1. PSY 321 Social Influence: Compliance, Conformity, & Obedience Dr
PSY 321 Social Influence: Compliance, Conformity, & Obedience Dr. Sanchez

2. Today’s Outline Compliance Conformity Majority vs. Minority Influence
Techniques and Experiments
Conformity
Majority vs. Minority Influence
Obedience

3. Compliance
Changes in behavior that are elicited by _______________.

4. The Language of Requests
Talking fast and catching people off guard can improve compliance rates.
People can be disarmed by the simple ______________.
How you ask for something can be more important than what you ask for.
Langer: We often respond _______________ ________ without fully processing the information they are supposed to convey.

5. The language of requests: Experiment Langer et al., 1978
IV: Request did or did not include a reason
“I have five copies. May I use the Xerox machine?”
“I have five copies. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”
“I have five copies. May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”

6. Langer et al. (1978)

7. Breaking the Mindless Routine (Santos et al. 1994)

8. ________________________
The powerful norm of ________________ dictates that we treat others as they have treated us.
This norm leads us to feel obligated to repay for acts of kindness, even when unsolicited.
Example: writing “thank you” on back of check increases tip
Coca-Cola study
Results are relatively short-lived.

9. Sequential Request Strategies: Foot-in-the-Door Technique
Person begins with a _______ request; secures agreement; then makes a separate ______ request.
Why is it effective?
________________

10. Foot-in-the-Door: Experiment Freedman & Fraser, 1966
IV: Small request first, or not
Initial request (small):
By phone, asked women to complete short survey on household products
Intrusive request (big):
3 days later, asked women to allow a few men into the house for 2 hours to rummage through drawers

11. Freedman & Fraser (1966)

12. Sequential Request Strategies: Low-Balling
Person secures agreement with a request and then increases the size of that request by ____________________.
Why is it effective?
_________________________

13. Low-balling: Experiment Cialdini et al., 1978
Asked intro psych students to participate in experiment
IV: low-balling or upfront
half were told in advance that it would start at 7am;
half were told after agreeing that it would start at 7am

14. Cialdini et al. (1978)

15. Sequential Request Strategies: Door-in-the-Face Technique
Person begins with a ___________________; then follows that up with a more moderate request.
Why is it effective?
___________________

16. Door-in-the-Face Technique: Experiment Cialdini et al., 1975
IV: Large request first?
Asked students to volunteer for 2 hrs/week for 2 yrs to work with juvenile delinquents
Or no large request first
Followed by smaller request: Will you escort juvenile delinquents to zoo?

17. Cialdini et al. (1975)

18. Sequential Request Strategies: That’s Not All, Folks!
Person begins with a somewhat inflated request; then immediately decreases the apparent size of the request by offering a discount or bonus.
Why?
_________________________

19. That’s-Not-All Technique: Experiment Burger, 1986
IV: Did the deal get “sweeter”?
½ of Ps told cupcakes cost 75 cents
½ of Ps first told cupcakes cost $1, then told the price would be reduced to 75 cents

20. Burger (1986)

21. Sequential Request Strategies

22. Assertiveness: When People Say No
To be able to resist the trap of compliance techniques, one must:
Be vigilant.
Not feel indebted by _______________.
Compliance techniques work smoothly only if they are hidden from view.

23. Conformity
Tendency to change perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are ___________________________.

24. The Chameleon Effect

25. Conformity: Autokinetic Phenomenon
Sherif (1935, 1937)
Study of “norm formation”
Dark room, pinpoint of light appears 15 feet in front of you
Asked, “How far did light move?”
First time, you’re alone
Subsequent times, you’re with others (this is the IV)

26. A Classic Case of Suggestibility

27. Conformity: Asch Line-Matching
P surrounded by 6 confederates
Asked to judge length of a line
IV: Confederates give correct or incorrect answer

28. Line Judgment Task Used in Asch’s Conformity Studies

29. What Did Asch’s Participants Do?
Participants went along with the clearly incorrect majority _____ of the time.
_____ of the participants NEVER conformed.
Of the conformists, _____ conformed for at least half of the critical presentations.
The rest conformed on an ____________basis.

30. Sherif’s vs. Asch’s Studies
Sherif: Because of _____________, participants turned to each other for guidance.
Asch: Found self in ____________ position.
Obvious that group was wrong

31. Why Do People Conform?
Influence: People conform because they believe others are correct in their judgments
Sherif autokinetic effect
2 heads better than one?
Implications for eyewitness testimonies

32. Why Do People Conform?
__________ Influence: People conform because they fear the consequences of appearing deviant.
Asch line-matching
Effects of Ostracism
Cyberball
“Minority Slowness Effect”

33. Types of Conformity
________ Conformity: Changes in both overt behavior and beliefs.
Sherif autokinetic effect
Enduring conformity
______Conformity: Superficial change in overt behavior only.
Asch line-matching
If wrote answers privately, effect went away

34. Distinguishing Types of Conformity
From Robert Baron et al., (1996) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, Copyright (c) 1996 by the American Psychological Association. Adapted with permission.

35. Model of the Types of Conformity

36. Majority Influence: Group Size
Conformity increases with __________ -- but only up to a point.
Why?
Law of “__________________”?
Perception that others are either in “collusion” or “spineless sheep”?

37. Majority Influence: Awareness of Norms
Conform only when know about and focus on __________.
Often misperceive what is normative.
Pluralistic ignorance
1) members of a group who think that they have different perceptions, beliefs, or attitudes from the rest of the group
2) adjust their attitude

38. Majority Influence: Having an Ally in Dissent
When there was an ally in Asch’s study, conformity dropped by almost ______
Why does having an ally reduce majority influence on our behavior?
EVEN AN INCORRECT ALLY OR AN ALLY WITH POOR VISION SKILLS REDUCED CONFORMITY

39. Majority Influence and Gender Differences***
IV: Masculine, Feminine, or Stereotype Neutral Q’s
DV: Percent agreeing w/majority response
Results?
Men conformed more to feminine qs
Women conformed more to masculine qs
No difference on neutral items

40. Majority Influence and Gender Differences
Conceptual IV: Social Pressure
IV: Public v. Private
DV: Percent agreeing w/majority response
Results?
______________________________
Why?

41. Majority Influence and Gender Differences
Sex differences appear to depend on:
___________________________
___________________________.

42. Majority Influence and Culture
Cultures differ in the extent to which people adhere to social norms.
What determines whether a culture becomes individualistic or collectivistic?
The__________ of the society.
The __________of the society.
The __________ of the society.

43. Individualistic / CollectivisticUS
Australia
Great Britain
Canada
Netherlands
Asia
Africa
South America

44. Minority Influence Def. Process by which ____________________
Moscovici: Nonconformists derive power from the ________ of their behavior.
“Consistent dissent” approach
“The color study”
Why?
Limitation = “Us” not “Them”
Repetition draws attention from mainstream
Unrelentless, unwilling to bend, gives pressure
Self-confidence makes point valid

45. Minority Influence
Hollander: Minorities influence by first ____________________ credits.
“First conform, then dissent” strategy.
Why?

46. How Does Minority Influence Work?
Does minority influence work just like the process of conformity?
Dual Process Approach
Because of their power and control, majorities elicit public conformity through _____________________________.
Because seen as seriously committed to their views, minorities produce ________________________________.

47. Majority vs. Minority Influence
Relative impact of each depends on whether the judgment that is being made is ___________________
Fact = Majority Rules
Opinion = Minority & Majority influence
The relative effects of majority and minority viewpoints depend on _____________________
Direct, public measures vs. more indirect, private measures of conformity.
Benefits of minority influence

48. Obedience
Behavior change produced by ____________________ of authority
Remember:
Compliance is a behavior change elicited by a direct request
Conformity is a change of perceptions, opinions, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms

49. The Continuum of Social Influence

50. Milgram’s Research: Forces of Destructive Obedience
Conducted his experiments during the time that Adolph Eichmann was being tried for Nazi war crimes.
Symbols of authority
His unorthodox methods have been the subject of much ethical debate.

51. The Prods Used in Milgram’s Experiment
“Please continue (or please go on).”
“The experiment requires that you continue.”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue.”
“You have no other choice; you must go on.”

53. Milgram’s Baseline Results

54. The Obedient Participant
No gender differences observed in level of obedience.
Milgram’s basic findings have been replicated in several different countries and among different age groups.
Milgram’s participants were tormented by experience.

55. Are We All Nazis? No, an individual’s character can make a difference.
Authoritarian Personality: Submissive toward figures of authority but aggressive toward subordinates.

56. Factors That Influence Obedience

57. Important Factors That Influence Obedience
_____________________________ of the authority figure.
The victim’s _______________.
The experimental procedure.
Participants were led to feel relieved of personal responsibility for the victim’s welfare.
Gradual escalation was used.

58. Defiance: When People Rebel
Social influence can also breed rebellion and defiance.
Having allies gives individuals the courage to disobey.