Now that we've finished our obedience readings, I have a few final questions for you. What did Asch, McEwan, and Ross & Nisbett add to our knowledge about obedience to authority and to social pressure? In one of the reading responses I read this weekend, one student mentioned that she has been more conscious of the way she responds to pressure from peers and authorities since reading these essays. Have any of you found yourselves thinking about or responding to pressure differently? In what ways has it affected you?
Keep up the comments and questions!
Since reading these essays, and studies on obidience, I also have been sort of careful, to observing the way myself, or my peers respond to pressure, or authority. I have lots of personal experiences with it, but I won't get into that. Although, I think it's funny, whenever we hear of something, such as a study, or a fact, we pay attention to the details of it for a while. I liked the stories/studies we have read about so far.
ReplyDeleteI agree, these studies have been an oportunity to open our eyes a little further and think of how far we might go for acceptance. We do pay more attention, when we read from a good source. Reading about these obedience studies has been good.
DeleteBrad C.
I think Carly brings up a good point; it's definitely easy to forget lessons learned, especially when we didn't learn them the "hard way". What are some good ways you all have learned to keep these lessons in mind over lengthy periods of time?
ReplyDeleteMarty P.
Write stuff down. Use a journal, and read from it every now and then.
DeleteI have also noticed a slight change in the way I handle peer pressure and been more aware of my thought process as these sittuations are happening. Also have been more interested in seeing others reactions under social pressure and trying to understand what might be going through their mind and what circumstances they're under to make them act the way they did.
ReplyDeleteDustin Durfee
This was a very good subject to open the semester with. It makes us think of how obedient we really are. Even though we are very disobedient would anyone else confirm that we are also very obedient. A simple example would be us students writing in this blog because we are told to and if not it affects our grade. Does anyboy else believe we are a very obedient species?
ReplyDeleteMarcus C.
Yeah we're obedient. Obedience to society ensures our animalistic survival. grrrrrrrrrrr. You have to play the game if you want a nice house and the ability to go to exotic places on vacation. The funny thing is that I disdain the system, but still know that I will probably just play a part in it even though my most innate desire is to go be a farmer in the middle of nowhere. I mean, If I did that how would I ever get to eat a Wendy's frosty? How would I watch basketball? We're all here because we choose to be. We write on this blog because we choose to. Despite our seemingly automatic obedience to many things, we all unequivocally have freedom of choice.
DeleteI think as a whole species we are pretty obedient, but when you do have people that are disobedient or go away from the norm then those are also the people who can make a significant mark in life.
DeleteChristian Farr
In response to Marcus's post, I do think we are actually very obedient, yes we were told to post on the blog, otherwise it will affect our grade. So, we do so. But there are also the students whom decide not to, whose grades might suffer. Our own obideience depends on ourself, I believe. Good thoughts, everyone! (:
ReplyDeleteIn reverse, I've taken parts from these readings, and compared to past scenarios in my life and really got a chuckle out of how naive I was. People's thought patterns are always evolving from every day life experiences so if I were to go back in time, I would probably call myself out on being such a sheeple. It's hard to say at what age in a human being's development points out the most vulnerable time to obedience. I believe with Lessing's idea of being informed about the pressures but to always avoid settings that even have these pressures to begin with. In a sense I'm anti-social to not identify myself with any group of colleagues, but I'm social enough to interact with one's social boundaries.
ReplyDeleteRebecca B.
I have lately been jokingly refusing to obey any "societal norms." Just for fun I always respond with noncompliance to everything and say that I won't participate in society. It's really all just a joke though, but in the process it was made me look more carefully at what I do, especially in groups. When the group starts, or when someone starts, to do something that I don't like I have tried to stop giving them sympathy laughs or any type of support at all. I have been able to notice, as appalling as it is, that I have a trained tendency to just go a long with the group. shudder.
ReplyDeleteI also think it would be very interesting to see how it would go if I always went against "societal norms" like Devin has mentioned. A lot of the time I do like to seperate myself from the group and not go along with what other people like. So when I think about it I am disobedient because I don't always go along with others. I have found this obedience to authority section very fun.
ReplyDeleteMarcus c.
Since reading these articles I have been trying to be more aware of my actions and the way I respond when I find myself in stressful situations. But I have really enjoyed reading these articles and learning about how us as humans function when under pressure.
ReplyDeleteAshley B.
What does everyone think of the Planters Peanuts:Perfume ad for Wed. 2/22/2012 readings from You Tube? I though it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteAmanda M.
Since reading the obedience section I have been more aware of the decisions I make and how it might influence the people around me. I have been working on changing my perspective on people until after I meet them so it gives me and them a chance.
ReplyDeleteAmanda M.
I agree Amanda, I have found myself thinking alot more about how I act in groups and around people I dont know. These are things we can all work on.
DeleteBrock Richins
Has anyone thought of an ad that they would like to create? Either because you have a good idea or you thought you had a better idea then the original creater.
ReplyDeleteAmanda M.
In my psychology class we just got done learning about Asch and Milgram. I'm very happy that I learned it in this class too because it helped me comprehend the material more when I was taught it in a different class. That was really good that we talked about obedience because it is a big part of our lives.
ReplyDeleteMarcus C.
Seeing something twice really helps. I know that seeing something twice really helped me when I was working on getting my Pharmacy Technician's lisence. I tested out of the math section because the type of math required for it was the kind of math that I did in my AP Chemistry class.
DeleteDo you think these subjects are something that should be taught before high school is started to help kids overcome the trials of high school easier?
ReplyDeleteBrock Richins
Um, pretty sure that it's been such a long time that I've responded on the blog that I already brain-dumped all the information from the Obedience readings. I don't think the readings really changed my viewpoint on obedience to authority because I've always been pretty obstinate. If someone tells me to go right, I'll go left type thing. I think I've said this like a million times for this section, but there's a really good line from High School Musical 2 that I really like. Troy's dad says "it's only a big deal if it makes sense to you." It's really important to do something because you want to do it.
ReplyDeleteThinking of Obedience now i realize that all of it is true. How could we change though? all of the articles prove that we can not think on our own, so how do we change that?
ReplyDeleteJackie M.
We need to teach ourselves that it doesnt matter what other people think. all that matters is what we think and our families because in the end they are all that matter.
DeleteJackie M.
Excellent,
DeleteIt is good to hear of others thinking beyond what is happening now. Especially with the thoughts of their families and themselves going beyond what others think.
Brad C.
Do you guys think that high school teachers should teach their students the Milgram experiment? So they won't have to follow peer preasure.
ReplyDeleteChristian Farr
I think that would be an excellent idea. Peer pressure is so very hard for alot of people to deal with, even after high school. Things being taught by parents are some times not learned until you hear it from someone else. Teachers have opportunities to be heard as a friend.
DeleteBrad Carlin