Line Study. Credit: http://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html
In 1951, Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments with the intent of finding out how social pressure affects decision making and conformity in participants. He had 50 males participate in what they thought was a vision test. What the participants were not aware of was that Asch had confederates, or people acting as participants who were actually part of the experiment, in the room with them.
The task was simple: indicate which line was the longest of the three. The participant would answer last in the group. The confederates would answer first, and incorrectly on several trials. Interestingly enough, the participants went along with the obviously incorrect answer about 32% of the time. We can infer that this was due to the pressure and desire to be accepted by other group members, which we also call: conformity.
Original Study: Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In H. Guetzkow (ed.) Groups, leadership and men. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.
In the early 1960’s, Stanley Milgram conducted a study of obedience to authority figures that would eventually impact Social Psychology forever. He was particularly interested in how and why Nazi workers were willing to kill thousands of innocent people. This helped him create an experiment that looked at obedience to authority figures.
Milgram had 40 participants, all male, and ages that ranged from 20 to 50 years. The participants would be paired with another ‘participant’, who was actually a confederate that knew the purpose of the experiment. The confederate would always be the learner, and the participant would always be the teacher.
The learners job was to ‘memorize’ a list of word pairs. The learner was placed in a room separate from the teacher, and was strapped to a chair with electrodes (see picture). The teacher was placed in front of a switch board apparatus, which would administer shocks at different levels to the learner. The board had increasing voltage from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger-severe shock).
The teacher would list a word, and the learners objective was to answer with the words correct pairing. When the learner answered incorrectly, the teacher was ordered to give a shock, and increasing the amount of voltage each time. While the learner wasn’t actually feeling any shocks whatsoever, the teacher believed he was experiencing this pain. There was also an actor in the room with the teacher who was dressed as an experimenter in a lab coat, telling them that they must continue and that they have no choice but to continue.
The Results
Surprisingly, 2/3 of the participants continued to the highest shock, 450 volts. 100% of the participants continued to at least 300 volts.
These results suggest than when people are given orders, even when they believe it is causing someone else pain, they are likely to obey. This is true especially when the orders are coming from someone who they perceive as an authority figure.
Additional Resources
There were many different variations of this experiment conducted by Milgram. See below for some videos and helpful links/sources to learn more!
Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371-378.
What causes people to help those in need? Whether it is hearing gunshots, seeing an injured or ill individual on the streets, or simply extending a helping hand, what are the factors which dictate whether or not others will offer help? Researchers John Darley and Bibb Latane (1968) asked the same questions and created the bystander intervention model based on their findings.
When Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in the middle of a New York street with no law enforcement responding, it triggered research.
Why do bystanders not help those in need? According to Darley and Latane (1968), people responded to this question by saying they do not want to get involved, are fearful of physical harm, experience public embarrassment, or that someone else will do something to help the situation.
When there are other individuals around, there is a diffusion of responsibility. People assume that someone else has called 911 or assisted in some manner. When there is only one individual or a small group of people, they are able to discuss the situation to take action and help those in need. The responsibility to help is placed on the one individual or small group and they are more likely to take action.
The Study
In order to test and observe these hypotheses, Darley and Latane (1968) created an experimental study to observe how individuals respond in various situations.
Participants were placed in a “discussion group” about college life experiences which took place over an intercom system. During the discussion, another student in the group had a seizure, which was expressed through a recorded script. The researchers measured how quickly students responded to the situation by telling the experimenter. They tracked the number people through to be in the group and how that affected the response time.
The Results
The results of the study confirmed the above hypotheses in that 85% of those who thought they were the only ones who knew about the situation reported the seizure before the recording had stopped. However, 31% of those who thought someone else in the group would report still reported. When individuals were in a two-person study group, all of the participants reported the situation. When in the six-person discussion group, 62% of the participants reported the emergency.
Implications
These findings are consistent with the Kitty Genovese stabbing. When there are more people or a perceived greater number of people, one individual is less likely to assist as quickly or if at all compared to one individual approaching the situation.
Darley, J.M., & Latane, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377-383.
Dr. Burns conducts research on stereotypes, emotion, and self-regulation. She is very interested in working with students on research. She teaches Research Methods, Statistics, and Social Psychology.
Dr. Senzaki’s research interests lie at the crossroads of cultural, developmental, and social psychology. Her recent project examines the process of cultural transmission from parents to their children in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. She is looking forward to working with students in research assistantships.
Dr. Smith does research on gender, stigma, and relationships, and lesbian and gay issues. Current research interests include partner preferences, weight stigma and body image, and well-being among stigmatized groups. She teaches Research Methods, Social Psychology, and Psychology of Women.
Dr. Kate Burns
Dr. Sawa Senzaki
Dr. Christine Smith