Conformity Flashcards
what did Kelman (1958) identify?
internalisation
identification
compliance
what is internalisation?
to agree with others both in private and in public
the deepest form of conformity
what is identification?
to want to be perceived to belong
temporary
what is compliance ?
to appear to agree with others, while disagreeing in private
temporary
the shallowest form of conformity
what is informational conformity?
when you agree with a group because you are unsure of a situation
what is normative conformity?
when you agree with a group because you have a need for social approval
what was Asch’s (1956) study?
123 US male undergraduates were asked to match a standard line to the comparison lines
there was one real participant who went sencond to last and confederates gave the wrong answer
what did Asch find?
12 out of 18 trials (critical trials), pps conformed 37% of the time and 75% confirmed at least once
i’m the control group where pps judged like length alone, the wrong answer was given 1% of the time
what were the variations of Aschs study?
group size
unanimity/social support
task difficulty
confidence and expertise
gender
what are strengths of Asch’s study?
lab experiment so good control over variables
strict controls increases the reliability
pps were debriefed
application to real life as it shows people change to fit with groups
what are weaknesses of Asch’s study?
artificial setting so low ecological validity
didn’t matter if pps were right or wrong as there was no real implication of their answer
pps were deceived and may have felt embarrassed
perrin and spencer
mccarthyism in the 50s - america was strongly anti-communist so people conformed so they wouldn’t look like a spy
what did Perrin and Spencer (1981) say about Asch’s study?
a child of its time
they carried out the study 25 years later and found conformity in only 1/396 trials
however when the study was replicated with youths on probation with probation officers acting as confederates, similar conformity rates to asch were found
what did Jenness (1973) study?
used white beans in a jar and asked pps to make estimates of the amount
opinions were increased when discussed with others
what was Zimbardo’s (1973) study?
stanford prison experiment
found people settled into their roles
what are strengths of zimbardos study?
impact on the way prisons are ran, prisoners were treated better
