Blog Post #13

These studies reinforce what I have seen around me. I see a group of boys who are disrespectul together but individually they are each nice boys. In my opinion people are afraid to be seen as different. When people are around their friends, they act more like their friends than there actual selves. The Stanford Prison Experiment only lasted 6 days and they said that no one in the experiment would have any lasting effects, but if this had lasted for years as it does for many people, I believe that the effect would definetely be more permanent. Children who grow up in environments of neglect or abuse show long term effects. Asch's Conformity showed that people will go along with everyone else because they are uncomfortable about being different. Milgram's Experiment showed that blind obediance is brought on by situational forces and the Stanford Prison Experiment showed that we all have capacity for good and evil and are just waiting for the right situation to show it. What's interesting was that it didn't matter what age or gender the person was. I would have thought that maybe older people would have been more assertive about expressing their true beliefs. In Asch's Experiment, I thought it was interesting to see that the guy who knew the right answer was not confident enough to be the only one who was right. Maybe today people are more willing to stand out and the results may be different. In Milgram's Experiment, I thought it was interesting how people could actually do harm to others without deciding if it was right or wrong. They said that majority of the hideous crimes were crimes in the name of obediance, not for rebellion. This shows that most people didn't have interest in the result of the crime. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, it was interesting that those who didn't even commit crimes felt like criminals because of the way they were treated. This leads me to believe that prison is no where for someone to be reformed and that nice people coming into prison may come out worse than when they went in. It tells us that human nature is continually changing, based on the situation. People, groups, and society are easily molded by the situation they are involved in or that happens upon them.

Social influence is how we act based on the environment of people around us. It is a very strong force that has caused major world events and wreaked personal havoc or strenthened personal relationships. It directs the behavior of people from the most powerful to the most timid. For example, for homecoming when I toilet paper I would never go run on someone else's property by myself. When I am with my friends the situation changes I become influenced by the group. Everyone is laughing, and we do crazy things, toilet paper, and have a good time together. If I were to not go toilet papering with them, I would not fit in and I would end up not toilet papering. I would end up feeling uncomfortable and would not be able to let loose and have a good time. Also, when I am with my grandmother at her house, I ask permission to get a drink of water or whatever I want and I say please and thank you. I help her bring wood to the house and will shovel her sidewalk if I see that it is necessary. However, when I am at my home, I don't even notice things that are needed. I don't say please or thank you and just help myself to whatever I need. At my grandmother's house I follow her rules without just doing things on my own vice versa is at my house.

The most interesting thing that I learned in the class was that how science has actually concluded what we all know along that people act differently in different situations. This is our social influence. People who work certainly don't act the same at work as when they go out with their same group to social hour at the local tavern. It is interesting to know that it took a major scientific experiment to figure something that simple out. However, the extent of conformity that was able to be rallied by Hitler was mind blowing. Social psychology helped explain human nature but may not be able to change. For example, we may understand why a person behaves in one situation but it's not going to make us be able to chang how he is going to behave especially when it deals with social conformity.