Psychosomatic Medicine 30:298-310 (1968)
© 1968 American Psychosomatic Society

Psychophysiological Concomitants of Social Stress: The Effects of Conformity Pressure

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, Calif.; Present address: Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
² Department of Psychiatry, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, Calif.

Skin potential concomitants of social conformity and independence were studied in a modified Asch situation utilizing naive subjects in both minority and majority roles. Behavioral and skin potential data for both roles demonstrated increased autonomic arousal for minority subjects remaining independent during conformity pressure. Minority subjects yielding to conformity pressure had lower levels of arousal, similar to the habituation pattern of control subjects. Majority-role subjects confronting independent minority-role subjects exhibited increased habituation of skin potential when contrasted with majority-role subjects facing yielding minority-role subjects.