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conformity Flashcards

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1
Q

what does social influence mean

A

people change their behaviour to fit the situation or who they’re with

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2
Q

what does conformity mean

A

when the behaviour of an individual or small group if influenced by a larger dominant group

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3
Q

what are the three types of conformity

A

internalisation
compliance
identification

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4
Q

what is internalisation

A

going along with the majority and believing their views
true change (conversion) of private views
become part of individuals value system
change is long term and permanent

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5
Q

what is compliance

A

going along with the majority even when you don’t share their views
conform publicly but privately disagree
done to appear ‘normal’

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6
Q

what is identification

A

conforming to what’s expected to fulfil a social role
adopts views publicly and privately to feel a sense of group membership
may only be temporary- not maintained once left the group

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7
Q

what type of social influence is internalisation associated with

A

informational

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8
Q

what type of social influence is compliance associated with

A

normative social influence

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9
Q

who tested the effects of informational social influence

A

sherif 1935

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10
Q

what was the aim of sheriffs experiment

A

researched if people are influenced by others when completing an ambiguous task

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11
Q

what type of experiment did sherif use

A

laboratory

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12
Q

what experimental design did sherif use

A

repeated measures design

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13
Q

what effect did sherif use

A

visual illusion and auto kinetic effect

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14
Q

what was sheriffs method

A

stationary spot of light in a dark room appears to move
participants told experimenter would move light
asked to estimate how far light had moved:
1) as individuals
2)in groups of three
3) retested as individuals

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15
Q

what was found in the first phase of sheriffs experiment

A

participants gave their own estimates (personal norms) which varied widely between participants

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16
Q

what was found in the second phase of sheriffs experiment

A

estimates converged and became more alike

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17
Q

what was found in sheriffs experiment when participants were retested

A

estimates were more like group estimates than their original guesses

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18
Q

what was the conclusion of sheriffs experiment

A

participants influenced by others answers and a group norm developed
estimates converged due to informational social influence as participants used information from others to help them

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19
Q

what was an advantage of sheriffs study being a lab experiment

A

strictly controlled variables
can establish cause and effect
method is also replicable

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20
Q

what was a disadvantage of sheriffs experiment being a lab experiment

A

artificial situation
lacks ecological validity

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21
Q

what was an ethical issue with sherrifs study

A

deception
participants told light was moving when it wasn’t

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22
Q

what was a limitation of sheriffs study

A

sample was limited
all participants were male
means results can’t be generalised to everyone

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23
Q

who conducted a study looking at the effects of normative social influence

A

Asch 1951

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24
Q

what was the aim of Asch’s study

A

to see ether people would conform to a majority’s incorrect answer in an unambiguous task (one where the answer is obvious)

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25
Q

what type of experiment was Aschs experiment

A

laboratory

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26
Q

what was the experimental design used in Aschs experiment

A

independent groups design

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27
Q

how were groups formed in Aschs study

A

participants put into groups of 8
each group had one real participant
real participants always answered last

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28
Q

what was the method used in Aschs experiment

A

had to say out loud which comparison like matched a standard line
each participant had 18 trials
on 12 (critical trials) confederates all gave wrong answer
there was also a control group where participants judged line lengths in isolation

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29
Q

in the control trials of Aschs experiment how often did participants give the wrong answer

A

0.7% of the time

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30
Q

in the critical trials of Aschs experiment how often did participants conform to majority and give the wrong answer

A

37% of the time

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31
Q

how many participants in Aschs experiment conformed at least once

A

75%

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32
Q

what was found in Aschs experiment when debriefing participants

A

participants said they didn’t really believe their answers but didn’t want to look different

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33
Q

what was the conclusion of Aschs experiment

A

control condition showed task was easy to get right
37% conformed to majority due to normative social influence

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34
Q

what is a strength of Aschs experiment

A

laboratory experiment
control over variables
minimises the effects of extraneous variables
can repeat the study

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35
Q

what is a limitation of Aschs study

A

laboratory experiment
not a natural situation
lacks ecological validity
anther they were right/wrong didn’t matter to participants, may have been less likely to conform if there were real life consequences

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36
Q

what are ethical issues with Aschs experiment

A

participants deceived and potentially embarrassed- could affect self confidence

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37
Q

what are the two type of factors that affect conformity

A

situational
dispositional

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38
Q

what are situational factors

A

due to the social situation a person is in

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39
Q

what are dispositional factors

A

due to the persons internal characteristics

40
Q

what type of factor affecting conformity did Asch research

A

situational

41
Q

what three situational factors did Asch investigate

A

group size
unanimity/social support
task difficulty

42
Q

how did Asch investigate group sizes

A

conducted conformity experiment with different numbers of confederates as the majority

43
Q

when there were two confederate in Aschs experiment what % of critical trials did participants conform on

A

14%

44
Q

when there were three confederate in Aschs experiment what was the conformity rate

A

32%

45
Q

what did Asch find when increasing group size over 3 people

A

little change to conformity rates

46
Q

what were the conclusions of Aschs research on group size

A

small majorities are easier to resist than larger ones but influence doesn’t keep increasing with size of the majority

47
Q

how did Asch investigate unanimity/ social support

A

Asch ran a variation with a supporter in the group
rather than confederates forming a unanimous majority one of the confederates agreed with the participant

48
Q

what was concluded from Aschs research with unanimity

A

having a fellow dissenter (someone who agrees with the majority) broke unanimity of the group
rate of conformity fell by 5.5%

49
Q

how did Asch investigate task difficulty

A

task was made more difficult
lines made more similar lengths

50
Q

what was the conclusion of Aschs research into task difficulty

A

conformity levels increased
people are more likely to conform if they are less confident

51
Q

what dispositional factors affect conformity

A

confidence and expertise
gender

52
Q

what did asch find when debriefing participants in relation to confidence and expertise

A

if someone felt confident in their judgements they were more able to resist group pressure

53
Q

what did wiesenthal 1976 find in relation to the effect of confidence and expertise in conformity

A

if people felt competent in a task they were less likely to conform

54
Q

what did perrin and spencer (1980) find in relation to the effects or confidence and expertise on conformity

A

replicates aschs study with engineering students and found conformity levels were lucy lower
could be due to fact engineers had confidence in their skills for making accurate observations

55
Q

what was the view until the mid 1970s about gender and conformity

A

viewed females conform more than males
(eagly and charli challenged this)

56
Q

what did Eagly and Charlie (1981) do to investigate gender and conformity

A

meta analysis of conformity research
re analysed data

57
Q

what were the findings from Eagly and Charlie’s meta anyalysis

A

found some sex differences in conformity but these were inconsistent
clearest difference between men and women was in Asch like studies where there was group pressure from an audience

58
Q

what did Eagly (1987) argue about gender and conformity

A

men and women’s different social roles explain the difference in conformity

59
Q

what did Eagly say women are more concerned with

A

group harmony so are more likely to agree with others

60
Q

what did Eagly say are men more likely to do

A

assertiveness and independence and the male tributes
maintaining your own opinion under pressure fits with the perceived male social role

61
Q

what are social roles

A

the sets of behaviours and expectations that come with holding different positions in society

62
Q

what happens when we accept a role held by society

A

we internalise these expectations so that they shape our behaviour

63
Q

who did a key experiment into conformity to social roles

A

Zimbardo
1973

64
Q

what did Zimbardo do 1973

A

set up a mock prison to see if people would conform to the assigned roles of prisoner or guard

65
Q

what was the method used in Zimbardo experiment

A

male students recruited
acted as guards or prisoners in mock prison
randomly allocated roles
behaviour was observed
prisoners were ‘arrested’
taken to ‘prison’
given uniforms and numbers
wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses

66
Q

what were the results of Zimbardo experiment

A

prisoners initially resisted guards asserting their authority by sticking together
prisoners became more passive and obedient
guards invented nastier punishments
experiment abandoned early as prisoners became very distressed

67
Q

what was the conclusion of the Zimbardo prison experiment

A

guards and prisoners adopted social roles quickly
zimbardo claims this shows our social role can influence our behaviour
‘well balanced’ men become more unpleasant and aggressive in the role of guards

68
Q

what was a strength of Zimbardos experiment

A

controlled observation
good control of variables

69
Q

what was a limitation of zombardos study

A

artificial environment
results can’t be generalised to real life situations

70
Q

how was zimbardos study limited in terms of ethics

A

some participants were very distressed
some had seizures and breakdowns

71
Q

how was zimbardos study limited in terms of observer bias

A

zimbardo ran for he prison himself
later admitted he became too personally involved in the situation
conclusion zimbardo reached doesn’t explain why only some of the participants acted according to their assigned roles

72
Q

what did orlando do to investigate conformity to social roles

A

set up a mock psychiatric ward for three days

73
Q

in orlando’s experiment how many members of staff at the hospital volunteered to be patients

A

29

74
Q

in orlando’s study how many members of staff were involved and asked to do daily duties

A

22

75
Q

what did orlando find in his experiment

A

patients behaved like real patients in the hospital and it was difficult to tell them apart from real ones

76
Q

in orlando’s study what did may participants show signs of

A

depression and withdrawal
six tried to escape from the ward

77
Q

what did participants say after orlando’s study had finished

A

after study mock patients reported that they felt frustrated anxious and despairing
woke felt a loss of identify
that their feelings were unimportant and that they weren’t being treated as people

78
Q

why are studies like orlando’s useful

A

gives information on how real patients might feel in hospital
study led to more of an effort by staff to respect the patients
improved relationship and cooperation between them

79
Q

what were the two theories surrounding the nazis and why they murdered 6 million jews

A

they were ‘evil’ people
or they were ‘normal’ people just confirming to their social role which meant comiting atrocities

80
Q

what did zimabaedos study show in relation to the nazis

A

showed that normal people will shape their behaviour to fit a social role even if it’s been randomly assigned
suggests behaviour is situational not dispositional

81
Q

what study invest gated conformity to social roles specifically how group dynamics changed over time

A

Reicher and Haslam (2006)
The BBC prison study

82
Q

what type of experiment did Reicher and Haslam do

A

controlled observation in a mock prison
was filmed for television

83
Q

how many volunteers were there in Reicher and Haslams study

A

15 male volunteers
randomly assigned to two groups
5 guards
10 prisoners

84
Q

what were the daily tests for in the BbC prison study

A

measure levels of depression and compliance with rules and stress

85
Q

what was said to happen in the BBC prison experiment after 3 days

A

prisoners knew that one of them
(chosen at random) would become a guard after three days

86
Q

why was an independent ethics committee used in the BBC prison study

A

had the power to stop the experiment at any time to protect participants

87
Q

what was found in the BBC prison experiment in terms of guards

A

guards failed to fork a united group and identify with their role
didn’t always excercise their power
said they felt uncomfortable with the inequality of the situation

88
Q

what were the findings in the BBC prison experiment in terms of the prisoners

A

in first three days prisoners tried to act in a way that would get them promoted to guard status
aft the one was promoted they became a much stronger group as they knew there were no further chances of promotion

89
Q

why did the unequal system collapse in the BBC experiment

A

unwillingness of guards and the strength of the prisoner group

90
Q

what happened on day 6 of the BBC prison experiment

A

prisoners rebelled and participants decided to live in a democracy act but this collapsed due to tensions in the group

91
Q

why was the BBC prison experiment abandoned early

A

on advice of the ethics committee as the participants showed signs of stress

92
Q

what was the conclusion of the BBC experiment

A

the participants didn’t fit into their expected social roles suggesting that these roles are flexible

93
Q

what is a limitation of the BBC prison study

A

findings contrast zimbardos
made for TV
artificial situation

94
Q

why did zimbardos study contrast Reicher and Haslands

A

reicher and haslands - prisoners were a strong group with weak guards
however this could be because zimbardos guards were more empowered and were actively encouraged to maintain order

95
Q

why was the BBC prison study criticised for being made for TV

A

many people (including Zimbardo) argued elements or it were staged and that participants played up to cameras

96
Q

why is the BBC study limited by being an artificial situation

A

results can’t be generalised to real life

97
Q

how was ethics a strength of the BBC prison study

A

participants weren’t decieved therefore able to give informed consent
participants were protected by the ethics committee and study was abandoned as soon as they appeared to become stressed
they were also briefed and offered counselling afterwards

psychology-social influence (6 decks)

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