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Social Norm Experiment: Scenario 6 -- Facing the Wrong Way in an Elevator
Solomon Asch's Conformity Experiments during the 1950s demonstrated how much individual opinion and even perception of reality can be influenced by others (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2009, 577-579). In the original series of experiments, Asch tested subjects by presenting with a perceptual question that should have been very easy to identify the correct answer but within a group situation in which multiple confederates expressed confidence about the wrong answer. That experiment can be duplicated in many different settings and scenarios.
The reason I selected this particular scenario is that it involves one of the more subtle types of norm violations, as opposed to others that would seem to guarantee a reaction. To my mind, Asch's principle is best demonstrated by an experimental design that excludes other provocations for a response, such as invading someone else's space (e.g. standing too close or sitting at an occupied table) or acting in ways that are so unusual that they all but demand a response (e. g. loud...
Meanwhile, the elevator scenario is so passive that it virtually guarantees that any response will demonstrate the reaction to violation of the norm. Additionally, the elevator experiment is actually the only choice on the list that also provides the dimension of possibly influencing the behavior or others and mirrors Asch's experiments (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2009, 577-579) in that respect. While there is no chance of prompting other people to sing out loud, the elevator behavior could possibly influence others to ignore their perceptions (i.e. where they see the elevator doors) and follow the experimenter's lead.
I purposely selected a government office building because it has mirrored elevator walls and because it houses many agency offices with high numbers of visitors to the building who are unfamiliar with the setting and who are easily identifiable by their "Visitor" tags on their lapels. I purposely removed mine and I dressed professionally the way someone would who worked in the building daily. I waited near an elevator bank on the 7th floor, until there was…
When we got to the Lobby, I could tell that several people who were facing the wrong way were still looking over their shoulders to see if the doors at the front opened. That suggested they had never fully abandoned their initial perceptions of where the doors were even though they conformed to the behavior they observed in others. The mirrored walls also allowed me to see that almost everybody facing the wrong way was trying to compare the back wall to the actual doors by staring at them in the mirrors. I considered these results to have confirmed Asch's original results because it was clear to me that almost everyone in the group who followed my lead was consciously aware that the behavior they were following conflicted with their perceptions of reality.
Source Cited
Gerrig, R.J. And Zimbardo, P.G. (2009). Psychology and Life. Boston: Pearson.
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