One day about a dozen years ago I did something out of character for me, prompted by several articles I had read on the power of humor. I got on the elevator to go to my fifth floor office with one of my Ph.D. students, which was unusual in itself because I usually took the stairs. I asked my student to copy my behavior. Then I turned to face the back of the elevator.

A young woman got on at the second floor. Without saying a word, she turned and faced the back of the elevator. Presumably this was social conformity in action (a social influence principle I discussed in this column in February, 1995, under the heading, "The urge to conform and obey"). Whatever the case, my student and I fought back the urge to break out laughing.