Chapter 2 of Aronson “The Social Animal” deals with the topic of conformity. Aronson discusses Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiments, which demonstrated that people are highly likely to obey authority figures even when doing so leads to causing harm to others. Milgram's experiments involved subjects who were instructed to administer electric shocks to a fellow participant, who was actually a confederate and not actually receiving any shocks. Milgram found that the majority of participants obeyed the instructions to administer increasingly stronger shocks, even when the confederate screamed in pain and begged for the shocks to stop.
Milgram's experiments demonstrated that obedience to authority is a powerful force, even when the authority figure is not particularly imposing or threatening. In fact, Milgram found that the mere presence of an authority figure was enough to induce obedience in most participants. Additionally, Milgram found that the proximity of the authority figure, as well as the physical distance between the participant and the victim, influenced the degree of obedience.
Aronson also discusses the bystander effect, which refers to the tendency of individuals to be less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when other people are present. The presence of other bystanders leads to a diffusion of responsibility, where each individual feels less responsible for taking action because they assume someone else will do so. However, Aronson's chapter offers an example of a situation where people did come to the aid of a person in distress, suggesting that a sense of common fate or mutuality can increase the likelihood of individuals taking responsibility for each other.
Overall, Chapter 2 of Aronson “The Social Animal” highlights the powerful influence of authority figures on people's behavior, as well as the complex social dynamics that can influence whether individuals take action to help others in need.
