Conformity Flashcards

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1
Q

Define conformity

A

Compliant with standards, rules and laws

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2
Q

3 types of conformity

A
  • compliance
  • identification
  • internalisation
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3
Q

Define compliance

A

Agreeing publicly but disagreeing in private

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4
Q

Define Identification

A

The person conforms publicly as well as privately as they have identified with the group and they feel a sense of group membership.
- the change in behaviour is often temporary

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5
Q

Define internalisation

A

The person conforms publicly and privately they have internalised and accepted the views of the group
Both beliefs and behaviour are changed

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6
Q

Define informational social influence

A

People conform because they want to be right

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7
Q

Define normative social influence

A

People conform because they want to be liked

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8
Q

What was Asch’s research procedure

A
  • 123 male students were tested with a group of 6-8 confederates
  • on each trial they identified the length of a standard line
  • confederates started to make obvious mistakes on 12 of the 18 trials
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9
Q

Results of Asch’s research

A

Naive participants gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time

  • 25% of participants never gave a wrong answer
  • 75% conformed at least once
  • conformity by the majority
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10
Q

Variables affecting conformity

A
  • group size
  • task difficulty
  • unanimity
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11
Q

Evaluation of Asch’s research

A
  • the situation and task were artificial
  • findings may only apply to certain situations
  • ethical issues
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12
Q

Zimbardos research - methods

A
  • mock prison was set up in the basement in the psychology department at Stanford university
  • 24 emotionally stable students were recruited and randomly assigned to roles of prisoner or guard
  • prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and cap to cover their hair, they were identified by numbers - loss of personal identity - deindividuation
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13
Q

Zimbardos aim

A

Zimbardo wanted to know why prison guards behave brutally - was it because they have sadistic personalities or was it because of social roles

  • conformity to social roles
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14
Q

Define deindividuation

A

When an individual losses their sense of self (individuality) this could occur when wearing a uniform, as people conform to the social role of the uniform

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15
Q

Findings of zimbardos research

A
  • the guards took their roles seriously and began treating the prisoners harshly
  • within 2 days prisoners rebelled, they ripped their uniforms and swore at guards. The guards retaliated with fire extinguishers.
  • after the rebeliation the prisoners becam subdued, depressed and anxious.
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16
Q

Conclusion of zimbardos aims

A

Social roles have a strong influence on individuals behaviours. The guards became brutal and prisoners became submissive

17
Q

Ethical issues in zimbardos research

A
  • fully informed consent - participants should give explicit consent to take part in research
  • deception - should not lie to the participant
  • protection from harm - psychologists have to ensure participants are not harmed
  • right to withdraw- participants must be bale to leave whenever they want
  • confidentiality - participants must not be identifiable from the write up of the research
  • privacy - psychologists should respect patients privacy,
18
Q

Define obedience

A

The type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority

19
Q

Milgram research - methods

A
  • milgram recruited 40 male participants
  • advertised it as a study into memory
  • participants played the teacher and confederates played the learner and there was an experimenter in a lab
  • the learner was strapped into a chair with electrodes. In a separate room than the teacher.
  • every time a learner answered a question wrong they would get shocked.
  • shocks varied from 15 volts to 450 .
20
Q

Milgrams research - findings

A
  • no participants stopped below 300 volts
  • 12.5% stopped at 300 volts
  • 65% continued to 450 volts
21
Q

Obedience - what are the situational variables

A
  • location - if in a run down building obedience fell to 47%
  • uniform- if experimenter was in ordinary clothes obedience dropped by 20%
  • proximity