Social Behavior ~ Social Psychology

Altruism; Conformity; Obedience; Compliance

Are they formed through education or is it just part of being a human being?

YouTube: Mo Cheeks & NBA National AnthemYouTube: Referee Helps Girl Finish Anthem

SOCIAL INFLUENCE:How does the situation we are in influence our behavior? Persuasion: How are we persuaded to alter our behavior?★ Source of the information or persuasion.

Is it an authority? Is it a person attractive to me?★ How are we persuaded.

In person or via some communication channel?★ What we are hearing?★ Our socio-cultural background & experience?

CONFORMITY OBEDIENCEWhat is it?

Going along with crowd/yielding to group pressure

Behaving as instructed!(even if it is something you would rather not do)

Who ‘asks’?

Nobody: we act to please peers, friends, social group

Authority Figures: parents, teachers, police, government , the law, etc.

Why do we do it?

To be accepted, liked or just to fit in or to avoid feeling silly

To avoid punishment or unpleasant consequences

Compliance Behavior changes because of a request, not from a command or order. We may allow a salesperson to give us details about a vacuum cleaner after we have inquired about a carpet cleaning.Reciprocity: Exchange for mutual benefit. We are more willing to listen to those details since we had initiated a request.Foot-in-the-door technique:You comply with a small request; you may then comply with a larger request. These techniques have been known for years and have led to a large number of sales for people in the business.

Obedience Performing a behavior because one is told to do so. Milgram: Participants “shocked” other participants because they were told to do so.

Milgram argued that anyone can be obedient & that obedience is not limited to the lab. We obey because the person telling us to do something is an authority and we assume he takes responsibility. This is not always the case, but it is part of human behavior.

YouTube: Derren Brown revisits the Milgram Experiment

Conformity Participants often change behavior (& opinion) when faced with others who make a different choice. If enough people are engaging in a certain behavior or attitude, it is very difficult for others to resist that & engage in their own - unique (different) - behaviors.

Public conformity occurs when we change our behavior.Private conformity occurs when we change our behaviors & our attitudes.

YouTube: Dangerous Conformity

Conformity Conformity refers to an individual's tendency to follow the unspoken rules or behaviors of the social group to which he or she belongs. What degree to which people follow or rebel against social norms? Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments designed to demonstrate the power of conformity in groups.Students were told that they were participating in a 'vision test.' Unbeknownst to the subject, the other participants in the experiment were all confederates, or assistants of the experimenter. At first, the confederates answered the questions correctly, but eventually began providing incorrect answers.

Asch Conformity Nearly 75% of the participants went along with the group at least once.Combining All Trials: Conformed to the incorrect group answer ~1/3 of the time. Just 1 other confederate present = Virtually no impact on participants' answers. Presence of 2 confederates = Tiny effect. Level of conformity with 3+ confederates = Far more significant.

Asch Conformity Having 1 of the confederates give the correct answer while the rest of the confederates gave the incorrect answer =Dramatically lowered conformity. (5 to 10% of the participants conformed to the rest of group)Later studies supported this finding (Morris & Miller, 1975), suggesting: Having social support is an important tool in combating conformity

YouTube Video: The Asch Experiment. (1:58)

GROUP PROCESSES:People are more likely to conform in larger groups. One dissenter decreases the probability that people will conform, but group size matters. Group is small, social facilitation might occur, our performance can be enhanced by competing.

Social Loafing: One member of the group does not “carry his weight.” Groupthink: People have a desire to maintain good relations within the group. Views of the group leader are known early on, and no one is designated to voice a dissenting opinion... Group reaches a consensus it might not otherwise have reached because of a strong leader at the beginning. This will sometimes happen in juries.

3 Reasons for Social Loafing 1. People acting as part of a group feel less accountable.2. Group members may view their individual contributions as dispensable. 3. Unless highly motivated and strongly identified within the group, people may free ride on others’ efforts.

Group Polarization: Beliefs & attitudes that we bring to a group become magnified & strengthened as we discuss them with like-minded persons.Groupthink: People have a desire to maintain good relations within the group. Views of the group leader are known early on, and no one is designated to voice a dissenting opinion... Group reaches a consensus it might not otherwise have reached because of a strong leader at the beginning. This will sometimes happen in juries.

YouTube Video: Zimbardo Prison Experiment Overview: Watch Dr. Judy Ho talk about the Stanford Prison Experiment and learn about what happens when morally upright individuals with no previous mental health disturbances are placed in an intensive role play situation where half were to play "prisoners" and the other half "prison guards."