by Roger Bourke White Jr., copyright October 2017
Write 2-3 paragraphs for each question below.
1A. Apply the principles of normative and informational social influence to explain the "outbreak" of dancing at the music festival mentioned in the article in the link below. (Dancing starts up at the Sasquatch Music Festival)
This is a fine example of social contagion -- one person starts an activity and then many see his or her example and join in. Whether or not a social contagion will happen depends a lot on the setting. This example is happening at a music festival, this setting makes the contagion of dancing feel comfortable, so it is likely to spread. If this setting was a courtroom where a trial was being conducted, it would only spread if this was a comedy movie of some sort.
Another classic example is people in Manhattan joining others in staring up. Manhattan with all its skyscrapers and crowds of people is a setting conducive to staring up. If this person, or group, was staring up while standing in the middle of an open farm field, it is much less likely that lots of people would join in.
Yet another example is a person being a "mixer" at a party. This is a person who moves around and gets otherwise standalone people to gather into groups which start talking and having a good time.
Conclusion: setting matters a lot in whether or not social contagion is going to happen and spread.
2A. What impact do you think group size, anonymity, and the behavior of that initial male dancer (as a source of minority influence on the majority) had on the development of this dance party?
Group size and anonymity had little to do with whether or not the social contagion would happen. What was important was the setting. This was a music festival and music was being played.
The behavior of the dancer had some effect. If he had looked like a pro dancer, and if he had looked like he was inviting people to come get free dance lessons, the atmosphere would have been different and the contagion slower to spread -- people would have spent more time watching him and his "students". However, given the setting, I think it would have spread eventually.
One way to find out would be to repeat the experiment. That would be simple: simply watch for how many times spontaneous dancing starts at similar festivals.
1B. Analyze the experiment described in the article in the link below from the perspective of the person giving up her seat. Why might she say "yes" to the request? Why might she say "no"? What can explain the behavior of the people who were clearly unhappy with the request, but still gave up their seat?
She might say "yes" just given its novelty. The article points out that it is both an uncommon experience and it was quite difficult for the experimenter to overcome their own reluctance to ask. Were this a situation where the asking was common, the person being asked would likely have acted more "hardened".
What comes to mind as a situation where the asking is more common is the people holding up "anything helps" cardboard signs at street corners. This is a far from novel activity and many more people won't act on the request.
Another lesson I take from this is that while there are a lot of tales of city strangers acting in uncaring fashions, this is not as pervasive as these tales would have us believe. Based on personal experience there are a lot of times when city strangers will come to other people's aid.
2B. Analyze the experiment from the perspective of the person making the request. Why was it so hard to make the request? Try it yourself the next time you are on a bus, subway, or even in a classroom. Ask someone to give up his seat for you. Can you do it? What social forces are responsible for the difficulty of the task?
Seats on transportation are desirable. Everyone sits when the transport vehicle is not over crowded. It is social habit in the US and most other places to give the current occupant the right to a seat. There needs to be compelling reason to violate that right, an example being an old, crippled grandma coming on board. If there is no compelling reason the habit is real hard to break. This is why the experimenters were feeling such discomfort.
An example of a seat conflict which became memorably historic was Rosa Parks keeping her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955 when a white passenger wanted it.
In sum, this is a fine example of a social habit. A habit is an activity which takes place without much conscious thought. Breaking a habit takes conscious thought and usually a lot of willpower.
--The End--