Obedience & Conformity: 5 Experiments That Demonstrate How We Are Programmed

Dr. Roger McFillin and Tracy Thurman examine the Milgram obedience experiments, Solomon Asch’s conformity studies, Festinger and Carlsmith’s cognitive dissonance experiment, and Facebook’s massive emotional contagion experiment, breaking down what each reveals about authority, conformity, manipulation, and how easily human behavior can be influenced.

STUDIES & EXPERIMENTS REFERENCED:

Stanley Milgram, “Behavioral Study of Obedience” (1963)

Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

Stanley Milgram, “Liberating Effects of Group Pressure” (1965)

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021650

Solomon E. Asch, “Effects of Group Pressure Upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments” (1951)

Published in Groups, Leadership and Men

https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.5233080.20

Leon Festinger & James M. Carlsmith, “Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance” (1959)