Chapter 8

Question 1

Social Influence

Answer 1

- we are all affected by the people we interact with, a lot of the time by people we dont know personally - multitude of sources
- social environment play a significant role in how we view ourselves, and how we view ourselves impacts how we view the world

Question 2

Defining social influence

Answer 2

- the process by which attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours can be influenced by the real or impliedd presence of others
- the way in people charge their behaviour or attitudes due to the direct or indirect influence of other

Question 3

Groups vs collectives

Answer 3

- groups are 2 or more people who interact with and influence each other and work towards a common goal
- collections of people who exert menial influence on each other and dont interact with every other person in the collective

Question 4

Social hierachies

Answer 4

Status- refers to the importance of one in a group

Power- refers to the controk and influence one has in a group

Social Hierachy- order of dominance of different members in a group. It is determined by status power and individual roles

Question 5

types of social power

Answer 5

1- Reward power, ability to give positive consequences or remove negative consequences

2- Coercive power, ability to give negative consequences or remove positive consequences

3- Legitimate power, status gives the right to exercise their power

4- Referent power, individuals that you identify with, want to be like, or liked by this person

5- Exert power, having special knowledge and skills that are desirable or needed

6- Informational power, having resources or information that are useful and are not available elsewhere

Question 6

Groupthink

Answer 6

- when group members desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important that making the best choice

Question 7

Groupthink symptoms

Answer 7

illusions of invulnerability
self - appointed mind guards
illusion of unanimity
self- censorship
direct pressure on dissenters
outgoing stereotypes
belief in the groups inherent morality
collective rationalisation

Question 8

groupthink symptoms- illusions of invulnerability

Answer 8

- group displays excessive optimism and takes significant risks, they feel that they are perfect and anything the do will turn out successful

Question 9

groupthink symptoms- self- appointed mind guards

Answer 9

- some members of the group take it upon themselves to discourage alternative ideas from being expressed in the group

Question 10

groupthink symptoms- illusion of unanimity

Answer 10

- disageeing members may choose to remain silent when they oppose the groups decision, but silence from some members is considered acceptance of the majoritys decisions

Question 11

groupthink symptoms- self- censorship

Answer 11

- they believe that if they are the only one disagreeing with the groups decision, then they must be the wrong one

Question 12

groupthink symptoms- direct pressure on dissenters

Answer 12

- majority of the group directly threatens members who question the groups decisions, the group applies pressure to get the dissenters to agree

Question 13

groupthink symptoms- outgoing stereotypes

Answer 13

- members believe that members who disagree do it on purpose, they stereotype members ho disagree as incapable of making the right decision

Question 14

groupthink symptoms- belief in the groups inherent morality

Answer 14

- members believe that what the group does will be suitable because they all know the difference between right and wrong, causing members to overlook the consequences of their decisions

Question 15

groupthink symptoms- collective rationalisation

Answer 15

- rationalise thoughts or suggestions that challenge what the majority is thinking

Question 16

Factors that influence groupthink

Answer 16

- High similarity among group members
- A powerfull and compelling leader commands the group
- People lack personal knowledge or feel other members are more qualified
- The group experiences extreme stress or moral dilemmas

Question 17

Groupshift

Answer 17

- occurs when discussion leads a group to adopt attitudes or actions that are more extreme than the initial attitudes or actions of the individual group members

Question 18

Explanations of groupshift

Answer 18

- diffusion of responsibility
- social status
- familiarity of risk

Question 19

Explanations of groupshift- diffusion of responsibility

Answer 19

- responsibility is diffused within the group
- individual members are not held responsible for the groups ultimate decisions
- as a result greater risk may be accepted (as no single member can be held entirely accountable for the decision)

Question 20

Explanations of groupshift- social status

Answer 20

- risk taking is linked to social standing in groups
- we admire people who are ready to take chances

Question 21

Explanations of groupshift- familiarity of risk

Answer 21

- group members become more familiar with one another through the debate, and they become bolder and more radical as they become more at ease

Question 22

Deindividuation

Answer 22

- when a person alters their behaviour due to the anonymity provided by a group e.g riotsm sporting crowds, mobs ect

- the persons group identity overrides their own personal, individual identity and self awareness

Question 23

How does deindividuation occur

Answer 23

1- a suffiently sized group gathers
- an individual starts to feel anonymous
- the individual feels decreased self-awareness
- DEINDIVIDUATION
- can then lead to loss of normal inhibitions

2- a suffiently sized group gathers
- interaction within the group leads to social arousal inthe individual
- the individual feels responsibility diffusing to others
- DEINDIVIDUATION
- leads to increased responses to situational factors

Question 24

Conformity

Answer 24

- tendency to adjust ones thoughts, feelings or behavour in ways that are in agreement with those of a particular individual or group, or to social norms e.g swearing, standing ovation

Question 25

What affects conformity

Answer 25

- group size
- unanimity
- informational influence
- normative influence
- culture
- social loafing

Question 26

Conformity- group size

Answer 26

- the amount of confederates in the groups drastically changed the conformity rates

- in more cases, the more, the better

- best group size was 4, worst was 15

Question 27

Conformity- unanimity

Answer 27

- refers to complete agreement among the group members

- WWYD? would you disagree with everyone? How certain would you be?

- people dont want to be the individual to go against the group

Question 28

Conformity- informational influence

Answer 28

- individuals are more likely to conform to group members when they are unsure what the correct response is

- informational influence occurs when conformity results from a need for direction and information on how to respond in a specific situation

Question 29

Normative Influence

Answer 29

- occurs when our response in a group is influenced by one or more social norm

Question 30

Conformity- culture

Answer 30

- asch’s experiment yeilded different results in different cultures, showing that culture has an influence on conformity

- asian and african countries showed more conformity than north american and western europe

Question 31

Conformity- social loafing

Answer 31

- refers to the tendency of an individual to make less effort when involved in a group activity than when working alone

Question 32

Modern day media types and sources

Answer 32

- Advertising
- Television
- social media
- video games
- news sources

Question 33

Positive influence of media onn social connections

Answer 33

- improved connections
**Allows ‘like-minded’ individuals to find each other*

- expanded social networks
**development of global friendships*

- platforms to voice opinions, raise money/awareness

Question 34

negative influence of media on social connections

Answer 34

- absence of face-to-face contact -> poor social skills

- difficulty identifying emotions and responding emotionally

- difficulty distinguishing between real (meaningful) and virtual relationships

- physical detachment from others hinders social development and may lead to poorer physical and mental health outcomes

Question 35

What is social comparison and its pros and cons

Answer 35

- a behaviour where we compare certain aspects of ourselves to other people to assess ourselves better

pro- can check if we are ‘on track’
cons- can lead to negative thoughts/behaviours due to unrealistic standards -> lower self-esteem

Question 36

Upwards social comparisons

Answer 36

- my neighbour inspires me. If he can run a half marathon, then so can I

- my friend is smarter than I am. She just gets it

Question 37

Downward social comparisons

Answer 37

- I feel happy knowing that I beat my neighbour in the half-marathon

- My colleague struggles all the time with the same topics, while it just clicks for me

Question 38

Symptoms of FOMO

Answer 38

- a feeling of anxiety or insecurity over the possibility of missing out on something

- always on phone
- never says no
- uncomfortable being home alone
- takes pictures of everything
- worry abt being left out
- overly full social schedule

Question 39

addictive behaviours

Answer 39

- the state in which a person feels an uncontrolled motivation to perform behaviours and devotes so much time and effort to these behaviours that it impairs other important life areas

e.g shopping addictions

- it releases dopamine which reinforces the behaviour, this is consistent across most addiction disorders

Question 40

using media for info access pros

Answer 40

- vast knowledge availability
- global news coverage
- diverse perspectives
- educational resources
- citizen journalism
- enhanced communication

Question 41

using media for info access cons

Answer 41

- misinformation and fake news
- filter bubbles and echo chambers
- privacy concerns
- information over load
- cyberbullying and online harassment
- digital divide
- credibility challenges
- dependence and addiction

Question 42

Non-conformity and its factors

Answer 42

- any behaviour that is not conformity

independence- a situation in which a person percieives group pressure but doesnt respond to it at either the private or public level

anti conformity- deliberate behaviour that acts against the position of one or more people

Question 43

4 Factors that affect anti-conformity

Answer 43

- Minority versus the majoriy
**the majority will try to persuade a non-conformer to conform to group norms, but when this does not occur, the majoruuty will isolate the non-conformer*

**Individual independence/anti-conformity may come at the price of ridicule and isolation from the majority*

**The majority are more likely to accept minority non-conformers views as legitimate*

- task ambiguity
**when the task itself is ambiguous participants are more likely to behave independently of the group*

- personality factors
Emotions- conformers = mre anxious, non-conformers = less anxious
**Self-concept- conformers = lack self-confidence and are less insightful, non-conformers = have realistic self-perception
**IQ- conformers = less intelligent, non-conformers = more intelligent*

- culture
**people from individualistic (western) cultures are more likely to engage in anti-conformity behaviours than those from collectivist cultures*

Question 44

Explanations for non-conformity

Answer 44

- psychological reactance theory
**an unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their freedom*

- the need for uniqueness
**a psychological state in which individuals feel indistinguishable from others, which motivates compensatory acts to restore a sense of uniqueness*

- social impact theory
**a theory suggesting that the degree of influence that a person experiences in group settings depends on three factors:*
1- the groups strength (power and status)
2- the groups immediacy (closeness)
3- the nimber of people within the group exerting the social influence

Question 45

obedience

Answer 45

- occurs when people change their behaviour in response to direct commands from an authority figure

Question 46

Results

Answer 46

- all subjects obeyed up to the 360 volt level (lablled extreme shock where the “learner” had been screaming in pain)

- 65% obeyed all the way to the 450 volt level (labellef XXX well above the “danger” level and by this time the “learner” has become silent)

- Subjects visibly upset and nervous at the situation

Question 47

Criticisms of Milgram

Answer 47

- his work on obedience was attacked on ethical grounds, saying he decieved people and caused unreasonable distress

- volunteers often showed extreme stress- sweating, trembling, stammering even having uncontrollable fits

Question 48

Factors that interact to influence why we obey

Answer 48

- social proximity

- legitimacy of the authority figure

- group pressure

Question 49

social proximity

Answer 49

- the closer the ‘victom’ was to the “teacher”, the more likely the person was to refuse to send the shock

- when the “teacher” was in the same room, the number of fully obedient teachers dropped from 65% to 40%

Question 50

Legitimacy of authority figure

Answer 50

- authority figure seems legit and like they have power= more obedient

- symbols of authority e.g uniform = more obedient

Question 51

group pressures

Answer 51

- little to no group support to resist authority figure = more likely to be obedient

- group support for authority figure = more likely to be obedient