conformity Flashcards
what does social influence mean
people change their behaviour to fit the situation or who they’re with
what does conformity mean
when the behaviour of an individual or small group if influenced by a larger dominant group
what are the three types of conformity
internalisation
compliance
identification
what is internalisation
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
what is compliance
going along with the majority even when you don’t share their views
conform publicly but privately disagree
done to appear ‘normal’
what is identification
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
what type of social influence is internalisation associated with
informational
what type of social influence is compliance associated with
normative social influence
who tested the effects of informational social influence
sherif 1935
what was the aim of sheriffs experiment
researched if people are influenced by others when completing an ambiguous task
what type of experiment did sherif use
laboratory
what experimental design did sherif use
repeated measures design
what effect did sherif use
visual illusion and auto kinetic effect
what was sheriffs method
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
what was found in the first phase of sheriffs experiment
participants gave their own estimates (personal norms) which varied widely between participants
what was found in the second phase of sheriffs experiment
estimates converged and became more alike
what was found in sheriffs experiment when participants were retested
estimates were more like group estimates than their original guesses
what was the conclusion of sheriffs experiment
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
what was an advantage of sheriffs study being a lab experiment
strictly controlled variables
can establish cause and effect
method is also replicable
what was a disadvantage of sheriffs experiment being a lab experiment
artificial situation
lacks ecological validity
what was an ethical issue with sherrifs study
deception
participants told light was moving when it wasn’t
what was a limitation of sheriffs study
sample was limited
all participants were male
means results can’t be generalised to everyone
who conducted a study looking at the effects of normative social influence
Asch 1951
what was the aim of Asch’s study
to see ether people would conform to a majority’s incorrect answer in an unambiguous task (one where the answer is obvious)
what type of experiment was Aschs experiment
laboratory
what was the experimental design used in Aschs experiment
independent groups design
how were groups formed in Aschs study
participants put into groups of 8
each group had one real participant
real participants always answered last
what was the method used in Aschs experiment
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
in the control trials of Aschs experiment how often did participants give the wrong answer
0.7% of the time
in the critical trials of Aschs experiment how often did participants conform to majority and give the wrong answer
37% of the time
how many participants in Aschs experiment conformed at least once
75%
what was found in Aschs experiment when debriefing participants
participants said they didn’t really believe their answers but didn’t want to look different
what was the conclusion of Aschs experiment
control condition showed task was easy to get right
37% conformed to majority due to normative social influence
what is a strength of Aschs experiment
laboratory experiment
control over variables
minimises the effects of extraneous variables
can repeat the study
what is a limitation of Aschs study
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
what are ethical issues with Aschs experiment
participants deceived and potentially embarrassed- could affect self confidence
what are the two type of factors that affect conformity
situational
dispositional
what are situational factors
due to the social situation a person is in
what are dispositional factors
due to the persons internal characteristics
what type of factor affecting conformity did Asch research
situational
what three situational factors did Asch investigate
group size
unanimity/social support
task difficulty
how did Asch investigate group sizes
conducted conformity experiment with different numbers of confederates as the majority
when there were two confederate in Aschs experiment what % of critical trials did participants conform on
14%
when there were three confederate in Aschs experiment what was the conformity rate
32%
what did Asch find when increasing group size over 3 people
little change to conformity rates
what were the conclusions of Aschs research on group size
small majorities are easier to resist than larger ones but influence doesn’t keep increasing with size of the majority
how did Asch investigate unanimity/ social support
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
what was concluded from Aschs research with unanimity
having a fellow dissenter (someone who agrees with the majority) broke unanimity of the group
rate of conformity fell by 5.5%
how did Asch investigate task difficulty
task was made more difficult
lines made more similar lengths
what was the conclusion of Aschs research into task difficulty
conformity levels increased
people are more likely to conform if they are less confident
what dispositional factors affect conformity
confidence and expertise
gender
what did asch find when debriefing participants in relation to confidence and expertise
if someone felt confident in their judgements they were more able to resist group pressure
what did wiesenthal 1976 find in relation to the effect of confidence and expertise in conformity
if people felt competent in a task they were less likely to conform
what did perrin and spencer (1980) find in relation to the effects or confidence and expertise on conformity
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
what was the view until the mid 1970s about gender and conformity
viewed females conform more than males
(eagly and charli challenged this)
what did Eagly and Charlie (1981) do to investigate gender and conformity
meta analysis of conformity research
re analysed data
what were the findings from Eagly and Charlie’s meta anyalysis
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
what did Eagly (1987) argue about gender and conformity
men and women’s different social roles explain the difference in conformity
what did Eagly say women are more concerned with
group harmony so are more likely to agree with others
what did Eagly say are men more likely to do
assertiveness and independence and the male tributes
maintaining your own opinion under pressure fits with the perceived male social role
what are social roles
the sets of behaviours and expectations that come with holding different positions in society
what happens when we accept a role held by society
we internalise these expectations so that they shape our behaviour
who did a key experiment into conformity to social roles
Zimbardo
1973
what did Zimbardo do 1973
set up a mock prison to see if people would conform to the assigned roles of prisoner or guard
what was the method used in Zimbardo experiment
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
what were the results of Zimbardo experiment
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
what was the conclusion of the Zimbardo prison experiment
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
what was a strength of Zimbardos experiment
controlled observation
good control of variables
what was a limitation of zombardos study
artificial environment
results can’t be generalised to real life situations
how was zimbardos study limited in terms of ethics
some participants were very distressed
some had seizures and breakdowns
how was zimbardos study limited in terms of observer bias
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
what did orlando do to investigate conformity to social roles
set up a mock psychiatric ward for three days
in orlando’s experiment how many members of staff at the hospital volunteered to be patients
29
in orlando’s study how many members of staff were involved and asked to do daily duties
22
what did orlando find in his experiment
patients behaved like real patients in the hospital and it was difficult to tell them apart from real ones
in orlando’s study what did may participants show signs of
depression and withdrawal
six tried to escape from the ward
what did participants say after orlando’s study had finished
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
why are studies like orlando’s useful
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
what were the two theories surrounding the nazis and why they murdered 6 million jews
they were ‘evil’ people
or they were ‘normal’ people just confirming to their social role which meant comiting atrocities
what did zimabaedos study show in relation to the nazis
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
what study invest gated conformity to social roles specifically how group dynamics changed over time
Reicher and Haslam (2006)
The BBC prison study
what type of experiment did Reicher and Haslam do
controlled observation in a mock prison
was filmed for television
how many volunteers were there in Reicher and Haslams study
15 male volunteers
randomly assigned to two groups
5 guards
10 prisoners
what were the daily tests for in the BbC prison study
measure levels of depression and compliance with rules and stress
what was said to happen in the BBC prison experiment after 3 days
prisoners knew that one of them
(chosen at random) would become a guard after three days
why was an independent ethics committee used in the BBC prison study
had the power to stop the experiment at any time to protect participants
what was found in the BBC prison experiment in terms of guards
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
what were the findings in the BBC prison experiment in terms of the prisoners
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
why did the unequal system collapse in the BBC experiment
unwillingness of guards and the strength of the prisoner group
what happened on day 6 of the BBC prison experiment
prisoners rebelled and participants decided to live in a democracy act but this collapsed due to tensions in the group
why was the BBC prison experiment abandoned early
on advice of the ethics committee as the participants showed signs of stress
what was the conclusion of the BBC experiment
the participants didn’t fit into their expected social roles suggesting that these roles are flexible
what is a limitation of the BBC prison study
findings contrast zimbardos
made for TV
artificial situation
why did zimbardos study contrast Reicher and Haslands
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
why was the BBC prison study criticised for being made for TV
many people (including Zimbardo) argued elements or it were staged and that participants played up to cameras
why is the BBC study limited by being an artificial situation
results can’t be generalised to real life
how was ethics a strength of the BBC prison study
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
