Chapter 7 Part 2 Flashcards
What theory explains WHEN people would conform to normative social influence?
Social impact theory: the theory that conforming to social influence depends on the strength of the group, its immediacy, and the number of other people in the group.
What three variables are involved in the social impact theory of normative social influence?
the idea that people will conform to normative social influence depending on :
1) strength: how important is the group to YOU?
2) immediacy: how close is the group to you in space and time during the influence attempt?
3) number: how many people are in the group?
Describe the variable of strength and immediacy of social impact theory, and how it affects conformity
people are more likely to conform if the people you are conforming to are of more importance and are closer to you
ex/ you are more likely to conform to a friends’ standard than a random person
ex/ you are more likely to listen to your coworker right beside you than management who doesn’t know you and works in a different building.
Explain the variable of numbers of social impact theory, and how it affects conformity
conformity increases as the number of people in the group increases, but once the majority reaches about four or five in number, conformity pressures peak just as social impact theory suggest.s
in addition to social impact theory (which states that people will conform WHEN the group is 1) important to you (strength) 2) closer to you (immediacy) and 3) higher in number,
what are other conditions under which people conform? (under normative social influence)
1) when the group is unanimous
2) When there is a potential gender difference
3) when the group’s culture is collectivist.
Explain the Asch line experiment that showed the that conformity via normative social influence occured WHEN THE GROUP WAS UNANIMAOUS?
- in the line study, when the group was unanimous, they were more likely to conform even the answer was wrong.
BUT: even having one ally dramatically helped participants resist normative pressures. People conformed on an average of only 6% of the trials in this tidy, compared with 32 % in the version where all of the confederates gave the wrong answer.
Therefore, observing another person resist normative social influence emboldens the individual to do the same
When are sex differences seen in relation to conformity via normative social influence?
sex differences were only seen when an audience can directly observe how much you conform. When faced with this social pressure, WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO CONFORM.
When conformity is private, gender differences in influence ability virtually disappeared.
This sheds light on social norms and what we teach women in society. Women are taught to be more agreeable and supportive.
How does group collectivist culture affect conformity via normative social influence?
participants in collectivist cultures showed higher rates of conformity on the line task than did participants in individualistic cultures
- in collectivist cultures, conformity is considered a valuable trait because it is an act of tact and sensitivity that promotes harmony and supportive relationships in the group.
Describe how differences in food accumulation affects conformity via normative social influence
if food accumulation strategies of a culture is reliant on being adventurous, stealthy, and independent, then conformity was less seen (ex in inuit hunting cultures
if food accumulation is reliant on cooperativeness, like interdependent farming, then conformity is more prevalent. (seen in temne african farmers)
describe the relationship between pathogens and the amount of conformity
cultures that have records on the prevalence of pathogens (ex/ leprosy and malaria) tend to have a higher degree of conformity; the threat of infectious disease may cause a culture to promote greater conformity to social norms. (ex/ bathing norms, norms about defecating near water sources)
example of how normative social influence is used for the good
in california, they’re trying to save electrical energy.
in one group, a neighbourhood was just given pamphlets about why its good to do so. In another group, they were also given that pamphlet, but they were also given a message that their neighbors were also conserving energy
they found that the normative message containing info about the behaviour of their neighbours caused people to conserve significantly more energy than the other pamphlet message.
What happens if someone does NOT conform to normative social influence
usually they are ostracized. They may originally be teased, but if they stick to their guns and still don’t conform,they will be ridiculed, ignored, punished, =or threatened.
How do you resist normative social influence?
1) be aware that its there. Every time you’re in a group, its there
2) take action and find an ally– it has been shown that having even just one ally allowed people to stick to their guns
3) idiosyncrasy credits. If you have conformed to a group for a while, you have built up trust and “credit.” Therefore, when you deviate sometimes, you are less likely to be ostracized because you have followed their norms in the past.
How does collectivist cultures tie in with body positivity ratings?
generally, countries with higher food reliability have a SMALLER BODY STANDARD (for women) Ie/ americans think “thin is beautiful”
This is further exacerbated in collectivist cultures:
- Japan also has a thin is beautiful mindset, and because they are collectivist and thus conform more, women there rate themselves are more over weight than americans, even tho american women are often heavier than japanese women.
T/F intervention groups where people create aguments against social norms about appearance and body images work for both men and women
false. Girls in the intervention group were less likely to base their self esteem on appearance than girls in the control group, but boys self esteem was unaffected by the intervention.
