4.1.1 Social Influence

Question 1

What are the three type of conformity

Answer 1

Compliance, identification and internaliseation

Question 2

What is compliance

Answer 2

• Publicly but not privately going along with majority influence to gain approval/avoid ridicule
• weak/temporary and only shown in presence of group

Question 3

What is identification

Answer 3

• Public and private acceptance of majority influence in order to gain acceptance
• Stronger form of conformity, but still temporary as we don’t always agree with the beliefs

Question 4

What is Normative Social Influence

Answer 4

An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked (1st mark). The person may publicly change their behaviour/views but privately disagree (2nd mark). NSI explain why compliance happens (3rd mark).

Question 5

What is obedience

Answer 5

Obeisance is a type of social influence which causes a person to act in response given by another person. Usually the person who gives the orders are figures who punish when others are not obedient.

Question 6

What is a Legitimacy of authority

Answer 6

an explanation for obedience which suggest we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by the individuals position of power within a social hierarchy.

Question 7

What is the Agentic shift

Answer 7

The shift from an autonomous state to and Agentic state

Question 8

What is the Autonomous state

Answer 8

The state a person is when he sees them self acting on their own

Question 9

What is the Agentic state

Answer 9

when entering a hierarchy of authority the individual no longer views himself as acting out his own purpose and see himself as an agent executing the wishes of another.

Question 10

What is self image in the agentic state

Answer 10

Once a person moves into the agentic state their own self image in no longer relevant and their actions no longer seem to be theirs

Question 11

What is a dispositional factor affecting obedience

Answer 11

This is an explanation of individual behaviour caused by internal characteristics that reside within the individuals personality e.g an authoritarian personality

Question 12

What are situational factorse affecting obedience

Answer 12

These are explanations that focus on the influences that stem from the environment in which individual is in

Question 13

What is the authoritarian personality characteristics

Answer 13

• Obedience to authority
• submissive to authority driven by blind respect
• inflexible with their outlook with no grey areas
• society is going to the dogs and we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values

Question 14

What is the F scale and who created it

Answer 14

The F scale was a measure of how fascist a person is and it was created by Aldorno

Question 15

What is Resistance to social influence

Answer 15

The ability of people to withstand the coalition pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability is influenced by situational dispositional factors

Question 16

What is a Locus of control (internals and externals)

Answer 16

Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces. internals believe we our responsible for what happens in our lives.

Question 17

What is social change

Answer 17

This occurs when whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things

Question 18

What is sum supporting evidence that social influence is only indirectly effective

Answer 18

• Not all social norms interventions have led to social change
• influence is indirect and delayed - majority are influenced on matters only related to the issue at hand and not the central issue itself
• delays - it takes time for change to happen

Question 19

What is some research which suggests there is conformity within social change

Answer 19

UK most of us campaign - people where informed of the way it was very uncommon to drink and drive and this caused a 13.7% reduction in drink driving

Question 20

What is gradual commitment in relation to obedience

Answer 20

• The idea by Zimbardo suggested how obedience can be used to create social change through the process of gradual commitment.
• Participants perform harmless/ trivial tasks
• Compliance – once obeyed it makes it difficult to resist bigger ones.

Question 21

What is some research which supports the idea of normative influence causing social change

Answer 21

social influence processes led to a reduction in energy consumption in a community.

• Found a significant decrease in energy usage in the first group (where signs were hung on doors)
• Knowing that people were saving energy (NSI) lead to social change

Question 22

Who created the locus of control test

Answer 22

Rotter

Question 23

What is resistance to social influece

Answer 23

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to bey authority. This ability is influence by situational and dispositional factors