Someone who does not share the major values of society and feels like an outsider

Reasons for alienation vary:

Discrimination that excludes a member of a visible minority from participating in society

Dissatisfaction of an unhappy teenager

Cults, Gangs that reject societies values

Few even set about trying to destroy the society in which they live through armed struggle

These people hope to build a purer society on the ruins of the old one

http://cnettv.cnet.com/1999-columbine-massacre/9742-1_53-50023640.html

Columbine High School

Unabomber

http://www.5min.com/Video/The-Oklahoma-City-Bombing-119995400

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6410595n

Timothy McVey

These extremely alienated individuals are called Anarchists.

Ex unemployment

People tend to adapt the values of the society that they live in

Politics

Virtually all people believe that their attitudes are right and proper (Subjective Validity)

We like being with people who share our subjective validity

Without subjective validity most of us would experience uncertainty, a feeling that most people do not welcome

Informational Influence human desire to accept information that

another, admired person tells us is valid

Normative Influence pressure to conform to the positive

expectations of others

Investigating the Desire to Conform

Stanley Milgram

Results……….what do you think??

Lineup members defended normal line rules less than 50% of the time

Generally unwilling to do more than just give dirty looks or mild grumbling

People further back in line more unhappy than people at the front

Close to 50% of subway riders gave up their seats (confused and surprised by request)

Many researchers unable to approach someone to request their seat because the norms of the subway ridership proved too stressful

Experiment helps us understand that people can become very uncertain when we avoid normal behaviours

1. What does Milgram’s experiment tell us about (a) human desire to conform and (b) conventional behaviour?

Human desire to conform is very strong and conventional behaviour leans toward defending the rules only about half the time

2. Why would the people farther back in the lineup be more vocal than the people immediately behind the researcher who butted into line?

Longer time to wait and they are further away from the norm violators

3. What is the purpose of the unwritten rules of social behaviour? What would society be like without these conventions?

Help social interactions run smoothly. State of chaos

Alienation can be an extremely positive force

Women in the 1960’s

Lead to the women’s movement

Conformity generally has a tendency to discourage social change

People tend to do the same thing the same way year after year

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