PSYCH 280 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I. Social influence and MotivesII. Conformitya. Two types of conformityb. When do people conform?c. When do people not conform?III. Obediencea. Milgram’s Obedience StudyOutline of Current Lecture I. Milgram’s Obedience Studya. Variations on ExperimentII. Compliancea. Reciprocationb. Scarcityc. Consistencyd. Other reasons for Compliancei. Social Validationii. Likingiii. AuthorityCurrent LectureI. Milgram’s Obedience StudyWe talked about Milgram’s obedience study last lecture, but we never discussed the results of the study. After running the study with Americans, Milgram found that over 60% of participants shocked the student at the maximum—“X-X-X Danger”—voltage (450). This was unexpected—Milgram thought that Americans would stop when the student expressed discomfort, but they didn’t. So, often, people will engage in an unpleasant activity or one that they think is wrong when directed to do so by an authority figure.Years later, variations of the experiment were run:a. There were no difference between the gender of the participant and the conformity (shocking the student at the max voltage)These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.b. When there was less authority (study was held in an unimpressive office building rather than at Yale University), only 47% of people conformed.c. When the student was in the same room as the participant or when the participant had to touch the student, only 40% of people conformed to shocking the student at max voltage. Researchers believe that this is due to the “humanization” of the student.d. When the experimenter was in a remote location (in a different room giving orders on a speaker phone, for example), only 20% of people conformed (the authority is less imposing).e. When the experimenter does not have authority (i.e. an ordinary person (confederate) isgiving the orders instead of an “experimenter” (confederate in a lab coat and ID), only 19% of people conformed.f. When there was another “teacher” (confederate) who rebelled, only 10% of people conformed because there was a role model for defiance.Researchers think that people behaved as they did in this study because the experimenter created a social norm (expectation) for the teacher (participant), who did not want to disappoint the experimenter. The experimenter also appeared to be an expert and repeatedly insisted on the norm (experimenter insisted on continuing shocking the student). People may have also conformed and shocked the student because of the power of the situation, cognitive dissonance (in order to appear consistent, people would keep shocking the student, since they had already gone so far), and attributions (participants could blame the experimenter for any outcomes).II. ComplianceCompliance is defined as a form of social influence where one (or more) persons accepts direct requests from another. There are a few factors that influence whether a person complies with a request of not:a. Reciprocation: people are more likely to comply to your request if you do something for them first. (i.e. If you give someone a gift on their birthday, they will feel obligated to give you a gift on your birthday to reciprocate the favor.) If the initial request is too extreme or selfish, people will be suspicious and are less likely to comply. There are 3 types of reciprocation:a. Repayment: if someone gives you something and then makes a request, you will often comply in order to “return the favor.”b. Door-in-the-Face (aka “Foot-in-the-Door” effect): If you make a large request, followed by a small request, people are often more willing to comply with the small request because it seems as if you’ve “done them a favor” by reducing the large request.c. That’s-not-All: If you add something to a deal, people are more likely to comply (i.e. infomercials).d. Why does this work?:i. Evolution: people who reciprocated were more likely to survive.ii. Culture: we have social norms surrounding reciprocation (if a person doesn’t reciprocate, they are considered to be a “deviant”)iii. Emotion: people will feel guilty if they do not reciprocate (because of social norms)b. Scarcity: People value things that are scarce. When a store advertises limited numbers or a deadline, people will feel compelled to buy that thing. This type of influence works best when there is competition or the scarceness is new.a. Why does this work?:i. Cognition: people fear loss.ii. Heuristic: scarce things are valuable or “good.”iii. Reactance: when people want a product and it is scarce, people will search for the product in order to regain their control.c. Consistency: people who commit to something are more willing to comply with requeststhat are consistent with that position. (This relates back to material discussed in Lecture #10: foot-in-door, lowballing, and bait-and-switch.) Voluntary commitments made in public that take effort are stronger than those not made in public/not voluntary/are effortless.d. Other forms of Compliance:a. Social Validation: people are more likely to comply when they feel like others aredoing the same thing.b. Liking: people are more willing to comply when they are liked or doing something a friend wants.c. Authority: people are more willing to comply with the suggestions of a legitimateauthority figure (i.e. doctor’s