Social Influence 1:Social Influence 1:ConformityConformity

21 January 2004

Why Conform?Why Conform?

Our sanity depends to some degree on the belief that everyone sees the same world that we see

If this belief is challenged, we’d rather change what we see (or what we say we see) than admit to ourselves (or others) that we see a different world

ConformityConformity

Conformity• Acting at odds with your beliefs or perceptions

because of pressure from othersCompliance vs internalizationNormative vs. Informational

pressure/influence– Cialdini littering experiment– Drisball & Muller jaywalking experiment

Jaywalking (Drisball & Muller)Jaywalking (Drisball & Muller)

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BL No JW JW

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Solomon Asch:Compliance in an

Unambiguous

Situation

A B CStimulus

Asch Line Judgment Asch Line Judgment ExperimentsExperiments

You cannot be serious!You cannot be serious!

AschAsch

Results:• 33% went along with the group on a majority of the

trials• 25% remained completely independent• 75% conformed at least once

When tested alone (no confederates), subjects got more than 98% of the judgments correct

When tested with confederates, they only got 66% of the judgments correct

Why conform?Why conform?

Confusion • Informational pressure

Embarrassment• Normative pressure

2 more versions of the experiment

Compliance, NOT internalization

Sherif (1936)Sherif (1936)

Ambiguous situation– Autokinetic effect

Informational pressure: 1 year follow-up– Internalization, NOT

compliance Version B of the

experiment and what that tells us

How to reduce conformity?How to reduce conformity?

Preferences vs Facts• Crutchfield (1955)• Asch-type paradigm but with drawings• No conformity• Why?

Lone Dissenters• Devil’s advocates• Other versions of Asch

Minority InfluenceMinority Influence

How do minority groups change things?Moscovici experiment: a minority of

confederates give a plausible but incorrect answer in front of a majority of subjects

Minorities must be consistent:• Direct effect• Latent effect

Moscovici Data:Moscovici Data:Direct EffectDirect Effect

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consistent inconsistent not present

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Confederates