SN4 : Discuss Factors Influencing Conformity (For Example, Culture,

Groupthink, Risky Shift, Minority Influence.)

By Nicole Marrari, Grant, and Jeff

What is Conformity? Conformity: Person changes

attitude or behavior on his/her own to fulfill social norms

Why? Why do we conform? Two basic sources of influence: Normative social influence: Need

to be liked, accepted by others Informational social influence:

Need to be correct; to behave in accordance with reality

Asch Experiment Imagine yourself in the following situation: You sign up for a psychology

experiment, and on a specified date you and seven others whom you think are also participants arrive and are seated at a table in a small room.

You don't know it at the time, but the others are actually associates of the experimenter, and their behaviour has been carefully scripted. You're the only real participant.

The experimenter arrives and tells you that the study in which you are about to participate concerns people's visual judgments. She places two cards before you. The card on the left contains one vertical line. The card on the right displays three lines of varying length.

The experimenter asks all of you, one at a time, to choose which of the three lines on the right card matches the length of the line on the left card. The task is repeated several times with different cards.

On some occasions the other "participants" unanimously choose the wrong line. It is clear to you that they are wrong, but they have all given the same answer.

What would you do? Would you go along with the majority opinion, or would you "stick to your guns" and trust your own eyes?

If you where involved in this experiment how do you think you would behave? Would you conform to the majority’s viewpoint?

Culture The influence of culture on conformity

can be seen in two ways –› Firstly, across different cultures› Secondly within a culture at different

periods in history People conform for two main reasons:

› because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence)

› they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence).

Across cultures (Individualist and Collectivist)

Individualist- is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own interests, whether by society, family or any other group or institution.

Collectivist Collectivism is any philosophic, political,

religious, economic, or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human being.

Collectivism is a basic cultural element that exists as the reverse of individualism in human nature (in the same way high context culture exists as the reverse of low context culture), and stresses the priority of group goals over individual goals and the importance of cohesion within social groups (such as an "in-group", in what specific context it is defined).

Smith and Bond (1998) The participants gave the wrong answer on

average on 31.2% of the trials across these studies, which is slightly lower than the figure reported by Asch.

The highest figure was 58% wrong answers for Indian teachers in Fiji, and the lowest figure was 14% among Belgian students.

The meta-analysis showed that more conformity was obtained in collectivistic countries like the Fiji Islands, Hong Kong and Brazil than in individualistic countries like the USA, the UK or France.

Does it now… It seems plausible to predict that people from

individualist cultures (ex. North America and Western Europe) will conform less than people from collectivist cultures (ex. Asia).

Compared to people in individualist cultures people in collectivist cultures are more concerned about their relationships with others, value tradition more highly, and define themselves more in terms of their social roles.

Groupthink Groupthink- a term coined by social psychologist

Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”.  

Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups.  A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.

Conclusion to Asch Why did the participants conform so

readily?  When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought "peculiar".  A few of them said that they really did believe the group's answers were correct.

Risky Shift Phenomenon When people are in groups, they make decision about risk differently from

when they are alone. In the group, they are likely to make riskier decisions, as the shared risk makes the individual risk less.

They also may not want to let their compatriots down, and hence be risk-averse (this is sometimes called cautious shift). The overall tendency towards a shift in risk perception is also sometimes called choice shift.

There are a number of reasons as to why this might happen. Theories have included:› Wallach, Kogan, and Bem (1964) proposed that greater risks are

chosen due to a diffusion of responsibility, where emotional bonds decrease anxieties and risk is perceived as shared.

› Collins and Guetzkow (1964) suggested that high risk-takers are more confident and hence may persuade others to take greater risks.

› Brown (1965) indicates that social status in groups is often associated with risk-taking, leading people to avoid a low risk position.

› Bateson (1966) suggests that as people pay attention to a possible action, they become more familiar and comfortable with it and hence perceive less risk.

Myers and Bishop (1970) Myers and Bishop (1970) put highly

prejudiced students together to discuss racial issues. They became even more prejudiced. The reverse happened with unprejudiced students, who became even more unprejudiced.

Minority Influence In many of the conformity studies described so far it

was a minority group who were conforming to the majority.  Moscovici (1976, 1980) argued along different lines.  He claimed that Asch(1951) and others had put too much emphasis on the notion that the majority in a group has a large influence on the minority. In his opinion, it is also possible for a minority to influence the majority.  In fact Asch agreed with Moscovici.  He too felt that minority influence did occur, and that it was potentially a more valuable issue to study - to focus on why some people might follow minority opinion and resist group pressure.

Minority Influence Minority influence is a form of social

influence, takes place when a minority, like an individual, influences a majority to accept the minority's beliefs or behaviour.

Minority Influence Moscovic (1976, 1980) made a distinction

between compliance and conversion. Compliance is common in conformity studies

(e.g. Asch) whereby the participants publicly conform to the group norms but privately reject them.  

Conversion involves how a minority can influence the majority. It involves convincing the majority that the minority views are correct. This can be achieved a number of different ways (e.g. consistency, flexibility).  Conversion is different to compliance as it usually involves both public and private acceptance of a new view or behaviour (i.e. internalisation).

Let’s Play A Game… Muahahaha

Just Kidding! But seriously, we are playing a game! Rules

› You Only get to look at your study guide twice per team

› Only one person will answer, then another person from that team will rotate in

› Now, split up into 3 groups, make them even

› Have Fun!!!

Conformity

Culture Group Think

Risky Shift Phenomen

on

Minority Influence

$100 $200 $100 $100 $100

$300 $200 $300 $300 $200

$300 $300 $400 $400 $300

$400 $500 $300

$500 $500

Conformity $100 What is Conformity?

Conformity: Person changes attitude or behavior on his/her own to fulfill social norms

Jeopardy Board

Conformity $300 Why do we Conform? Give one reason.

Jeopardy Board

Conformity $300

Why do we conform? Give one reason.

Jeopardy Board

Culture $200 What does it mean to be an Individualist? Individualist- is the moral stance, political

philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own interests, whether by society, family or any other group or institutionJeopardy Board

Culture $200 If I were to say that I’m from a

Collectivist country, what would I mean?

I stress the priority of group goals over individual goals and the importance of cohesion within social groups (such as an "in-group“) Jeopardy Board

Culture $300 What can we assume after the

experiment done on individualist vs. collectivist countries?

People from individualist cultures (ex. North America and Western Europe) will conform less than people from collectivist cultures (ex. Asia).

Jeopardy Board

Culture $400 The influence of culture on conformity

can be seen in 2 ways, List one way.

› Firstly, across different cultures› Secondly within a culture at different

periods in history

Jeopardy Board

Culture $500 What experiment was done on the

Culture?

Smith and Bond (1998)

Jeopardy Board

Group Think $100 What is Group Think?

A term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”.Jeopardy Board

Group Think $300 Who performed the experiment for

Group Think? (Just the name of him/her)

Asch’s experiment Jeopardy Board

Group Think $400 Explain the experiment done for Group Think. The card on the left contains one vertical line. The

card on the right displays three lines of varying length.

The experimenter asks all of you, one at a time, to choose which of the three lines on the right card matches the length of the line on the left card. The task is repeated several times with different cards.

On some occasions the other "participants" unanimously choose the wrong line. It is clear to you that they are wrong, but they have all given the same answer.

Jeopardy Board

Risky Shift Phenomenon $100

What is Risky Shift Phenomenon?

When people are in groups, they make decision about risk differently from when they are alone. In the group, they are likely to make riskier decisions, as the shared risk makes the individual risk less. Jeopardy Board

Risky Shift Phenomenon $300

Name a theory of why Risky Shift Phenomenon occurs.

› Wallach, Kogan, and Bem (1964) proposed that greater risks are chosen due to a diffusion of responsibility, where emotional bonds decrease anxieties and risk is perceived as shared.

› Collins and Guetzkow (1964) suggested that high risk-takers are more confident and hence may persuade others to take greater risks.

› Brown (1965) indicates that social status in groups is often associated with risk-taking, leading people to avoid a low risk position.

› Bateson (1966) suggests that as people pay attention to a possible action, they become more familiar and comfortable with it and hence perceive less risk.

Jeopardy Board

Risky Shift Phenomenon $400

What happened in the experiment for Risky Shift Phenomenon?

People put highly prejudiced students together to discuss racial issues. They became even more prejudiced. The reverse happened with unprejudiced students, who became even more unprejudiced. Jeopardy Board

Risky Shift Phenomenon $500

What experiment was done for Risky Shift Phenomenon? (Just the name)

Myers and Bishop (1970)Jeopardy Board

Minority Influence $100 What is Minority Influence?

Is a form of social influence, takes place when a minority, like an individual, influences a majority to accept the minority's beliefs or behaviour.

Jeopardy Board

Minority Influence $200 What did ________ and Asch believe

about Minority Influence?

It is also possible for a minority to influence the majority Jeopardy Board

Minority Influence $300 What is Compliance?

Compliance is common in conformity studies (e.g. Asch) whereby the participants publicly conform to the group norms but privately reject them.

Jeopardy Board

Minority Influence $300 What is Conversion?

Conversion involves how a minority can influence the majority. It involves convincing the majority that the minority views are correct.Jeopardy Board

Minority Influence $500 Who made the distinction between

compliance and conversion?

Moscovic (1976, 1980) Jeopardy Board

Sources http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/286303/individualism http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1151025 http://ibpsychologynotes.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/10-discuss-f

actors-influencing-conformity.pdf http://www.usu.edu/psy3510/influence.html http://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html http://books.google.com/books?id=l8j_z5-

qZfAC&pg=PA727&lpg=PA727&dq=smith+and+bond+conformity&source=bl&ots=iCp9s1yGV2&sig=t4zyBc8I_J4lwssA5Gc0zclAxxE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gwMsT8zlFMW_2QXa2On_Dg&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=smith%20and%20bond%20conformity&f=true

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_influence http://www.psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overvie

w.htm http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/risky_shift.htm http://www.simplypsychology.org/minority-influence.html