All Flashcards
Who suggested that there are three ways in which people conform to the opinion of a majority in 1958?
Herbert Kelman
Which types of conformity uses NSI to explain it?
Compliance and Identification
Findings of Milgram’s Study
65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts.
All participants continued to 300 volts
How many variations are there in Milgram’s study?
18
What are some of the variations in Milgram’s study?
Someone else administers the shock, rundown building, teacher and learner in same room, teacher force learner’s hand on shock plate, experimenter gave instructions to the teacher over the phone, everyday clothes
Who is the learner in Milgram’s Study?
Confederate who was given the shock
Results of Milgram’s Variation (someone else administering the shock)
92.5%
Results of Milgram’s Variation (rundown office)
48%
Results of Milgram’s Variation (same room)
40%
Results of Milgram’s Variation (forced)
30%
Results of Milgram’s Variation (phone instructions)
20%
Situational Variables
Features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behaviour
Dispositional Variables
Behaviour is explained in terms of personality
Most common situational variables
Proximity, location, uniform
Proximity
Physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to.
Proximity in Milgram’s study
Teacher and Learner in the same room. Teacher formed Learner’s hand on shock plate. Instructions over the phone.
Location
The place where an order is issued
Uniform
People in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of their authority (police officers and judges)
Results of Milgram’s Variation (everyday clothes)
20%
Uniform in Milgram’s study
Experimenter wore everyday clothes
Agentic State
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure. Frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure
Legitimacy of Authority
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy
Autonomous State
Free to behave according to their own principles and feel a sense of responsibility for their own actions
What is the shift from autonomy to agency called?
Agentic Shift
Why do people have greater power?
They have a higher position in a social hierarchy
Binding Factors of the Agentic State
Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and therefore reducing the ‘moral stain’ they are feeling.
Consequences of legitimacy of authority
Some people are granted the power to punish people
Destructive authority
When people use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes (e.g. Hitler)
Dispositional explanation
Any explanation of how personality influences behaviour.
Authoritarian Personality
a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them.
Adorno’s Conclusion on Obedience
High level obedience was a psychological disorder.
Authoritarian Personality Characteristics
Extreme respect for authority. Society was weaker than it once was. Believe in traditional values. Show contempt for those of inferior social status. Uncomfortable with uncertainty.
Origins of authoritarian personality
Harsh parenting (strict discipline, high standards and conditional love)
Why does harsh parenting lead to an authoritarian personality?
Creates resentment and hostility. Fears are displaced onto others who they perceive to be weaker
Psychodynamic Explanation
Hatred towards people considered to be socially inferior or who belong to other social groups
Finding’s of Adorno et al.
People who scored high on the F -scale identified with ‘strong’ people and were generally contemptuous of the ‘weak’
Evaluation of Adorno et al
Subjective (based on F-scale)
Resistance to Social Influence
Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
What influences the ability to withstand social pressure?
Situational and dispositional factors
Social Support
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same.
Locus of Control
Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
What allows the pressure to conform to be resisted?
Other people present who are not conforming
What does social support enable?
A naïve participant is free to follow their own conscience. More people will now also resist and it shows the majority is no longer unanimous
Who proposed Locus of Control?
Julian Rotter (1966)
Locus of Control Continuum
LOC is a scale and individuals vary in their position on it, they are not just either internal or external
Resistance to pressures to conform or obey people with a high LOC?
More able to resist
Minority Influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
What does minority influence lead to?
Internalisation or Conversion
3 factors of minority influence
Consistency, Commitment, Flexibility
Consistency
Minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs
Why is consistency effective?
It draws attention to the minority view
Commitment
Minority influence is more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position - making sacrifices
Why is commitment effective?
Minority not acting out of self-interest
Flexibility
Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable.
Why is flexibility effective?
Shows minority is willing to compromise.
Who studied minority influence?
Serge Moscovici
Synchronic Consistency
People in the minority are all saying the same thing
Diachronic Consistency
Consistency by the minority over time
Augmentation Principle
Whichever is stronger the will to act with consequences or the will not to act because of the consequences
What are the findings of the Asch study?
32% conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials.
75% of participants conformed at least once.
Evaluation of Asch’s Study
Lacks population validity, lacks ecological validity, low temporal validity, ethical issues (psychological stress, deception)
Who developed the two-process theory arguing that there are two main reasons people conform in 1955?
Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
Conforming to gain knowledge and be correct. To act appropriately and avoid standing out.
Which type of conformity uses ISI to explain it?
Internalisation
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
Conforming to be accepted and belong to a group. Makes it socially rewarding to avoid punishment
Social Roles
The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups
Which case study supports conformity to social roles?
The Stanford Prison Study - Zimbardo et al
Findings of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Study
Within a very short time, guards and prisoners were settling into their new roles, with the guards adopting theirs quickly and easily calling it off after 6 days.
Obedience
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish.
Which case study supports obedience?
Milgram’s Shock Experiment
Who is the teacher in Milgram’s Study?
Participant who gave the shocks
Opposite of situational variables
Dispositional variables
Location in Milgram’s study
Rundown office
What is the opposite of agentic state?
Autonomous State
Which case study supports authoritarian personalities?
Adorno et al (1950)
Two types of locus of control
Internal Locus of Control & External Locus of Control
Internal Locus of Control
Believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them
External Locus of Control
Believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces
What allows the pressure to obey to be resisted?
Another person who is also disobeying
Conformity
A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
Which case study supports conformity?
Asch’s Baseline Procedure
Factors affecting Conformity
Group size, unanimity, task difficulty, answer in private
3 Types of Conformity
Internalisation, identification, compliance
Internalisation
The deepest type of conformity resulting in a change in private and public behaviour lasting for a long time without the group
Identification
The middle type of conformity resulting in a change in public and private behaviours lasting for a short time only in the presence of a group
Compliance
The lowest type of conformity resulting in a change in public behaviour but not in private behaviour lasting for a short time
2 Explanations of Conformity
Informational Social Influence, Normative Social Influence
2 Explanations of Conformity
Informational Social Influence, Normative Social Influence
situational variables affecting obedience
proximity and location
Dispositional explanation for obedience
Authoritarian Personality.
Explanations for obedience
agentic state and legitimacy of authority
