...relation to individual differences • Skills of analysis, evaluation and application in relation to individual differences • Knowledge and understanding of research methods associated with this area of psychology • Knowledge and understanding of ethical issues associated with this area of psychology. |Content outline | |Social influence |Conformity (majority influence) and explanations of why people conform, including informational | | |social influence and normative social influence | | | | | |Types of conformity, including internalisation and compliance | | | | | |Obedience to authority, including Milgram’s work and explanations of why people obey | |Social...
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...Conformity and Obedience in the 20th Century The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members' thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay "Group Minds," Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us. We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, "when we're in a group, we tend to think as that group does... but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group" (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups'. Lessing's essay helps set the context to understand the experiments that social psychologists Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo conducted to explain conformity and obedience. Solomon Asch's experiment in "Opinions and Social Pressure" studied a subject's ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage...
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...[pic] Definition “Conformity is a type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes, beliefs or behaviours to adhere to existing social norms” Baron et al, 2006 Explanation of social norms (you must learn this for small mark answer) ➢ Social norms are one of the key causes of why people conform to the majority view. ➢ Social norms (group norms) are the standard rules of behaviour for individuals in any given society/culture. ➢ Unspoken rules develop spontaneously, unconsciously usually through force of habit and if you do not conform to these rules you will be excluded… ➢ For example, behaviour at a bus stop, the type of clothes that are popular, the type of drinks to be drinking, the type of music to listen to, the places to travel in the world Jenness (1932) The first informal experimental study of conformity where participants were asked to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. When asked for a group estimate they almost all changed their individual guesses closer to the group estimate. This persisted when asked again individually. They conformed. NB: Remember for every study in this topic and obedience try to give a methodological and ethical issue (or advantage) for each study |Methodological issues |Ethical issues | | ...
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...The Power of Conformity Conformity refers to an individual’s behavior that is performed because of group pressure, even though that pressure might not involve a direct request. Many people want to think that they are conformist enough so that they are not looked upon as strange to others and nonconformist enough to demonstrate that they are capable of thinking by themselves. For many years, psychologists have been interested in human conformity. Usually when people are in groups, they behave according to how those in the group behave. That indicates that conformity can affect a person’s behavior and make a person do things that may be against their ethics, attitudes, and morals. The study of conformity was first studied in the 1950s by Solomon Asch. His experiments were very important to the study of conformity. Asch wanted to find out how conformity could influence behavior. He did not want to focus on the general concepts like ethics, morals, attitudes, and belief systems. Instead, he focused on a more obvious concept which was perceptional conformity. Since he performed the experiment on a simple task, he was able to study conformity in a controlled environment. Asch wanted to apply group pressure to the experiment so he could manipulate a person’s behavior. For the experiment, he made three pairs of cards with three different lengths of vertical lines on one side. On the other side, there was a single line that was the same length ... Conformity and Obedience in Society...
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...Social Influence Social facilitation – The tendency for people to perform better on tasks in the presence of people than when alone. Triplett 1898 found that cyclists rode faster when racing together than when alone because of the competitive element. He also tests this with children and how long it took them to turn a fishing wheel 150 times. Sometimes they were alone and sometimes together, and found that many children worked in co-action CO-ACTION- people working together on the same task. Allport also found college students work in co action completing more multiplication problems together and when Chen looked at ants he found they dig 3 times as faster Allport said that competition is not always affects us if we do better and that sometimes it could just be the presence of an audience that could result in social facilitation. Though audience effect could also affect people in a negative way and cause them to do worse, this is known as social inhibition. AUIDENCE EFFECT – the impact of the individual task performance of the presence of an audience SOCIAL INHIBTION- The tendency for an individual to perform less well in the presence of others than when alone. AROUSAL THEORY OF SOCIAL FACILIATION Zajonc said that arousal acts as a drive that will bring out the most dominant response. In an easy or well-practised task our dominant responses tend to be correct so social facilitation occurs but in a unfamiliar task the dominant responses tend to be incorrect so social...
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...Discuss the errors in attribution Attribution= how people interpret and explain casual relationships in the world Attribution theory= ways in which people explain the behavior of others, or themselves with something else. Faulty assumptions, individuals attribute events. Situational= causality on external factor. Dispositional= causality on internal factor. Fundamental Attribution theory Tendency to over value dispositional factors, undermining situational explanations. Promotes understanding of common errors in explanation. Culturally biased and low in ecological validity. Jones and Harris (1967) Aim: investigate whether people would attribute behvaiors which people had a choice in disposition. Procedure: sample of university students read political student essays that were either pro or anti Fidel Castro. Told some writers freely chose be the pro or anti others were assigned determined by a coin toss. Participants asked to rate how pro/anti the attitudes of the writers were. Findings: participants believed writers freely chose= rated people who spoke in favor have a more positive attitude towards Castro (dispositional). Determined by coin toss= write in pro= more positive. Participants unable to see the influence of situational restraints placed upon writers could not refrain from dispositional belief even though participants were randomly assigned. Evaluation: lead to further research, all American sample, and question ecological validity. Suedfeld (2003) ...
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...Human beings lives are lived around the separation of individuality and conformity. Sometimes we are confused and pressured into deciding if we want to be individuals or conformists. We live in a society that functions as a whole and need conformity in life. People want to be accepted by others and belong to something bigger. Living in society, we are under pressure to surrender our individuality to our surroundings. Acceptance is one of people’s most demanding goals in life. Logan Feys is correct in regards to being strong and free enough to live independently. The writer points out “entering society on no one’s terms but your own.” Advisors, teachers, friends, family, etc. should not pressure an individual into entering society and conforming...
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...Influencing Attitudes: Persuasion The Foot-in-the-Door Technique Role Playing Affects Attitudes CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.2 Person Perception and Musical Tastes Culture and Attitudes CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.4 Explaining Persuasion 16 Learning Objectives Social Psychology 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 Define social psychology. Compare and contrast social cognition, social influence, and social norms. Describe the core social motives. Illustrate social categorization. Discuss how stereotypes and subjectivity impact personal perception. Explain the various types of attribution. Describe the components of attitudes. Illustrate the different ways to influence attitudes. Differentiate between conformity, obedience, and compliance. Describe the biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of prejudice, aggression, and attraction. Discuss the pros and cons of group influence on an individual. 16.5 Conformity and Obedience Conformity The Power of the Situation: The Stanford Prison Experiment Obedience Milgram’s Experiment Media Impact: The Impact of TV, Movies, Music, and Videogames Group Polarization Groupthink Individual Influence Factors in Attraction Competence Proximity Physical Attractiveness Similarity Reciprocity CRITICAL THINKING APPLICATION...
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...ANTHROPOLOGY 101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Queens College / CUNY, Spring 2015 TuTh 12:15-1:30PM, Kiely 150 Professor: Ramona Lee Pérez, PhD Email: ramona.perez@qc.cuny.edu Office hours: Th 2-3 PM, PH 315H COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is an introduction to the range of human diversity through an exploration of the peoples of the world. We will cover the basic concepts, theories, and methods that anthropologists use to study variations in cultural norms and social practices, economic systems and rules of law, social organization and patterns of inequality, identity and worldview, and patterns of social and cultural change. Focusing on the culture concept and the method of ethnography, we begin with the historical foundations of anthropology and then follow its attempts to understand contemporary human cultures. Comparative analysis of multiple ethnographic case studies and major theoretical approaches illuminates the range of human diversity, the forces that shape cultures, and how people adapt to a rapidly changing modern world. The central objectives of this course are to develop your intellectual skills, your cross-cultural fluency, and your sense of civic and moral engagement in global society. I hope that this course inspires many of you to become anthropology majors or minors, and grants each of you an anthropological perspective on your own life. REQUIREMENTS This is an intensive course that requires full participation from every student...
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...perspective. If you are familiar with this perspective, then this overview will serve as revision material... The second part of these Notes will provide an overview of some of the basic themes and theories put forward by writers working within this general perspective to explain crime. Functionalism: An Overview The Functionalist perspective is a form of Structuralist sociology and, as such, we can initially characterise it as a form of macro sociological theorising. In this respect, the main theoretical question addressed by sociologists working within the Functionalist perspective is that of: * How do social systems ("societies") hold together? In their attempts to provide an answer to this question, Functionalists have initially concentrated upon two ideas that are closely related to the above: 1. How is order maintained in any society? 2. What are the main sources of stability in any society? As you might imagine - given that the theoretical emphasis seems to be placed on rather grand questions about the nature of social systems - Functionalist sociologists are not particularly concerned with an examination of individual ideas, meanings and interpretations. We will look in more detail about why this should be the case in a moment. What they do tend to emphasise, however, is the idea that the basis of social order is to be found in shared values / consensus (hence this perspective...
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...despite being picked by chance out of the same pool as the prisoners. The experiment very quickly got out of hand. A riot broke out on day two. One prisoner developed a psychosomatic rash all over his body upon finding out that his "parole" had been turned down. After only 6 days (of a planned two weeks), the experiment was shut down, for fear that one of the prisoners would be seriously hurt. Although the intent of the experiment was to examine captivity, its result has been used to demonstrate the impressionability and obedience of people when provided with a legitimizing ideology and social and institutional support. It is also used to illustrate cognitive dissonance theory and the power of seniority/authority. How do findings from this study help you explain the torture of prisoners in Iraq? The human rights abuses that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison under the authority of the American armed forces in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war may be a recent example of what happened in the experiment in real life. Soldiers were...
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...Critical Thinking and Society Jason Terry PHL/458 September 3, 2012 Cher Summers Critical Thinking and Society In the business world, we are influenced by the thoughts and actions of those around us. We are often encouraged to change our opinion or views based on the information that we are given at that moment in time. Persuasive speaking has proven to be an effective form of communication. When used properly it can change the way we operate and or manage many of our working environments. In this paper I plan to describe a situation which critical and creative thinking could have been used more effective to produce a better outcome in my personal working environment. The definition of free will, truth and knowledge will give insight to critical thinking. Understanding three specific hindrances, such as resistance to change, stereotyping and conformity, will give you the general understanding of the hindrances and how we can overcome them. Lastly, advertising plays a major part in today’s persuasive thoughts. I will evaluate one specific advertisement to find and explain the reality of the message. Critical and Creative Thoughts In healthcare, we often make hasty decisions without looking at the total impact that it may have on the organization. In early spring of 2010, the Federal government passed a law requiring hospitals to upgrade to electronic medical records. Funding was earmarked for this project and deadlines were set stating that hospitals would...
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...goals of organizational behavior. 2. Identify and describe the three components of attitudes. 3. Explain cognitive dissonance. 4. Describe the Myers-Briggs personality type framework and its use in organizations. 5. Define perception and describe the factors that can shape or distort perception. 6. Explain how managers can shape employee behavior. 7. Contrast formal and informal groups. 8. Explain why people join groups. 9. State how roles and norms influence employees' behavior. 10. Describe how group size affects group behavior. Opening Vignette SUMMARY In today's dynamic organization, we continue to hear about management's need to be sensitive to others, for some, this is simply not part of their personality make-up, example Linda Wachner, CEO. One of the first women to become a Fortune 500 CEO. She is characterized as a screaming, combative, ruthless taskmaster known for humiliating employees in front of their peers. Her simple motto: "You can't run a company efficiently with a 'bunch of babies.' If you don't like it, leave. This is not a prison." Advice to other senior managers, be tough. Wachner is known for being smart and a good manager--and one who rewards only performance. Her record at Warnaco has been nothing short of stellar. Since leading a leveraged buyout and becoming head of the company in 1986, profits and company stock prices have skyrocketed. How does Wachner see herself? Effective and good, with an excellent record. She earned the title as...
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...M3. Explain why conformity and obedience are important in the public services, with reference to research studies. Conformity and obedience are forms of social influence which strongly affect our behaviour is social situations, from following fashions and unwritten social norms which organise our behaviour, to committing immoral acts because we are commanded to by someone who appears to be in a position of authority. This essay looks at the similarities and differences between the three, looking specifically at the factors that influence each two. Conformity within a group entails members changing their attitudes and beliefs in order to match those of others within the group. Those that conform tend to be obedient and compliant. In order to conform, the group member must attribute someone as having the legitimacy and credibility to lead or influence the group's behaviour. Without this "leader", conformity toward the group's goals will be less prevalent. If a member of the group fails to conform to the groups needs, he/she would lose credibility with the rest of the group. Conformity is a change in an individuals behaviour according to certain accepted standards within society as well as the influence of others whether this be a real or imaginary influence. There are 2 key concepts of conformity, acceptance or compliance. People plan to join a specific public service because they want to belong to that team because they may like the sentiments of the service etc. Hence...
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...example of this can be seen in a quote by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau says, “It lives too fast. Men think that it is essential that the Nation have commerce, and export ice, and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an hour, without a doubt, whether they do or not; but whether we should live like baboons or men, is a little uncertain,” (Thoreau). This quote is powerful in meaning that society expects men to behave a certain way because it is the normal and correct way of living. Men must have commerce, talk on a telegraph, drive cars and live life by a certain outline of society. People who live like “baboons” are considered strange or looked down upon...
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