INSTITUTE FOR

egularities; the concepts of culture in anthropology and the definition of the situation in
sociology both concern cognitive structures only dimly perceived by decision makers.
The Milgram experiment demonstrates that isolated individuals can exhibit remarkably
obedient (and deviant) behavior inside the iaboratory. In group situations, however, there is
evidence that such behavior occurs only when there is near unanimity of opinion. In this
regard, the most relevant evidence comes from a variant of the Asch experiment. Asch
(1951, p. 479) found that subjects asked to match the length of a line to a comparison group
of lines of different length gave the wrong answer roughly 40% of the time if they were
preceded by confederates of the experimenter who had previously given the wrong answer.
However, in another variant of the experiment, Asch (1952) found that the presence of just a
single confederate who gave the right answer in a large group of confederates reduced the
number of wrong answers by a factor of two thirds. This suggests that the presence of like
minded others significantly raises the likelihood of disobedience in situations such as the
Milgram experiment. It might be inferred that obedience such as obtained by Milgram could
only occur in the laboratory where people are shielded from outside information and
influences.
The next four sections will present examples of individuals who participate in groups and
make regrettable decisions. In each of the examples a sequence of small errors has serious ill
consequences. Furthermore, in each of the situations descrited there is a natural equilibrium
in which those who disagree with the actions taken find it disadvantageous to voice their
dissent, which is accordingly isolated from the decision-making process.
V. Cults
A. Unification Church. Evidence seems to show that neither members nor inductees into
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