Psy240 Article Analysis Format

For each article analysis you turn in provide the following information at the top of the page:

a. Your name

b. The title of the article

c. The date

For each article analysis complete the following evaluation items. You MUST use the numbering and lettering system shown below. Failure to do so will result in an automatic two point deduction from your score on the analysis. The number of points each section is worth is noted in parentheses. Partial credit will be given for incomplete information.

1. Read the brief summary of the article that opens the article and then:

A. List two or three of your own views on the topic of the article that you had before reading the article.

I tend to agree with Robert Cialdini's belief that the case of the mass suicide at Jonestown has to have a deeper cause then just a charismatic Jim Jones. I think that, whether completely planned or not, Jim Jones set up a society in which he not only influenced the social norm, but almost single-handedly created it. By isolating the people of his community away from all familiar outside influence, he successfully forced the individuals to rely completely on him and to look only to the community for all social cues. In this way, he could convince the people on a daily basis of the goals, ethics, and actions that he wished them to hold. I believe that social proof can be a powerful tool in influencing people to make decisions that may not be completely compliant with their internal belief system. Through the influence of observing other people that appear similar to oneself and the consequences of those actions, one may begin to change their behaviors to come into line with others.

B. Indicate whether you agree or disagree with the main themes of the article (and why).

I definitely agree with the main themes of the article, mainly for the reasons I stated above. It just seems to make sense that people would be motivated to follow a charismatic leader like Jones. It also makes sense that others can also follow along with someone who is more ordinary, like adolescents who dress alike so that they fit in with the peer group.

C. List the reasons why you hold these views.

We have seen too many times how something like the People's Temple can happen. Whether it is a group of people following a "religious leader," such as David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, or Germans blindly following Hitler, social proof seems to be a very powerful thing. It seems to me that people have a very strong tendency to want to fit in with the crowd. Sometimes this leads people to do things that may not be right.

2. List three important points raised in the article. Identify whether each point you chose was supported or not supported by some kind of evidence (e. g., either data from a study conducted or other research). Describe the nature of the evidence cited in the article that supports the points made.

A. Point 1

One point made in the article said that people tend to be more inclined to follow the lead of a similar individual than one that is dissimilar.

1. Specific support

One piece of evidence cited in the article came from a research experiment in which psychologists at Columbus University staged a situation in which wallets were placed around midtown Manhattan in such a way that it was obvious that they had been lost. In each wallet was one of two notes, written in either standard or broken English (depicting an average American vs. a foreigner), indicating that someone else had lost the wallet in an attempt to return it to the original owner. About 70% of the wallets with notes indicating that the writers were similar to the finders of the wallet were returned. Only 33% of the wallets with notes that indicated that the writers were different from the finders were returned.

B. Point 2

Another idea developed from this experiment stated that when people are uncertain about how they should behave in a given situation, they are more likely to follow others' examples of how they should act.

1. Specific support

In addition to the above described experiment, the author cited a personal experience regarding his son. He stated that he had tried several times to teach his young boy to swim. He even hired a college student who had experience teaching swimming to try to help, but the boy would not get into the pool without his plastic swimming ring. The only person who could teach him to swim was a young boy the same age as the author's son. The author's son saw the boy swimming without a plastic ring during a day camp session and realized that he, too, could learn how to swim without the ring. The author's son witnessed the act of another person who was perceived as similar to himself engaged in an activity that had in the past frightened him. After seeing the consequences of the act (having fun) the author's son adopted this behavior.

C. Point 3

Another important point brought up in the article is that the number of suicides and fatal accidents seems to increase statistically following a well-publicized suicide.

1. Specific support

Cialdini states that Philips has examined statistics of suicide in the United States between the years of 1947-1968. Within a two month period after every high-profile suicide story, an average of 58 more people than usual committed suicide. These suicides tended to occur in the same geographical area as the original suicide and the suicides committed generally reflected the original suicide (single suicides increased single deaths while suicide-murders increased multiple death statistics). This finding rejects the ideas that this phenomenon could be caused by bereavement or similar social conditions, and supports the proposed Werther effect.

3. Identify one or two major conclusions drawn by the author(s). Do you agree or disagree with those conclusions. Indicate what caused you to agree or disagree

A. Conclusion 1

The major finding in the article is that Phillips has concluded that the reason that the suicide rate and accident mortality rate increases after a highly publicized suicide is due to the Werther effect, or social proof, and not simply due to similar social situations or bereavement behavior.

1. Agree/disagree and why

I agree with this conclusion. Phillips states that basically people imitate the behavior of the original suicide. Phillips points out that with social poof, the "imitator" must believe that there is some similarity between themselves and the original suicide victim. Phillips says that statistically, if the original suicide victim is young, the imitators tend to be young. Conversely, an older suicide victim seems to spark imitator suicides among older people. The tendency for fatal accidents to increase is actually a further reflection of suicide rate. Phillips implies that these accidents (motor, airplane, etc) are in actuality suicide attempts masked to look like accidents. Cialdini also noticed that "copy-cat" homicides and violence following boxing matches in which people of the same race as those boxers who were beaten experience an increase in victimization. In addition to these findings, Cialdini states that the Jonestown mass suicides occurred because a few fanatical followers took the poison. The other members witnessed these people, seen as similar to themselves, calmly participating in the suicide, and quietly followed their lead. Cialdini claims that this was an extreme representation of the "herd" mentality that can be developed due to Social Proof.

4. How has the information in the article helped you better understand social behavior and the factors that control it?

Social proof can be a beneficial tool when used to gauge behavior in different social situations. Without social proof, people might not feel compelled to do things like use silverware at dinner, refrain from talking during a movie, or stand in line (all activities that are not valued cross-culturally). Social proof can be a very strong influence on how a person behaves. Yet, social proof can also be a dangerous facet of social behavior. It helps to explain how people can be influenced into making decisions, even decisions as important as committing suicide, based on one's observations of the actions of others. The article suggests that people are greatly influenced by outside cues and often override their own internal cues in favor of the social proof. This apparently includes the overriding of the need for self-preservation.

5. A. How does the social psychological phenomenon discussed in the article apply to current events or past historical events?

This particular phenomenon probably applies to current or historical events better than some of the others we have studied. Humans seem to have a strong need to fit in with others. They will go to great lengths to do this. Sometimes fitting in is harmless (for example, teenagers listening to the same music), and sometimes fitting in is destructive (for example, a crowd urging a person to jump from a bridge to commit suicide.

B. Choose an example from current events or past history (one other than examples given in the article) and show how the article illuminates that event.

One example of social proof occurred when a small group of intelligent male and female scientists and professionals formed a cult, believing that an alien space craft was travelling in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet. The cult members lived together in a house, dressed and cut their hair exactly the same, and relied on each other for social and economic support. They followed the teachings of the leader of the group. In an apparently highly organized, ritualistic way, members of the group committed suicide in the belief that that was the only way for them to be transported onto the "escape" ship. There was evidence that these people were well aware that they would be expected to commit suicide and even prepared for the event by buying new shoes and celebrating the coming event by attending a movie together as a group. These people apparently looked to each other for all of their social cues, accepting this seemingly preposterous claim, eventually participating in a mass suicide in a final act of solidarity. They're fear and disgust of the problems of the outside society worked to isolate them, strengthening their belief and reliance on the group.

6. A. Describe any new perspectives on the social behavior discussed in the article

When I first read the claims that people often look to others in society to get cues on how they should behave, I was not surprised. I felt that the extreme case of Jonestown could even partially be attributed to this phenomenon. But the claims that a well- publicized suicide could cause such events as a rise in suicide rate, murder rate, accidental death, and airplane crashes even without the extreme isolation and cult environment seemed at first reading to be rather preposterous. When I first read this article, I resisted the idea that people might be influenced to kill themselves and others just in an attempt to imitate the behavior of someone they saw as similar to themselves. It now makes more sense to me that social proof actually exists.

B. Describe why you developed a new perspective or why you did not develop a new perspective.

After the second reading, I began to notice that the true idea underlying the claims was that these people who "imitate" the suicide are often depressed and tending toward suicidal thoughts. Perhaps the only thing keeping them from committing suicide is the public perception of the act. If someone who is seen as similar in ethics, social beliefs and position, and basic attitudes can commit the act, then it makes the act seem more possible in the eyes of the "imitator". The attempt to make it look like an accident may be to protect the people they leave behind from the social perception of suicide.

C. Write down two questions that came to mind while reading the article.

Outside of cult situations, is there a larger trend for people who personally know the suicide victims to become imitators, or does familiarity with the person undermine the effect by making the suicide victim less similar to the potential imitator?

If one of the indicators of social proof that uncertain people will follow the acts of those around them? Does that mean that people with strong convictions are immune to the effect?

Is the social proof effect in part aided by media such as television? The article concentrated mostly on newspaper reports of suicides, but television is more accessible to people. Have the numbers of fatal incidents after suicides increased? Can the media affect the way social proof works by influencing how the suicide victim is viewed (given attributes of a "regular person" or as a unique or deranged person)?