social

• Milgram interview - 70 % believed it was real
• Cross cultural


  • Australia → only 16%
  • Germany → 85%
  • other factors are significant
• Agentic state


  • Actions on behalf of an authority figure
  • Agentic shift → from autonomous to agentic
  • Moral strain → mental discomfort where actions conflict with their morality
  • Binding factors → aspects allowing them to ignore the effect of their behaviour
• Legitimacy of authority


  • More legitimate = more likely to obey
  • Power + control that people accept as valid + obey
  • Factors: perceived knowledge, power + respect
  • Ranking → obey those higher
  • Accepted from childhood → social norms
  • Leads to destructive authority → misuse of authority
• • Milgram: Participants resisted giving shock
  • Experimenter took responsibility
  • Acted as an agent more easily → no personal responsibility
• Cultural differences explained


  • Germany → 85%
  • Australia → 16%
  • Different societal structure
• Milgram: Not 100%
• Dispositional factors → ↑ influence
• Motting: 21/22 nurses administered lethal doses
• • Rank: Nurses wouldn't give lethal dose
  • Told by authority figure
• Mandel: Men chose to shoot civilians → given options
• Authoritarian personality


  • More likely to obey → listen to authority
  • Adorno
  • F scale → measures
  • Strict parenting → effect on obedience
  • High scores → particular cognitive style
  • Conscious of status
  • Respect those of higher status
  • Black + whiting thinking
  • Stereotypes
  • Harsh parenting in childhood
  • Characteristics: obedience, respect, conventional stereotypes, view society as weak
• • Milgram: Used F scale
  • More obedient = ↑ score
  • Less close to father
  • Admired experimenter
• • F scale lacks validity
  • Extreme view
  • Political bias → tendency towards right wing
  • Not comprehensive → whole spectrum
• Germany: Millions obeyed → varying personalities. social identity theory
• • Social identity theory: Social behaviour leads to change in group behaviour
• Locus of control


  • Internal → control over life + actions
  • External → external forces have control
  • Spectrum
  • ↑ confidence if internal → resist pressures
  • More likely to resist → decisions based on beliefs
• Social support


  • People who are also resisting → don't have to agree
  • ↑ confidence
• • Asch: Dissenter → conformity ↓ to 5%
  • Breaks unanimity
• • Milgram Holland: ↑ internal → ↓ shocks
  • 37% didn't vs 23% internals
• • Gamson: In groups
  • ↑ resistance
  • 88% vs 35%
• • Meta analysis → Twenge: external increased
  • But resistance increased
• Milgram: 2 Dissentors - only 10% obedience
• • Allen + Levine: Conformity decreased with dissenter
  • Poor eyesight
• Moscovici - Consistency


  • 2 confederates
  • Blue/green square → ↑ investment + agreement
  • People rethink views
  • Control → 0.5% (only green)
  • Inconsistent → 1.25% (1213 times blue)
  • Consistent → 30% (at least once always blue)
  • Can lead to internalisation
• Moscovici - flexibility

  • Accepting of new ideas
  • Adaptable → allows for balance
• Moscovici → Commitment


  • Extreme activities → pay more attention (augmentation principle)
  • Snowball effect → gradually gain more attention
• • Martin: Deeper processing + commitment
  • More confidence in opinions
  • Less willing to change opinions if minority agreed
  • More persuasive
• • Wood: Consistency in meta analysis
  • Major factor
• • Nemeth: Flexibility
  • Jury: Refused to change view → no impact
  • Compromised → more influence
  • Only if late shift → situational has impact
• • Group size: Snowball effect
  • Xie - Tipping point is 10% → to change majority opinion
• Social cryptomnesia


  People know change occurred but not how
• • Nolan: Energy usage
  • Decrease when told others were decreasing
  • NSI → conformity
• Augmentation principle


  More committed = more likely to pay attention → suffering → taken seriously
• Snowball effect


  Gradual increase in people about issue
• Consistency


  ↓ to agree → message + intent
• Drawing attention


  • Social proof
  • Individuals
  • Societies adopt new attitudes
• Deeper processing


  • Conflict = people have to think
  • More deeper processing with majority → Mackie
  • People like to believe they're right
  • Others share our views
  • Forced to think → when majorities disagree
• • Schultz: Towel reuse
  • Effective for heavy users
  • Lower → increased
  • NSI → not reliable irl
• • Methodology → social influence research
  • Artificial tasks
  • decrease validity