This activity explores the issue of social influence – how the behavior of other people affects your behavior.
Social Influence
What is conformity?
Explaining Sherif’s Results
Why did Sherif’s participants change their estimates when they had to call out their answers in the presence of other people?
Explaining Asch’s Results
Why did Asch’s real participants deny the evidence of their eyes and report the obviously incorrect answer chosen by the other group members?
Motives for Conformity
Explain the difference between the two main motives for conformity: informational social influence and normative social influence.
Group Size and Conformity
What do you think happened in the “Gawker’s” study? Can you predict the results?
Resisting Social Influence
What is reactance?