attempts. A large portion of the population makes a living simply

attempting to get others to comply with their requests. Whether a

manager encouraging productivity, a policeman directing traffic, a

salesperson closing a sale, or a president telling us we need to spend

more money on social programs. Each of us is subjected to an

uncountable number of influential attempts each day.

Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social

life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of

all communal living and it is only the person dwelling in isolation

who is not forced to respond, with defiance or submission, to the

commands of others (Elms 1995, p. 28). For many people, obedience is

deeply ingrained behavior tendency, a compelling impulse overriding

training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct.

Obedience has been a determinant of behavior established from

1933- 1945 when millions of innocent people were systematically

slaughtered on command. (Pettijohn, 1995, p. 196). Obedience to

destructive authority was indeed a crucial social issue in 1962. (Elms

Philip Zombardo (1988) conducted an experiment using volunteer

find it difficult to escape. Although all of Zimbardo's subjects were

(Franzoi, 1996, p. 261). The experiment involved having subjects judge

262). Sherif researched this process of how group pressures influence

widely held norms and beliefs about what is and what is not

(Brady and Logsdon 1988, p. 706) This shows along with Milgrams

What can be considered as a social norm in one group or

conform to norms experimently by placing indiviuals into groups that

fully aware of the nature of the experiment, it becomes clear that

teachers seemed to accept the response and continue shocking.

situational norms. " They reported when standing in front of a

proximity even the researchers felt uncomfortable, some couldn't even

Some common words found in the essay are:
Brady Logsdon, Social Norms-, Monmouth University, York City, Yale University, Modigliani Rochat, Stanford University, Philip Zombardo, Drout Vander, franzoi 1996, Asia Elms, elms 1995, franzoi 1996 261, instances norms, perform simple, directions proximity, logsdon 1988, 1996 261, social psychology, brady logsdon, pettijohn 1995, brady logsdon 1988,
Approximate Word count = 1324
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)