"A minority of one": conformità alle norme di gruppo
English
Teilen
Übersicht
Fonte: William Brady & Jay Van Bavel—New York University
È ovvio che siamo influenzati da coloro che ci circondano, ma all’inizio della metà del 1900, gli psicologi hanno iniziato a studiare quanto possa essere potente l’influenza sociale sui nostri pensieri e comportamenti. Motivato in parte dai tentativi di spiegare i comportamenti dei soldati nazisti nella seconda guerra mondiale, un argomento di notevole interesse all’epoca in psicologia era la conformità, il fenomeno in cui le persone abbinano i loro atteggiamenti, comportamenti o credenze alle norme di gruppo.
Mentre la psicologia comportamentista spiegava la conformità in termini di semplice apprendimento per rinforzo(ad esempio,è gratificante seguire il gruppo), gli psicologi della Gestalt sostenevano che la conformità è il risultato della percezione determinata tanto dal nostro mondo sociale quanto dal mondo fisico. A partire dal 1951, Solomon Asch condusse una serie di esperimenti per testare l’idea della Gestalt che le norme di gruppo possono influenzare la nostra percezione del mondo, anche quando la norma di gruppo è errata in un giudizio di qualcosa che può essere misurato oggettivamente. Gli esperimenti hanno coinvolto i partecipanti che hanno fatto un giudizio su quale delle tre linee di confronto corrispondeva alla lunghezza di una linea standard. Gli esperimenti consistevano in un gruppo di persone che erano confederate con l’eccezione di un partecipante, e su certi giudizi i confederati affermavano intenzionalmente che la linea di confronto sbagliata corrispondeva allo standard. Ciò ha permesso allo sperimentatore di misurare se il partecipante si sarebbe conforma al giudizio di maggioranza oggettivamente errato. Gli esperimenti di Salomone non solo hanno dimostrato il potere delle norme di gruppo sul comportamento, ma hanno anche gettato le basi per decenni di ricerca psicologica sociale che studia l’influenza sociale.
Ispirato ad Asch, questo video dimostra come progettare un compito per testare il potere di conformità sui giudizi. 1
Grundsätze
Verfahren
Ergebnisse
The results showed that there were more participant errors made per critical trial in the experimental group than in participants in the control group (Figure 1). The mean amount of errors per critical trial was 4.41 in the experimental group but only 0.08 in the control group. Put another way, 36.8% of all participant judgments were distorted (in line with the majority error) in the experimental condition, whereas less than 1% of judgment were incorrect in the control condition. However, the results also showed large individual differences, such that there was a large range of reaction to an incorrect majority. Some participants (~25%) never yielded to the majority, some almost always yielded (~25%), and 50% of participants yielded on at least some trials.
Figure 1: Correct estimates made on critical trials, comparing control and experimental groups. The experimental group had a lower number of correct estimates consistently throughout the experiment. Participants' estimates were skewed because they followed the majority opinion of confederates that purposely made an incorrect estimate.
Applications and Summary
Results of the Asch conformity study showed that a majority of participants will conform to group norms at least sometimes, even when the group norm is at odds with something a person knows to be untrue. Even though participants could ostensibly tell that the majority was incorrect on the critical trials, participants either second-guessed themselves or simply followed what the majority said. These data provided a springboard for future research (much of which was conducted by Asch himself later) looking to identify the boundary conditions of conformity to group norms.
These results have considerable implications for areas such as politics, marketing, and education. Showcasing the considerable power of conformity in part explained, along with later research on obedience, why people may perform actions they normally would not personally condone in extreme circumstances such as times of war. In these cases, such as with German soldiers in World War II, there may be immense social pressure from group norms established by one political or military organization on individuals to follow their behaviors. Part of human nature may simply be to “go with the grain” and cooperate with the established behaviors and values of the group or culture we happen to be in.
In terms of marketing, these results showcase the power of making one’s product that normative item for a particular usage. This research suggests that if individuals perceive that “everyone” is using their product, people are likely to buy the product simply because they feel pressure to fit into the norm. Once a company or brand establishes initial momentum and gains a large enough user base, the popularity of the product should begin to grow even larger as people follow what is trending. Companies could use this knowledge to try and create advertisement campaigns that imply their product is the most popular among other competing products.
In terms of education, these results help shed light on the phenomenon of peer pressure by showing that it is a very powerful urge that children have. Instead of singling out problematic children and trying to punish their behavior, educators could try to enforce the idea that the majority of children as behaving in a way differently than the child. This could make the group norm more salient, and potentially help the problematic child fall into the normative behavior. The research also suggests that making an effort to set up an environment in which achievement (rather than failure) appears to be normative could put more pressure on children to try to achieve.
Referenzen
- Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70, 1-70.
Transkript
Individuals are undoubtedly shaped by others, and researchers can examine how social influences—whether unconscious or overt—affect thoughts and behaviors.
Take for instance, a busy street intersection. Someone wanting to cross safely will wait for the correct symbol. However, when joined by a group of others—who seem to be in a hurry and start walking when they’re not supposed to—that same person follows suit, even though they know better than to risk being hit.
This phenomenon in which people match their behaviors to group norms is referred to as conformity.
Inspired by the work of Solomon Asch, this video demonstrates how to design and execute an experiment to test conformity when the group norm is incorrect in a judgment of something that can be measured objectively, like reporting the lengths of lines.
In this experiment, participants are assigned to either control or experimental conditions, placed into a group setting, and shown different lines. They are asked to report which of three comparison lines matches the length of a standard one.
The trick is that the experimental group is comprised of only one true participant, with the rest being confederates—hired actors. During the first few noncritical trials, the confederates provide correct answers before switching and purposely claiming that the wrong comparison line matches the standard one.
These latter trials are considered critical, and as a result, are used to measure whether the participant would conform to the objectively incorrect majority judgment.
In contrast, the control participants record their responses privately—on a sheet of paper—rather than directing them verbally to the group. The dependent variable is then calculated as the number of errors made across all trials.
Due to the power of conformity, it is expected that the participants in the experimental group will make more errors compared to the controls as a result of them following the majority of responses, even though they were clearly incorrect.
Prior to the experiment, conduct a power analysis to recruit a significant number of participants for control and experimental groups.
In addition, enlist several confederates—individuals who, unknowingly to the rest of the participants, will be trained in what to say as the majority opinion during the session. Instruct them to make correct judgments on six of the 18 trials and incorrect ones on the other 12. Further inform them that they should remain impersonal and not look at the participant after stating their decisions.
Before proceeding, verify that the stimuli were created: There should be a single line on the left, and three comparison lines on the right—all spaced out from one another. Make sure that they are of varying lengths with one matching the original individual mark.
Then, in the testing room, go ahead and arrange the confederates in two rows. Leave an open spot for the participant in the second row, 2nd seat from the left.
To begin the experiment, greet each participant outside of the testing room. After seating them in the empty chair, obtain informed consent: explain the cover story—the task is about visual discrimination—the rules to follow, and what the overall goals of the procedure are.
Moving left to right, start with the confederates in the first row to call out the line that they think matches.
Record their responses for every trial, and remain indifferent by showing no reaction to their answers, even on the critical trials. Continue this process for all 18 trials without a break.
Note that the type of errors made by the confederates should vary from trial to trial, such that some are moderate—the incorrect line chosen is the second closest to the standard—and others are more extreme, in which the majority chooses the one furthest from it.
For participants in the control group, present the same stimuli, but rather than asking for any answers out loud, instruct everyone to privately record their answers on a sheet of paper. In this case, all individuals serve as controls, not confederates. After the last trial, gather the pages for subsequent data analysis.
To conclude the experiment, debrief all participants and explain why deception was necessary in this case.
To visualize the results, convert the responses recorded to percent correct and plot the critical trials across groups. Notice that participants in the control condition made very few errors, and their averages were near 100% across all trials. In contrast, participants in the experimental group made significantly more errors.
Despite the majority of distorted judgments, the results also showed large individual differences, such that there was a large range of reactions to an incorrect majority. One quarter of participants either never yielded to the majority or almost always did, whereas half followed on at least some trials.
Thus, the results showed that a majority of participants will conform to group norms, even when it—s at odds with something a person knows to be untrue.
Now that you are familiar with the power of conformity, let—s look at how researchers use similar paradigms to study its developmental emergence, the implications for marketing, and finally, the neurobiological correlates.
Children as young as 4 years of age were tested in a modified version using animal images as the comparative objects. Just like adults, they responded to match the majority opinion, and interestingly, the effect was more pronounced in girls compared to boys. Such findings suggest that even preschool-aged children are subject to peer pressure and conformist tendencies.
Businesses apply the concept to make particular products and services the normative of usage. For instance, power companies interested in energy-savings can reverse consumption by sending consumers notices that they are using more power than their neighbors.
Likewise, if individuals perceive that everyone is using a product, like the newest cell phone, people are likely to buy it simply because they feel pressure to fit into the norm. Corporations use this trending knowledge to create advertisements that imply their product is the most popular among other competing items.
Lastly, the underlying neurobiology of social conformity has been investigated. Researchers combined the behavioral paradigm to induce the manipulation while individuals were being scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging. They found that the amygdala displayed heightened activity specific to the induction of conformity, which makes sense given its known role in social processing, and provides an anatomical basis for future exploitation.
You—ve just watched JoVE—s video on conformity to group norms. Now you should have a good understanding of how to design and conduct this social psychology experiment using confederates, how to analyze and interpret the results, as well as how the concepts are applied in research and even marketing strategies.
Thanks for watching!