Question

Others can and have had powerful influences on our thoughts and behavior.

Conformity is defined in the text as ...”adjusting our behavior or thinking toward

some group standard”. History demonstrates that people are capable of committing

egregious acts against others. Describe Milgrim’s famous study of

How powerful an influence do you think others are on behavior? What sorts of

behavior so you think people are more likely to engage in if others in their ”group”

are “doing it”? Can you recall an instance where you were influenced by others to

think or act in ways you won’t have otherwise?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. Also, I have not answered the last question as your teacher requires that you recall a time when you were influenced by others.

(Answer) Stanley Milgram was a psychologist who wanted to study what permitted World War 2 officials to commit acts of genocide. He, therefore, went to Nuremberg prison and questioned some of these officials. Most of them admitted having committed these acts as obedience to the authority of Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Before Milgram’s study, it was assumed that these war criminals were psychopaths to have inflicted pain on their victims. However, after the experiment, it was found that these mend committed those acts as a behaviour that was influenced by authority.

This is why it is said to have had a powerful influence. The prisoners were possibly individuals just like everyone else, except that their behaviour was heavily influenced or coerced by authority.

The kind of behaviour an individual is ready to succumb to if “their group is doing it”, will be dependent on the pressure they face, the inherent personality of the individual and the value of what they might lose if they don’t submit to group behaviour.

For instance, if a large mob forces one to do something as opposed to a group of 4, it is more likely that the person might succumb. Also, if a person is an anarchist and a non-conformist of sorts, they might never adhere to group behaviour unless their principles validate that behaviour. Thirdly, if they do not participate in the behaviour and the price to pay for not participating is big, like they might lose their job, it is likely that they might participate.

Therefore, there are several factors, most of which are personal, as to why an individual might be influenced by a group.