Conformity

Question 1

What is Conformity?

Answer 1

when individuals yield to group pressures, it is defined as the change in behaviour and/or belief as a result of real or imagined pressure.

Question 2

What are the 3 types of conformity?

Answer 2

1. Compliance (shallowest level)
2. Internalisation (middle level)
3. Identification (deepest level)

Question 3

What is compliance? (+example)

Answer 3

when we publicly change our behaviour to be like the majority but not change our minds privately.
short-term change, change in behaviour but not cognition
e.g. eating broccoli at grandmas as it is expected

Question 4

What is Internalisation? + example

Answer 4

when we take on the views of others we admire,
short-term change, change in behaviour but cognition only changes in the presence of significant people.
e.g. drinking alcohol with friends but not at home

Question 5

What is Identification?

Answer 5

when others have convinced us their beliefs are right so our public behaviour adjusts to match those of the group
long-term change, change in behaviour and cognition
e.g. being influenced by social group to become vegan

Question 6

What are the factors affecting conformity?

Answer 6

normative social influence (NSI), informational social influence (ISI) and individual characteristics

Question 7

What is normative social influence and how does it affect conformity? +example

Answer 7

when a person conforms to belong or be accepted because it is socially rewarding or to avoid social punishment like being ridiculed.
Compliance & Identification, short-term to fit in, e.g. buying trendy clothes even if you don’t like it.

Question 8

What is informational social influence and how does it affect conformity? +example

Answer 8

when a person conforms to gain knowledge or because they think someone else is ‘right’.
Internalisation, long-term as changing beliefs, e.g. being passionate abt climate change after being friends with someone who is.

Question 9

What are 2 individual differences that affect conformity?(and define)

Answer 9

1. Personality traits - traits concerned with being liked/right or those in unfamiliar situations increase conformity
2. Cultural factors - individualistic cultures that take pride in independency and uniqueness decrease conformity whilst collectivist cultures that emphasise harmony and needs of group increase conformity

Question 10

What experimental design has been used to provide background research for conformity? and what was its methodology?

Answer 10

Asch’s Conformity Experiment. Participants (123 college males) were told they were taking part in a ‘vision test’ but Asch used a line judgement test where he placed 1 real participant with 7 actors giving incorrect answers to observe whether participants would conform to majority view

Question 11

What was the aim and purpose of Asch’s conformity experiment?

Answer 11

Aim was to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform in a given situation. Purpose was to find whether subject opinions were actually able to be changed.

Question 12

What did Asch find in his conformity research? & what did it confirm?

Answer 12

that participants were more likely to go along with the wrong answers to fit in with the majority because they did not want to be ridiculed, confirming that they complied due to normative social influence, changing their behaviour but not cognition.

Question 13

What 6 factors did Asch find affecting conformity?

Answer 13

Size of the group - a group of 3 increases conformity
Lack of group unanimity(agreement) - decreases conformity
Difficulty of task - more difficult, greater conformity
Answering in private - decreases conformity
Anonymity - decreases conformity
Status of the majority group - greater status, greater conformity

Question 14

What are the strengths of Asch’s experiment?

Answer 14

Provided research support for normative social influence; participants admitted changing answers to avoid disapproval and fit in with the group and when given privacy conformity rates fell as fear of rejection became much less.

Question 15

What are the limitations of Asch’s experiment?

Answer 15

Biased sample of 123 American male college students, low ecological validity - artificial task does not reflect everyday life, conducted when conformity was higher in US, replications found significantly lower conformity

Question 16

What were the ethical issues in Asch’s experiment?

Answer 16

Deception - Asch deliberately deceived his participants, saying that they were taking part in a vision test and not an experiment on conformity
Protection from harm - many participants reported feeling stressed when they disagreed with the majority

Question 17

What is the 2nd observational experimental design that has been used to study conformity? and what was its methodology?

Answer 17

Zimbardo Prison Experiment. Participants (21 healthy college males) were assigned as ‘prisoners’ or ‘guards’ and were arrested & transported to Standford’s ‘mockup prison’ where they were planned to stay for 14 days. Participants’ guards were to take control of the prison and prisoners by any means besides physical acts to observe to what extent they would conform to their roles.

Question 18

What was the aim and purpose of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

Answer 18

Aim = to measure the effect of role-playing, labelling and social expectations on behaviour over a period of 2 weeks. Purpose = to see if situational factors can cause crimes against humanity.

Question 19

What was the conclusion of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

Answer 19

That situational factors play a significant role in behaviours, particularly where strong stereotypes exist, participants were ready to conform to social roles using their own stereotypical views causing deindividuation to occur in both groups as they immersed into their roles. After 6 days experiment had to end due to abuse and emotional distress

Question 20

What were the advantages and disadvantages of Zimbardo’s experiment?

Answer 20

ADV - High internal validity - high level of control over variables, most conversations were about beliefs of the prison.
DIS - low ecological validity - small unrepresentative sample of white, middle-class men, lack of mundane realism, lack of further research support

Question 21

What were the ethical issues in Zimbardo’s experiment?

Answer 21

Revoked right to withdraw - participants were revoked of their right to withdraw when initially informed so
Deception - participants were not informed of true nature of experiment involving levels of degradation
debrief - failed to debrief until years later
Protection from harm -prisoners were not protected and experienced abuse, humiliation and distress causing lifelong psychological