Lecture on social influence, obedience to authority, and Milgram's experiment

Social Influence Concepts

Types of Social Influence

Social influence

Two influential processes

Powerful individuals

Case of unquestioned authorities

Group norms

Reference group

Obedience to authority

** Conformity

"yielding to group pressure" (majority influence)

Conformity and Reference Groups

Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group

Real or imagined group pressure

• Reference groups (RG) are groups that are psychologically significant for people's
• positive RG we seek to behave in accordance with their norms
• negative RG we seek to behave in opposition to their norms

Reference groups

Individual

Reference Groups Family Friends Social Class Selected Subcultures One's Own Culture Other Cultures

What are your reference groups ?

Levels of Conformity

Compliance = superficial, public and transitory change

low in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests from another person or to group pressure => public behavior changes but personal values remain unchanged

Influence level

Identification = conforming to social role

=> Acceptance of influence so as to maintain self- defining relationship to another person or group

=> behavior and personal values change, as long as relationship with person or group is valued

high Internalisation = genuine acceptance of group norms

=> Induced behavior is congruent with internal belief system > Permanent change in behavior and values

Kelman, H. C. (1958). Compliance, identification, and internalization: three processes of attitude change. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2, 51-60

Mini Case Study: Ani's Behavior

MIN It is Ani's first day in a new job, and he spends a lot of time watching to see what his colleagues are doing so that he will fit in with them and be liked. Explain Ani's behaviour in terms of compliance.

Conformity Statements

MIN

A Doing what the group does in order to be liked by them. B Doing what the group does because we do not know what else to do. C Going along with the group, even if we do not really agree with what they are doing. D Going along with the group because we accept their beliefs and attitudes

In the table below, write which statement, A, B, C or D, describes each type of conformity.

Obedience to Authority

The Milgram Shock Experiment

Personal conscience

Obedience to authority

Stanley Milgram Yale University

Milgram's Experiment Justifications

The Milgram shock experiment

• Milgram (1963) examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials.
• Defense often was based on "obedience" - that they were just following orders from their superiors.

"Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?“ (Milgram, 1974)

Milgram Shock Experiment Setup (1961-1974)

The Milgram shock experiment (1961-1974)

• Selected male participants by newspaper advertising. A cross section of the community.
• Study of learning at Yale University
• Participant paired with another person
• Drew lots to find out who would be the 'learner' and who would be the ‘teacher
• Participant was always the teacher
• Learner was one of Milgram's confederates
• 15-450 volt shock generator evocative

Experts predicted that very few normal people would obey

Milgram's Findings and Agentic State

The Milgram shock experiment (1961-1974)

The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.

- Stanley Milysan -

100 г Percentage obeying experimenter at each level 80 Actual 60 40 20 Predicted 0 15-60 Slight 75-120 135-180 195-240 255-300 315-360 375-420 435-450 Moderate Strong Very strong Intense Extreme Danger: intensity XXX Level of shock (volts) and labels on shock generator severe shock

65% of people were obedient to the very end

Agentic state : "state of mind characterizing unquestioning obedience, when people transfer personal responsibility to the person giving orders"

Factors Influencing Obedience

Which factors influence obedience?

Milgram conducted more than 18 experiments

Milgram original Experiment

Complete obedience levels in different experimental conditions

Peers' pressure absent

2 disobedient peers present in the room

10%

2 obedient peers present in the room

92.5%

Immediacy of authority figure

Experimenter giving orders in the room

No orders at all

2.5%

Telephone orders

20.5%

Culture of participants

US

65 %

Australia

40%

Spain & Netherlands

90%

Immediacy of victim

Victim unseen & unheard

Victim visible in the room

40%

Teacher holding victim's hand

30%

Prestige of institution

University

Private sponsor

48%

Pearson, Social Cognition, 2017 p 244

Ethical Legacy of Milgram's Experiment

The ethical legacy of Milgram's experiment

Under which conditions are stress and deception acceptable?

Debate on research ethics: Participants really believed that they were administering shocks

3 issues: - Is the research important? - Is the participant free to terminate the experiment? - Does the participant freely consent to take part?

• Participation based on fully informed consent (cover story).
• Participants must be explicitly informed that they can withdraw at any time
• Participants must be fully and honestly debriefed at end of study

http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/

Conformity and Norms

How Norms Emerge: Sherif's Study

How do norms emerge?

Sherif's autokinetic study (1936)

• Sherif's assumption: social norms emerge in order to guide behaviour under conditions of uncertainty
• Experiment using the autokinetic effect (an optical illusion) in which a stationary spot appears to be moving

Please evaluate the mouvement of the spot

Muzafer Sherif

Research question : how are people influenced by other people's opinions?

Individual and Group Characteristics in Conformity

Personality and Gender Differences in Conformity

Who conforms? Individual and group characteristics

• Does personality impact conformity?
• Are there gender differences?
• Do cultural norms affect conformity? (Individualist, collectivist)

Who conforms? Individual and group characteristics

Does personality impact conformity? => Contradictory findings => Situational factors may be more important

Are there gender differences? Do women conform more than men to group pressure?

Do cultural norms affect conformity? YES. Bond and Smith (1996)

50 Men Women Percentage conforming 40 30 20 Masculine Neutral Feminine Type of item Sistrunk and McDavid (1971)

Individualist Collectivist

conform less conform more

Situational Factors Influencing Conformity

Group Size and Unanimity

How do situational factors influence?

Group size

% Conforming Judgments 50 37 40 -36 32 30 20 14 10 4 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Group Size 16

Conformity reaches its full strength with a 3 to 5 person majority and additional members have little effect

Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes s

Less conformity when not unanimous

More conformity

Group unanimity

YES YES YES YES NO

Processes of Conformity

Why do people conform?

3 processes of conformity

Normative influence => to conform to the positive expectation of others, to gain social approval or to avoid social disapproval

Informational influence => to accept information from another as evidence about reality => Causes true cognitive change when the information is effective

Social identity/Referent informational influence => to conform to a group norm that defines oneself as a group member (ingroup norm)

no it didn't!

It moved left

it did, a bit

Ingroup Outgroup Outgroup

Group Norms and Obedience in Organizations

Evidence of Group Norms

Group norms and obedience in organizations

Evidence of group norms Obedience in organizations The standford prison experiment

Hawthorne Studies and Employee Behavior

Norms in the workplace significantly influence employee behavior

Hawthorne studies Elton Mayo (1924-1932)

• Illumination study : Relationship between physical environment and productivity
• Increase of productivity in all situations
• Group's performance influenced
• by their status of being « special'
• Group productivity = result of attention received rather than of change in working conditions