Obedience

• How can other people, groups, cultures and societies influence our behaviour?

  • Obedience
  • Self-fulfilling Prophecy
  • Compliance
  • Conformity
  • Crowd behaviour
• Crowd behaviour: the emotions of the individuals within the group spread (social contagion)
• Our culture can affect our response to individuals, groups or those who we believe have authority over us or our beliefs about perceived attractiveness
• Social Influence is when an individual's behaviour, attitudes and emotions are affected by those of others; the power of the social situation can be very influential; rejecting the demands of authority is called dissent
• Obedience: form of social influence that involves allowing oneself to be directed by real or imagined demands from someone perceived to have authority
• Conformity: we adopt the attitudes and behaviours of those around us without an order from an authority figure
• Compliance: going along with suggestions/instructions without a direct order
• Obedience studies examine why people follow abhorrent orders, gaining momentum after the Holocaust, My Lai massacre, and religious cults (destructive obedience)