Ch.9 Social Influence (cont)
About - percent of the participants were willing to deliver the maximum shock of - volts. Upon being made aware that the stranger was suffering as a result of the shocks, - of the participants called it to the attention of the experimenter.
63, 450, nearly all
Which of the following accurately describe the behavior of the participants in Milgram's obedience experiment and which do not?
Accurate Description(s) Most were obedient to the experimenter's orders. Most displayed ineffective and indecisive disobedience. Many stated explicitly that they refused to continue, and some even got out of their chairs in defiance. Inaccurate: They engaged in blind obedience.
Identify the true and false statements about informational social influence.
True Statement(s) It is based on the belief that the opinions and actions of others are generally reliable. It is more likely to occur when we are in unfamiliar surroundings than familiar ones. False: It is generally used to explain the behavior of the participants in Asch's well-known conformity experiment. It is more likely to occur when we feel well-grounded in the facts.
Identify the true and false statements about the foot-in-the-door technique.
True Statement(s) It works on the idea that human behavior is subject to momentum. It involves making a small initial request with which almost everyone will comply, followed by a larger request involving the actual behavior of interest. It is rooted in the idea that subtly changing a person's self-image will make that person more likely to comply. False: It falls under norm-based reasoning. It involves preceding a request with a small gift, thereby creating an uninvited debt that the recipient is obliged to repay.
Automatic mimicry is the tendency to - mimic the actions of those around us, such as their posture and mannerisms. One reason we mimic, known as the principle of -, is that merely thinking about a behavior makes people likely to perform it. The second reason is to prepare for interactions with others, since they tend to go more smoothly when some kind of - has been established.
Automatic mimicry is the tendency to reflexively mimic the actions of those around us, such as their posture and mannerisms. One reason we mimic, known as the principle of idiomatic action, is that merely thinking about a behavior makes people likely to perform it. The second reason is to prepare for interactions with others, since they tend to go more smoothly when some kind of rapport has been established.
dentify the true and false statements about how negative moods affect compliance requests.
true: People sometimes comply with requests in order to reduce negative feelings and feel better about themselves. Certain types of negative moods lead to increased compliance, and others lead to decreased compliance. false: People who feel guilty don't comply with requests. Compliance requests directed at people in negative moods invariably lead to rejection of the request.
Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University got permission to replicate part of Milgram's 1960s experiments in 2009. Which of the following statements accurately describe Burger's findings and which do not?
Accurate Description(s) In Burger's study, women were equally likely as men to continue to administer higher levels of shock to the learners after the crucial point had been reached. As a precaution, before participating in Burger's experiments, participants were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and given other psychological evaluations. Not accurate: Burger's repeat of the voice-feedback version of Milgram's experiment found that the results were significantly different from Milgram's results. A smaller percentage of the participants examined today, compared to the percentage in Milgram's 1960 study, were willing to administer the next level of shock.
Which of the following accurately describe what happened in Milgram's follow-up studies to his original obedience experiment in which he made the participant more aware of the learner's suffering by "tuning in" the learner?
Accurate: The more aware the participants were made of the suffering of the learner, the more difficult they found it to deliver the shocks. Participants attempted to counter Milgram's efforts to make them more aware of the learner's suffering by literally turning away from him. Not: Despite being made more aware of the learner's suffering and finding it more difficult to continue, the participants' actual obedience rate did not change. The participants behaved exactly the same in these experiments as they did in the original experiment.
Which of the following are examples of emotion-based techniques being used to increase compliance and which are not?
Example(s) Bryan feels guilty about playing golf when he promised to clean out the garage, so he agrees when his wife asks him to pick up groceries on the way home. Alessandra agrees to clean her room because her mom asks her when she is in a good mood. Vera agrees to set up a scholarship fund at a school because she wants to feel better about who she is. Not: Kiko agrees to buy a new car after the salesman gives him free coffee and lets him take it for a test drive. Sasha drinks alcohol because he believes all other students are drinking alcohol.
Conformity is a key aspect of research conducted by Michele Gelfand and colleagues about the "tightness" and "looseness" of various cultures. Which of the following were findings of this research and which were not?
Finding(s) "Tight" nations have stronger norms for how people should behave and are less tolerant of departure from those norms than "loose" nations. People living in "tight" nations tend to disapprove more of those who violate their social norms. Ecological constraints might lead a country to be more "tight." not: Every nation tends to be "tight" in some ways but "loose" in others.
The participants in Milgram's original obedience experiment were caught in a conflict between two sets of compelling forces. Which of the following were some of the forces that compelled them to want to terminate the experiment and which were not?
Force(s) the fear of personal repercussions if those receiving the shocks were injured or died the reluctance to hurt someone the moral imperative to stop the suffering of those they thought were being shocked the fear of embarrassment or retaliation if they encountered those who received the shocks after the experiment Not: the receipt of payment to inflict pain
In spite of the powerful pressures of -, sometimes minority influence can be considerable. This primarily occurs through - social influence and occurs especially when the minority expresses views -.
In spite of the powerful pressures of conformity, sometimes minority influence can be considerable. This primarily occurs through informational social influence and occurs especially when the minority expresses views consistently.
Our construal of a situation plays an important part in how we respond to the situation. Identify the situations in which we would be less likely to conform and those in which we would be more likely to conform.
Less Likely to Conform: if we knew the other participants well if we thought the other participants were visually impaired if we thought the other participants were biased More likely: if we did not know the other participants and thought that the other participants were also strangers to one another if we didn't know the correct answer confidently
Reactance theory is the idea that when people believe their freedoms are threatened, they experience an unpleasant state of arousal that leads them to reassert their right to resist compliance. Once people are motivated to resist compliance, which of the following factors tend to increase their ability to resist and which do not?
Likely to Increase Ability to Resist: being experienced with resisting being allied with others avoiding a "slippery slope" Not likely: embracing the initial emotional response embracing emotion-based appeals
Identify the true and false statements about the positives and negatives of conformity.
True Statement(s) Evolutionary psychologists and anthropologists have argued that a tendency to conform is generally beneficial. In societies that elevate autonomy and uniqueness, "conformity" can be looked upon negatively. False: Acts of conformity rarely benefit us. Acts of conformity have either a positive or negative impact.
Identify the true and false statements about normative social influence.
True Statement(s) It exists because people tend to fear the social consequences of behaving differently from others. It occurs in situations where there is a clear conflict between an individual's judgment and that of the group. People tend to find its implications disturbing, particularly when compared to the implications of informational social influence. False: It occurs when a person's chief desire is to learn what is correct, proper, or effective.
Identify the true and false statements about the reciprocal concessions technique.
True Statement(s) It is an application of the norm of reciprocity. The pressure to respond to what is perceived as a concession is responsible for this technique's effectiveness. False: The reciprocal concessions technique also works when two requests are made by different individuals. It involves making a small initial request with which almost everyone will comply, followed by a larger request.
Identify the true and false statements about the influence of culture on conformity.
True Statement(s) People raised in interdependent cultures are likely to be more susceptible to normative social influence. People raised in interdependent cultures are likely to be more susceptible to informational social influence. The value placed on individualism by a society seems to play a role in the tendency for its members to conform or not conform. False: Research suggests that the tendency to conform is increasing in U.S. society.
Based on Milgram's experiments, identify the true and false statements about the physical remoteness of victims.
True Statement(s) The more removed victims are from others, the easier it is to hurt them. Emotional brakes on aggression are weakened dramatically as a result of being remote from the victims of that aggression. Remoteness of victims tends to make the harm done to them more abstract. False: Remoteness to victims makes it easier to question orders to inflict harm.
Identify the true and false statements about the impact of anonymity on social influence
True Statement(s) When anonymity is not possible, people sometimes publicly conform while privately dissenting. Our private acceptance of a position advanced by the majority occurs as a result of informational social influence. False: Conformity rates tend to be about the same whether people are anonymous or not. Anonymity eliminates informative social influence, and by doing so, drastically reduces conformity.
Identify the true and false statements about what happened in Milgram's follow-up studies to his original obedience experiment when he "tuned out" the experimenter.
True Statement(s) When the experimenter issued orders by telephone, rather than in person, it resulted in reduced participant obedience. When Milgram staged an argument among the experimental team that the participant witnessed, it resulted in reduced participant obedience. False: "Tuning out" the experimenter resulted in less participant obedience than in the original, but more obedience than when the learner was "tuned in." When the experimenter delegated his authority to an "ordinary person," it resulted in no change in participant obedience.
Identify the true and false statements about gender and conformity.
True Statement(s) Women tend to conform more in stereotypically male domains (such as football). Men tend to conform more in stereotypically female domains (such as child rearing). False: Women are less likely to conform in face-to-face situations than men. Women conform far more than men.
The negative state relief hypothesis is related to --based methods of seeking compliance. It is the idea that people engage in certain actions—such as - a request—in order to relieve feelings such as - or sadness and to feel better about themselves.
emotion, agreeing to, guilt
A teacher has noticed that two boys in her fifth-grade class are bullying other students. Simon appears to be the leader and tells the other boy, Kim, what to do to bully the other students. The teacher suspects that Kim is obeying Simon's authority and that he doesn't really want to hurt the other kids. Identify each scenario as one that would either make Kim more or less likely to obey Simon's orders.
less likely: Simon gives the orders to Kim over the phone rather than in person. Another boy who is friends with Simon and Kim tells Simon that bullying is wrong while Kim is present. Simon isn't there to see his orders carried out. More likely: Simon tells Kim he will be mad at him if he doesn't carry out his orders. Kim can use the Internet to bully other students rather than bullying them face-to-face.
Identify the true and false statements about the "norm of reciprocity."
true: Individuals who fail to adhere to it are generally subject to social sanctions. It might be the reason that businesses, alumni associations, solicitors, and others targeting individuals for patronage or money bestow small gifts to them. False: It exists in some societies, but not in others. Social psychologists classify it as a norm-based approach for achieving compliance.
Identify the true and false statements about the Milgram experiments (original obedience, tuning in, and tuning out) and how people feel they would have acted in the experiments as participants
true: Milgram's experiments do not cause others to empathize with the participants who delivered the shocks and consider that we might also behave in the same way. Practically no one believes that they would have continued, as participants, to deliver high levels of shock. false: Milgram's experiments explain why others might act in similar ways to the participants. Milgram's results were predicted beforehand and thus were not surprising to the scientific community.