1. Module 75

2. I. Social Contagion
Behavior is contagious. We take on the characteristics and actions of the people around us. We also mimic emotional states.
This imitation allows us to empathize with those around us. We also feel more connected to those people that are acting or speaking in the same way as us.
This again can be a positive or negative. People will copy beneficial behavior just as much as detrimental behavior.

3. II. Conformity and Social Norms
Conformity is adjusting our behavior or thinking to match what the group standard is.
We are more likely to conform when we think we will be singled out if we don’t, or if everyone else agrees. Cultural standards also affect our desire to conform.
We respond to normative social influence in order to be approved or to avoid disapproval. We have a need to belong.

4. II. Conformity and Social Norms
When we are able to accept others’ opinions about reality, we are responding to informational social influence. We see this everyday with Yelp and other rating sites. We take their opinion as fact and base our actions on what they have stated.

5. III. Obedience
Stanley Milgram did an experiment where subjects were to give a lesson to a student and then test the student. If the student gave the wrong answer they were shocked with electricity, starting at 15 volts and going up to 450 volts.
As the voltage went up, the student started to cry out in pain. 60% of the teachers went all the way up to 450 volts.

6. III. Obedience
Milgram found that obedience is most likely when one of four main factors is present:
The person giving the orders was close at hand and was viewed as a legitimate authority.
The authority figure was supported by powerful or prestigious institution.
The victim was depersonalized or at a distance.
There were no role models for defiance.
This is directly connected to the Holocaust, but is not the sole cause for people to participate in it.

7. III. Obedience
These experiments bring up the question of what do I do when my standards conflict with what others expect of me?
The foot in the door method is very powerful to get people to do something they normally would refuse to do. Small steps can lead to abandoning beliefs.
But individuals can affect the whole, just as the whole affects the individual. When the minority holds its position with conviction, that can create change in the majority.

8. In your notebooks
What personal qualities and situations may make a person more likely to act according to their conscience? Half-page answer.