GROUPS GROUP BEHAVIOUR CONFORMITY SOCIOLOGY LEARNING GOALS SUCCESS

GROUPS & GROUP BEHAVIOUR CONFORMITY SOCIOLOGY

LEARNING GOALS & SUCCESS CRITERIA LEARNING GOALS: SUCCESS CRITERIA: ● Students will understand the difference ● I can explain the difference between primary and secondary primary & secondary groups and how they exert influence ● I can identify how groups put pressure ● Students will understand what a on others to conform to the group breaching experiment is norms ● I can explain what a breaching experiment is and create one myself

What is conformity? Is ‘conforming’ a good thing? In what situations? Why/Why not?

CONFORMITY & INFLUENCE CONFORMITY - the process by which an individual will alter or change his or her thoughts, feelings, and behaviour to meet the expectations of a group or authority figure. ● Conformity can occur as the result of both direct and indirect social pressure ■ What are some examples of direct/indirect social pressure? ● Conformity can be both positive and negative ■ What are some examples of positive/negative social pressure?

SOCIAL BELONGING AND GROUPS There are different types of social groups (*related to Ao. S): PRIMARY GROUP: a small group whose members have a personal and often emotional relationship with one another (eg. family, friends, romantic partners) SECONDARY GROUP: an impersonal or formal gathering of people in which the individual’s role is measured by his or her contribution to a common goal or purpose (eg. work colleagues, teammates, classmates)

Primary Groups and Influence Positive Influence: ● Primary groups are supportive and caring, and they give their members a sense of self-worth ● Members feel relaxed within these groups and value the emotional support Negative Influence: ● Membership in Primary Groups can lead to pressure to conform ● These groups demand that members share common values or dress / act in certain ways ● People may give in to group expectations even if they don’t want to ● They may even do something considered wrong by society **peer pressure**

Secondary Groups and Influence Positive Influence: ● Less personal, and therefore less restricting to individual freedom ● Behaviours, roles, norms, rules, and values are only expected to be followed during group gatherings only ● Conflicts are also less frequent, since expectations are limited to a particular time or activity Negative Influence: ● Do not provide the powerful emotional support or the same sense of a close, shared identity that primary groups do ● Large secondary groups such as local community groups or secondary schools may even seem distant and intimidating to some

How Groups Influence Behaviour Norms ● Each of us follows certain norms or guidelines of behaviour for our different life roles ● These standards of behaviour vary from group to group Sanctions ● These are formal or informal punishments or rewards given to ensure conformity to group norms ○ Can be as informal as feelings of embarrassment ● It ensures that individuals are following the rules and guidelines expected by the group or society

CONFORMITY & INFLUENCE: SOLOMON ASCH ● pioneer in social psychology ● wanted to understand the extent that a majority group could pressure an individual to conform, even when the individual knew the group was incorrect in their thinking

SOLOMON ASCH’S LINE EXPERIMENT

Factors That Influence Conformity Asch went on to conduct further experiments in order to determine which factor influenced how and when people conform. He found that: ● Conformity tends to increase with group size. However, there is little change once the group size goes beyond four or five people. ● Conformity also increases when the task becomes more difficult. In the face of uncertainty, people turn to others for information about how to respond.

Factors That Influence Conformity ● Conformity increases when other members of the group are of a higher social status. When people view the others in the group as more powerful, influential, or knowledgeable than themselves, they are more likely to go along with the group. ● Conformity tends to decrease when people are able to respond privately. Research has also shown that conformity decreases if they have support from at least one other individual in a group.

Conformity T-P-S ● With a partner, discuss situations in which you have (or have not) conformed to the group? ● Why did you conform? ○ Were you outnumbered? (group size) ○ Was the task new or difficult? (uncertainty) ○ Were other members of the group ‘cooler’ / older / more experienced / more knowledgeable? (social standing) ○ If you did NOT conform, were you anonymous? Did you have support in your non-conformity?

CONFORMITY & INFLUENCE: BREACHING EXPERIMENTS ● Harold Garfinkel: What do you think would be the result of purposefully breaking the rules or norms of a group? ● Social breaching experiments test our beliefs about how things should function. ● Garfinkel studied the results of intentionally breaking a social norm and then analyzed people’s reactions to this breach.

BREACHING EXPERIMENT Using what you know about group influence, design a breaching experiment that you can carry out here at school (DO NOT break the code of conduct). ● Either try to get people to conform to something or purposely break a norm and observe the reactions of the group. Discuss and write down the answer to the following questions (Proposal) - What social norm do you intend to challenge? Why did you choose this norm? - How do you intend to challenge it? and/or How will you get people to conform? - What reactions do you expect to get? Why will people conform? (Hypothesis) - Results: Did it work? Why or why not? (***Film it if you can!***) Be prepared to share your proposal, hypothesis, and results.