Conformity Flashcards
What is the definition of conformity
A type of social influence involving the change in. Belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group
Explain the normative social influence explanation for conformity
The desire to be liked - when we conform to fit in with the group because we don’t want to appear foolish or be left out
Explain the informational social influence explanation for conformity
The desire to be right - when we confirm because we are unsure of the situation, so we look to others who we believe may have more information that us
What is the definition of compliance
A change in a persons behaviour in response to a direct request
What is the definition of internalisation
The deepest level of cobfirmity
The person changes both their public behaviour and their private beliefs
Describe and explain Asch study of conformity include aim, procedure, results and conclusion
Aim = to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform
Procedure = lab experiment, Line judgement task with 1 real participant and 7 confederates. The confederates have obviously wrong answers on 12/18 trials
Results = 32 percent of participants confirmed to the clearly incorrect answer on each trial. 75 percent of participants confirmed on at least one of the trials
Conclusion = the majority of participants, when interviews after experiment, showed compliance as they didn’t really believe in the others answers however they didn’t want to be seen as peculiar
What are the limitations of the Asch study in 1951
Lacks ecological validity - lab experiments are highly controlled and in this case would not occur in s real life setting
Lacks mundane realism = the task it’s self would never happen in a real life scenario
Lacks population validity = biased sample, all men of the same age, cannot be generalised females of different ages
Explain the Sherif study 1939, including aim, procedure, results and conclusion
Aim = to investigate wether people would conform to group norms in an ambiguous situation
Procedure =
- lab experiment
Autokinetic effect = visuals illusion of a spot of light moving
- tested individually - answers varied considerably between 20-80cm
- then tested in groups where two of the participants had similar individual answers and the third participant had a very different answer
Results = over numerous trials, the group converged up a common estimate. The third participant with the very different individual estimate confirmed to the groups estimate
Conclusion = when put in an ambiguous situation, people will look to the group for guidance/information
Describe and explain the four variation of Asch original study
Size of the group = conformity tends to increase when the size of the group increases
- 1 other confederate = 3 percent conformity
- 2 others = 13 percent conformity
- 3 or more = 32 percent conformity
Non-conforming role models = when one other person in a group gives a different answer, conformity drops
- Asch 1951= Just one confederate giving a different answer can drop conformity by 80 percent
Difficulty of task = when the lines were made more similar in length, conformity increased
Giving answers in private = when participants were able to write their answers down instead of announcing them, conformity dropped
Explain Zimbardos Stanford prison study 1974, including aim, procedure, results and conclusion
Aim = wether people would conform to new social roles
Procedure =
- white male psychology students from Stanford
- randomly split into prisoners and guards
- prisoners locked in cells for 2 weeks in a wing of the university
- prisoners were arrested at home
- upon arrival they were stripped, deli used and referred to as a prison number
Results =
- experiment called off after 6 days
- guards become so brutal to the prisoners that one went on hunger strike and the other developing a nervous rash all over his body
- while the guards were giving out orders, the prisoners didn’t stand up to them and obeyed the order despite the distress they were feeling
Conclusion = the participants extreme behaviour can be explained as they were simply condoning to the new social roles they had been given
- deindividuation can also explain the guards extreme behaviour. The guards becomes so immersed in their social roles that they lost their sense of identity and so became so sadistic as they believed it was s group norm and took no personal responsibility
Give 1 strength of the Stanford prison study
Zimbardo was able to maintain a degree of ecological validity as the environment was as close to a real life situation as possible
- for example being arrested at their homes
This is further backed by monitored evidence highlighting 90 percent of prisoners spoke about the prison condition in their private conversations/similar with guards
Give 2 limitations of the Stanford prison study
1 - lacks population validity = biased sample of middle class, white students therefore results cannot be generalised those of the opposite sex
2 - the study is still criticised for lacking ecological validity as many unpleasant aspect of prison life were absent for example involuntary home sexuality, racism, beatings and threats to life
