Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Persuasion Strategies01:52

Persuasion Strategies

42.9K
Researchers have tested many persuasion strategies, including the foot-in-the door and the door-in-the-face techniques, in a variety of contexts. Ultimately, the principles are effective in selling products and changing people’s attitude, ideas, and behaviors (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004).
42.9K
Social Proof00:52

Social Proof

31.4K
Social proof is a form of persuasion based on comparison and conformity. People compare their behavior and actions to what others are doing and will change to conform to do what their peers do.
31.4K
Obedience01:08

Obedience

35.1K
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
35.1K
Milgram's Obedience to Authority02:20

Milgram's Obedience to Authority

7.1K
Obedience to authority is classically demonstrated in a more famous series of social psychology experiments performed by Stanley Milgram. He was a social psychology professor at Yale who was influenced by the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. Eichmann’s defense for the atrocities he committed was that he was “just following orders.”
7.1K
Conformity01:20

Conformity

47.7K
Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.
47.7K
The Stanford Prison Experiment03:20

The Stanford Prison Experiment

24.3K
The famous and controversial Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by social psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University, demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts.
24.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Risk, sanctions and norm change: the formation and decay of social distancing norms.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2024
Same author

Social norm change: drivers and consequences.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2024
Same author

The voice of few, the opinions of many: evidence of social biases in Twitter COVID-19 fake news sharing.

Royal Society open science·2022
Same author

A research agenda for the study of social norm change.

Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences·2022
Same author

Motivating Cord Blood Donation with Information and Behavioral Nudges.

Scientific reports·2018
Same author

Perceived legitimacy of normative expectations motivates compliance with social norms when nobody is watching.

Frontiers in psychology·2015

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
11:51

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making

Published on: March 2, 2011

15.5K

Peer effects on compliance with extortive requests.

Giulia Andrighetto1,2,3, Daniela Grieco4

  • 1Institute of Cognitive Science and Technology, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy.

Plos One
|April 25, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Peer influence drives compliance with extortion, not fear of punishment. Victims conform to others, and extorted amounts are small, influenced by fairness and earnings.

More Related Videos

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.8K
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
07:36

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Published on: May 3, 2016

8.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
11:51

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making

Published on: March 2, 2011

15.5K
The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.8K
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
07:36

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Published on: May 3, 2016

8.9K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Experimental Economics
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Understanding compliance with coercive demands is crucial in various social and economic contexts.
  • Peer effects and punishment mechanisms are known influences on individual behavior, but their interplay in extortion scenarios requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To experimentally investigate the role of peer effects on victim compliance in extortionate situations.
  • To analyze the impact of punishment, fairness concerns, and victim characteristics on extortion dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Laboratory experiments utilizing a multi-victim "extortion game" were conducted.
  • Peer information was systematically varied to observe its effect on compliance.
  • Extortion amounts, victim earnings, and extorter self-selection were recorded and analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Compliance with extortionate requests is primarily driven by conformism when peer behavior is known, rather than by fear of punishment.
  • Extorted sums are relatively small, proportional to victim earnings, and consistent across victims.
  • Requests are significantly lower when the extorter self-selects; punishment is infrequent but effective.

Conclusions:

  • Conformity, not deterrence, is the key mechanism influencing victim compliance in the presence of peer information.
  • Fairness considerations significantly shape both extorter behavior and victim compliance, even in illicit contexts.
  • The findings offer insights into social dynamics underlying cooperation and exploitation in economic interactions.