I found the results of Asch's conformity study to be very interesting, that many people (75%) would conform to what others in a group answered even if they thought of a different answer beforehand. This study exemplifies the idea that people in today's society are likely to conform, and agree with other members of the group.
This makes me think of all the group work that I have done so far this year at the U of M, including the personality vacation activity that we had in Discussion last week. When we were placed into our group based on personality, I was in the more introverted, conscientious. When we were planning our "vacation" and agreeing on things, I found that I didn't agree with some of the ideas for our vacation, such as the location, but decided to go along with what the group was saying. I talked to one of the other group members afterwards and we both had similar thoughts. I think that this shows how we were putting emphasis on being unanimous within the group, and I felt like I wasn't putting in much input because the rest of the group seemed to agree. I didn't get to experience the other groups on personality, but I would be interested to see how the other people contributed or possibly even disagreed with anybody's ideas for the vacation. From reading about groupthink and conformity, I think it would be interesting to see how our personalities affect conformity, based on a personality inventory.
I think that in today's society one of the associations that we have with obedience is the Military. We think of these soldiers as being incredibly obedient and being a collective unit, as shown by the picture below of the standing formation of the armed forces.
The military seems to connect the ideas of conformity and obedience very well. One of the examples in the book given, was the justification of the My Lai massacre, who stated that they were simply following orders in carrying through with a massacre of many people. The obedience of the soldiers was so strong, that they followed through with the orders without questioning them or considering any other options, viewing all the people that they killed under their orders as the same. This horrific tragedy serves as an excellent example of obedience, as well as conformity by all the soldiers doing it together without questioning the act, and makes me also consider what distinguishes obedient people versus non-obedient people. I think that it could be useful to look further into if people from the armed forces become more obedient once they join, and if people outside of the armed forces are just as obedient in considering school, work, etc. but in just a different way than in the military.
It is sad but true that everyone can admit to conforming once in their life. Wether its to please a group of friends or it is to become more accepted for a sport or student group, there are simple little things that people now-a-days don't even realize they do to fit in.
I agree with you. It makes me wonder if my "strong" personality pushes people when I am in a group. I am a leader, but are people following me just to get the task done, or do they really agree.
I think this starts as a young child. I know the children I nanny, when one has a toy the others want it too - we want to feel like we "belong" - Just to prove Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory.
I agree with you. It makes me wonder if my "strong" personality pushes people when I am in a group. I am a leader, but are people following me just to get the task done, or do they really agree.
I think this starts as a young child. I know the children I nanny, when one has a toy the others want it too - we want to feel like we "belong" - Just to prove Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory.
I think what you found out about conformity and obedience is true. Moreover, in my point of view, the eastern cultures emphasize conformity and obedience much more stongly than the western cultures do. For example, it is usually reluctant for younger students in China, Japan and South Korea to point out the mistakes older students make.
Interesting post! I like that you related this topic to a previous discussion. I, too, was part of the introverted and conscientious group and noticed that everything was agreed upon pretty quickly. It seemed like the first person to say something was soon followed by unanimous agreement, despite others having different thoughts or ideas. I would be interested to see if other groups experienced the same thing,