In this essay, I will be discussing the similarities and differences between conformity and obedience. We’ll discuss the developments of conformity and obedience over time as well as how the two can be completely different and still cross lined at the same time. I will also be analysing experiments designed to better understand conformity and obedience. There are different forms of conformity and obedience and people can react differently to both. In some situations, people like having a figure of authority to look up to whilst others won’t listen. You have people who conform without even thinking about it and those who will do the complete opposite.
Conformity is the behavior that convey following the normative social standards expected …show more content…
There are many situation in life where we find ourselves listening to someone who is in a higher position than us, such as a police officer, a judge or parent. However, we can also fight against these hierarchies. Milgram’s (1963) experiment is an example of this, Milgram conducted an experiment in order to find out if participants would cave to the orders of hierarchy. Milgram’s experiment involved an electric shock which ranged from 15 volts to 450 volts. A participant was ordered to answer questions and if they got them wrong they were then they were required to deliver a shock to the other participant. Each one higher than the last. He believed that participants would disobey the authoritative figure at 130 volts. However, 60% of his participants went all the way up to 450 volts. Milgram suggested this was due to the agentic state, which is where we transfer our personal responsibility to the person who is delivering the orders, which essentially stops the participant from feeling guilty for the experiment, (Milgram, 1963 as cited in Hogg & Vaughn, 2014). Zimbardo (date) also created the notion of the Lucifer effect which was that a person can turn bad in a negative environment, suggesting that it isn’t a person’s fault which essentially could back the argument of the Nazi’s that they were merely following orders and turned more violent due to the …show more content…
In obedience we feel more obliged to do what we’re told as it is a figure of hierarchy whereas we conform in social situation due to the notion of being liked and fitting in with our social setting, whilst also getting people’s approval. Conformity is something that had the potential to weaken through time as people are taught that they should follow their own path and not do something because everyone else is doing it, staying true to their subconscious opinion. We can establish that experiments to further our knowledge of these come with their limitations and drawbacks. But we can also further our knowledge and see where to take this subject matter next, in order to keep experimenting and testing how far people stretch within conformity and
Conformity is the behavior that convey following the normative social standards expected …show more content…
There are many situation in life where we find ourselves listening to someone who is in a higher position than us, such as a police officer, a judge or parent. However, we can also fight against these hierarchies. Milgram’s (1963) experiment is an example of this, Milgram conducted an experiment in order to find out if participants would cave to the orders of hierarchy. Milgram’s experiment involved an electric shock which ranged from 15 volts to 450 volts. A participant was ordered to answer questions and if they got them wrong they were then they were required to deliver a shock to the other participant. Each one higher than the last. He believed that participants would disobey the authoritative figure at 130 volts. However, 60% of his participants went all the way up to 450 volts. Milgram suggested this was due to the agentic state, which is where we transfer our personal responsibility to the person who is delivering the orders, which essentially stops the participant from feeling guilty for the experiment, (Milgram, 1963 as cited in Hogg & Vaughn, 2014). Zimbardo (date) also created the notion of the Lucifer effect which was that a person can turn bad in a negative environment, suggesting that it isn’t a person’s fault which essentially could back the argument of the Nazi’s that they were merely following orders and turned more violent due to the …show more content…
In obedience we feel more obliged to do what we’re told as it is a figure of hierarchy whereas we conform in social situation due to the notion of being liked and fitting in with our social setting, whilst also getting people’s approval. Conformity is something that had the potential to weaken through time as people are taught that they should follow their own path and not do something because everyone else is doing it, staying true to their subconscious opinion. We can establish that experiments to further our knowledge of these come with their limitations and drawbacks. But we can also further our knowledge and see where to take this subject matter next, in order to keep experimenting and testing how far people stretch within conformity and