Conformity and Obedience

CHAPTER 6

Social Psychology
by David G. Myers 9th Edition

Conformity and Obedience

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 What Is Conformity?
Conformity and Obedience

• Conformity
– group pressure
• Compliance
– outwardly going along
• Obedience
– compliance with direct demand
• Acceptance
– believing and acting in accord with social
pressure
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 Classic Conformity and Obedience
Studies
Conformity and Obedience

• Sherif’s studies of
norm formation

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 Classic Studies
Conformity and Obedience

• Asch’s studies of
group pressure

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 Classic Studies
Conformity and Obedience

• Milgram’s obedience experiments

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 What Breeds Obedience?
Conformity and Obedience

• The victim’s distance

• Closeness and
legitimacy of the
authority
• Institutional authority
• The liberating effects
of group influence

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 Reflections on the Classic Studies
Conformity and Obedience

• Ethics
• Behavior and attitudes
• The power of the situation
• The fundamental attribution error

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 What Predicts Conformity?
Conformity and Obedience

• Group size
• Unanimity
• Cohesion
• Status
• Public response
• No prior commitment

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 What Predicts Conformity?
Conformity and Obedience

[Insert Figure 6-6: Group size and

conformity]

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 What Predicts Conformity?
Conformity and Obedience

[Insert Figure 6-7: The effect of unanimity on

conformity]

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 Why Conform?
Conformity and Obedience

• Normative influence
• Informational
influence

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 Who Conforms?
Conformity and Obedience

• Personality
• Culture
• Social roles
– Role reversal

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 Do We Ever Want to Be Different?
Conformity and Obedience

• Reactance
• Asserting uniqueness

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Conformity and Obedience

Supplemental Slides

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 Conformity
Conformity and Obedience

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 Influences on Conformity
Conformity and Obedience

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 Influences on Conformity
Conformity and Obedience

Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

 Influences on Conformity
Conformity and Obedience

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 Social Impact
Conformity and Obedience

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