Module Three has covered some of the ways that social pressure influences our actions. We are all prone to behavioral changes through compliance, obedience, or persuasive principles. We follow the rules of our society (both legally enforceable ones as well as those that are just informally polite), sometimes with little awareness of why we do what we do. But once in a while, something odd happens, and we intentionally or unintentionally break these rules. Last week, you had your second assignment due in which you broke these rules, or the norms of our society. I always have fun reading these norm-breaking assignments, so today I want you to reflect on both chapter six and chapter seven to better understand your thoughts and feelings about your norm violation. Yup, this is an easy discussion, because you’ve already done this assignment! In essence, give a summarized version of your break-a-norm assignment to your fellow group members! See who was the most creative in your group! Summarize what norm you broke and how it made you feel.
Here is where the discussion version differs, though: Using the concepts you learned in chapters six and seven, talk about at least TWO key social psychological principles that influenced your behavior (one principle has to come from chapter 6 and the other has to come from chapter 7): from chapteer 6 you have conformity / nonconformity, normative social influence, and from chapter 7 persuasion *** make sure you talk about at least TWO things!*** Define the principle before showing how it applies to your norm violation.
