Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

Conformity is yielding to group pressure. Our behaviours are beliefs are influenced by larger groups of people.

Question 2

What is conformity also known as?

Answer 2

Major influence.

Question 3

What are the three types of conformity?

Answer 3

Compliance
Identification
Internalisation

Question 4

What is compliance?

Answer 4

A person goes along with other people’s behaviour or attitudes, but does not believe them to be correct.
They comply publicly but their private opinion does not change.
They go along with beliefs to keep the peace and group approval.
It is temporary as it is only when in the presence of the group.

Question 5

What is identification?

Answer 5

Individuals adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of the group as membership of the group is desirable.
It happens in both private and public, but is often temporary.

Question 6

What is internalisation?

Answer 6

The individual accepts the group view and believe that view to be correct so conforming to other people’s beliefs publicly and privately is the genuine belief that they are correct.
It is permanent.

Question 7

What are the explanations for why people comply?

Answer 7

Informational social influence

Normative social influence.

Question 8

What is informational social influence?

Answer 8

Humans have a need for certainty (a need to be right).
When uncertain they look to others.
Happens in unfamiliar or ambiguous situations.

Question 9

What is normative social influence?

Answer 9

Humans have a need to be liked/social groups.
Agreeing with the majority view because we want to be liked, accepted and gain social approval.
Links to compliance.
It is an emotional rather than cognitive process.
It occurs when you fear rejection from the group/with strangers.

Question 10

AO3: Lucas et al (2006)

Answer 10

Supports ISI.
Asked students to answer mathematical problems that were easy and difficult.
Greater conformity to incorrect answers when the questions were harder. This was especially true for students who rated their maths ability to be poor.
Shows people conform in situations where they feel they don’t know the answer, so we look to other people because we assume they know better than us and what to be right.
This supports ISI because it shows that it occurs when people are more uncertain so it gives it credibility and explanatory power.

Question 11

AO3: What is a nAffiliator? How does it link to NSI?

Answer 11

nAffiliator care more about being liked as they have a greater need for ‘affiliation’ - a need for being in a relationship with others.
McGhee and Teevan (1967) - found students that have a high need for affiliation were more likely to conform.
NSI affects those who care more about being liked than those who are less concerned with being liked.
Suggests there are individual differences in the way people respond as the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others.
It links to NSI because students with a need for affiliation are more likely to conform. It depends on the person (individual differences) whether it is ISI or NSI. It is a limitation as the explanation cannot predict who will experience what in a given scenario.

Question 12

AO3: do ISI and NSI ever work together?

Answer 12

Asch’s experiment suggested that conformity is reduced when there is one dissenting participant. They may reduce the power of NSI (more social support) or the power of ISI (alternative source of information).
Doubts whether ISI and NSI are two processes operating independently in conforming behaviour. .
Different to Deutsch and Gerrard’s two-process approach where behaviour is either due to NSI or ISI. But, both processes are actually involved.
Not always possible to know whether NSI or ISI is at work.
It was a lab study, but even more true in real-life conformity.

Question 13

AO3: do we all show ISI?

Answer 13

ISI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way.
Asch (1955) found students to be less conformist than other participants (more confident).
Perrin and Spencer (1980) conducted a study involving science and engineering students and found very little conformity.
This is a limitation as the explanation cannot predict who will experience what in a given scenario.

Question 14

AO3: how does Asch support NSI?

Answer 14

Asch (1951) found many participants went along with a clearly wrong answer (not ambiguous) just because other people did.
Some participants felt self-conscious giving the correct answer as they were afraid of disapproval.
They repeated the study and asked the participants to write the answer down rather than saying it out loud. Conformity rates fell to 12.5%.
This supports the theory as it gives it credibility.

Question 15

AO3: Jenness (1932)

Answer 15

Used 101 psychology students.
Conducted this study with a jar of white beans.
Individual estimates moved towards the estimates of others.
Shows you genuinely (privately) believed these estimates.
Demonstrates internalisation.

Question 16

Sherif (1935) Autokinetic effect experiment

Answer 16

Aim: to demonstrate that people conform to group norms when in an ambiguous situation.
Method: Lab experiment. Used the autokinetic effect - a small spot of life in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still. Individually tested, estimates varied considerably. Then tested participants in groups of 2/3. Put 2 people whose estimates were similar and one who was very different. Each person had to say their answer out aloud.
Results: The group converged to a common estimate. The person who was different conformed to the view of the other two.
Conclusions: The results demonstrate informational conformity as when people are in an ambiguous situation they often want to do the right thing but lack the appropriate information to do so.