Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

The Bristol Zoo parking attendant

 If you are from Bristol or have any friends or family, you will have probably heard about the Bristol Zoo attendant and his cunning scheme to make money, through exploiting the norms of the people around, and obedience to authority.  Whether this is a true story or not is debatable, however, many people still talk about it, and it got me thinking about how this could be done anywhere and be successful.Bristol Zoo is one of many attractions in Bristol, homing animals of many species and sizes, from Jock the silverback to small insects and bugs. A lovely day out for anyone! There is a car park right outside of the Zoo which gets filled promptly, or an overflow carpark in peak times which is situated on ‘The Downs’, a large greenery area of land sitting in the middle of the City (right next to the Zoo). Story has it, that a very clever man in his 50’s put on a uniform resembling a parking attendant, got himself some equipment that enabled him to print tickets on the spot and walked around the car park, collecting money from visitors and accrediting them a ticket in return. You can imagine just how much this man would have received in a day, charging a few pounds per day for hundreds of cars coming and going. Until one day.. He wasn’t there, anxious visitors asking workers at the Zoo, where to pay for a ticket so they wouldn’t get a fine. They had no idea of course, where their ticket man had gone and why he had not showed up for work! So the workers at Bristol Zoo rang up Bristol City Council and enquired into why their worker (employed by the council) hadn’t showed up, or why they hadn’t sent a replacement. They replied that they do not organise the workers for the carpark at the Zoo and had no records of anyone working for them. Reality struck when they had realised that a stranger had (for about 10 years) been manipulating the system and collecting money for himself. Now he had disappeared and no record of him anyway, he would probably be as far away from the Zoo as possible, with an enormous wad of cash!The aspects of this tale that strike me the most is obedience to authority. Every single person who parked in that car park gave this man money because he had simply placed a uniform on that resembled an authority figure. He looked right, had the appropriate equipment and a name badge. Why would anyone question his authority? In addition, the social norms people have about obedience to authority, and having to pay for parking meant that everyone followed the crowd in a way. After parking in a space, most drivers probably looked around and saw a man who was approached by other likeminded people, taking their money and given a ticket in response. If anyone questioned what the appropriate behaviour was, they would look for social proof and engage in the behaviours of other people around them. Moreover, visitors are probably preoccupied with the fear of getting a parking ticket, or the stress of controlling their excited children, that contributes to the success this man had. Zimbardo (1973) conducted a very famous Standford prison experiment that demonstrated the power of obedience to authority. By assigning two groups of people randomly to the position of a guard or prisoner, and by having the prison officers wear uniform, this created a sense of power between the two groups, and prisoners as a result of social norms would comply with their requests, (similar to visitors to Bristol zoo, complying with rules and abiding with the social norms.)Other experiments have demonstrated that the power of uniform can affect peoples decisions. Bickman (1971) found people were more likely to comply with individuals who were in a uniform, and the type of uniform also influenced how people conformed. In the case of the Bristol Zoo attendant, the uniform he was dressed in created a sense of authority and people would naturally comply accordingly. References:Bickman, L. (1971). The effect of different uniforms on obedience in field situations. In Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association.Haney, C., Banks, W. C., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1973). A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. Naval Research Reviews, 9(1-17).

Dove’s Legacy campaign

Personal care brand Dove has kick- started a campaign to promote beauty between mothers and daughters. After their award- winning “Real Beauty Sketches” project, the Dove Legacy campaign is the next creation to boost self- confidence in women. The short film begins by asking a small group of mothers how they felt about their body. The responses were overwhelmingly negative, ranging from “my eyes are wonky” to “I have very big legs.” This is relatively expected, as recent statistics have shown that 61% of women in the US, 87% in China and a staggering 96% in the UK feel anxious about the way they look. To see how this has impacted their children, the filmmakers then continue to ask their daughters the same question. Unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, the mothers and daughters’ answers were close to identical. When the mothers were asked to read out their child’s list, comments such as “we both don’t like our nose” and “she doesn’t like her arms either” quickly made the mothers realise “she really picks up on a lot of my ways.” It becomes evident throughout the film clip that the complaints mothers have about their own bodies, will soon be applied to their young daughters too. The short film clip and campaign have raised an awareness for mothers to boost their daughters’ confidence, by first displaying their own self- confidence.You can view the campaign here: The success of the campaign is largely due to the underlying message Dove has cleverly devised. Modelling is a psychological phenomenon referring to the imitation of an individual, in this instance the mother, by another individual, the daughter. Resultantly new behaviours and skills can be developed. The relationship between mothers and daughters is a highly researched area of psychology, due to the natural maternal instinct present since birth. A recent study by Diedrichs et at (2016) investigated the effect of a mothers’ body image on their daughters self- reflected body image. It was found that mothers who participated in the Dove Self Esteem Project Website for Parents reported significantly higher self- esteem post exposure. Consequently, the daughters of these mothers also had a correlated higher self- esteem and reduced negative affect after a six week follow up. This study evidences a clear link between how a mother views their body image, and how it significantly impacts the body image of their daughter. The Dove campaign, along with critical research, highlights the importance of a positive female role model on a young girls’ self- esteem. Such views on body image are passed down generations and can continue throughout an individual’s lifetime. The take home message from the Legacy campaign encourages mothers and female role models to display self- confidence, to inspire young girls to do the same. References:                Diedrichs, P. C., Atkinson, M. J., Garbett, K. M., Williamson, H., Halliwell, E., Rumsey, N., & Barlow, F. K. (2016). Randomized controlled trial of an online mother- daughter body image and well- being intervention. Health Psychology: Official Journal Of The Division Of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 35(9), 996-1006.

Media Coverage of Suicides and Werther Effect

     It is shameful to say, but my home country South Korea’s suicide rate remains highest among members of the OECD and this is also apparent among students. In fact, suicide is the leading cause of death among South Korean teenagers. Statistics Korea (2014) reported that suicide was the number one cause of death among people aged 10 to 39. As teenagers are emotionally unstable and are susceptible to other people’s behavior, they are largely influenced by media coverage of suicides. The influence maximizes when the report is about a celebrity’s suicide. Consequence could be as serious as more teenagers committing suicides, following what they’ve seen in the media. Such increase of copycat suicides after a “widely publicized suicide” is called Werther effect.    Monthly total number of suicides (South Korea 2005-2008). Arrows indicate points of celebrity suicides.      There were seven cases of celebrity suicides from 2005 to 2008 in South Korea, and each one of them produced numerous follow-up reports on all kinds of media including newspaper and television. An analysis of subsequent suicides revealed that they definitely induced copycat suicides (Jang, Sung, Park, & Jeon, 2016). There was a great increase in the number of suicides, especially among people of the same gender, and many of them used the same method. The Korean Association for Suicide Prevention suggested a “recommendation for media reports on suicide” in 2004, yet substantial media coverage has still been reported. Stronger regulations are needed for better media reporting of suicides. For instance, specific depiction of the suicide method should be restricted. In addition to stricter measures to media coverage, there has to be an effective system within the society ready to cope with potential copycat suicides.References Jang, S. A., Sung, J. M., Park, J. Y., & Jeon, W. T. (2016). Copycat suicide induced by entertainment celebrity suicides in South Korea. Psychiatry investigation, 13(1), 74-81. Ji, N. J., Lee, W. Y., Noh, M. S., & Yip, P. S. (2014). The impact of indiscriminate media coverage of a celebrity suicide on a society with a high suicide rate: epidemiological findings on copycat suicides from South Korea. Journal of affective disorders, 156, 56-61. Korea, S. (2014). Cause of death statistics of Korea. Stack, S. (1987). Celebrities and suicide: A taxonomy and analysis, 1948-1983. American sociological review, 401-412.