Sidney Lumet's Twelve angry men is a film that tells the story of a jury of twelve men who discuss the acquittal or conviction of a 19-year old accused of killing his father. What began as an open and shut case soon becomes a detective story that requires more investigation of clues for the jurors. In the film, certain social psychology principles come to light, such as conformity, groupthink, and aggression. These principles will be discussed as they appear in the film and their relation to research findings and experiments that support the principle.
Conformity
The jurors enter the deliberation room and decide to take a vote by show of hands. Several jurors seem not sure if the accused is guilty (13Youtoo, 2012). However, they give in to the group pressure, thus voting guilty while only one of them votes not guilty after withstanding the initial pressure (13Youtoo, 2012). This scene can be described through a social psychology principle known as conformity. Conformity is an outcome of social influence that could occur spontaneously and in an automatic sense.
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Conformity is defined as the changes in beliefs, behaviors, and opinions resulting from one's perceptions of what others do or believe (Stagnor, 2014). Most people conform to others as a means of learning more about their environment while others try fulfilling the desire to be liked by others (Penn State University, 2018). Research shows that conformity is a strong factor in every social situation, and it can result from real or imaginary influence. Solomon Asch's initial experiment to test conformity tested one subject among his confederates (Penn State University, 2018). The results of the experiment showed that even though an answer was obvious, one could be easily persuaded to conform if everyone else believed a different yet wrong choice was correct (Penn State University, 2018). The subjects would all agree to the answer, although they did not believe it was correct.
The selected scene showcases conformity as the jurors are in the form of a social situation. They are deliberating the verdict for the case, and the initial vote saw a significant number of undecided individuals vote guilty as most jurors voted guilty (13Youtoo, 2012). The scene conforms to Asch's experiment as the unsure jurors ended up voting with the majority, although they did not seem convinced by the evidence. This goes to show that conformity is a strong aspect in social situations, and most people cannot resist it.
Groupthink
Immediately after the first vote, members of the jury are somewhat angered that the vote is not unanimous. They begin airing their points on why the vote should be guilty because the case to them seems open and shut (13Youtoo, 2012). Everyone is talking, and jury member twelve even begins to digress from his role. Juror one and twelve tell jury member eight to explain what he thinks so that they can show him why he is mixed up and to convince him that he is wrong, and everyone else is right (13Youtoo, 2012). This scene can be described through a social psychology principle known as groupthink.
Groups such as the jury in the film can only make effective decisions if they are cooperative, generate new ideas, correct each other's mistakes and share information among themselves (University of Texas, 2020). Groupthink is defined as a negative behavior that occurs when members of the group are competent to make the right decision but due to strong conformity pressure and a flawed group process, they end up making poor decisions (Stargnor, 2014). Groupthink is a model developed by Irving Janis to describe the need for unanimity in groups and not to bring their ideas but go with the flow (University of Texas, 2020). Research shows that indications of groupthink comprise of impressions of unity, pressure on dissenters to conform, and, little search for new information, among others (Stagnor, 2014).
The selected scene showcases groupthink as members of the jury want a unanimous vote of guilty. The group is made up of competent individuals capable of making the right decision. However, they want to make their decision without searching for new information. The scene also conforms to research on groupthink, where everyone expects juror eight believes in the group's unanimity. They also put pressure on juror eight to conform, saying he behaves like he has a monopoly on the truth (13Youtoo, 2012). The film shows how groupthink can result in faulty decisions from forces that bring the group together.
Aggression
Throughout the film, there are several instances of aggression seen among the jurors. Such is when the jurors are discussing who else might have killed the suspect's father (13Youtoo, 2012). Juror eight tries to think and the members of the group start playing tic-tac-toe. He gets furious and throws away the piece of paper and juror three gets furious and wants to fight with him (13Youtoo, 2012). Juror one calms the two down, and juror eight continues to prove the suspect's innocence. Juror three behaves aggressively towards juror eight in this scene.
Aggression in social psychology is different from violence. Aggression is described as conduct that is projected to harm someone that does not want to be harmed (Stagnor, 2014). Research shows that aggression occurs in two distinct ways; physical aggression and non-physical aggression (Stagnor, 2014). Physical aggression comprises harming an individual physically, while non-physical aggression deals with verbal and social aggression that harms an individual's social relationships.
The scene in the film showcases aggression as juror three intentionally wished to harm juror eight, who was only interested in explaining his point of view. Juror three uses non-physical aggression towards juror eight as he only yells and threatens to fight him, then demands an apology (13Youtoo, 2012). The scene confirms research on aggression by showing how non-physical aggression involves yelling and swearing, as seen when juror three feels offended by juror eight.
Conclusion
Twelve angry men is a film that brings about a variety of social psychology principles. The most evident principles include groupthink, aggression, and conformity that are experienced on various occasions throughout the film. The selected scenes are used in the text to showcase unique instances where the principles can be applied to understand the jury's behavior. Through watching the jurors, it becomes clear that the environment in which one finds themselves in might affect their behavior and even how they make decisions
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References
13Youtoo. (2012). 12 Angry Men. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngbEpZ0tTjI
Pen State University. (2018). Conformity; Why do we agree? https://sites.psu.edu/alyssaboobpassionblog126/2018/10/10/conformity-why-do-we-agree/
Stagnor, C. (2014). Principles of social psychology. 1 st International Edition. https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/
University of Texas. (2020). Ethics defined; Groupthink. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/groupthink
