1Listen to the audio lecture while viewing these slidesPsychology 100Introduction to Psychology1Chapter 13: Social PsychologyModule 13.3: Social Influence: Conformity, Compliance, Obedience2Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyOther Social Influence: Overview• How does the presence of others affect performance?• Social influences on altruism• The power of the group•Conformity• Group decision-making• The power of authority: Obedience• Milgram’s obedience experiment• The role of culture3Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyHow Does the Presence of Others Affect Performance?• In the presence of others, performance can be affected in several ways:• Social facilitation: Performance enhanced• Social interference: Performance impaired• Interacts with task difficulty• Others help spur performance of easy tasks, but they hinder performance of new or difficult ones• May happen because presence of others raises arousal• Recall: Performance is best when arousal is not too low (as for easy tasks) or too high (as for difficult ones)4Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologySocial Influences on Altruism• Altruism: Acting in a way that shows unselfish concern for the welfare of others• Bystander effect: Reluctance to come to someone’s aid when others are present• Famous example: Kitty Genovese case• Diffusion of responsibility: Allowing sense of responsibility to spread out among those present• Derives from belief that others have already done something to help or soon will• The more witnesses, the less likely any single one will help5Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyThe Power of the Group• Social loafing: Tendency to put in less effort when working in a group than when working alone• May be connected to the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility• Deindividuation: Loss of individuality that comes from being in a group• Example: People might do things when in a large, rowdy group that they would never do alone• May also relate to diffusion of responsibility6Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyConformity• Tendency to comply with the wishes of the group• Opinions, feelings, behaviors generally move toward the norm• Especially likely when pressure comes from in-group, or individuals with whom you identify• Can be extreme, as in Asch’s(1951, 1955) studies:• Confederate subjects lied about easy visual judgments• Many subjects conformed to these wrong judgments27Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyFig. 13.78Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyGroup Decision-Making• Group polarization: Tendency for a group’s dominant point of view to become stronger, more extreme with time• May relate to conformity, wish to be liked by other group members• Groupthink: Tendency for members to become so interested in seeking consensus that they ignore, suppress, dissenting views• Can be countered by encouraging dissent, awareness of the tendency9Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyCompliance: Getting Others to Respond to Requests• foot–in–door (small req. followed by larger one; self-perception) • door–in–face (large req. followed by moderate one; reciprocity)• attraction/liking (thus similarity, attractiveness, etc.)• low–ball (changing the riles of the game after it starts; similar to “bait and switch”)10Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyThe Power of Authority: Obedience• Form of compliance that occurs when people respond to orders of an authority figure• Why do people often carry out extreme or horrifying orders, for example during war?• Milgram (1963) designed an experiment to test the resistance of average people to authority when demands are extreme• Experimenter ordered participants to administer increasing levels of shock to an unwilling “victim”•IMPORTANT: “Victim”was a confederate; all shocks were fake11Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologySLEE = Experimenter (originally, Milgram himself)S = The SubjectL = The Learner (actually a confederate of E)Fig. 13.8Obedience12Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyFig. 13.9313Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyResults of the Milgram Experiment• Over half delivered “shocks” up to the maximum level, despite realistic protests and screams of the “victim”• Ethical concerns:• Participants clearly distressed• Were debriefed, however, and long-term effects were minor• What we learn from it: Under certain circumstances, average people will obey extreme orders 14Psyc 100 Psyc 100 –– Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to PsychologyThe Role of Culture• Western cultures promote an independent view of the self• Leads to devaluing conformity, obedience, altruism• Many non-Western cultures promote an interdependent view• Example: Japanese culture strongly emphasizes belonging to, contributing to a