Obedience and Conformity Essay - 508 Words

Obedience and Conformity Both obedience and conformity involve social pressure in obedience the pressure comes from behaving as you are instructed to do; whereas in conformity the pressure comes from group norms Behaviour in obedience is determined by social power, whereas in conformity it is influenced mostly by the need for acceptance. In nearly all societies, certain people are given power and authority over others. Our society, for example, parents, teachers, and managers are invested with various degrees of authority. Most of the time, this does not cause any problems. The issue of why some†¦show more content†¦Such people are most likely to be obedient (and most likely also to be prejudiced). Milgrams (1974) hypothesised if people were asked by a person in authority to do something that they think is wrong what would happen? To work out how far most people are willing to go in their obedience to authority. Milgram had participants give false electric shocks, to others. If they were unwilling to continue the person in authority would reply it is essential that you should continue and they continued, one participant carried on even when he thought he and killed the recipient. Behaviour such as this Milgram called The Agentic State. Hence, they cease to act according to their consciences. The attitude of those in this state is as follows: I am not responsible, I act as I do because I was ordered to do it! Unquestioning obedience to authority may have catastrophic consequences as history has shown us with Adolf Hitler in the Second World War. Adolf Hitler whos ethnocentrism and prejudice towards anyone or thing that was not of the superior German race had to be destroyed in the name of Nazism [totalitarianism]. After the war Adolf Eichmann, who was found guilty of having played a major role in ordering the deaths of millions of Jews, following a decade of persecution. Imprisonment, and genocide, such as those who had survived TheShow MoreRelatedConformity and Obedience1770 Words   |  8 PagesConformity and Obedience Assignment In this assignment I intend to evaluate Stanley Milgrams studies of obedience and in particular the ethical issues broken. I hope to determine whether the knowledge gained justifies his experiments. After the destruction and atrocities committed in World War II many historians argued that there must be some sort of character defect that made the German people more obedient. Mailgram’s study was an attempt to test ‘the Germans are different’ hypothesis. TheRead MoreHistory Of Obedience And Conformity1729 Words   |  7 PagesHistory of Obedience and Conformity With the utterance of â€Å"research in obedience,† Stanley Milgram is the epithet in social psychology. 56 years ago, Milgram tested the limits of a person s ability to commit deeds that would normally be directionally challenging to their moral compass when commanded to act by an authority figure. Just 15 years after the World War II Holocaust, the Milgram experiments was a social psychology response to a topic of â€Å"particular relevance† during that time (MilgramRead MoreConformity and Obedience Essay3326 Words   |  14 PagesConformity and Obedience Task: outline and evaluate findings from conformity and obedience research and consider explanations for conformity (and non-conformity), as well as evaluating Milgram’s studies of obedience (including ethical issues). 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Conformity is defined by psychologists as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Similar to this, is obedience. Obedience is defined acting in accordance with a direct order or command. Normally people conform to reap a reward or to avoid punishment. If we complyRead MoreConformity And Obedience Are Both Social Behaviors1935 Words   |  8 PagesConformity and obedience are both social behaviors that are influenced by those around us and determines our behavior in social situations. When we change our attitude or behavior based on those around us, we are conforming to their behavior. When we obey what we are told, by what we perceive to be an authority figure, we are being obedient. Conformity and obedience can have positive or negative results on our lives, dependin g on the situation and the individuals involved. Symbolic interactions areRead MoreAdaptive Social Behaviors, Conformity, Compliance And Obedience1369 Words   |  6 PagesAdaptive Social Behaviours Conformity, compliance and obedience are a set of adaptive social behaviours that one makes use of to get by in daily social activities. They are all some form of social influence, which causes a change in a particular person or group’s behaviour, attitude and/or feelings (Cialdini, 2000, 2006). Various forms of social influence have been used for a variety of reasons; sometimes to help individuals stray from harmful behaviour such as smoking; other times [not as altruisticRead MoreMajor Categories Of Social Influence : Conformity, Compliance, And Obedience2039 Words   |  9 PagesKatrina Venta PSY 226 Community College of Aurora March 11, 2016 Abstract There are three major categories of social influence: conformity, compliance, and obedience. Conformity is the change of behavior to be able to fit in and gain approval from other people. Compliance, on the other hand, is when a person changes their behavior in response to being asked directly. While obedience is a response to an authority figure directing an individual (Kenrick, Neuberg, Cialdini, 2010, p. 183). These social influencesRead MoreAsch s Conformity Experiment And Milgram s Obedience Experiment Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pagesexperiments; Asch s conformity experiment and Milgram s obedience experiment. The two experiments will be compared for validity and their ethics. In addition, this report will take into consideration Zimbardo s Stanford Prison experiment and the Lucifer Effect. To analyse how obedience and conformity theories can be used as an example of why good people can turn bad. This report will also look at how obedience and conformity can be applied to the c riminal justice system. Conformity Solomon Asch s