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Conformity

Module 4.3a

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LEARNING TARGETS:

  • Explain how social contagion is a form of conformity, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence.

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Social Influence

  • How behavior is influenced by the social environment and the presence of other people
  • It affects:
      • Conformity
      • Obedience
      • Group Behavior

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Social Contagion

  • The Spontaneous Spread of Behaviors
  • We are natural mimics – mirror neurons
    • The Chameleon Effect – we mimic our surroundings
    • We take on the behaviors of those around us
    • We take on emotions – mood contagion
    • We feel what others are feeling – mood linkage/empathy
    • Online positive ratings generate more positive ratings – positive herding
    • Mass shootings or suicides can be followed by more – behavior clusters

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Conformity

  • Conformity - Adopting attitudes or behaviors of a group
  • 2 general reasons for conformity
    • Informational social influence - refers to behavior that is motivated by the desire to be correct
    • Normative social influence - behavior that is motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance and approval.

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Solomon Asch

  • Researched the circumstances under which people conform

1907-1996

  • Asch’s Experiment (see video):
    • All but 1 in group was confederate
    • Seating was rigged
    • Asked to rate which line matched a “standard” line
    • Confederates were instructed to pick the wrong line 12/18 times

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Asch’s Experiments on Conformity

  • Results
    • Asch found that 76% participants conformed to at least one wrong choice during multiple trials.
    • BUT when data from all the trials was combined, subjects gave wrong answer (conformed) on only 37% of the critical trials.
    • Means that almost 2/3 (63%)of people did not conform & said correct answer even when others said the wrong one
    • However, Control group that responded alone (no group present) chose correctly 99%.
  • Why did 1/3 of participants conform to clearly wrong choices?
    • informational influence?
    • subjects reported having doubted their own perceptual abilities which led to their conformance – didn’t report seeing the lines the way the confederates had

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Factors Increasing Conformity

  • The person feels incompetent or insecure.
  • The group has three or more people.
  • The rest of the group is unanimous.
  • Person is admires the status of the group.
  • No prior commitments were made.
  • The group is observing the person respond.
  • One’s culture encourages conformity.

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Culture & Conformity

  • In general, levels of conformity have steadily declined since Asch’s original study of U.S. college students in the 1950s
  • Individualistic cultures tend to emphasize:
    • Independence
    • self-expression
    • standing out from the crowd
  • Thus the whole notion of conformity tends to carry a negative connotation
  • Collectivistic cultures, however, publicly conforming while privately disagreeing is regarded as socially appropriate tact or sensitivity

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Factors Decreasing Conformity

  • If everyone agrees, you are less likely to disagree HOWEVER…
  • If one person disagrees, even if they give the wrong answer, you are more likely to express your nonconforming view
  • Asch tested this hypothesis
    • one confederate gave different answer from others
    • conformity dropped significantly