- So welcome, everyone. My name's Ron, and your task is to choose the line on the right that matches the line on the left. - All right, this seems like an easy enough task: which line on the right is the same length as the one on the left?

The answer is clearly three. [bell dings] - One. - One.

- One. - Why is everyone saying one? Are their eyes not working?

Have we just discovered some new type of illusion? No, the answer is, we paid them to lie. [electronic music] ♪ ♪ Today, we are going to be demonstrating a very famous psychological experiment known as the "Asch experiment.

" This experiment tests conformity and whether or not a person will say something incorrect simply because everyone else is. What matters more? Being right or fitting in?

[calm music] ♪ ♪ We have five professional actors that have been instructed to do as we say. Often, they will be lying about what they think the answer is. But in position number five, a real participant who has no idea what's going on will be seated.

Now, their task is to match the length of the line on the left with one of the lines on the right. But what if everyone else in the room gave the wrong answer? Would you be bold enough to stick out and say what you saw, or would you just fit in because it's easier or less uncomfortable?

Well, let's find out. - So welcome, everyone. My name's Ron.

Your task is to choose the line on the right that matches the line on the left. I'll just call on you individually, you know, in order, one through six. - The calm before the storm.

- Okay, so let's begin. - The first few times, we're gonna have the actors say the correct answer to gain the trust of our subject. The correct answer here is three.

- Three. - Three. - Number three.

- Number three. - Three. - One.

- One. - Number one. - Number one.

- Number one. - Now they're all gonna start lying. The correct answer is three.

Let's see what our subject does. - One. - One.

- Pretty quickly, she appears to be confused. - One. - Um, okay, number one.

- Number one. - Three. .

. - One. [tense music] ♪ ♪ - You can see participant five closing one eye, then the other, trying to figure out why everyone's wrong.

But she's not going along with them. Again, the correct answer is three. [bell dings] Let's see what our subject does.

- Number one. - Number one. - Yeah, number one.

- Number one. - Three? - She's sticking to her guns, but she appears to be uncomfortable opposing the group.

This time, the correct answer is two. - Three. - Three.

- Number three. - Number three. - Number three.

- Wow. - Three. - She's falling in line.

Will she do it again? The correct answer is three. - One.

- One. - Number one. - Number one.

- Number one. - Conformed. Conformity.

The desire to fit in. Peer pressure. These are powerful social forces that shape our actions and beliefs and influence how we behave as individuals and as a society.

In the original Asch experiments first carried out by Solomon Asch in 1951, approximately 75% of subjects conformed at least once. - One. - Hi, Ron.

Sorry to butt in, guys. My name is Michael. I just wanted to kind of ask you a few questions about the study you've been doing.

This is a study on conformity. And everyone in this room is an actor-- except for you, number five. - Oh, my God!

Oh, my God! This is so crazy. - And they've all been instructed to give the wrong answers to see if you'll follow along.

- Whoa. - You did say the wrong answer after everyone else had said the wrong answer. Why did you do it?

- I thought, "There's something going on here. "I don't know what to do, so I'm just gonna say what they said. " - How did it feel to do that?

- It--it felt-- it felt like I was drinking the Kool-Aid, like-- [laughter] - It's very normal. This study wouldn't be as famous as it was if it wasn't normal, though it is surprising, because so many of us would say, "No, I would always say what's real. " - Right.

Right. - Would you? - Right, no.

Clearly not all the time, yeah. - All right, thank you very much. [upbeat synth music] ♪ ♪ People follow the crowd in all kinds of interesting ways, many of which are pretty funny.

Classical psychological experiments and hidden camera pranks often involve people acting together in strange ways to see if others will conform. Now, there's nothing inherently irrational about following the crowd in ways like those. Conforming can be a form of social lubrication.

It's just easier to do what someone else is doing, because to break from that norm would be to slow things down. If everyone's facing the same way in an elevator, it's not like you lose your personal sense of identity by turning along with them. Instead, you're just going with the flow and not being awkward.

If I see a bunch of people on the street looking up, and I decide to look up too, there's nothing inherently bad about that. I mean, what it costs for me to look up is really low compared to the potential harm that might come from me not seeing an imminent threat. Sometimes, conformity is harmless.

[laughter] Even laughter is a form of conformity. We laugh if something is funny, but we also tend to laugh if people around us are laughing, even if we don't get the joke. There are a lot of social forces behind this: politeness, a fear of looking stupid, and no doubt a desire to conform-- to fit in.

Let's see what happens when there's even more pressure to see something that's unfunny as hilarious. We've invited these people to participate in a psychological experiment. But here's the thing: everyone in this room is an actor, except this guy.

He thinks he's just killing time in this waiting room before the experiment begins. But this is the experiment, and that's no joke. Hey, how's everyone doing today?

[indistinct murmuring] My name's Michael. Nice to meet you all. Thanks for participating.

It's important that everyone be kind of in a chatty mood. So here's a question: anyone got some good jokes? - I have a great one.

- Oh, yeah? - Why did the hipster burn his mouth on coffee? Because he drank it way before it was cool.

[laughter] Get it, yeah? - I get it, yeah. - Our subject thinks the real joke is funny, but keep in mind, the joke I'm going to tell is complete nonsense.

It's not funny. It's just words. Everyone but the subject has been instructed to laugh at it.

The question is, will the pressure to conform make the subject laugh? Okay, how about this one? Uh, a giraffe is at the airport going through the TSA line.

And the security agent says, "Hey, is this your laptop? " And the giraffe says, "I thought you'd never ask. " [laughter] - Oh, my God.

- You guys have never heard that before? - No, never. - No.

- It's pretty famous. - I didn't. - This is a classic example of conformity.

Even when the crowd acts in a way that makes no sense, the need to fit in is still very strong. Okay, how about this one? Uh, two penguins are driving in a car.

The driver says, "Hey, could you change the radio station? " And the other one says, "No radio. Four wheels.

" [laughter] - That was better. - Laughter can be a powerful tool for social conformity, which is exactly why sitcoms use canned laughter. - How do you feel about courtin' right now?

- Uncle Jake, if there was a pretty girl on the other side of this house, I'd jump clean over it. [laughter] - The laugh track entices you at home to laugh along, even when a joke might not be that funny. So will our other subjects feel compelled to laugh at our meaningless joke?

So a giraffe is at the airport. And it's in the security line, and the TSA agent says, "Is this your laptop? " And the giraffe says, "I thought you'd never ask.

" [laughter] "Hey, is this your laptop? " And the giraffe says, "I thought you would never ask. " [laughter] - What?

- Since our subjects are in a conforming mood. . .

- Oh, my God. - Let's take this a step further. - Hey, I need Katie and Lauren to come with me for your interview.

- Sure. - Let's see how committed they are to fitting in. Will they repeat the nonsensical joke to another one of our actors?

- We were telling jokes earlier. Should I say the, uh. .

. - Yes. - The giraffe?

Okay. So. .

. - Hey, uh, Tim, I need you to come with me for your interview. - Okay.

Good. [inaudible] - I guess the joke has to wait. - Yeah.

Dude, you tell it. You tell it, bro. - Well.

. . - No, you got it.

You got it. Say it. - Okay, so the giraffe is in a line-- in a TSA line.

. . - Okay.

- Waiting. - And the-- and the agent asks him, "Is that your laptop? " And he was like, "I thought you'd never ask.

" [percussive beat] - I don't--I don't get it. ♪ ♪ - Yeah, it's gonna take you a while to get it. - Okay.

- And he says, um, "I thought you'd never ask. " ♪ ♪ - What's the funny part? - I don't know.

I--I found it funny. And it's a giraffe. It's not a human.

- And you thought it was funny? - Yeah. - What was the funny part, though?

Like. . .

- I think it was-- the funny part was the laptop, 'cause you know how he's so tall? - Hmm. - Do these subjects really think my meaningless joke is funny?

It's time to let them in on what's really going on. Everyone here today except for you is an actor. - Okay.

- We have all been instructed to laugh at that dumb giraffe joke, which is not even a joke. It's just a meaningless thing. And then we see if the one person who isn't in on it, which in this round was you-- how they respond.

Why did you never say, "What? " - I think it was people laughing around me, and I was trying to understand why that was funny. And then I had to make sense of it in my mind, and then I think I made it funny to myself.

- That process of mental gymnastics is known as cognitive dissonance. When you've done something you don't truly believe in, like laughing just because everyone else did, you try to come to terms with your behavior through denial and justification. It's not a joke; I just made that up, and it's nonsense.

- I know, that's why I thought it was funny. - 'Cause it just would-- make no sense? - Yeah, that's why.

- I don't know. That's crazy, though, 'cause it did make me laugh. [laughing] - Everyone does that.

- Yeah. - It's typical human behavior. .

. - Yeah. It's true, though.

- To go with the flow and to keep things moving. It's about just being a good, social person. - It's definitely a-- a conformity thing.

[laughter] - One of the most disappointing and terrifying aspects of our desire not to stand out is the bystander effect. People are less likely to help victims if other people are around. One of the most famous examples is told in Psych 101 classes all over the world.

It's the story of Kitty Genovese, a woman who was brutally stabbed and raped in New York City in 1964. - It was a murder that symbolized the apathy of many to big city crime. On a March night back in 1964, 28-year-old bar manager Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death on a street in Kew Gardens, Queens.

Police say at least 38 people heard her screams but did nothing to help. - The hypothesis was that each and every one of them assumed someone else would call the police, so they didn't have to bother to do so themselves. It wasn't their responsibility, so the police were never called.

And Kitty died. [somber music] But here's the thing: Kitty's story may not be an example of conformity, at least not in the way we normally think, because most of it was totally untrue. 38 people didn't witness the attack.

As it turns out, the actual number of witnesses who could have helped and didn't may have been as few as two, and people did call the police. Samuel Hoffman spent three or four minutes on hold before finally reaching a police dispatcher. So where did the number 38 come from?

Well, it's theorized that the police commissioner actually lied to a reporter about the number of witnesses who did nothing in order to cover up why it took the police so long to arrive at the scene of the crime. And the narrative of uncaring New Yorkers turning a blind eye to a woman's murder spread around the world, making front page headlines. As more and more sources repeated reports they'd heard, rather than going back to investigate the truth, a psychological phenomenon known as information cascade took place.

An information cascade develops when people have little information themselves, so they depend on inferences they can make based on earlier people's actions. So the conformity wasn't on the part of the eyewitnesses. It was in the reporting of the story.

There's a saying in journalism: "Some stories are too good to check. " [projector whirring] - I'm going to give you this cup that contains lysergic acid-- 100 micrograms. - Clinical trials: they can be enlightening, frightening, dangerous.

. . - It seems to want to take me over too much, you see, and I don't want to let myself go.

- And also the perfect high-stakes setting to test the power of conformity. [tense music] ♪ ♪ This is Emma. She thinks she's taking part in a group study to measure the side effects of a new hallucinogenic drug.

- So the drug that you are helping us research today is NC-47. Today we're investigating possible side effects. You know, there've been some audio-visual distortions.

You may see some images behind your eyes-- um, you know, some general feelings of either calmness or euphoria. We're trying to examine those a little further and find out a little bit more about how this drug is affecting everybody. - Emma is already looking to the rest of the group for comfort.

- Just take a cup, and just hang onto it. - [whispering] Okay. - If everyone else is participating willingly, it must be okay for her, too.

[laughter] - We're all, like, scared to death. Okay. - Go.

♪ ♪ But here's the catch: our subject didn't take a hallucinogenic drug at all. It was simply a shot of flavored water. Just relax and concentrate.

We'll give this just a little bit of time to set in. It doesn't take long for our actors to feel the supposed side effects of the so-called drug. - It's like a-- like a line that goes across.

- It's almost like I'm looking through a kaleidoscope, but it's, like, fuzzy. - Will our test subject go along with the group? Or will she be bold enough to stick out and say the truth?

- It's like a--like a lava lamp sort of thing. - Hmm. Emma?

- Um, I honestly-- I don't see anything. [laughs] - Mm. - I don't see any shadows, shapes.

. . I'm like, "Come on, I want to see a shape.

" But I don't see anything, no. - Emma's honesty is making her an outsider. Notice how she says she wants to feel the side effects, which would enable her to fit in with the group.

You can all sit down again. Okay, I want to do the audio test. We're just gonna go down the line, and I want you to just say the word "hello.

" Here's another opportunity for Emma to conform. Will she go along with the group when she sees the actors pretend to experience an auditory reaction to the alleged drug? - Hello.

- Louder. - Um, hello! - And how did that feel?

What's your reaction? - I hear, like, a delay. Like, um.

. . Yeah, it could be called an echo.

It's more like a. . .

- Mm-hmm. - Like a reverb or something. - Yup, that's very common.

All right, Ivory. - Hello. Hello.

[laughs] It's almost like, you know, when you watch a video, and it's just like-- just the tiniest bit out of sync so you just barely notice it? - Mm-hmm. All right, Emma?

- Hello. Hello? Hello.

Yeah, it is echoing, like you had a shot-- like you had a shot of vodka. - [laughing] - Something like that, like. .

. - Yeah, acute audio distortion is really common. - Okay.

- Here we see a classic example of conformity. But is she just trying to fit in or does she truly believe she's experiencing side effects now? - I'm feeling pretty chill.

- Ivory? - I feel kind of, like, just relaxed. - I just feel, like, really relaxed.

- She's now claiming to feel multiple side effects. - But yeah, no, it's like I. .

. I had, like, two drinks or something. - Right, and in this moment now, how do you feel?

- Uh, kind of tired. - Tired. - Right?

- Yeah. - Am I the only one? - No.

[laughs] - Should go, like, nap on that bean bag, yeah. - Emma continues to look to the group for reassurance that her symptoms are in line with theirs. - I don't know if I like it.

I can't decide. You know what I mean? What do you guys think?

I don't know. - Whatever she thinks she's feeling, she wants to make sure it fits in with the group. - The room is warmer, no?

- Yeah. - Would you take this while you were operating a motor vehicle? - No, I don't think so.

- Because. . .

- 'Cause you need to concentrate on what you're doing. But I just feel so relaxed. - Here we see an entirely new level of conformity.

Our subject is actually experiencing physical manifestations due to group pressure. Other subjects also experienced physical sensations that they reported in great detail. - Hello.

I hear the echo. I can hear the echo. - So you know an echo would go out, then in?

This is, like, just an in. - I just feel, like, sensation, like, near my eye and nose area. - I feel like it's definitely getting brighter, though.

- Okay, could you say more about the increased brightness? - It's not comfortable to look at the lights, really. - What we're seeing from these subjects could be a form of informational conformity, or even what's called a contact high, a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a sober person comes into contact with someone who is under the influence of drugs and begins to manifest the same physical symptoms.

I can now debrief you on what has been going on. So none of you took anything but, uh, water today. - What?

[laughter] - And we're just kind of looking at the way that groups conform together. We wanted to see what it would take to get someone to fall in line with the group. Did you feel actual changes, or were you saying some things just to fit in and not stick out?

- No, I felt relaxed, so I don't get-- I can't figure it-- I still feel relaxed. - Are you surprised to have heard that you just drank water? - Yeah.

I definitely feel different. - I actually did hear, yeah, an echo. - The desire to conform is so strong, the subjects continue to believe in their manifested symptoms, even after learning the drug was fake.

- I am prone to anxiety attacks, though, so I felt relaxed. - Well, you should take more of this nothing. [laughter] Human society is incredibly complex.

And the dueling forces pushing us to conform and also to express our individuality are both necessary. Other people can influence us in good ways and in not-so-good ways. But at the end of the day, just remember this: what did the walrus say to the doctor?

Give up? Cardboard. [laughter] Go ahead, laugh.

Everyone's doing it. You don't want to look like you don't get it, do you? Good, that's what I thought.

Thanks for laughing, and as always, thanks for watching.