Social Psych Chpt. 6

What is the definition of compliance?

Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with social pressure while privately disagreeing. (Ex: crash ryan phillipe)

What is the definition of obedience?

Acting in accord with a direct order

What is the definition of acceptance?

Conformity that involved both acting and believing in accord with social pressure. Ex: Believing in something that a group has persuaded us to like for example drinking milk because it is nutritious

What is the definition of conformity?

A change in behavior or belief to accord with others.

What is the autokinetic phenomenon?

Self (auto) motion (kinetic). The apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark. Perhaps you have experienced this when thinking you have spotted a moving satellite in the sky, only to realize later that it was merely an isolated star. (Ex: experiment in the dark)

What is the definition of confederate?

an accomplice of the experimenter Ex: someone who gave an inflated estimate of how far the light moved (to convince subject it did in the first place)

What is the definition of cohesiveness?

a "we feeling"-- the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction for one another.

What is normative influence and who used this study?

conformity based on a person's desire to fulfill others' expectations, often to gain acceptance. Sherif- assessing suggestibility regarding seeming movement of light

What is informational Influence?

Conformity that results from accepting evidence about reality provided by other people. When someone privately accepts others' influence. (Ex: going to a Sikh temple for wedding ceremony and putting on headscarf and sitting where specific genders are sitting)

What is the definition of reactance?

a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action.

In Sherif's authokinetic experiment, what did he find?

- social norms can lead us to converge with others in estimates of the amount of movement
- informational influence drove conformity

What was the conformity rate in Asch's line experiment? Milgram's experiment?

- 75% of participants conformed at least once
- 2/3rd's of participants were obedient

Under what circumstances do people conform?

- group size
- unanimity
- status
- cohesion (working together as a group)

What are some main reasons why people obey?

- justifications and consistency (foot in the door)
- blaming the victim "he knew the rules"
- post-decisional dissonance- after having shocked the learning, thinking that he or she deserved it
- fairness " i could have been the learner"
- displacement of responsibility " I was just following orders"
- social exchange- getting payment which means they feel more obligated to continue experiment

Why is it psychologically safer for us to assume that Eichmann was a "monster" in what he did to innocent people?

the fundamental attribution error

What were the different ways in which the Milgram experiment was layed out?

- closeness of victim
- closeness of experimenter
- gender of subject
- limited contract- as soon as they wanted to be released, they were free to go
- Institutional context- rundown office building
- Teacher free to select shock level (more flexibility)
- changes in roles
- two authorities(one disagreeing with the other)
- effect of dissenters (three people leave experiment- will person continue?)
- indirect shock (subject not pressing button)

What are some ways to resist obedience?

- assume responsibility for own actions
- exposure to a disobedient model
- question expertise and motives of authority figure
- knowledge of social psychology

In what conditions of the experiments was obedience 0%?

- when there were two authorities disagreeing with eachother (one telling subject to administer shocks, the other telling him not to)
- when the learner demanded the shocks and the experimenter forbids it
- authority as a victim
-

In what conditions of the experiments was obedience high?

- gender of the subject (women as teachers) 65%
-subject as a bystander- 68.75%
- two teachers one subject- diffusion of responsibility- person who pushed buttons is considered responsible - 92.5%!!

Why was the 92.5% obedience rate experiment so high?

it was the most life like condition because it was an indirect shock that was given to the subject by another person who was considered responsible. This means that the "Teacher" didn't feel as much responsible for hurting the subject.

what are the main differences between conformity and obedience?

Conformity:
-equal status
-imitation
- implicit requirement to comply
- subjects deny conforming

Obedience:
- unequal status
- not imitation; follow orders
- explicit requirement to comply
-subjects claim they were being obedient