Conformity Flashcards
What is the assumption of the social approach?
- our behaviour can be influenced by others
What are the two cultures involved in the assumptions of the social approach?
- individualistic = individual needs most important (UK & AUS)
- collectivist = overall needs of family/ group are put first (Chine & India)
What is an example of an individualist culture?
- relationship entered as partner makes them happy and in love
- based on what those individuals want/ need
hat is an example of an collectivist culture?
- relationship as decided by family to please them
What was the earliest experiment into conformity?
- Jenness 1932
Define conformity.
- the tendency to change what we do (behaviour) or think and say (attitudes) in response to the influence of others or social pressure
- this pressure can be real or imagined
What is a basic example of majority influence?
- fashion trends
What is the two process model and who researched it?
- explains why people conform
- Deutsch & Gerald 1955
What are the two models of the two process model?
- normative social influence
- informative social influence
What is normative social influence?
- explains why people conform to these norms within a group because they want to be accepted by that group
What is believed in NSI will happen if you go against these social norms?
- disliked or rejected
Define norms.
- behaviours seen as the accepted way of doing things
What type of process in NSI and why?
- emotional process because it is about how you feel
- can be stronger in stressful situations where people have a greater need for social support
What is informative social influence?
- who has better information, you or someone else
- when we are unsure of what is right or wrong we conform to the views of others because we want to be right
What type of process is ISI and why?
- a cognitive process
- it is about what you think
When is ISI most likely to happen?
- in situations that are new to you (don’t know what is right) or situations that ambiguous
- occurs when someone is seen as an expert or at least being regarded as one in comparison to others
What is research support evaluation of conformity (NSI & ISI)?
- Asch’s line experiment 1951
- going with majority if there is a pressure of being rejected
What is a weakness evaluation of conformity (NSI & ISI)?
- in real-life NSI & ISI are interlinked
- less likely to conform if there is someone else who does not agree = reduce power of NSI & ISI
- both usually operating in real-life
What is a strength evaluation of Asch’s line experiment?
- lab conditions used = controlled variables + standardised so each participant has the the same experimental conditions
What is a weakness evaluation of Asch’s line experiment?
- gender bias = women are more likely to conform as they can be more concerned about maintaining social relationships than men
- culture bias = studies in collectivist societies are more common to conform
- Asch’s findings may generally underestimate the true level of conformity
