Obedience, Conformity, and Social Roles: Active Learning in a ...
Obedience, Conformity, and Social Roles: Active Learning in a ...
Obedience, Conformity, and Social Roles: Active Learning in a ...
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<strong>Obedience</strong>, <strong>Conformity</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Roles</strong>:<br />
<strong>Active</strong> <strong>Learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> a Large Introductory Psychology Class<br />
April L. Bleske-Rechek<br />
University of Texas at Aust<strong>in</strong><br />
Sixty-five undergraduates participated <strong>in</strong> a small-group activity designed<br />
to help them apply the f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs from classic studies of conformity,<br />
obedience, <strong>and</strong> social roles. Students designed <strong>and</strong><br />
demonstrated a study to illustrate the <strong>in</strong>fluence of obedience, conformity,<br />
or social roles <strong>in</strong> a real-life context. Each group generated<br />
3 variables <strong>and</strong> described how each variable might moderate the<br />
power of social <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> their situation. Evaluation <strong>in</strong>dicated<br />
that most students found the activity enjoyable <strong>and</strong> helpful for underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />
the role of social <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> their daily lives. Students<br />
preferred the activity to a lecture <strong>and</strong> recommended us<strong>in</strong>g the activity<br />
aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> future <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology classes.<br />
As with most survey courses, <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology<br />
presents an extensive amount of new material to students.<br />
<strong>Social</strong> psychology may span the length of two textbook chapters<br />
(e.g., Gray, 1991; Westen, 1999). Unfortunately, social<br />
psychology is often taught at the end of the semester (e.g.,<br />
Gray, 1991; Kalat, 1996; Myers, 1996; Westen, 1999), which<br />
is a time when student <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>and</strong> volition is relatively low<br />
(Schallert, Reed, Turner, & McCann, 1997). To <strong>in</strong>crease<br />
student <strong>in</strong>terest, I designed an activity that allows students to<br />
apply basic knowledge of three fundamental social psychological<br />
concepts: obedience, conformity, <strong>and</strong> social roles.<br />
It is common for <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology <strong>in</strong>structors to<br />
devote a day of lecture or film clips to the topic of social <strong>in</strong>fluence.<br />
Instructors may offer brief descriptions of Milgram’s<br />
(1963, 1974), Asch’s (1956), <strong>and</strong> Zimbardo’s (1973; Haney,<br />
Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973) classic experiments or show narrated<br />
video clips (e.g., Psychology Classics; Brothen &<br />
Spald<strong>in</strong>g, 1992). Some <strong>in</strong>structors may ask students to engage<br />
<strong>in</strong> small skits or simulations (Wann, 1993). Role-play<strong>in</strong>g<br />
is popular <strong>and</strong> can <strong>in</strong>crease student underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g of social<br />
<strong>in</strong>fluence as well as other concepts such as neural <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
transmission <strong>and</strong> patient–therapist relationships (Balch,<br />
1983; Hamilton & Knox, 1985; Wann, 1993). Such active<br />
engagement <strong>in</strong> course content is l<strong>in</strong>ked to successful learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> retention (McKeachie, 1994).<br />
The basic concepts of obedience, conformity, <strong>and</strong> social<br />
rolesarenotdifficultforstudentstomaster.Itislikelymoredifficult,<br />
however, for students to generate <strong>and</strong> critically analyze<br />
novel examples of social <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> their daily lives. I designed<br />
an activity to augment traditional role-play activities.<br />
The activity requires that students take a basic knowledge of<br />
social <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>and</strong> subsequently use it to design their own<br />
unique demonstration of social <strong>in</strong>fluence. Students acquire<br />
the knowledge necessary to underst<strong>and</strong> the requirements of<br />
the activity <strong>and</strong> then design their own demonstration <strong>and</strong><br />
present it to the rest of the class, <strong>in</strong> just 75 m<strong>in</strong> of class time.<br />
Participants<br />
Method<br />
Sixty-five <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology students at the University<br />
of Texas at Aust<strong>in</strong> participated. Most were first- <strong>and</strong><br />
second-year students. Seventy-five percent were White, 10%<br />
Asian, 13% Hispanic, <strong>and</strong> 2% were of other ethnicity.<br />
Procedure<br />
I began class by show<strong>in</strong>g a 5-m<strong>in</strong> video clip that <strong>in</strong>cluded<br />
simulations of Milgram’s (1963, 1974) obedience studies,<br />
Asch’s (1956) conformity studies, <strong>and</strong> Zimbardo’s (1973;<br />
Haney et al., 1973) prison study (Psychology Classics, Brothen<br />
& Spald<strong>in</strong>g, 1992). I then divided the class <strong>in</strong>to thirds, assign<strong>in</strong>g<br />
each third to one topic: obedience, conformity, or social<br />
roles. I displayed a transparency that listed the three to<br />
four pages <strong>in</strong> the textbook that covered each topic, <strong>and</strong> I gave<br />
students 8 m<strong>in</strong> to read the textbook section match<strong>in</strong>g their<br />
topic. Then, I distributed a h<strong>and</strong>out with the follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>structions:<br />
In today’s world, we cannot replicate some of these classic<br />
experiments. But, let’s just say we could <strong>and</strong> that we<br />
want to see if the effects replicate <strong>in</strong> a different context<br />
(e.g., <strong>in</strong>stead of a teacher–learner situation <strong>in</strong><br />
Milgram’s study, let’s say we want to study obedience<br />
us<strong>in</strong>g a different situation).<br />
1. In your group, decide on a real-life situation <strong>in</strong> which you<br />
th<strong>in</strong>k your concept—obedience, conformity, or social<br />
roles—may have a huge <strong>in</strong>fluence on people’s behavior.<br />
Some examples are drunk driv<strong>in</strong>g, crim<strong>in</strong>al behavior,<br />
cheat<strong>in</strong>g on exams, haz<strong>in</strong>g, gang behavior, work<strong>in</strong>g at a<br />
company like Dell, participat<strong>in</strong>g on athletic teams (men<br />
vs. women, capta<strong>in</strong>s vs. members), etc.<br />
2. Design a study to test whether your concept (conformity,<br />
obedience, or social roles) has an <strong>in</strong>fluence on<br />
people’s behavior. WORK TOGETHER. Make your<br />
study as simple as possible.<br />
260 Teach<strong>in</strong>g of Psychology
3. Act out your study for the class. For example, if you plan<br />
to do someth<strong>in</strong>g like Zimbardo’s prison study, you might<br />
want to hold up a piece of paper that says “Day 1” <strong>and</strong><br />
then act out what happened on Day 1; then hold up another<br />
piece of paper for “Day 2” <strong>and</strong> act out big events<br />
that you th<strong>in</strong>k may have occurred on Day 2, etc.<br />
4. Then, on the board, list for the class at least three variables<br />
that will <strong>in</strong>fluence how important your concept is<br />
(e.g., Under what conditions are people more likely to<br />
fall <strong>in</strong>to a social role? Under what conditions are people<br />
less likely to obey an authority figure?). Do not write<br />
much on the board—keep it brief <strong>and</strong> to the po<strong>in</strong>t. If<br />
you can br<strong>in</strong>g these variables <strong>in</strong>to your act, great, but it<br />
is not necessary.<br />
5. Remember your task: Make sure the other students <strong>in</strong><br />
the class know what they need to know about your<br />
topic.<br />
Go! You have 25 m<strong>in</strong>.<br />
Students could divide their third of the class <strong>in</strong> whatever<br />
fashion they chose. Students were familiar with work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
small groups <strong>in</strong> the class, <strong>and</strong> most students worked <strong>in</strong> a traditional<br />
group size of 4 or 5 people. One student, however, led a<br />
group of 11 people <strong>in</strong> a very successful demonstration of employee<br />
obedience.<br />
Group Work<br />
Although my students were accustomed to complet<strong>in</strong>g<br />
brief activities <strong>and</strong> generally seemed to enjoy them, they<br />
showed an impressive amount of <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> this activity. For<br />
the 25 m<strong>in</strong> dur<strong>in</strong>g which students worked, I made a conscious<br />
effort not to peek over shoulders <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>stead offered advice<br />
only if a group requested my assistance. When 25 m<strong>in</strong> had<br />
elapsed, various groups volunteered to present. Skits were<br />
very brief, averag<strong>in</strong>g 2 to 3 m<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> length. Due to time constra<strong>in</strong>ts,<br />
6 of 10 groups demonstrated their study. Although<br />
the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g 4 groups did not present at all, students turned<br />
their materials <strong>in</strong> to me at the end of class <strong>and</strong> received credit<br />
for participat<strong>in</strong>g. Two examples of group skits may illustrate<br />
students’ creativity <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong> complet<strong>in</strong>g the activity.<br />
Skit 1<br />
Students <strong>in</strong> one group performed a demonstration of social<br />
roles. While one student held up signs display<strong>in</strong>g to the audience<br />
the day of each event, the other two students acted as<br />
employees <strong>in</strong> an office build<strong>in</strong>g. On Day 1, the two employees,<br />
Mark <strong>and</strong> John, chatted about their weekends as they<br />
worked side by side. On Day 2, John was promoted to position<br />
of vice president of the company. On Day 3, John asked<br />
Mark to br<strong>in</strong>g him a cup of coffee, <strong>and</strong> Mark did so begrudg<strong>in</strong>gly.<br />
Mark began to tell John about an experience he had<br />
had the night before, but John <strong>in</strong>terrupted him with a request<br />
for the morn<strong>in</strong>g paper. The skit skipped to Day 5, when Mark<br />
brought John his coffee <strong>and</strong> paper without compla<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g—it<br />
was a rout<strong>in</strong>e now. On Day 8, Mark h<strong>and</strong>ed John his morn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
coffee, <strong>and</strong> John h<strong>and</strong>ed Mark some of his clothes to be taken<br />
to the dry cleaner. On Day 10, John requested that Mark call<br />
him Mr. Stone <strong>in</strong>stead of John. Mark cr<strong>in</strong>ged but complied.<br />
The skit ended with Mark say<strong>in</strong>g, “Do you need me to work<br />
overtime this weekend, Mr. Stone?”<br />
The students discussed three variables that may have altered<br />
the effect of social roles: (a) age, such that if Mark had<br />
been older than John he may have been more resistant to his<br />
newroleasJohn’shelper;(b)personality,suchthatifMarkhad<br />
been more assertive <strong>and</strong> confident he would have been more<br />
resistant to his new role; <strong>and</strong> (c) sex, such that if both employees<br />
had been women, the transformation from employee to<br />
employer may not have been so rapid because the women may<br />
have been concerned about destroy<strong>in</strong>g their friendship.<br />
Skit 2<br />
Students <strong>in</strong> one of the conformity groups played the roles<br />
of witnesses to a mugg<strong>in</strong>g. In Part 1 of the skit, several men<br />
<strong>and</strong> women were casually observ<strong>in</strong>g as a woman was mugged.<br />
In the mugg<strong>in</strong>g, a man ran <strong>in</strong>to the woman <strong>and</strong> they tussled<br />
briefly over her purse. The mugger grabbed the purse as he<br />
pushed the woman to the floor, <strong>and</strong> then ran off. In Part 2 of<br />
the skit, the witnesses to the mugg<strong>in</strong>g were be<strong>in</strong>g questioned,<br />
as a group, by a police officer who had arrived at the scene.<br />
The police officer asked the witnesses what happened, <strong>and</strong><br />
one male witness described the mugg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> detail, but left out<br />
the part about the purse be<strong>in</strong>g stolen. One of the women<br />
spoke up <strong>and</strong> said, “Yeah, <strong>and</strong> he took her purse!” The witnesses<br />
debated for a short time—no one else saw the mugger<br />
take a purse. The woman defended her story for a little while<br />
<strong>and</strong> then folded, unsure of her own recollection of the event.<br />
The students who designed the skit discussed three variables<br />
that may have impacted conformity: (a) <strong>in</strong>dividual versus<br />
group question<strong>in</strong>g, such that the woman would have been<br />
less likely to conform had she been questioned <strong>in</strong>dividually;<br />
(b) presence or absence of a partner, such that the woman<br />
would have been less likely to conform if just one other person<br />
had supported her story; <strong>and</strong> (c) relatedness to victim,<br />
such that if the woman had been related to the victim she<br />
may have been less likely to doubt what she saw.<br />
After each skit was over, I led the class <strong>in</strong> a brief discussion.<br />
For example, after Skit 2, I asked whether the woman’s<br />
behavior illustrated normative or <strong>in</strong>formational conformity.<br />
Then I asked students to describe how they would test the<br />
present<strong>in</strong>g group’s predictions. Thus, through these group<br />
demonstrations, students applied their knowledge of all topics,<br />
not just their own.<br />
Evaluation <strong>and</strong> Discussion<br />
Students evaluated the activity dur<strong>in</strong>g the f<strong>in</strong>al 5 m<strong>in</strong> of<br />
class. The results appear <strong>in</strong> Table 1.<br />
On a scale rang<strong>in</strong>g from 1 (strongly disagree)to4(neutral)to<br />
7(strongly agree), 78% agreed or strongly agreed that the activity<br />
was useful <strong>in</strong> accomplish<strong>in</strong>g its objectives. Eighty percent<br />
disagreedorstronglydisagreedwiththestatement,“Theactivity<br />
was a waste of time.” Sixty percent disagreed or strongly disagreed<br />
with the statement, “I would have preferred to have a<br />
Vol. 28, No. 4, 2001 261
Table 1. Student Evaluations of the <strong>Social</strong> Influence Class Activity<br />
Statement M SD Mode<br />
1. The group activity helped me to better underst<strong>and</strong> obedience <strong>and</strong> variables that <strong>in</strong>fluence obedience. 5.65 1.37 6.00<br />
2. The group activity helped me to better underst<strong>and</strong> conformity <strong>and</strong> variables that <strong>in</strong>fluence conformity. 5.82 1.33 6.00<br />
3. The group activity helped me to better underst<strong>and</strong> social roles <strong>and</strong> variables that <strong>in</strong>fluence social roles. 5.48 1.31 6.00<br />
4. The activity <strong>in</strong>creased my awareness of how obedience may occur <strong>in</strong> my daily life. 5.65 1.35 6.00<br />
5. The activity <strong>in</strong>creased my awareness of how conformity may occur <strong>in</strong> my daily life. 5.79 1.40 6.00<br />
6. The activity <strong>in</strong>creased my awareness of how the <strong>in</strong>fluence of social roles may occur <strong>in</strong> my daily life. 5.51 1.38 6.00<br />
7. Overall, the activity was useful <strong>in</strong> accomplish<strong>in</strong>g its objectives. 5.94 1.52 7.00<br />
8. The activity was a waste of time. 2.14 1.87 1.00<br />
9. The activity would have been better conducted as a written assignment. 2.71 2.02 1.00<br />
10. Present<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>formation orally <strong>in</strong> front of the class was a good idea. 5.25 1.66 7.00<br />
11. The activity was enjoyable. 5.63 1.66 7.00<br />
12. The activity was challeng<strong>in</strong>g. 4.83 1.71 5.00<br />
13. I would have preferred to receive a lecture on the <strong>in</strong>formation. 2.91 2.15 1.00<br />
14. I would recommend us<strong>in</strong>g the activity aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> other <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology classes. 5.85 1.70 7.00<br />
Note. Rat<strong>in</strong>gs were based on a scale rang<strong>in</strong>g from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (neutral) to 7 (strongly agree).<br />
lecture on the <strong>in</strong>formation.” F<strong>in</strong>ally, 74% agreed or strongly<br />
agreed that they would recommend us<strong>in</strong>g the activity aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
other <strong>in</strong>troductory psychology classes. These self-report data,<br />
however, do not directly assess student learn<strong>in</strong>g. Future studies<br />
of this technique could <strong>in</strong>clude two groups, one that completes<br />
this activity <strong>and</strong> another that receives a lecture, <strong>and</strong><br />
then assess group differences <strong>in</strong> exam performance.<br />
The evaluations are encourag<strong>in</strong>g, for at least two reasons.<br />
First, 65 students completed the activity <strong>in</strong> one class session.<br />
Although 65 is not as large as some classes, small-group work<br />
<strong>and</strong> class presentations are often difficult to accomplish with<br />
more than 30 or 35 students. Second, students at large universities<br />
such as the University of Texas are accustomed to<br />
classes <strong>in</strong> which active learn<strong>in</strong>g is not a primary component<br />
of their education. Students often expect to be passive recipients<br />
of new <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> are generally not required to apply<br />
the <strong>in</strong>formation they receive until they have an exam <strong>in</strong><br />
h<strong>and</strong>. I f<strong>in</strong>d it encourag<strong>in</strong>g that, <strong>in</strong> addition to complet<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
activity <strong>in</strong> a mature <strong>and</strong> creative manner, the majority of the<br />
students enjoyed the activity. The success I had with this activity<br />
illustrates that active learn<strong>in</strong>g strategies—specifically,<br />
small-group activities—can be effective even at large <strong>in</strong>stitutions<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> relatively large classes. In larger classes <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
50-m<strong>in</strong> sections, <strong>in</strong>structors might ask students to read the<br />
material before com<strong>in</strong>g to class. Instructors might also choose<br />
at r<strong>and</strong>om two or three groups to present, thereby sav<strong>in</strong>g time<br />
<strong>and</strong> possibly <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g students’ perceived accountability for<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g the material.<br />
Instructors can implement this technique with other topics<br />
such as stages of cognitive development, classical condition<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
<strong>and</strong> positive <strong>and</strong> negative re<strong>in</strong>forcement—topics<br />
that can be relatively difficult for students to master. If the<br />
activity is brief <strong>and</strong> structured <strong>and</strong> students perceive it as<br />
necessary for thorough comprehension of the material, then<br />
students can be active participants <strong>in</strong> their education <strong>and</strong><br />
thus be more effective learners, even <strong>in</strong> large classrooms.<br />
References<br />
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of one aga<strong>in</strong>st a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs:<br />
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<strong>and</strong> <strong>Social</strong> Psychology, 67, 371–378.<br />
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Myers, D. G. (1996). Explor<strong>in</strong>g psychology (3rd ed.). New York:<br />
Worth.<br />
Schallert, D. L., Reed, J. H., Turner, J. E., & McCann, E. J. (1997,<br />
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complementary role of <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>and</strong> volition. Paper presented at<br />
the meet<strong>in</strong>g of the American Educational Research Association,<br />
Chicago.<br />
Wann, D. L. (1993). Perform<strong>in</strong>g experiments <strong>in</strong> undergraduate social<br />
psychology classes. Teach<strong>in</strong>g of Psychology, 20, 235–236.<br />
Westen, D. (1999). Psychology: M<strong>in</strong>d, bra<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong> culture (2nd ed.).<br />
New York: Wiley.<br />
Zimbardo, P. G. (1973). On the ethics of <strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> human psychological<br />
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experiment. Cognition, 2, 243–256.<br />
Notes<br />
1. I thank Traci Giuliano, JoyLynn Reed, <strong>and</strong> Wendy Domjan<br />
for their helpful suggestions on an earlier version of this article.<br />
2. Send correspondence to April L. Bleske-Rechek, V<strong>and</strong>erbilt<br />
University, Department of Psychology <strong>and</strong> Human Development,<br />
Box 512 Peabody Station, Nashville, TN 37203; e-mail:<br />
april.bleske@v<strong>and</strong>erbilt.edu.<br />
262 Teach<strong>in</strong>g of Psychology
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