York U



October 16, 2017Reading considered today:Moghaddam Chapters 15, 16Chapter 15 – Conformity to Group NormsThe psychological study of social phenomena An individualistic approach to interpersonal interaction Sullivan, Vygotsky as alternatives to individualistic approachesCollaborative construction, ideal forms (M 156-157)Examples of Social Psychology issuesAttribution theoryTendency to attribute behaviour of others to personal factorsSocial learning theory (Skinner, Bandura, for example) Similarity attraction hypothesis (M 187-188) Evolutionary explanations Rewards and costs modelsAttitude formation and changeAttitude surveys (M 198-200) Cognitive dissonance as motive to change (Festinger)PrejudiceAttitudes toward others based solely on group membershipMoghaddam’s chapter on multicultural psychologyConformity and obedienceThe study of conformity and non-conformity Group pressure & authority Arbitrary norms, conventions Autokinetic effect, Asch's study (2:40), and groupthink BBC4 program on conformity studies (28:55)Costs of non-conformityMilgram’s New York subway research Collective representations (Durkheim) Moscovici's social representationsSystems of socially negotiated values, ideas, and practices The source of a group's power (majority and minority groups)Shared understandings of the world ThreatsAuthorityGoffman and total institutionsZimbardo prison simulation study HubrisReason (conversion vs. compliance)Chapter 16 – Obedience to authorityObedience Conformity in response to authorityThe value of obedienceThe Milgram studiesRelation to Asch’s conformity taskRelation to Milgram’s personal backgroundHow far will a person go in inflicting severe pain on a stranger when instructed to do so by an authority figure? A contemporary replication of Milgram's study ABC PrimeTime clip (5:49)The shock generatorContemporary critiques of Milgram’s workVoices of the participants (54 mins.)Soldiers involved in military torture Ian Nicholson’s “Torture at Yale”The impact of Milgram’s work *Personality traits vs strong situations Power of contextLimited degrees of freedomAttitudes vs strong situationsFocus on ethics in experimentationShift from laboratory to field studiesAre the Milgram and Zimbardo studies experiments?The Zimbardo prison study (role conformity) Group pressure and/or authority Guards - tough but fair, good and bad Traits and situations (power of context) Responsibility Watchdogs, civilian oversight Culture, belief, meaning systems, ritual Resistance to group pressure and authority Christina MaslachSources of resistance – experience, explicit philosophy Individuation, willingness to be different, disregard social influence* Benjamin, L., & Simpson, J. (2009). The Power of the situation: The impact of Milgram's obedience studies on personality and social psychology. American Psychologist, 64, 12-19.** Kwan, V. S. Y., Bond, H. C., Maslach, C., & Gan, Y. (2002). The construct of individuation: More complex in collectivist than in individualist cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 300-310.Americans generally regard individuation as a positive characteristic. All of the following actions are regarded as examples of positive forms of individuation.Give a lecture to a large audience. Raise your hand to ask a question in a meeting or lecture. Volunteer to head a committee for a group of people you do not know very well.Tell a person that you like him or her.Publicly challenge a speaker whose position clashes with your own.Accept a nomination to be a leader of a group. Present a personal opinion, on a controversial issue, to a group of strangers. When asked to introduce yourself, say something more personal about yourself than just your name and occupation.Give an informal talk in front of a small group of classmates or colleagues. Speak up about your ideas even though you are uncertain of whether you are correct.Perform on a stage before a large audience. Give your opinion on a controversial issue, even though no one has asked for it.Chinese, however, see two different kinds of individuation in this list. The first might be called “attention seeking” and viewed as negative, while the other might be called “taking the lead” and viewed as positive. The items in bold type in the list above are those that have a positive connotation for Chinese, while those in standard type are the ones with a negative connotation. Maslach and her colleagues write in their article, More specifically in the Chinese case, individuating behaviors may have either a positive connotation, as in the case of Gan Zuo Gan Wei, which refers to the responsible and courageous qualities of a leader to act and behave in an extraordinary way, or a negative connotation, as in the case of Chu Feng Tou, which refers to the inappropriateness of showing oneself off, and Hua Zhong Qu Chong, which refers to atypical behaviors that draw attention from the public. Individuation may thus mean either “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” or “the nail that stands out gets pounded down,” depending on the nature of the individuating behavior and the social context in which it is enacted. ................
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