Birds of a Feather Flock Together
The idiom "Birds of a feather flock together" according to, A Dictionary of American Idioms states "People who are alike often become friends or are together; if you are often with certain people, you may be their friends or like them" (Makkai, Boatner, Gates, 1995). This paper will focus on the social influence of groups, the dynamics in regard to, formation of groups, concept of in-group, out-group homogeneity, and illusory correlation. The in-group discussed here is the Germans and the out-group, the Jews. This ethnocentric view of "us" the good ones and "them" the bad. How conformity, obedience, and compliance to authority within a group specifically during WW II parallels Stanley Milgram’s obedience study. Irving Janis’ term groupthink allowed Hitler’s "leadership style, group cohesion and crisis combine to suppress dissent within his in-groups to such a degree that group members end up supporting polices (norms) that are extraordinarily ill considered " (Baron, Kerr, & Miller, 1992). This thinking allowed the dehumanizing norm that continued the genocide by Hitler’s subordinates. They obeyed authority even though cognitive dissonance existed. Demonstrating how people can act like sheep in subordinate roles. The use of propaganda by Hitler enhanced Germany’s ethnocentric beliefs.
Social influence is one person’s (or group’s) influence on another. The Holocaust is an "extreme form of physical destruction and can be considered the ultimate degree of social influence ." Groups are defined as two or more participants. Groups can be powerful forces shaping our feelings, judgments and behaviors (Baron, Kerr, & Miller, 1992). Cohesion of a group effects the group functioning by...
... middle of paper ...
...aled. But they are also subject to cognitive dissonance when they perform actions they know to be immoral but comply anyway because of the sense of obligation to the group. We group in order to compare information, but when dissent is suppressed and members support polices that are ill-considered then ordinary people will again follow like sheep.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Aronson, Elliot. The Social Animal. New York: Worth Publishers, 1999.
Baron, Robert S., Kerr, Norbert K., and Miller, Norman. Group process, Group Decision, Group Action. CA: Brooks/Cole, 1992. Pgs. 4, 61, 2, 140, 237, 140, 141, 7, 6
Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J. Writings and Readings Across the Curriculum. New York: Longman, 2000. Pgs. 351,355, 343, 341, 352
Makkai, Adam, Boatner, M. T., and Gates, J. E. A Dictionary of American Idioms. New York: Barrons, 1995.
Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Boston: Longman, 2011. 692-704.
The social psychology theory that I will be analyzing is based on the Stanley Milgram experiment done in 1965 following the start of the Nazi war. He was curios on all the violence taking place during this time. As a Jew himself, he wanted to find out whether or not the Adolf Eichmann accomplice had the same intent and hate towards the Jewish people during the holocaust. Based on Solomon Asch’s past experiments on conformity, Milgram’s experiment was done to determine whether or not the power of the situation could cause average people to conform to obedience. The results of Milgram’s experiment were astounding. The research of Milgram’s experiment had such a major impact on social psychology that we still use his findings to analyze human behavior today.
History always finds a way of repeating itself. A Tale of Two Cities, depicts the French Revolution and the citizens living through it. Many citizens go along with the leaders want, in order to avoid being executed, this is taking part in mob mentality because although they might not be doing what they want, they are doing what everybody else is doing, so they can fit in. Some people can participate in something so vulgar even when they do not mean to. In “Top 10 Instances of Mob Mentality”, author S.Grant says that, “Looking back on Nazi Germany, it’s difficult to comprehend how ordinary people acted so ruthless and inhumane. Even if you assume the average German citizen didn’t know what was happening in the concentration camps, there were still 24,000 members in the “Death’s Head Unit,” a special section of the Schutzstaffel (SS) that was in charge of the concentration camps. These Death’s Head
...er of dividing and attacking his enemies one by one. He would win over people with tempting promises. In conclusion Racism,National pride and peer pressure played a major role in the German peoples participation in or indifference’s towards the state-sponsored genocide and murders in Germany.
Marples, R. (2010). What should go on the curriculum? In Bailey, R. (Ed.), The philosophy of education: An introduction (pp 33-47). London: Bloomsbury
Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen, eds. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. NewYork: Longman, 2000.
In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us. We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, “when we’re in a group, we tend to think as that group does... but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group” (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups’. Lessing’s essay helps set the context to understand the experiments that social psychologists Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo conducted to explain conformity and obedience.
Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, Boston: Pearson 2011. 274-279
Cialdini, Robert B, & Trost, Melanie R. (1998). Social Influence: Social Norms, Conformity, & Compliance. Interpersonal Phenomena. Retrieved from: angel.elmira.edu/section/default.asp?id=w114_PSY3010_01.
Viewing others’ groups as collective makes people feel more connected to their own group, just as in the book The Myth of Individualism by Peter Callero when the scout troops formed solidarity with one another. However, this “us” and “them” mentality also creates a volatile animosity. In a camp setting, the boy scouts began to fight with one another outside of designated games. In a world setting, we achieve what we have in the United States today between the Anglo-Saxon/Christian majorities versus the minority groups of Islamics. Alternatively, we achieve similar polarity between Christian Germans and Jewish Germans before Hitler’s rise to power, and start America on the path to genocide on its
"The Meanings and Origins of Sayings and Phrases." RSS. Gary Martin, 1996. Web. 21 May 2014.
Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R., (2003). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton- Mifflin. pp. 146- 170.
Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 236-240. Print.
Working in groups is challenging at times. Other times it is very rewarding. We are so focused on life that we do not take time to reflect on things as much as we should. Being in a Groups class has opened my eyes to a whole new world. I have begun to question, explore, and even understand how things work. I even get how they work sometimes. Not only is there a process involved in making individual decisions, process is involved in group decisions as well. This paper attempts give insight into my reflection of my group decision process.
Groups influence our everyday lives in ways that we don’t even realize. Most of what is learned from groups are societal norms that are being reinforced on a micro level in everyday life. Group influence on individuals is a clear tangible proof of societal norms by institutions. The groups we become a part of therefore can have a greater influence on our individual actions then we are aware of. As an individual we like to believe we have agency over our actions and what we decide but a lot of our own actions is more a part of a group mentality. Also, individual’s go along with a group’s influence so they feel better about themselves because then they won’t be ostracized. This paper will analyze different aspects of individual behavior and