Normative and Informational Influences in Psychology, Essay Example

Normative and Informational Influences in Milgram’s Study

As an examination of Stanley Milgram’s 1974 experiment in obedience reveals, influence is an inherently expansive agent. In plain terms, the normative and the informational as influences must frequently overlap, as both are based in concepts of conformity. Whichever influence more dominates, there remains the uniform motivation of adhering to a collective sense or objective. Put another way, if the normative reflects more the desire to be accepted, this in itself must be facilitated by the information taken in and revealing what is necessary to be accepted. It is in fact held that normative influence at least partially relies on interpersonal factors, which translates to varying levels and types of information provided (Friedkin, Johnsen, 2011, p. 264).

This is evident in Milgram, as the participants were guided by various types and degrees of influence. In terms of their agreeing to administer the shocks, it may be reasonably argued the informational influence was in play; given the unusual nature of the actions requested, the participants may well have been swayed by the context of the experiment itself, in that it was perceived that a guiding agent could be trusted. If, then, such an agent is perceived, normative influence is triggered or evident, for the participants are then in a state of mind wanting to please the agent and conform to the expectations. What matters, nonetheless, is that the informational appears to have actually influenced the normative, as conformity consists on interpreting information in ways directed at achieving acceptance to some degree. Then, variations in replications appear to confirm this dual influence. Moving the study from the prestigious Yale campus, for example, did not significantly affect the obedience levels (Weiten, 2010, p. 691), and this supports the informational influence as more directly contextual. With that informational influence as derived from the experiment, rather than the outer surroundings, the “norm” is preserved and the participant is enabled to seek acceptance.

Nazi Germany and Social Influences

It is interesting to examine Nazi Germany in light of Milgram’s experiment, if for obvious reasons. As Milgram intended, obedience to demands contrary to acceptable human behavior must underscore the influences, generating “norms” in an abnormal situation. While the Nazi regime and the ensuing Holocaust may not be reasonably compared to an instance of minor electrical shocks, the basic process of testing human response to inhuman demands remains the same. Extensive studies, in fact, have determined similarities between Milgram’s 1974 research and various social conditions, and with an emphasis on the “destructive obedience” during the Nazi reign as representing normative influence (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutis, 2011, p. 14).

That normative factor appears to dominate in this case, interactions in influences notwithstanding. This was a vastly cultural, social, and political movement, so an entire environment was then established to present an unbroken influence as to acceptable conduct. When, in fact, an environment is so pervasively in place and reflecting a unified theme or ideology, as in the fierce anti-Semitism of the Nazi, it is questionable whether “disobedience” even applies. That is to say, the urge to be accepted may be more easily accommodated because the authority defining obedience is so immense, the ethics of the circumstances are redefined. Those Germans conforming, and in such great numbers, were then effectively enhancing the normative “field” influencing them. Within this same process is then an enhancement of the informational influence. The all-encompassing uniformity of the Nazi ideology presented a literal and implacable agency of direction, in which conformity was assured as adhering to proper modes of conduct. It is arguable, in fact, that the case of Nazi Germany represents how, when social forces are at their most immense, normative and informational influences become more inextricably linked.

References

Friedkin, N. E., & Johnsen, E. C. (2011). Social Influence Network Theory:A Sociological Examination of Small Group Dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutis, L. M. (2011). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Weiten, W. (2010). Psychology: Themes and Variations. Belmont: Cengage Learning.