Conformity and Obedience Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is the Chameleon Effect
our tendency to unconsciously imitate others’ expressions, postures, and voice tones
What is Conformity
adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
What were the Asch’s Conformity Experiments
The Asch conformity experiments were a series of psychological experiments conducted by Solomon Asch during the 1950s. The experiments revealed the degree to which a person’s own opinions are influenced by those of groups.
List 4 reasons that make people more likely to conform. When they:
- are made to feel incompetent or insecure.
- are in a group with at least three people.
- are in a group in which everyone else agrees. (If just one other person disagrees, the odds of our disagreeing greatly increase.)
- admire the group’s status and attractiveness
What is Normative Social Influence
where a person conforms to fit in with the group because they don’t want to appear foolish or be left out.
What is Informative Social Influence
where a person conforms because they have a desire to be right, and look to others who they believe may have more information
Summarize Milgrim’s Obedience Experiments
In the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of studies on the concepts of obedience and authority. His experiments involved instructing study participants to deliver increasingly high-voltage shocks to an actor in another room, who would scream and eventually go silent as the shocks became stronger.
Explain how the foot-in-the-door effect explains Milgrim’s experiment results
After they agreed to his first request, it led to them complying with his bigger demands
