Conformity

Question 1

What are 4 factors that influence conformity?

Answer 1

Size of the majority group
Presence of another dissenter
Public or private nature of the response
Task difficulty

Question 2

positive eval for asch’s study

Answer 2

Lab study: means results are replicable and the effects of extraneous variables are limited.

Question 3

negative eval for asch’s study

Answer 3

Artificial situation: means experiment has low ecological validity and cant be generalised to irl situations.
Deception: real ppts didnt know others were confederates
Lacks temporal validity (cant generalise across time bc of McCarthyism)

Question 4

Perrin and Spencer results:

Answer 4

Repeated Asch’s experiment with engineering students. Conformity rates were much lower, maybe because the engineers were confident in their decision making

Question 5

Eagly study (gender)

Answer 5

men and women show different levels of conformity because of social roles:
Women are more likely to conform because they don’t like group conflict
Men are less likely as they are expected to show independence and assertiveness.

Question 6

Sherif study Method: (autokinetic effect)

Answer 6

Lab experiment. Dot of light is projected into a dark room and appears to move. Dot didn’t move, and ppts were led to believe it did. They were asked to guess how far it moved.
They were tested: individually, in groups of 3 and individually again.

Question 7

Sherif results:

Answer 7

Phase 1 - individual guesses varied a lot
Phase 2 - ppt’s guesses tended to converge to a common estimate
Phase 3 - ppts made guesses closer to common group’s estimates than their initial ones

Question 8

Sherif conclusion:

Answer 8

Showed people look for guidance when they face ambiguous situations.
When people don’t have all the info needed, they look to others. (informational conformity)
Ppt’s estimates converged on group norm, as they were influenced by other’s estimates (ISI)

Question 9

Sherif positive eval:

Answer 9

Lab experiment: Limits effect of extraneous variables.
3rd variable shouldn’t have influenced results, able to establish cause and effect
Method was replicable as ppts variables could be controlled and kept constant

Question 10

Sherif experimental issues:

Answer 10

Deception: ppts believed light was moving
Narrow sample: only males, reduces generalisability of results
Artificial situation: Not natural, so the experiment has low ecological validity.
Low internal validity

Question 11

Define Normative social Influence (NSI)

Answer 11

People conform to the group norm to fit in/be accepted by the group, e.g. in asch’s study

Question 12

define informational Social Influence (ISI)

Answer 12

People conform because they believe the group competent and has the correct information, especially when the task is ambiguous