Social - Obedience and Conformity

Factors of obedience and conformity
- how to increase and decrease them
Studies that show them: Milgram, Asch, etc.

Cognitive dissonance
- mental processing during Milgram, Asch, etc.

Helping behavior - factors that influence helping

Example questions:

1. Think about the factors that did make a difference in making the teacher obey the experimenter and the subject follow the group (Asch), the factors that made some difference, and the factors (in his studies) that made little to no difference. Describe a situation today that is most likely to produce a lot of obedience and/or conformity, showing how 2 or 3 factors are present or not.

3. Give an example that shows the difference between compliance and conversion.

1. Think about the factors that did make a difference in making the teacher obey the experimenter (Milgram) and the subject follow the group (Asch), the factors that made some difference, and the factors (in his studies) that made little to no difference. Describe a situation today that is most likely to produce a lot of obedience and/or conformity, showing how 2 or 3 factors are present or not.

Use one example from one of the events we went to (Living Voices theatre or Mr. Metzelaar's talk) to show at least two of the social psychological concepts we talked about or is in the reading: the cognitive dissonance, bystander effect (and diffusion of responsibility), biased frame of mind (hurry), factors that affect conformity and obedience, effect of roles, foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face.

20. In Milgram's obedience research, about two-thirds of the teachers obeyed the experimenter to the fullest. How did these teachers feel about obeying?
A) Many of them were anguished about the pain they believed they were causing.
B) Most of the teachers figured out early in the experiment that there really was no shock being delivered.
C) Many of the teachers enjoyed the opportunity to deliver the painful shocks.
D) Most of them thought the learners deserved all the punishment they received.

21. In Milgram's research approximately 2/3rd s of subjects gave all the shocks.
a. True
b. False

22. Which of the following is most accurate about helping behavior?
a. people always help.
b. men always help more than women.
c. people are more likely to help when they are alone than when in a crowd.

23. If people have made a prior commitment to doing a behavior, or have done it in the past, they are more likely to conform/obey to a behavior contrary to the public one than if they haven't.
a. True
b. False

24. If there is one person who disagrees with the group, the conformity goes down significantly.
a. True
b. False

25. According to research, if someone is close to authority and far from the victim, they are more likely to obey than if they are close to the victim and far from the authority
a. True
b. False

26. Asking people to help in little ways first makes it more likely that they will help with bigger tasks later.
a. True
b. False

1. In Milgram's obedience research, about two-thirds of the teachers obeyed the experimenter to the fullest. How did these teachers feel about obeying?
A) Many of them were anguished about the pain they believed they were causing.
B) Most of the teachers figured out early in the experiment that there really was no shock being delivered.
C) Many of the teachers enjoyed the opportunity to deliver the painful shocks.
D) Most of them thought the learners deserved all the punishment they received.

3. Give an example that shows the difference between compliance and conversion.

4. Of the following people, the one who is the most likely to resist conforming to a particular group's influence is (Choose ALL correct answers.)
A) Rashmi, whose concept of herself is rigid.
B) Sam, whose self-esteem is quite low.
C) Basiru, who is flexible and adaptable to the situation.
D) Annie, who has a strong need for social approval.
E) Lidiya, who has stated her opinion about that action publicly.

5. As a salesperson, when (or how) could you use group polarization to increase the chances that someone buys your product?

11. A police precinct captain is aware that in her precinct, officers can get almost no cooperation from residents in solving crimes. Residents often complain the police act like aggressive "storm troopers" and harass citizens. What advice might a social psychologist offer to improve this situation?
A) Consider having officers wear masks as they go about their daily work, especially when they have to deal with community residents.
B) Consider having groups of officers patrol the precinct only in cars with darkened windows.
C) Consider having officers carry more lethal weapons, wear dark glasses and travel in the community only in small groups, never alone.
D) Consider having officers introduce themselves by name to as many members of the community as possible. They could also participate in activities without their uniforms.