Conformity

Question 1

Define the term ‘conformity’

Answer 1

A change in belief or behaviour due to real or imagined group pressure.

Question 2

What are the three types of conformity?

Answer 2

Compliance
Internalisation
Identification

Question 3

What is compliance?

Answer 3

When an individuals behaviour changes temporarily to match or go along with others to gain approval.
Their public behaviour changes but their private views stay the same.

Question 4

What is identification?

Answer 4

When an individuals behaviour changes to match those of others that they identify and want to associate with to feel more apart of the group.

Question 5

What is internalisation?

Answer 5

When an individuals behaviour changes to match other peoples and lasts even when the group isn’t there because they accept their point of view and believe that it is right.
Their private and public view changes.

Question 6

Research into compliance conformity - Asch KEY STUDY

Answer 6

A - to see if ppts would conform to social influence and give incorrect answers even when the correct answer is obvious
P - 123 male American undergrads were tested. In groups of 7 - 6 were confederates and 1 was the real participant. They were shown the comparison line and 3 other lines of different length with one that matches. They called out the one that matches in turn and confederates gave unanimous wrong answers in 12/18 trials - called critical trials
R - participants conformed in 36.8% of critical trials. 75% conformed at east once and 25% never conformed.
C - ppts will conform to social influence due to real or imagined group pressure.

Question 7

EVALUATION - Asch’s line study

Answer 7

Strengths
- reliable
- good real life application

Weaknesses
- poor sample
- poor ecological validity
- unethical - deception

Question 8

What are the variables that affect conformity?

Answer 8

Task difficulty
Group size
Disrupted unanimity
Self efficacy

Question 9

Explain task difficulty as a variable affecting conformity.

Answer 9

Differences in line length made smaller made the task harder. This increased rate of conformity as individuals look for guidance as there is more chance of being incorrect.

Informational Social Influence

Question 10

Explain group size as a variable affecting conformity.

Answer 10

Reduced group size decreases rate of conformity as there is less group pressure so you feel more confident.

Increased group size increases rate of conformity as there is more group pressure when more people give answers so you are more likely to follow them.

Normative Social Influence

Question 11

Explain disrupted unanimity as a variable affecting conformity.

Answer 11

The real participant is given support from another real participant which decreases rate of conformity as the support from a dissenter allows the individual to become free from the pressure of the unanimous group to conform so they act independently.

Question 12

Explain self efficacy as a variable affecting conformity.

Answer 12

Self efficacy ( being confident in own abilities) decreases rate of conformity as they know that they are correct and don’t need or rely on information of others.

Question 13

What is normative social influence and what type of conformity does it link to?

Answer 13

The need to be liked and accepted. Compliance - only temporary

Question 14

What is informational social influence and what type of conformity does it link to?

Answer 14

The need to be right. Internalisation - permanent behaviour change.

Question 15

Evaluation of Explanations of Conformity (NSI or ISI)

Answer 15

+ Aschs line study - NSI because they wanted to fit in with the group and conformity dropped when asked privately due to no pressure from group

+ Lucas et al - ISI - students were given maths problems ranging from easy or more difficult and there was greater conformity when questions were difficult - need to be right

+ ISI but individual differences - Perrin and Spencer science and engineering students found little conformity because they were more confident.

Question 16

What are ‘social roles’?

Answer 16

The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups including parent,child,student etc. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what the appropriate behaviour is in these roles.

Question 17

Conformity to social roles - Zimbardo Prison Controlled Observation

Answer 17

Aim - to investigate how people would conform to new roles by observing how people would adopt the roles of guards/prisoners in a simulated prison.
Method - 24 US male student volunteers paid $15 a day 2 week simulation in basement of Stanford Uni and roles were randomly allocated. Prisoners were given numbers and uniforms and guards had clubs whistles and reflective glasses and were told not to harm prisoners.
Results - Prisoners rebelled after 2 days and guards conformed to roles showing brutal behaviour. The experiment ended 6 days in due to guards being abusive and prisoners being extremely stressed
Conclusion - when part of a social role, people will take on the behaviour expected of that role and become de-individuated.

Question 18

Zimbardo Controlled Observation EVALUATION

Answer 18

Weakness
- ethics - deception, protection from harm, right to withdraw
- androcentrism - all males
- lacks EV
- temporal validity

Strengths
- ethics - debrief, confidentiality
- real life application
- good EV
- roles randomly allocated