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Social Psychology PSYC 325 > Conformity > Flashcards

Conformity Flashcards

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1
Q

conformity

A
  • change in B due to real or imagined influence of others
  • reasons for forming
    1. informational social influence
    2. normative social influence
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2
Q

conformity: individualistic

A
  • seen as negative
  • however, we conform daily, whether we are aware of our B or not
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3
Q

conformity: animal studies

A
  • may be based on evolution as a survival trait
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4
Q

informational social influence

A
  • 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
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5
Q

ISI: private acceptance

A

conforming to others’ B out of genuine belief that what they are doing is right

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6
Q

ISI: public compliance

A

conforming to others’ B publicly, without necessarily believing in what they are doing

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7
Q

situations that are most likely to produce conformity due to ISI

A
  • ambiguous or confusing situations
  • crisis situations
  • when the situation seems very important/crucial
  • when others are experts
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8
Q

resisting ISI

A

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

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9
Q

normative social influence

A
  • 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
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10
Q

NSI: social norms

A
  • implicit or explicit rules a group has
  • includes acceptable B, values, beliefs of its members
  • important role in driving + maintaining conformity
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11
Q

Asch line judgment studies

A
  • 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
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12
Q

What is the effect of conforming on brain areas associated with negative emotions according to recent fMRI scans

A

conforming activates areas of the brain associated with negative emotions

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13
Q

social impact theory

A
  • predicts likelihood of conforming to social influence
  • depends on group strength, immediacy, number
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14
Q

social impact theory: group strength

A
  • how important the group is to you
  • predicted that conformity increases when both group strength and immediacy increase
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15
Q

social impact theory: immediacy

A
  • 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
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16
Q

social impact theory: number

A
  • 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
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17
Q

unanimity of group

A
  • most likely to conform when group is unanimous
  • very difficult being the lone dissenter
  • just 1 person not in agreement = enough to decrease conformity
18
Q

NSI: gender differences

A
  • small differences found
  • women slightly more likely to conform in public compliance
  • no difference in private acceptance
  • both sexes less likely to conform when are knowledgeable about the topic in question
19
Q

NSI: cultural differences

A
  • conformity = higher in collectivist cultures (viewed as cooperation towards collective goal)
  • some cultures view conformity as submissiveness or lack of independence
  • some researchers proposed that the threat of infectious disease may cause culture to promote greater conformity to social norms
20
Q

consequences of NSI

A
  • can be used for good
  • social groups will bring a nonconformist into line by poor treatment/punishmnet
21
Q

resisting inappropriate NSI

A
  • becoming aware of what social norms are operating
  • finding an ally who thinks how we do
  • gathering idiosyncrasy credits
22
Q

idiosyncrasy credits

A

credits a person earns over time by conforming to the norms of a group in the past

23
Q

NSI and body image

A
  • perceptions influenced by both ISI and NSI
  • seeing oneself as non-ideal can contribute to:
    1. low self-esteem
    2. body dissatisfaction
    3. depression
    4. depression
    5. negative B (i.e. eating disorders)
24
Q

minority influence

A
  • when minority group influences B and beliefs of the majority
  • they must present their views consistently
  • do so using ISI (leads to private acceptance)
25
Q

anticonformity

A
  • act of going against B of a group
  • considered as deliberate defiance of group’s decision
  • more observable in individualistic cultures
  • possibly explained by psychological reaction
26
Q

anticonformity vs independence

A

decision to be anticonformist is still dependent on the group’s B

27
Q

compliance

A
  • change in B in response to direct request
  • common techniques:
    1. door-in-the-face
    2. foot-in-the-door
    3. lowballing
28
Q

door-in-the-face

A
  • gets people to comply with a request
    1. presented with large request (expected to refuse)
    2. presented with smaller, more reasonable request (hoped they will accept)
  • based on reciprocity norm
29
Q

reciprocity norm

A

when requester backs down from extreme request to a smaller, we feel obliged to return the favour by acquiescing to the request

30
Q

foot in the door

A

get people to comply with a large request
1. presenting them with a smaller request (expected to accept)
2. presented with larger request (hoped they will accept)

31
Q

foot in the door: triggers change in self-perception

A
  • by agreeing to the small request, it activated people’s self image of someone who helps others
  • once this image is in place, makes it difficult not to agree to a 2nd, larger request
32
Q

lowballing

A
  • gets people to comply with a request
    1. inducing a customer to agree to a purchase at low cost
    2. then raise the price
  • customer will often sill make the purchase at the new price
    1. decision seems irrevocable
    2. they want to avoid disappointment
    3. new price is slightly higher
33
Q

other compliance tricks

A
  • “free gifts” and reciprocity
  • social proof
  • “and that’s not all”
  • the sunk cost trap
  • scarcity and psychological reactance
34
Q

reciprocity

A
  • we feel compelled to repay what another person has given us
  • through free gifts, we feel compelled to support a request or become a frequent customer
35
Q

psychological reactance

A

tendency to assert our freedom when we feel others are attempting to control us

36
Q

obedience

A
  • conformity in repsonse to commands of an authority figure
  • understanding social pressure, individuals will conform to the authority
  • even when this means doing something immoral
37
Q

Milgram’s experiment (1963)

A
  • examined if ordinary people can be influenced to inflict severe pain on an innocent person
  • 62.5% of participants fully obeyed the experimenter and gave 450 volts (maximum)
  • even when learner reported a heart condition, cries did little to reduce the obedience
38
Q

NSI and obedience

A
  • made it difficult for people to refuse to continue with the study
  • participants were afraid that the experimenter would be disappointed, hurt or angry
39
Q

ISI and obedience

A
  • ISI plays role when situation is ambiguous, unfamiliar, upsetting
  • participants look to expert as guide
  • when experimenter did not specify a shock and was later unexpectedly called away, full obedience dropped to 20%
40
Q

reasons for obedience: self-justification

A
  • can offer insight into why people acted so inhumanely in Milgram’s study
  • once participants delivered the first shock, it became very difficult for them to decide where to draw the line and stop
41
Q

reasons for obedience: social situation

A
  • people obeyed because of social situation
  • when given freedom to choose shock levels, participants chose a very mild shock level and only 2.5% went to the max level
42
Q

Milgram’s experiement: those who disobeyed

A
  • disobedience most likley to occur at 150V, 1st time learner asks to be let go
  • being made aware of the power of authority figures made a positive impact

Social Psychology PSYC 325 (11 decks)

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