We tend to conform when we are in a group because we don't want to risk being perceived as wrong. We fear being rejected, disliked — or worse — if we are wrong or inappropriate in a group.
Consider this classic study. A researcher conducted an experiment where four subjects looked at two lines, A and B. Three of the four people were secretly working with the researcher. Line A was clearly the longer line. But the three play actors chose line B, the shorter line, as the longer of the two. In repeated experiments, the fourth person tended to agree with the three — despite the fact that their eyes saw that line B was longer.
In religious organizations, where the majority makes the claim of knowing the will or word of God, these pressures are especially strong. If we disagree with religious group opinion, then others can regard us as unworthy, ignorant and/or evil. These pressures are real. Religions have burned thousands of people at the stake because they were "against God."
Keep in mind that the human need for group approval is like that of animals, whose survival and well-being depend upon being an accepted part of the herd. A sheep, for example, wouldn't risk leaving the flock to pursue her own direction in life.
A tightly knit religious or political group can function like a herd — as can the populations of the nation. A herd mentality operates when a religious or a political group, bonded together by self-serving and self-righteous beliefs, comes into conflict with other groups that don't share or respect these beliefs. This dynamic accounts for war and violence among people, much more than the rational-sounding reasons we hear from history scholars or from CNN.
Rigid and potentially deadly group beliefs become part of the roles that people play in a drama involving Us versus Them. Another social psychology experiment demonstrates this clearly. A psychologist divided a group of graduate students in two sub-groups: half of them played the role of prisoners and the other half prison guards. The students played out their roles realistically in a prison-like setting.
Within two weeks, there was violence between the groups. The "prisoners" became bonded as if they were real prisoners. The same thing happened with the student "guards."
The leaders of extremist religiously oriented political groups put additional spin on the forces operating in groups that control a person's thoughts, feeling and behavior.
Members of the group are encouraged to see their leader as divine. He or she then becomes respected and even worshipped as a messenger of God. Human beings have an unfortunate inclination to follow such leaders because of unconscious forces. In America, religion and politics are supposed to be separate. But a politician's passion for things such as "capitalism" is often a proxy for the word of God.
Consider that during World War II, many Germans regarded Hitler as a divine authority. Vast numbers of Chinese, long accustomed to myths involving "divine" leaders, also thought of Mao as a god.
The evidence is in. We can be suckers for people in authority, as yet another psychology experiment sadly further illustrates.
This study used two rooms. One had a "very famous scientist" in control of machine that was connected to people in a second room. People in both rooms could see each other. The people connected to the machines in the second room were in on the experiment and were play-acting. The machine in the scientist's room was supposed to cause pain to people in the other room, depending on how much the pain dials were turned up.
The "famous scientist" functioned as the authority figure. Subjects were told that they were to administer pain to a person sitting in the other room. They were told by the "scientist" that this was a very important experiment.
When subjects were told to administer pain, most did. And, when the play actors in the other room yelled and screamed, as if they were suffering terribly, most of the subjects, turned up the pain dials even higher when told to. Even when the play actors begged for the "pain" to stop, subjects continued to administer higher and higher dosages of what they thought was excruciating pain.
This study shows how easy it is for people to do terrible things when instructed to do so by someone they admire, respect and fear.
We all have the potential to get caught up in this nastiness. These forces can also be at play in authoritarian families and work environments. Clearly, we must learn how to protect ourselves from the dark and hypnotic powers that can get triggered by groups and by authority figures.
• • •
Dr. Jim Manganiello is a clinical psychologist and diplomate-level medical psychotherapist based in Groveland and West Boxford. He is also an author and teacher focusing on stress, personal growth, meditation and "inner fitness." His book "Unshakable Certainty" is available on Amazon. Email him at drmanganiello@comcast.net or visit www.drjimmanganiello.com.
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