SAT作文素材:Normative social influence

Normative social influence occurs when one conforms to be liked or accepted by the members of the group. It usually results in public compliance, doing or saying something without believing in it. There are various motives behind this, including personal survival strategy in a community.

Solomon E. Asch was the first psychologist to study this phenomenon in the laboratory. He conducted a modification of Sherifs study, assuming that when the situation was very clear, conformity would be drastically reduced. He exposed people in a group to a series of lines, and the participants were asked to match one line with a standard line. All participants except one were secretly told to give the wrong answer in 12 of the 18 trials. The results showed a surprisingly high degree of conformity. 76% of the participants conformed on at least one trial. On average people conformed one third of the time. However, in a reinterpretation of the original data from these experiments Hodges and Geyer found that Aschs subjects were not so conformist after all:

The experiments provide powerful evidence for peoples tendency to tell the truth even when others do not. They also provide compelling evidence of peoples concern for others and their views.:2

By closely examining the situation in which Aschs subjects find themselves they find that the situation places multiple demands on participants: They include truth , trust , and social solidarity . In addition to these epistemic values, there are multiple moral claims as well: These include the need for participants to care for the integrity and well-being of other participants, the experimenter, themselves, and the worth of scientific research.:5