Punishment: Punish aggression when it occurs Catharsis: The release of aggression through an act such as yelling into a pillow or punching a punching bag Social learning:If you can learn to be aggressive through social learning (bobo doll) then you can also learn not to be aggressive through social learning

Aggression: physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone Hostile: aggression stemming from anger with sole intent of hurting Instrumental: aggression that is a means to some other end Assertiveness: is behavior that shows initiative, drive, or ambition