下面的几点是从众心理背后的奥秘。

　　Group size

　　人群大小

　　One of the most important factors affecting whether or not people conform is the size of the group around them. Maximum conformity is seen when groups reach between 3 and 5 people. Add more people and it makes little difference, less than 3, though, and conformity is substantially reduced.

　　影响人们是否随大流的最重要的因素之一是他们身边的人群大小。最明显的随大流被发现，当人群数量达到3至5名时。增加更多的人对此影响不大，但是少于3个人，从众心理明显减少。

　　Dissent

　　反对的声音

　　As soon as there's someone who disagrees, or even just dithers or can't decide, conformity is reduced. Some studies have found conformity can be reduced from highs of 97% on a visual judgement task down to only 36% when there is a competent dissenter in the ranks.

　　只要有人不同意，或者犹豫不决，或者下不了决心，从众心理就会减少。一些研究发现，当军队中拥有决定权的人反对时，即使是亲眼所见，从众的人也可能从97%的高点减少到36%。

　　Are they one of us?

　　他们跟我们是同一类人吗？

　　People conform much more strongly to others who are in the same group as them. These influences are even stronger for attractive people who we like. Group size and dissent make little difference when the people themselves are not part of 'our' group. In fact we may even go out of our way to do the opposite of an outgroup.

　　人们更容易随大流当他们遇到跟自己是同一类人时。这些影响力对我们喜欢的有吸引力的人将更强烈。当其他人不是我们同一类人时，人群大小和反对的声音区别不大。事实上，我们更可能走相反的路，做非同一类人所做的相反的事。

　　Your mood

　　你的情绪

　　Moods can have complex effects on conformity, but there's some evidence that we're more likely to conform when we're in a good mood than a bad mood.

　　情绪在从众心理上有复杂的影响，有证据显示当我们心情好时更可能随大流，比我们心情坏时。

　　One dastardly emotional technique for increasing conformity is using fear-then-relief. Make someone afraid of something, then relieve that fear, then they're more likely to do what you want.

　　一种增加从众几率的恶毒的情绪控制方法就是运用恐惧加抚慰。先使人害怕某种东西，然后抚慰这种恐惧，那么他们更容易做你所想的。

　　Need for structure

　　组织需求

　　While personality might not be as important as the situation in which people are put, it none the less has an effect. Some people have more of a 'need for structure' and consequently are more likely to conform.

　　个性也许不会像人们认为的那样重要，但仍然有影响。一些人有更多的“组织需求”，紧接着更有可能随大流。

　　Authority

　　权威

　　When faced with an authority figure mere conformity can be transformed into obedience. Milgram's studies of obedience show that people will administer dangerous electric shocks if told to by a white-coated authority figure. People don't always blindly follow authority figures though, studies show a huge range in obedience, from 12% to 92% depending on the social context.

　　当面对权威人物时，仅仅的从众心理将会转变为服从。Milgram对服从的研究显示，被一个位高权重的人训话时，人们将控制自身的不情愿。虽然人们不会盲目跟随权威人物，研究显示了大范围的服从，根据社会地位不同范围从12%到92%不等。