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Mental Manipulation And Conformity
Most people are influenced by the group
Do you consider yourself to be a conformist? Most people don’t. We all like to think of ourselves as independent thinkers.
However, people have always been influenced by others. Fads wouldn’t take off if this was not the case. Sometimes it’s harmless. Other times it’s not.
For example, we used to have cigarette commercials. People believed that smoking would make them more attractive. They didn’t realize the damage they were doing to their lungs.
In modern times, social media makes it even easier to manipulate people. People want to be popular and their critical thinking skills have eroded.
Of course, people have always been subject to group thinking.
The Asch Conformity Experiments
In 1951 researcher Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments in social psychology to determine the extent of group pressure on individuals.
The experiments occurred at Swarthmore College in the United States. A random male student, let’s call him Bob, would be placed in a room with 7 others who had been briefed ahead of time.
Bob did not know the others had been briefed ahead of time to give the wrong answer. He…
