(3) 4.3a Conformity and Obedience

  • Norms

    • Society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior

  • Social Contagion

    • Spontaneous spread of behaviors

    • e.g., The spread of emotions, such as laughter in a crowd, fear spreading through a panicked group, or enthusiasm

  • Conformity

    • Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide w/ a group standard

  • Normative Social Influence

    • Desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

  • Informational Social Influence

    • Willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

  • Milgram Shock Experiment

    • Strong social influences can make people conform to cruelty