RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Take a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within this section). Then click the 'show answer' button to check your answers. Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term retention (McDaniel et al., 2009).

Automatic mimicry (the chameleon effect)—our tendency to unconsciously imitate others’ expressions, postures, and voice tones—is a form of conformity.
     Solomon Asch and others have found that we are most likely to adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard when (a) we feel incompetent or insecure, (b) our group has at least three people, (c) everyone else agrees, (d) we admire the group’s status and attractiveness, (e) we have not already committed to another response, (f) we know we are being observed, and (g) our culture encourages respect for social standards. We may conform to gain approval (normative social influence) or because we are willing to accept others’ opinions as new information (informational social influence).

Stanley Milgram’s experiments—in which people obeyed orders even when they thought they were harming another person—demonstrated that strong social influences can make ordinary people conform to falsehoods or give in to cruelty. Obedience was highest when (a) the person giving orders was nearby and was perceived as a legitimate authority figure; (b) the research was supported by a prestigious institution; (c) the victim was depersonalized or at a distance; and (d) there were no role models for defiance.

In social facilitation, the mere presence of others arouses us, improving our performance on easy or well-learned tasks but decreasing it on difficult ones. In social loafing, participating in a group project makes us feel less responsible, and we may free ride on others’ efforts. When the presence of others both arouses us and makes us feel anonymous, we may experience deindividuation—loss of self-awareness and self-restraint.

In group polarization, group discussions with like-minded others strengthen members’ prevailing beliefs and attitudes. Internet communication magnifies this effect, for better and for worse. Groupthink is driven by a desire for harmony within a decision-making group, overriding realistic appraisal of alternatives.
     The power of the individual and the power of the situation interact. A small minority that consistently expresses its views may sway the majority.