4. Conformity Flashcards
Define social influence
How people affect one another, including changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings and behaviours resulting from the comments, actions, or even the mere presence of others
Define conformity
Change in beliefs, opinions and behaviours as a result of explicit or implicit pressures from others
Define compliance
Responding favourably to an explicit request by another person (you may not necessarily change your beliefs)
Define obedience
In an unequal power relationship, submitting to the demands of the person in authority
Define automatic mimicry
Mimicking the actions or behaviours of others without even thinking about it
Which research outlines automatic mimicry?
Chartrand & Bargh (1999)
Describe Chartrand & Bargh’s research
- P’s took part in 2 10 minute sessions with a confederate
- In some situations, the confederate rubbed his/her face or continuously shook his food
- P’s mimicked the behaviour but noticed nothing unusual about the confederate
Define ideomotor action
Phenomenon whereby merely thinking about a behaviour makes performing it more likely (James, 1890)
Describe the impact that mimicry has on establishing a good interaction
- People prefer those who mimic their actions, in comparison to those who do not
- Mimicry is strong in those who have a desire to affiliate
- Mimicry is stronger when the person in question in well liked
- People who have been mimicked engage in more prosocial behaviour
- We expect people to mimic us, and can deplete self-regulatory resources when they do not
What was the aim of Sherif’s (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment
Demonstrate that people conform to group norms when they are put in an ambiguous situation
Describe Sherif’s (1935) method
Utilised the auto kinetic effect - a visual illusion whereby the absence of a reference points makes a stationary light appear to move. P’s were presented with the light on a number of trials and estimated how much the light moved. P’s tested both alone and in groups
Outline Sherif’s (1935) findings
Individual-to-group: P’s started with a personal norm but in groups began to converge to a group norm
Group-to-individual: P’s converged to a group norm, and then alone used the norm as a personal guide
When in ambiguous situations, people look for guidance, give an example of an ambiguous situation
If we go to a new country
Define informational social influence
Change in opinions of behaviour that occurs when we conform to people who believe have accurate information
Define a descriptive norm
Perception of what most people do in a given situation
Describe Asch’s (1951) method from his conformity experiment
- Male college student participating in a study on ‘testing visual abilities’
- Series of trials whereby P’s had to match a single line to another line of same length
- Confederates on the first two trials provide the correct answer, but on the third and 11 other trials were instructed all to provide the same incorrect answer
- Asch measured how often P’s will give the incorrect answer
Outline Asch’s findings
- 75% gave at least one response that was incorrect
- 37% of the overall responses were conforming (to the incorrect answer)
Large variation: 25% never conformed, 5% conformed on all trials
Why did P’s conform in Asch’s experiment?
- All reported experiencing uncertainty and self doubt
- Some believed that the majority were wrong, but went along to avoid being ridiculed
- Some believed that the majority must be right, as they were the only one to see the task differently
Why did P’s not conform?
- Some felt entirely confident in their own judgement
- Some felt emotionally affected by guided any a belief in individualism (a right to our own opinions)
Outline 3 conditions of the modified Asch experiment
- Face-to-face: P’s with 3 confederates who made incorrect judgements
- Face-to-face & group goal: Provided explicit group goal to be as accurate as possible (& therefore wrong answer would let the team down)
- Private & anonymous: isolated in cubicle & answered privately, lights would flash up to display answers of other P’s
Outline the uncertainty manipulation from the modified Asch experiment
Half respond while the stimuli were present
Half respond after the stimuli is removed
Outline the findings from the modified Asch experiment
Decreasing uncertainty and decreasing group pressure reduced conformity
People still conformed 23% even when uncertainty was low and responses were private and anonymous
Describe normative social influence
A process where people conform to avoid disapproval and other social sanctions (rejection & isolation - we have strong fears of this and have a strong need for belonging even though we may not actually change our opinion - we just conceal it by changing our actions)
When we engage in conformity due to normative social influence we conform …
Social influence we conform to social norms - socially accepted beliefs about we should do in particular contexts
Outline Sherif in terms of informational social influence
Difficult task; unsure of answer
Ambiguous
Use others’ responses to form an opinion
Believe what others say and internalise it
Outline Asch in terms of normative social influence
Clear/easy task; sure of answer
Not ambiguous
Own beliefs clearly conflict with those of the group
Conform on the outside but not on the inside
Conformity due to informational social influence is normally due to a desire for what?
A desire to reduce uncertainty
- Involves accepting info from others as evidence of reality
- Involve real change in individual opinion
Conformity due to normative social influence is due to a desire for what?
Social approval/acceptance
- Conform to expectations/behaviours of others
- Superficial change, private opinion remains
How does group size as a situational factor affect conformity?
- As the group size increases, conformity increases
- Increasing group size increases both informational and normative conformity
