Conformity Flashcards
conformity
- change in B due to real or imagined influence of others
- reasons for forming
1. informational social influence
2. normative social influence
conformity: individualistic
- seen as negative
- however, we conform daily, whether we are aware of our B or not
conformity: animal studies
- may be based on evolution as a survival trait
informational social influence
- conform because we believe that others’ interpretation of ambiguous situation is more correct than our own
- conform because we see oyjers as source of info to guide B
- can bring about private acceptance or public compliance
ISI: private acceptance
conforming to others’ B out of genuine belief that what they are doing is right
ISI: public compliance
conforming to others’ B publicly, without necessarily believing in what they are doing
situations that are most likely to produce conformity due to ISI
- ambiguous or confusing situations
- crisis situations
- when the situation seems very important/crucial
- when others are experts
resisting ISI
using others as source of info can be +/-
- conformity influences how people see reality
- important to carefully consider if another’s interpretation of situation is more legitimate than one’s own
normative social influence
- conforming to be liked/accepted by others
- conforming to avoid being ridiculed, punished, rejected by one’s group
- results in public compliance, but not necessarily private acceptance
NSI: social norms
- implicit or explicit rules a group has
- includes acceptable B, values, beliefs of its members
- important role in driving + maintaining conformity
Asch line judgment studies
- what happens when we are with strangers who are obviously wrong? Do we still conform?
- refer to notes for more information on the experiment procedure
What is the effect of conforming on brain areas associated with negative emotions according to recent fMRI scans
conforming activates areas of the brain associated with negative emotions
social impact theory
- predicts likelihood of conforming to social influence
- depends on group strength, immediacy, number
social impact theory: group strength
- how important the group is to you
- predicted that conformity increases when both group strength and immediacy increase
social impact theory: immediacy
- how close the group is to you in space and time during the influence attempt
- predicted that conformity increases when both group strength and immediacy increase
social impact theory: number
- how many people are in the group
- predicted that conformity will increase as group number does, but only to a point
- group size matters most in case of incorrect responses