conformity, compliance, & obedience👌

conformity

Change in behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people

compliance

Change in behavior due to requestsfrom another person

obedience

Change in behavior due to commands of an authority figure

Informational social influence

conforming because we see others as a source of correct information

the autokinetik effect study: uncertainty and the susceptibility to informational social influence

Normative social influence:

conforming in order to fit in and be accepted

agreeing with a position in public even if we continue to believe something else is private

social benefits of conformity

the presence of another person in the bathroom made them conform to washing their hands.

stanley milligrams obedience studies

reducing the authority of the study and the situation/context decreased obedience

principles of compliance

reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency/commitment, liking, consesus

reciprocity

repay others for what they give us

door in the face technique

influencer starts with a high request and then retreats to a smaller request that they wanted all along, meant to look like they gave something up

that’s not all technique

the influencer begins with an high request then decreases its apparent size by offering a discount or bonus

scarcity

opportunities seem more valuable to us when they appear less available

authority

we’re more likely to comply when the person making the request is in position of authority or expertise

consistency/commitment

once people make a commitment, they feel like they have an internal and external pressure to behave consistently with it

foot in the door technique

influencer begins with a small request that people most likely agree on, then follow up with a larger request

low-balling technique

influencer first gets a person to comply with a seemingly low-cost request and only later reveals hidden additional costs

liking

we prefer to comply with the requests of people we know and like than with requests of strangers

consensus

we’re more likely to comply if we think similar others are doing it too

sherif’s autokinetic effect study

estimate movement of a light when alone than with a group

examined convergence of group responses over trials

asch’s line perception studies

monitored agreement with the group’s clearly incorrect answers

variants on asch’s original study

-clear evidence of normative social influence, not private acceptance

when subjects could write their answer down as they publicly stated the answer, the answers were consistently correct

-group size (conformity increased as group sizes increases but only up to a certain point)

-just having one person disagree (dissenter) reduces conformity

conformity decreases even if they’re incorrect

stanley milgram’s obedience study

giving increasing levels of shock to a “learner” when commanded by an experimenter

-DV: how much shock participants would give

variants on milligrams original study

-changing the distance between participants and learner

-changing distance between participant and experimenter

-reducing authority of the study and experimenter

-non-gradual escalation of shocks

-other defiant participants

Reciprocity: Gift-giving study

• IV: request donation by mail with either a gift (address labels) or no gift

• DV: How many people donated?

Door-in-the-face technique: Juvenile Delinquent Study

• IV: first asked to volunteer every week for two years or not

• DV: agreement to chaperone a 2-hour field trip

that’s not all technique: cupcake study

Cupcakes selling for $1 each and quickly discounted to 75 cents were more likely to sell than cupcakes starting at75 cents each (Burger, 1986)

authority: uniform study

• IV: request from someone in uniform, professional attire, or sloppy clothing

• DV: willingness to give change for parking meter

Commitment/consistency: reducing reservation no-shows

Changed statement from "If" to "will you" and waited for a response).

foot in the door technique: billboard study

• IV: asked to place a small sign in window two weeks prior to 2nd request, or not

• DV: two weeks later, willingness to display a large billboard on their lawn

low balling technique: 7 am study (caledonia et al., 1978)

• IV: told before commitment that study started at 7 am, or found out after commitment that study started at 7 am

• DV: agreement to participate and actually show up for 7 am study