Chapter 7 Textbook

Question 1

Conformity:

Answer 1

change in behavrious as a result of the real or imagined influence of other people.

Question 2

T/F We realize that we conform to almost everything

Answer 2

false. We want to believe that we are not spineless, and we maintain the belied that our behaviours are not influenced by others, even when reality suggests otherwise.

Question 3

Explain the conformity seen in the intellectual ability ranking study (U of M)

Answer 3

They asked students to rate ow satisfied they felt with their intellectual abilities. Before making their ratings, they were allowed to see the same ratings given by another student.

If they saw a report of positive rankings, they were more likely to report their intellectual ability higher, more so than if the other student hd provided a negative self assessment.

Participants are not aware that they had been influenced by the other students’ responses

Question 4

Informational social influence

Answer 4

conforming because we believe that other’s interpretation of an AMBIGUOUS EVENT OR SITUATION is more correct than ours, and conformity will help us choose an appropriate course of action.

Question 5

a feature of informational social influence is that it can lead to ___ ___, whereby people conform to the behaviour of others because they genuinely believe that these other people are correct.

Answer 5

Private acceptance.

Question 6

Opposite of private acceptance:

Answer 6

public compliance, conforming to other peoples behaviour publicly without necessarily believing in what they are doing or saying.

Question 7

the study involving the auto kinetic effect showcases aspects of two factors of conformity:

Answer 7

1) informational social influence (they used each other as a source of information to see how long the line was)
2) private acceptance. they privately accepted the line lengths and believed that they were true.

Question 8

describe the findings of the auto kinetic effect studies

Answer 8

people estimated how far a point of light appeared to move in a dark room. When they saw the light by themselves, their estimates varied. When they were brought together in groups and head other people announce their estimates, they conformed to the groups estimate of how much the light moved, and came to even privately accept the number.

Question 9

T/F: When participants are convinced that the task is important, they are more likely to confrom

Answer 9

true. They are more likely to conform if a situation to them is important.

When we are facing an important decision, we are even more likely to rely on other people for information and guidance.

Question 10

3 broad reasons for WHEN people conform to informational social influence

Answer 10

1) when the situation is ambiguous
2) when the situation is a crisis
3) when someone else is the expert.

Question 11

what is contagion and what circumstance of conformity does it happen?

Answer 11

the rapid transmission of emotions or behaviours through a crowd. Can occur when people are conforming to those around them in a time of crises.

Question 12

explain a study that confirmed people conformed when other people are experts

Answer 12

a study at a military college found that students in the social sciences became more liberal in their views over their three years in college, whereas engineering students became more conservative. The students’ attitudes had changed as a result of informational social influence— in this case the information they learned from their professor.

Question 13

Mass psychogenic illness

Answer 13

the occurrence of similar physical symptoms for which there is no known physical or medical cause in the group of people.

Question 14

method of resisting informational social influence

Answer 14

engage in rational problem solving: check for other information on your own instead of relying on others.

Question 15

A reason why deciding whether or not to conform is so important is that it shapes how you see reality. If you conform, then you see the world as they do. If you don’t, you will see the world differently from the way they do.

What is a study that sheds light on this?

Answer 15

A pre-decision and post-decision construals by conformity decision.

People who conformed to the groups opinion that the police were to blame for the death of an African-American teenager subsequently formed a more police blaming interpretation of the event

Those who decided no to conform to the group later reinterpreted the situation such that the police were seen as less blameworthy.

Question 16

What is normative social influence

Answer 16

the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be LIKED, SUPPORTED, AND ACCEPTED by them. This type of conformity results in public compliance with the group’s beliefs and behaviours, but not necessarily in private acceptance.

Question 17

social norms

Answer 17

implicit and explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviours, values and beliefs of its members.

Question 18

On asch’s line conformity study, what were the results?

Answer 18

participant asked which line matched the given line. It was obvious which one was of similar lengths. But a bunch of confederates all said the obviously wrong answerr

Instead of sticking to their guns, over 75% of participants conformed and agreed with an obvious incorrect answer on at least one trial.

On average, people conformed on about 1/3 of the trials on which the accomplices gave the incorrect answer.

Question 19

in contrast to conformity via informational social influence, which results in usually ____ ____, normative social influence results in ____ _____

Answer 19

in contrast to conformity via informational social influence, which results in usually PRIVATE ACCEPTANCE, normative social influence results in PUBLIC COMPLIANCE WITHOUT PRIVATE ACCEPTANCE.

They just go along even though they know the answer is wrong beacause they don’t wanna “make a fool of themselves” or face ostracism.

Question 20

Using the line experiment again, how did Asch demonstrate the power of social disapproval?

Answer 20

this time, instead of saying your answer out loud, potentially facing disapproval from the group, all participants just wrote down their answers.

Conformity dropped dramatically.

Question 21

how have FMRI studies solidified the idea that people conform due to normative social influence because people feel negative emotions?

Answer 21

FMRI studies have shown that when people choose to NOT conform/choose to disagree with the group, the visual and perceptual areas of the brain were not activated. Instead, different areas of the brain become active like the AMYGDALA, AND RIGHT CAUDATE NUCLEUS.