Bending to the Group
Humans are exquisitely sensitive to social influence. Two classic experiments reveal its staggering power.
Conformity is adjusting one's behavior or thinking to match a group standard. In Solomon Asch's line-judgment studies, participants gave an obviously wrong answer because confederates did so first.
Conformity is driven by two distinct motives:
| Motive | Description | Why it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Normative influence | Peer pressure | To be liked and accepted |
| Informational influence | Social proof | Assuming the group knows more |
Common pitfall: Confusing conformity with obedience. Conformity means yielding to peers (group standards), while obedience means following direct orders from an authority.
The Power of Authority
Obedience is complying with the direct command of an authority figure. In Stanley Milgram's experiments, ordinary participants delivered what they believed were lethal electric shocks simply because an experimenter in a lab coat ordered them to.
Milgram found that compliance scales directly with the power of the figure:
Obedience rose when the authority was close and legitimate, and fell when the victim was near or the authority was distant. Milgram studied obedience to authority, not conformity to a group.