Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Can people be persuaded to go against the tribe and vote for Biden?


We all belong to a variety of tribes who influence our behavior.  Belonging to a tribe began as an anthropological necessity.  People who belonged to a tribe were more likely to survive.  That hasn't really changed.  People may no longer be worried about being eaten by wild animals, but they still need back-up when things go wrong.

In order to maintain their place in a tribe, people will often agree to do and say things that go against their own beliefs.  In fact, research shows that 2/3 of people will conform in public. (Asch, 1951)

In an experiment from Brain Games, people who deliberately gave an incorrect answer to go along with the tribe indicated that they did so because 1) everyone else did - peer pressure and 2) I didn't want to be the dumb kid - questioning their own ability to judge when others disagreed.

You can check it out here...

So how do you get people to resist the pull of the tribe?  You give them permission to defect.  A group called Republican Voters Against Trump has begun running ads in an attempt to do just that.  The ads feature user testimonials from people who voted for Trump in 2016 and now regret what they have done. 

So they are not really asking people to leave the tribe, but rather they are pointing out that the wisdom the of tribe has actually shifted.  It's an interesting approach. 

Time will tell if it works.


Asch, S. (1951)  Effects of Group Pressure Upon The Modification And Distortion Of Judgments. Social Psychology.  Retrieved March 20, 2020, from https://www.gwern.net/docs/psychology/1952-asch.pdf

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