CHAPTER 7
Conformity
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: GUIDELINES FOR STUDY
You should be able to do each of the following by the conclusion of Chapter 7.
1. Explain the process and purposes of mimicry. Discuss the implications of mimicry for questions concerning the automaticity of social influence. (pp. 222-224)
2. Define, compare, and contrast conformity, compliance, and obedience. (pp. 224-226)
3. Compare normative and informational influence. Explain each in the context of Sherif’s and Asch’s studies, and in relation to public and private conformity. (pp. 226-229)
4. Discuss the relationship between research on ostracism and the concept of conformity. (pp. 226-229)
5. Identify and explain each of the factors that have been shown to predict levels of conformity, including group size, awareness of norms, having an ally, age, and gender. Explain the relationship between culture and conformity. (pp. 229-236)
6. Differentiate between majority and minority influence. Explain how to account for the effects of minority influence, and how majorities and minorities exert pressure to affect people’s behavior. (pp. 229-236)
7. Describe the ways in which the discourse of making requests affects compliance with reference to mindlessness. Explain the role of the norm of reciprocity in such efforts to elicit compliance. (pp. 236-238)
8. Define and explain the sequential request strategies known as the foot-in-the-door technique, low-balling, the door-in-the-face technique, and the that’s-not-all technique. Explain why each works. Address strategies for resisting these strategies. (pp. 238-242)
9. Describe the procedures used in Milgram’s research on obedience to authority. Compare the predictions made about how participants would behave to what actually happened. Summarize how each of the following predicted levels of obedience in the study: participant characteristics (e.g., gender, personality), authority figure characteristics (e.g., prestige, presence), and proximity of victim. (pp. 243-248)
10. Consider the applicability of the Milgram findings to real-world events such as the Holocaust. (pp. 248-249)
11. Compare the findings of Milgram to more recent studies of obedience by Meeus and Raaijmakers (1995) and Gamson et al. (1982). Explain the similarities and differences in the procedures and findings of these studies compared to those of the Milgram study. (pp. 249-250)
12. Summarize social impact theory. Identify the factors that influence a source’s strength, immediacy, and number, and the aspects of the target that facilitate resistance. Explain the relevance of this theory to conformity, compliance, and obedience. (pp. 250-253)