Conformity Flashcards
what is social influence
a change in an individuals, thoughts feelings, attitudes or behaviours as a result of an interaction between another individual or group
what is conformity
yielding to group pressure
types of conformity
complience, identification and internalisation
what is complience
when you publically conform to a groups behaviours and views but privately keep your own opinion as soon as the group pressure stops
what is identification
when you publically and privately take on the views and behaviours of a group however it is only temporary and isn’t maintained when you leave the group
what is internalisation
when you permanently take on the views and behaviours of a group publically and privately
what is informational social influence
when we confrom for the desire to be right, we look to other who we belive to be right, to give us infromation
what is normative social influence
when we confrom for the desire to be liked, we conform to group norms in order to be accepted by that group
Explain the study that supports ISI
Sherif did a study to support ISI called the flick of the wrist study. he got periticpants to guess how far a dot of light moved. when participants were alone they developed their own estimates which varied between participants. when they were put in a group their estimates began to look similar and when they were put on there own again their estimates were more like the group estimate rather then their own one. this supports ISI as the task was difficult so participants looked to other who they thought were right which changed their estimates for the desire to be right
Give another strength of explanations of why people conform
Lab experiement for researhch supporting ISI and NSI. this mean that the research has high control, all variables were controlled and no extraneous variables were affecting the results. this means the standardized procedure can be replicated to be tested for reliability.
Give a weakness of explanations of why people conform
alternative explanation- social identifity theory, the idea that we identify ourselves as part of an in-group and everyone else is a part of out-group. we are more likely to conform with members of the in-group.
therefore, ISI and NSI may not be the only reason why people conform
Give another weakness of explnantion of why people conform
lab experiment- lacks ecological validity
not everyday we asked what lines match each other or how far a dot of light moves
in real life situations people may not act the same so results may not be valid
may also be prone to demand characteristics
this reduces the validity of the results and it may not be NSI and ISI influence why we conform
aim of asch study
to see if participants would confrom to the majority by giving incorrect answers even though the answer is obvious
method of Asch
123 male participants took part in a study they believed was on visual perception
put in group of 7-9, 1 participant and the rest confederates
12 crititical trials, 18 trials all together
control group who did the test on their own
Task of Asch
asked to say which line matched the stimulus line A,B or C
participant sat last or second to last
results
36.8% conformity rate in all 12 critical trials 75% conformed at least once 25% never conformed 5% conformed each time less than 1% mistake in control group
what were the variables affecting confromity
size of group, unanimity and task difficulty
results for size of group
1 participant and 1 confederate- low conformity
1p and 2 c- 13% conformity
3 confederates- 32% conformity
after that conformity did not change if more confederates were added
results for unanimity
confederate gave right answer- 5.5% conformity
confederate gave different wrong answer- 9%
results of task difficulty
conformity increased as the task got more difficult, ISI
Strength of Asch
control group
less than 1% mistake in control group
increases validity of study
Another strength of Asch
supporting research- crutchfield
does the cricle or star have a bigger area
participant last to guess, results were shown on screen
similar levels found in asch- conformity-30%
makes Asch more reliable and supports NSI
weakness of Asch
temporal validity -
1950’s america, confroming was a social norm they were communists
at that time it is likely people would not want to stand out so would easily conform
may not be the case now
may find different results now
Another weakness of Asch
unethical
deception
no protection of participants- may have felt distressed
p’s should not be negatively affected by results
harder to replicate study
conformity to social roles- Zimbardo
Aim of the study
to see if prison guards behave brutally because they have sadisitic personalities or wether it is the situation that creates this behaviour
Zimbardo method
75 univeristy students replied to a newspaper add asking for volunteers to take part in a prison stdufy
24 were chosen, those who were most mentally and physically stable
the randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard- 9 in each group with 3 spare
Prisoner procedure
arrested in their homes taken to police station, fingerprinted photographed and booked, then blindfolded and taken to the prison
they were then stripped naked, deloused and all of their possessions were taken
they were given a uniform and referred to as a number
had a strict daily routine
Guard procedure
given a khaki uniform and mirrored glasses to deindividuate the prisoners
no violence was permitted
results of Zimbardo
experiment was stopped after 6 days, was meant to last 14 days
guards behaved brutally and abusviely to prisoners
one prisoner went on a hunger strike
there was rebellion by the prisoners
5 prisoners had to be related due to negative emotions, one with uncontrollable crying and fits
conclusion of Zimbardo
beahviour was situational rather than dispositional as no participants had shown these character traits before
strength of Zimbardo
quantitative data showed that 90% of conversations were about prison life.
this increases internal valditiy as if shows that the participants believed that were actually in that situation and they were convinced by their roles
also high control
Zimbardo picked those who were most physically and mentally stable
tried to rule out individual differences to ensure behaviour was due to the pressure of the situation
increases internal validity
weakness of Zimbardo
unehtical
protection of participants
lacks ecological valdity- impossible to fully recrate a natural prison environment with all of is situational and environmental variables
participants knew they were taking part in an experiment so behaviour may not have reflected everyday life
