What shocked me the most were the conformity section and the shock test (Pun intended). Most people would say they are not influenced by others but through these studies, are clearly lying. What's more, the fact that people of authority have more influence than should be necessary. In the shock test, because the guy was wearing a white coat, he was always right. Essentially he got sixty percent of people to "kill" another human being because it was for "a study". That fact alone will stick with me for a while. Some of the people were not even broken up about applying a shock that they knew to be incredibly painful to another person. I guess if I were in that situation, I would really hope that I would not conform and be able to stand up to someone in a situation where I was knowingly harming someone. Another thing that surprised me was how easily people can be manipulated into conforming. The group of people in an elevator all standing in the same direction and causing someone to conform and change their behaviors so quickly was quite frankly astonishing. I think this happens because people do not like to create waves and fitting in to feel more comfortable.
What will stick with me
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The topic of conformity was also very interesting to me. It really showcased the power that social pressure has on ones actions. Even if it means causing harm to another person, such as in the Milgram experiment.
I found this terrifying. I thought that humans would have more free will. I would have never imagined that people would hurt other people because of pressure from an authority figure. Normally I doubt that people would go that far and shock people at the highest voltage! I was just disappointed because I felt like people are more likely to make their own decisions and decide for themselves. I was wrong.
This topic was also pretty interesting to me. It is extremely tough to analyze what we would do if we were in the situation of the participants in the Milgram experiment. I think the main reason for this is just because we cannot truly understand the severity of the authoritative pressures unless we have experienced it. What I found most interesting on the topic of Asch's studies, was the replicated experiment that showed the young man who conformed, but his tone of voice was trying to say otherwise. I though it was particularly funny how quiet, inattentive, and sad the poor guy got while he was answering the researchers questions.