Social Psychology: Conformity, Obedience, and the Power of Authority

The phenomenon of social conformity is vividly illustrated by behavior in elevators. Even educated individuals often behave like "sheep" by following the group's lead without questioning it.
The Elevator Wall Experiment: - In a specific social experiment, five people (confederates) enter an elevator and intentionally turn around to face the back wall instead of the door. - Observation shows that nine out of ten "outsiders" (unaware subjects) will also walk into the elevator and turn around to face the wall simply because others are doing it. - This occurs despite the behavior being irrational and contrary to normal social norms.
The pressure to conform, or "peer pressure," is a significant psychological force that influences doubling behavior and groupthink.

This experiment tests how individual judgment is influenced by a majority group.
Experimental Setup: - There are roughly $10$ people in a room. - A question is asked regarding which of several lines is the same length as a target line. - In the group, $9$ people are "in on it" (confederates) and are instructed to give the same incorrect answer (e.g., pointing to line "C" when it is clearly incorrect). - One participant is the actual subject from the outside who does not know the others are confederates.
Results: - Despite the visual evidence, the subject will usually follow the group and say "C" simply to match the majority. - The speaker emphasizes that we need people who will "buck the system," though such individuals are rare in these experimental settings.

A person's choice of where to stand in an elevator with two or three other people is claimed to reveal significant information about their life, character, and personality characteristics.
Behavioral Patterns: - Almost everyone stands in the same specific place every time they are given a choice. - Significant others are often able to predict where their partner will stand.
Specific Standpoints: - Most people choose to stand in the back, the front, back-left, or off to one side. - The speaker identifies the person who chooses to stand directly in the middle as the "little fucking weirdo," noting that it is a highly unusual and "weird" choice.
The psychological meaning behind these standing positions is hinted at as a topic to be revealed at the end of the semester.

The lecture addresses how well-educated, young men can commit horrific acts, specifically referencing guards in Holocaust concentration camps.
Sophie's Choice Scenario: - Guards would wait for trains to arrive and were forced to make instantaneous, life-or-death decisions (e.g., "You got $10$ seconds. Pick it.").
The Defense of Obedience: - After World War II, many guards and officials (including those in charge of the Holocaust program) used the defense: "I was ordered by Hitler to eliminate those Jews." - This is the "just following orders" defense, which argued that responsibility lies with the superior, not the subordinate carrying out the act. - The speaker notes that if a soldier refused these orders, they would likely be reprimanded or shot.
Classroom Provocation: - The speaker asserts that "two thirds of this audience would execute people" if placed in a similar structured environment of authority, claiming that people would deflect responsibility by saying, "Not my fault. I was ordered to do it."

This study investigated the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.
Role Assignment: - The subject was often a female participant (though many variations exist). - The subject was told they were participating in a study of memory and learning. - The subject was assigned the role of "teacher," while a confederate (part of the research team) played the "learner." - An experimenter in a lab coat served as the "legitimate authority."
The Procedure: - The teacher was instructed to deliver electric shocks to the learner for every mistake made on a memory task. - The shocks began as mild but increased with each error until they reached "potentially lethal" levels.
Experimental Findings: - Out of a hypothetical group of $700$ volunteers, the speaker notes that approximately $670$ (between 75\text{%} and 80\text{%}) would continue to deliver shocks even to the point of killing the learner. - Participants continued simply because the authority figure told them to "keep going."
The Question of Responsibility: - Subjects rarely asked if what they were doing was "wrong" or "horrible." - The only question they would consistently ask the authority figure is: "Am I responsible?" - Once the experimenter in the lab coat stated, "No, you're not responsible," the participant would continue with the shocks.

The speaker compares the moral choices of camp guards to the decision made by President Harry Truman at the end of World War II.
The Decision: - Truman was told that dropping a device on Japan would end the war. - The cost was the incineration of approximately $100,000$ people per bomb, mostly women and children. - Two bombs were dropped (the second one two days after the first).
The Justification: - The alternative was a ground invasion of Japan, which was estimated to cost the lives of $1,000,000$ American soldiers. - Truman claimed that he would "do it again in five seconds."
Perspective: - The question of whether Truman is a "war criminal" depends on "where you're standing." - The speaker argues these situations are rarely "clear black and white."

Conducted at "the Harvard of the West Coast" (Stanford University), this study explored the psychological effects of perceived power.
Setup: - $40$ students were selected and randomly assigned roles by pulling them out of a hat. - $20$ were designated as guards and $20$ as prisoners. - A mock prison was constructed on campus.
The Outcome: - The experiment was intended to last for three weeks. - It had to be terminated after only six days (the transcript mentions "two days" and then corrects to "six days") because the "illusion became the reality." - The boundary between roles and real personal identity was erased.
Behavioral Changes: - Guards: Became "sadistic assholes" and "brutal guards." - Prisoners: Became physically sick and developed symptoms of PTSD.
Systemic Pressure: - Despite being on a college campus and technically free to leave, the prisoners did not just "get up and leave" because they were caught in the psychological reality of the power structure.

Power transitions can change people rapidly, regardless of their background.
Examples of Power Extremes: - The Nightclub Bouncer: A person with limited education (described as a "motherfucker with a third-grade education") is given a clipboard and the power to decide who enters a club. They immediately adopt an authoritative and controlling persona. - Authority in Daily Life: This phenomenon is seen in "mall cops" or anyone given minor enforcement power.
Core Principle: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Giving power to the "wrong people"—which the speaker suggests may be most people—leads to the loss of individual identity in favor of an authoritarian role.