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AQA A Level Psychology > 4.1.1 - Social Influence > Flashcards

4.1.1 - Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

Social Influence

A

The scientific study of the ways in which people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are affected by other people.

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2
Q

Conformity

A

Defined as yielding to group pressure. It occurs when an individual’s behaviour and/or beliefs are influenced by a larger group of people. It is a form of majority influence.

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3
Q

Internalisation

A

A deep type of conformity where a person conforms publicly and privately because they have internalised and accepted the views of the group.

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4
Q

Identification

A

A moderate form of conformity where we act the same as the group because we share their values and want to be accepted. The change in belief in behaviour is often temporary.

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5
Q

Compliance

A

Conforming publicly but continuing privately to disagree. Simply ‘going along with others’.

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6
Q

What does Normative Social Influence lead to?

A

A temporary change of behaviour (compliance).

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7
Q

What does Informational Social Influence lead to?

A

A permanent change in opinion or behaviour (internalisation).

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8
Q

Normative social influence

A

When we wish to be liked by the majority group, usually leading to a temporary change of behaviour (compliance)

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9
Q

Informational social influence

A

A cognitive process that leads to a permanent change of opinion or behaviour due to the person actually thinking the majority are right (internalisation)

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10
Q

What does a situational explanation of obedience focus on?

A

External circumstances

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11
Q

What do social psychological factors concern?

A

Influences of others on an individuals behaviour

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12
Q

What does a dispositional explanation of obedience focus on?

A

individuals personality

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13
Q

What are the 3 types of conformity?

A

compliance
identification
internalisation

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14
Q

When does conformity occur?

A

When an individuals behaviour and/or beliefs are influenced by a larger group (majority influence)

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15
Q

What is compliance?

A

Conforming publicly but continuing to disagree in private (shallowest form of conformity)

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16
Q

What is identification?

A

Moderate form of conformity.
Act the same as the group because we share their values and want to be accepted. Often temporary

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17
Q

What is internalisation?

A

A deep type of conformity
Person conforms publicly and privately because they have internalised and accepted the view of the group
Permanent

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18
Q

What is normative social influence?

A

The need to be liked
Following the crowd in order to fit in with the “norm” to be liked
Temporary, compliance

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19
Q

What is informational social influence?

A

The need to be right
A person will conform because they genuinely believe the majority to be right as we look to them for the right answer.
Cognitive process - internalisation

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20
Q

What is conformity?

A

Yielding to group pressure

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21
Q

Strengths of conformity

A
  • Research support for ISI and NSI
  • Case studies, validity

ISI - Lucas et al (2006) - Participants conformed more to an incorrect answer when they found the task difficult - shows people conform when they feel they don’t know the answer

NSI - Asch (1951) - found that participants went along with a clearly wrong answer just because others did - don’t want to be rejected from group for disagreeing with them

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22
Q

Limitations of conformity

A
  • can’t be generalised as no one is affected in the same way
  • theory may not be correct, could be NSI and ISI together
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23
Q

Who conducted the Jelly Bean study?

A

Jeness (1932)

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24
Q

What study did sheriff conduct regarding conformity?

A

Participants estimates how much of the spot of light moved individually, then in groups of 3

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25
Q

Who conducted the line study?

A

Asch (1951)

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26
Q

Outline Asch’s original study (prodecure)

A
  • Used lab experiment to study conformity using line judgement task
  • Naive participants individually in room with seven confederates
  • Each person had to state aloud which comparison line was most like the target line - THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS OBVIOUS.
  • 18 trails for each ppt
  • Asch interested to see if real participant would conform to majority
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27
Q

What were Asch’s variations?

A
  • group size
  • unamity
  • task difficulty
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28
Q

What affect did group size have on conformity?

A
  • Asch found that conformity tends to increase as the size of the group increases
  • With one other confederate in group, conformity was 3% compared to 32% when there was three or more.
  • found little change in conformity once group reached 4-5
  • 3 = optimal group size for conformity to occur

Suggests most people are very sensitive to the views of others

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29
Q

What affect did unanimity have on conformity?

A
  • Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates - a dissenter.
  • In one variation the dissenter gave the correct answer, and in another they gave a different wrong answer, leading to reduced conformity.
  • The rate decreased to less than a quarter of the level it was when the majority unanimous.
  • Non-conformity is more likely when cracks are perceived in the majority’s unanimous view.
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30
Q

What affect did task difficulty have on conformity?

A
  • Asch made the line-judging task more difficult to judge the effect on conformity rates
  • When the comparison lines were made more similar in length to stimulus line, it was harder to judge correct answer.
  • Asch found conformity increased
  • When we are uncertain as in ambiguous situations or in difficult tasks, it seems we look to others for confirmation - informational social influence.
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31
Q

Evaluation of Asch’s study

A
  • demand characteristics
  • androcentric
  • ethnocentric
  • can’t be generalised
  • artificial task
  • ethical issues - participants deceived
  • lacks temporal validity - as Perrin and Spencer (1981) carried out the study and only one student conformed
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32
Q

What is the “bystander effect”?

A

A social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.
The greater number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.

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33
Q

Who conducted the Stanford prison experiment?

A

Phillip Zimbardo (1971)

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34
Q

What was Zimbardo investigating?

A

How we conform to social roles
(Whether guard brutality was due to the guards sadistic personalities or the situation)

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35
Q

Zimbardo procedure?

A
  • Mock prison in basement of psychology dept. at Stanford University
  • Advertised for students willing to volunteer and selected those ‘emotionally stable’
  • Randomly allocated to role of guard or prisoner
  • Prisoners arrested at houses, stripped, searched and issues uniform + number
  • Guards had own uniform - mirrored sunglasses, night stick, whistle
  • Zimbardo assigned himself as the prison warden
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36
Q

Zimbardo findings?

A
  • Guards took up roles with enthusiasm
  • Became a threat to prisoners’ psychological/physical health and the study was stopped after after 6 days instead of intended 14
  • Within 2 days, prisoners rebelled against guards
  • After prisoners’ rebellion was put down, prisoners became subdued and depressed
  • One released on first day due to psychological disturbance
  • 2 released on 4th day
  • One went on hunger strike and was locked in dark closet

Guards behaviour became more brutal and aggressive.

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37
Q

Strengths of Zimbardo’s research

A
  • controlled variables
  • increased internal validity
38
Q

Limitations of Zimbardo’s research

A

-lack of realism - ppts. were play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to roles

-role of dispositional influences - minimised role of personality factors

-lack of research support - BBC study found prisoners eventually took control of mock prison

-ethical issues

39
Q

What was Milgram’s baseline procedure (1963)?

A
  • recruited 40 american males
  • were told it was a memory experiment
  • offered $4.50
  • a rigged draw took place whether ppts would be learner or teacher
  • confederate always learned
  • could leave at any time
  • learner was strapped to a chair in another room and wired with electrodes
  • teacher asks learner question
  • electrocuted when incorrect or didn’t reply
  • increased with every wrong answer
  • 15-450 v
  • not real, learner faked pain
40
Q

What did Milgram do to see if the participants would go far if told to by an authority figure?

A

Gave them prods
e.g.
1.”Please continue” or “Please go on”
2.”The experiment requires that you continue”
3.”It is absolutely essential that you continue”
4.”You have no other choice, you must go on”

41
Q

What were Milgrams findings?

A
  • no ppts stopped before 300v
  • 12.5% stopped at 300v
  • 65% 450v
  • Some ppts had seizures, panic attacks
  • debriefed
  • sent a follow up questionnaire
42
Q

Evaluation of Milgrams research

A
  • low internal validity
  • demand characteristics
  • supporting replication e.g. Hofling et al and Sheridan and King
  • ethical issues
  • social identity theory (alt explanations)
43
Q

What is the social identity theory?

A

Key to obedience lies in group indentification

44
Q

Does Sheridan and King (1972) support Milgram’s research?

A

Yes

Involved giving real shocks to puppies - 54% male ppts. and 100% of females delivered what they thought was a fatal shock

45
Q

What did Hofling et al (1966) research ?

A

Field studies on nurses who were unaware they were in an experiment - support milgram’s research

46
Q

Does Rank and Jacobson research support Milgram’s?

A

No

47
Q

What are the 3 situational variables?

A

-uniform
- location
-proximity

48
Q

Evaluation of situational variables

A

-research support
-ecological validity ( Bickman - 1974 )
-lacks internal validity - as ppts may have guessed shocks weren’t real - demand characteristics
- control of variables and cross-culture replication ( Miranda et al 1981 - found obedience rate of 90% amongst spanish students )

49
Q

What is the agentic state?

A

-Deny personal responsibility as believe acting for someone else as we believe in it just doing our job or just following orders.

-Act as the agent for someone in authority.

-Experience high levels of anxiety (moral strain) when realise what they are doing is wrong, but feel powerless to disobey.

50
Q

What is the autonomous state?

A
  • Opposite of agentic state
  • To be independent or free
  • Behave according to your own principles and feel a sense of responsibility for your actions.
51
Q

What is the agentic shift?

A

-shift from autonomous state to agentic state
- happens when other person has greater power due to their position in social hierarchy

52
Q

Binding factors of social-psychological factors?

A
  • stay in agentic state
  • ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour
  • reduces moral strain
  • victim blame and deny damage they have done
53
Q

Evaluation of agentic shift

A

:) -research support - “i’m responsible” (the experimenter said) Milgram’s own research - people in agentic state
:) - Blass and Schmitt (2001)

:( - A limited explanation (doesn’t explain why ppts. don’t obey sometimes)
:( - Conflicting evidence - Mandel (1998) described one incident involving German Reserve Police Battalion 101 where men obeyed the orders to shoot civilians in a small town in Poland, despite the fact they did not have direct order to (they behaved autonomously).

54
Q

What is legitimacy of authority ?

A

-More likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us e.g. teachers.
- The authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy.

55
Q

Consequences of legitimacy of authority?

A
  • We hand over control of our behaviour to people we trust to exercise authority appropriately.
  • Some people are granted the power to punish others.
56
Q

Evaluation of legitimacy of authority?

A

:) Cultural differences - countries differ in the degree to which people are traditionally obedient to authority → in some countries authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals which reflects the way different societies are structures.
SUPPORT FROM CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH = INCREASED VALIDITY OF EXPLANATION

:) Real life crime - can help explain how obedience can lead to real life crimes → Kelman and Hamilton (1989) argue the My Lai massacre can be explained by the power hierarchy of the US army.

:( Cannot explain all (dis)obedience - cannot explain instances where the legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted e.g. Some of Milgram’s ppts. disobeyed despite recognising the Experimenter’s scientific authority.

57
Q

What was Adorno (1950) interested in investigating?

A

→Why Nazi soldiers were so willing to persecute and kill members of minority groups.
→Claimed particular personality type more likely to obey and that a high level of obedience is basically a personality disorder.

58
Q

Adorno (1950) procedure?

A

→2000 middle class, white americans
→Studied their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
→ Developed an ‘f’ scale to measure the relationship between personality type and prejudiced beliefs.
F = Facist

59
Q

Adorno (1950) findings?

A

-Those who scored highly on ‘f’ scale identified with strong people and were generally contemptuous of the weak.
-They were very conscious of their own and others’ status.

High scorers had particular cognitive style:
→ no grey areas between categories of people
→ fixed and distinctive stereotypes
→ strong pos. correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

60
Q

What is a fascist?

A

Someone who believes in a totalitarian state rule by a supreme leader who controls everything

61
Q

What is an authoritarian personality?

A

A distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority.

(possible explanation for why some people require very little pressure in order to obey)

62
Q

Characteristics of the authoritarian personality

A
  • rigid beliefs → traditional values and dislike change/disorder
  • hostility towards other groups → dominating and bullying manner
  • intolerant of ambiguity
  • submissive attitudes towards authority figures → respectful to authority figures
63
Q

Development of the authoritarian personality

A

-very disciplined upbringing
-unconscious hostility
- displacement
- prejudice

64
Q

Define Resistance to social influence

A

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority

65
Q

What is social support?

A

-presence of people who disobey or don’t conform and can help others do the same
- these people act as models to show that resistance to social influence is possible

66
Q

Evaluation of social support

A

:) Real world research support:

  • Allen and Levine (1971) - Found independence increased with one dissenter in an Asch-type study, even if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had problems with his vision. (Resistance is not motivated by following what someone says but it enables someone to be free from the pressure of the group).
  • Gamson et al (1982) - Higher resistance than Milgram because participants were in groups (obedience support)
67
Q

What is locus of control?

A

Refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives

68
Q

How does locus of control affect how an individual responds to pressure to conform?

A

-INTERNALS are more likely to resist pressure to obey or conform as they believe they are mostly responsible and in control of their actions - more self confident, more achievement motivated, higher intelligence so have less need for social approval.
-EXTERNALS are less likely to resist pressure to obey or conform as they believe that events in their life happen without their control

69
Q

Locus of control evaluation?

A

:( - Rotter et al (1982) - found that LOC is only important in new situations - has little influence in familiar situations

:( - Twenge et al (2004) - people showed to be more external over time however people have become more resistant to obedience - if resistance were linked to LOC, surely people should be more internal.

:) - Holland (1967) - Repeated Milgram’s experiment - internals showed greater resistance as 37% did not continue to the highest shock level, supporting LOC explanation.

70
Q

3 factors involved in minority influence?

A

-commitment
-consistency
-flexibility

71
Q

What are the 2 types of consistency?

A
  • Synchronic - all people in minority saying same thing
  • Diachronic - they have been saying the same thing for a long time
72
Q

How does consistency work?

A

If views are repeated, it increases the interest of other people over time

73
Q

How is commitment shown?

A
  • extreme activities that are at some risk
  • increases influence so increases interest from majority group members - the augmentation principle
74
Q

What did Nemeth (1986) argue?

A

That if minority influence is seen as being inflexible and uncompromising, then the majority are unlikely to change. Flexibility is key

75
Q

What is the snowball effect?

A

more and more people adopt the minority opinion, until gradually the minority becomes the majority.

76
Q

Evaluation of minority influences?

A

:) - Research support for consistency - Moscovici demonstrated that when the minority are consistent in their responses they can influence the majority → when minority gave inconsistent answers in Moscovici’s study, they were generally ignored by the majority.

:) - Research support for depth of thought:
- Martin et al →People were less willing to change opinions to the new conflicting view if they had listened to a minority group than if they had listened to a majority group → shows the minority message had been more deeply processed.

:( - Artificial tasks - Studies make a clear distinctions between majority and minority influence but the tasks are artificial - means the findings lack external validity and therefore have limited real-world applications.

:( - The effect of the minority may not be apparent - People may be reluctant to admit their ‘conversion’ publically. → Moscovici found higher agreement with the minority when ppts. wrote down their responses. This shows internalisation took place.

77
Q

What is serge Moscovici’s study? (procedure)

A

‘Blue slide, green slide” study
- control group with no confederates
- ppts given eye tests to ensure they weren’t colourblind
- shown 36 slides that were CLEARLY shades of blue and asked to state colour out loud
- in first part of experiment 2 confederates answered green for each slide - CONSISTENT
- in second part of experiment answered green 24 times and blue 12 times - INCONSISTENT

78
Q

What is Serge Moscovici’s study? (results/conclusions)

A
  • only 0.25% of control group responses were green → the rest were blue
  • for experimental group, 1.25% of ppts. answers were green when confederates gave inconsistent answers
  • this rose to 8.42% responding with green when the confederates were consistent
  • suggests minorities can influence majorities
  • later research largely confirmed these findings
79
Q

What does research into social influence tell us?

A

How whole societies might change

80
Q

When does social change occur?

A

When societies as a whole adopt new attitudes, beliefs and behaviour

81
Q

What areas can we look at to find evidence for the role of social influence processes in social change?

A

→minority influences
→conformity research
→obedience research

82
Q

What is “conversion” as proposed by Moscovici? (1980)

A

When an individual is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions, they may change their views to match those of the minority.

83
Q

Steps in how minority influence creates social change?

A
  1. Drawing attention to the issue
  2. Consistency of position
  3. Deeper processing
  4. The augmentation principle
  5. The snowball effect
  6. Social cryptomnesia
84
Q

What is the augmentation principle?

A

When minorites take risks to further the cause

85
Q

What is the snowball effect?

A

When people gradually switch from a majority position to a minority one

86
Q

What is social cryptomnesia?

A

People have no memory of the events that led to that change

87
Q

What is deeper processing of the issue?

A

when people who had simply accepted the status quo began to think of the unjustness

88
Q

Evaluation of the authoritarian personality?

A

:) - Research support -Milgram follow up study found ppts who went up to 450 volts scored higher on tests of authoritarianism and lower on scales of social responsibility.

:( - Methodological problems (interviews) - demand characteristics, all male, American, not all prejudiced people had harsh upbringing

:( - Correlation does not equal causation

:( - Alternative explanation → Social Identity Theory

:( - Limited explanation- millions of individuals displayed obedient behaviour in pre-war Germany but cannot all have the same personality

:( - Political bias - ignores left-wing authoritarianism

89
Q

Outline Asch’s original study (findings)

A
  • Measured number of times each ppt conformed to the majority view
  • On average, the naive participant gave a wrong answer 32% of the time
  • 75% conformed on at least one trial
  • 5% of ppts conformed to all 12 wrong answers
  • in control group, with no pressure to conform by confederates, less than 1% of ppts gave the wrong answer
90
Q

How has conformity research explained social change?

A
  1. Dissenters make social change more likely.
    →Asch’s research showed that when on confederate always gave the correct answer, this broke the power of majority - this enabled others to dissent as conformity reduced to 5.5%, demonstrating the potential for social change.
    →Social support breaks the unanimous position of the majority.
  2. Majority influence and normative social influence.
    → Environmental and health campaigners exploit conformity by appealing to NSI.
    →They provide information about what others are doing and social change is encouraged by drawing attention to the majority’s behaviour.
91
Q

How has obedience research explained social change?

A
  1. Disobedient models make social change more likely
    → Milgram’s research showed the importance of disobedient role models as in his variation when one confederate refused to give shocks, the rate of obedience in genuine ppts. dropped significantly.
    → Obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when genuine ppt was joined by disobedient confederate.
  2. Gradual commitment leads to ‘drift;
    →Zimbardo (2007) suggested how obedience can be used to create social change - once a smaller commitment has been made it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one.
    → People ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour
    → Sometimes referred to as the “Foot in the door technique”
92
Q

Evaluation of social influence processes in social change?

A

:) - Research support → Nolan (2008) San Diego study showed how conforming to a majority group can lead to social change.
:( - The nature of deeper processing has been questioned → minorities sometimes seen as ‘deviant’ in eyes of majority.
:( - Identification is overlooked.
:( - Methodological issues - explanations based on social influence limited in contributions to social change as tasks used in studes do not reflect real-life situations of social influence.
:( - Minority influence is only indirectly effective → Nemeth (1986) suggests that the effects of minority influence may only be indirect and delayed.

AQA A Level Psychology (11 decks)

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