Conformity

Compliance with rules, standards, and/or laws

          - Prisoners suffered real nervous breakdowns, yet guards did not believe their behaviour would seriously affect them

Respect for Authority

Never address the entire crowd for help. People in crowds are far less likely to assist you if none of their counterparts are doing the same. They may assume someone else has or will assist you, and rationalize that they should stay out of others’ business

In July of 1961, the social psychologist Stanley Milgram undertook a controversial new project to research conformity. He discovered that 2/3 of subjects he tested might even go so far as risk the life of another human being, if being instructed by an authority figure. Interestingly, the subjects in these experiments never see the face of the person they are supposedly shocking. They are also instructed by someone in a lab coat (a universal symbol of authority).

This portion of the Asch Experiments is extremely interesting, as it proves that the fear of being judged is one of the strongest factors in conformity, rather than simply wanting to be one of the group overall. The individual dreads negative attention, and therefore only dares to contradict the group and think independently when they know that their counterparts will not be aware of it (in this case, it is exhibited by the subject giving more accurate answers when writing them down, rather than when saying them aloud for all to hear).

This video, one of the Asch Experiments, is initially amusing. However, the implications are deeply relevant to the majority of society. Who, ever, has not felt the desire to fit in? The subject of these experiments is very much a representation of the average person. The question remains, how far will the individual go to conform?