Effects of group variance and advocated position on conformity1

A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test the influence of amount of group variance, direction of advocated shift, and judgmental instruction sets on conforming responses The hypothesis predicted an interaction where conformity was maximized, with less variance under empirical validation instructions and with more variance under social validation instructions Subjects were preselected for neutral opinions on three items, which were subsequently used as experimental items Social influence was induced by making the responses of four other subjects available on each trial These responses were dispersed with either greater or lesser amounts of variance and either agreed or disagreed with the statement Instructions indicating that expert evaluation was available provided empirical validation instructions, while alternate instructions indicating lack of standardized norms provided social validation instructions Subjects changed opinions significantly more when the group advocated agreement than when it advocated disagreement on the issue The major hypothesis was partially supported by the data Responses on a postexperimental item indicated preferences for less variance under empirical instructions sets but preference for greater variance under social instructions sets The conformity results suggested that the predicted interaction may occur only if the situational context is favorable, as when the group advocates agreement on an issue     

Approaches to chemical dependency: chemical dependency and interactive group therapy--a synthesis

Though the focus on interpersonal interaction is a powerful therapeutic factor in group therapy, traditional chemical dependency therapy groups generally fail to employ the interactional group orientation. An interactional approach can be effectively applied to alcoholics if the following guidelines are observed: (1) recovery is always accorded priority, (2) the patient accepts identification as an alcoholic, (3) anxiety is carefully modulated, (4) the proper distinction is made between what the alcoholic is and is not responsible for, (5) the therapist is thoroughly familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous language, steps, and traditions. It is important that therapists not permit misperceptions of A.A. to be used as therapy resistance and that they be able to harness the wisdom of A.A. for psychotherapeutic ends. Group therapists must also be prepared to deal with common themes arising in the treatment of the alcoholic patient: idealization, devaluation, externalization, defiance, grandiosity, conning, and avoidance.     

Memory conformity and the perceived accuracy of self versus other

Here, we demonstrate that the decision to conform to another person’s memory involves a strategic trade-off that balances the accuracy of one’s own memory against that of another person. We showed participants three household scenes, one for 30 s, one for 60 s, and one for 120 s. Half were told that they would encode each scene for half as long as their virtual partner, and half were told that they would encode each scene for twice as long as their virtual partner. On a subsequent two-alternative-forced choice (2AFC) memory test, the simulated answer of the partner (accurate, errant, or no response) was shown before participants responded. Conformity to the partner’s responses was significantly enhanced for the 30-s versus the 60- and 120-s scenes. This pattern, however, was present only in the group who believed that they had encoded each scene for half as long as their partner, even though the short-duration scene had the lowest baseline 2AFC accuracy in both groups and was also subjectively rated as the least memorable by both groups. Our reliance on other people’s memory is therefore dynamically and strategically adjusted according to knowledge of the conditions under which we and other people have acquired different memories.     

Negative expectations and bad relationships: Effects of negative metastereotypes on doctor–patient relationships

This research aimed to examine the effects of negative metastereotypes (i.e., patients believe that doctors have negative opinions about them) and conflict experience on doctor–patient relationships. A 2 × 2 experimental study was conducted on 84 outpatients who were randomly assigned to either a negative metastereotype activation (NMSA) condition or a nonnegative metastereotype activation (non‐NMSA) condition. Each group consisted of patients with and without conflict experience (CE). Intergroup anxiety and doctor–patient relationships were subsequently assessed. Results showed that NMSA and CE increased intergroup anxiety and undermined doctor–patient relationships. In addition, the interaction between NMSA and CE on doctor–patient relationships was significant. When negative metastereotypes were activated, patients with CE showed more unfavorable relationships with doctors as compared with those under non‐NMSA activation condition; no metastereotype effects on doctor–patient relationships were observed among patients without CE. These findings provided insights into an important predictor of doctor–patient relationships as well as its mechanism. Future studies should consider negative metastereotypes and CE to develop interventions for improving doctor–patient relationships.     

Effects of group contingent events upon classroom noise

The first study investigated a group control procedure for suppression of excessive sound-intensity levels in a regular public school classroom. Reinforcement consisted of a 2-min addition to the class gym period and a 2-min break after maintenance of an unbroken 10-min quiet period as monitored on a decibel meter. Transgressions of the sound limit (42 decibels) resulted in a delay of reinforcement by the resetting of the timer to the full 10-min interval. The results indicated that these procedures were highly effective in suppression and control of sound intensities. The second experiment utilized a similar procedure coupled with a procedure of eliminating out-of-seat behavior. Experiment III studied the effects of Exp. II procedures on a single student's out-of-seat behavior rate. All procedures were found effective.     

The regulation of dependency in parent-child relationships

We propose that the insecurities about a close other’s regard that make it difficult for low self-esteem people to form satisfying romantic relationships also create difficulties in family relationships. Our study revealed that low self-esteem mothers and children felt less loved by one another than did high self-esteem mothers and children. These feelings of not being loved partially accounted for the tendency of low self-esteem children and mothers to be dissatisfied with their relationships. Ironically, however, low self-esteem children’s insecurities about how much their mothers loved them were not warranted by the strength of their mother’s love. Taken together, these findings suggest that the processes that regulate attachment to significant others extend to familial as well as romantic relationships.     

Effects of an observer on conformity to handwashing norm

Women were observed after elimination in a public restroom to determine the effects of the presence or absence of an observer upon the likelihood of handwashing. 18 of 20 subjects in the presence of another and 3 of 19 who were not observed washed. The difference in frequency of handwashing between the two groups was clearly significant.     

Effects of achievement motivation, social identity, and peer group norms on academic conformity

This study investigated whether academic achievement motivation and social identity explain variation in children’s conformity to positive academic behaviors (n = 455 children in grades three through five). Structural equation modeling suggested that academic value and peer group academic norms were positively related to academic conformity. Specifically, children who enjoyed academic pursuits and who belonged to academically-inclined peer groups were more likely to conform to novel academic behaviors than children who did not. Additionally, academic value moderated the relationship between peer group norms and conformity, implying that, for students who do not value academics, belonging to a peer group with high academic norms will lead to more conformity to academic behaviors than belonging to a peer group with low academic norms. In contrast, analyses suggested that some aspects of achievement motivation and social identity are unrelated to academic conformity. Implications for encouraging positive academic behaviors in middle childhood are discussed.     

The social side of abstraction: psychological distance enhances conformity to group norms

Intuition suggests that a distanced or abstract thinker should be immune to social influence, and on its surface, the current literature could seem to support this view. The present research builds on recent theorizing to suggest a different possibility. Drawing on the notion that psychological distance regulates the extent to which evaluations incorporate context-specific or context-independent information, we suggest that psychological distance should actually increase susceptibility to sources of social influence that tend to be consistently encountered across contexts, such as group norms. Consistent with this hypothesis, two studies showed that psychological distance and abstraction increased conformity to group opinion and that this effect persisted in a novel voting-booth paradigm in which participants believed their voting behavior was both anonymous and consequential. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding the social side of abstraction as well as the conditions under which different types of social influence are likely to be most influential.     

Identifying expectations about the strength of causal relationships

When we try to identify causal relationships, how strong do we expect that relationship to be? Bayesian models of causal induction rely on assumptions regarding people’s a priori beliefs about causal systems, with recent research focusing on people’s expectations about the strength of causes. These expectations are expressed in terms of prior probability distributions. While proposals about the form of such prior distributions have been made previously, many different distributions are possible, making it difficult to test such proposals exhaustively. In Experiment 1 we used iterated learning—a method in which participants make inferences about data generated based on their own responses in previous trials—to estimate participants’ prior beliefs about the strengths of causes. This method produced estimated prior distributions that were quite different from those previously proposed in the literature. Experiment 2 collected a large set of human judgments on the strength of causal relationships to be used as a benchmark for evaluating different models, using stimuli that cover a wider and more systematic set of contingencies than previous research. Using these judgments, we evaluated the predictions of various Bayesian models. The Bayesian model with priors estimated via iterated learning compared favorably against the others. Experiment 3 estimated participants’ prior beliefs concerning different causal systems, revealing key similarities in their expectations across diverse scenarios.