Social Cognition and Obedience

Conformity is the tendency to change one's own behavior or beliefs in order to match those of a group or majority.

The Milgram Experiment was a series of experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, which demonstrated the willingness of ordinary people to obey authority figures, even when the orders given were morally questionable.

In the Milgram Experiment, 65% of participants were willing to deliver the highest level of shock to a learner, even though they believed it could cause serious harm.

Authoritarianism is the tendency to obey authority figures without question, regardless of the morality or legitimacy of their orders.

All of the above factors can increase obedience to authority. The legitimacy of the authority figure, the proximity to the authority figure, and group pressure can all make it more likely that people will obey orders, even if they are morally questionable.

Conformity is the tendency to change one's own behavior or beliefs in order to match those of a group or majority.

The Asch Conformity Experiment was a series of experiments conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s, which demonstrated the power of conformity. In the experiment, participants were asked to judge the length of a line, and the majority of participants conformed to the incorrect judgments of the other participants.

In the Asch Conformity Experiment, 35% of participants conformed to the incorrect judgments of the majority.

Groupthink is the tendency to think and act in a way that is consistent with the norms and values of a group, even if it means suppressing individual dissent or critical thinking.

All of the above factors can contribute to groupthink. Strong group cohesion, isolation from outside influences, and high levels of stress can all make it more likely that group members will suppress individual dissent and critical thinking.

Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute one's own successes to internal factors (such as ability or effort) and one's own failures to external factors (such as bad luck or unfair circumstances).

All of the above are examples of self-serving bias. In each case, the person is attributing their success to internal factors and their failure to external factors.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms one's existing beliefs and to avoid information that challenges them.

This is an example of confirmation bias because the person is only seeking out information that confirms their existing belief in climate change.

Illusion of control is the tendency to believe that one has more control over events than one actually does.

This is an example of illusion of control because the person believes that they have control over an event (the weather) that they actually have no control over.