Conformity Flashcards
what are the 3 types of conformity
- compliance
- identification
- internalisation
explain what compliance is
- when an individual agrees publicly but their private beliefs remain in disgareement
- the individual changes their behaviour to be accepted by a group
explain what identification is
- private and public acceptance but is generally temporary
- individuals adjust their behaviour because membership of that group is desirable
explain what internalisation is
- individual agrees publicly and privately
- deepest type of conformity where and individual permantly changes thei r beliefs
what is the key study for research into conformity
asch
explain the procedure of aschs study
- 123 male participants
- the participants was in a group of 6 to 8 people and thought all people were like himself
- there was only one real participant and the others were conferderates
- participants asked to judge which of the three comparison lines was equal in length to the standard line
- the confederates gave wrong answers on 12 out of the 18 trials
- particpants was usually second to last to answer
what were the findings of aschs study
- average conformity rate was 36.8%
- 25% did not conform once
what are the 3 situational variables that affect conformity
- size of group
- unanimity
- task difficulty
what were the findings of aschs study when he varied the number of confederates
- when there was one real particpant and one confederate, only 3% conformed
- when the number of confederates increased to three, conformity rose to 32%
- confderate level of 15 led to lower levels of conformity because participants became suspicious
what were the findings of aschs study when he changed the unanimity of the confederates
- asch disrupted the unanimity by including a dissenter (confederate who went against the majority view) and found conformity dropped from 36.8% to 5.5%
what were the findings of aschs study when he increases the task difficulty
- aschs made the comparison lines more similar to eachother
- this made participants more likely to conform
what are some weaknesses of aschs experiment
- social desirability
- ethical issues
- artificial environment - lacks mundane realism
- demand characteristics
what are some strengths of aschs experiment
- controlled
- support from other studies
what are the two explanations for conformity
- normative social influence
- informational social influence
explain what normative social influence is
- based on the desire to be liked - an individual conforms because they have the need to be accepted
- involves compliance
how was normative social influence shown in aschs study
- some particpants later admitted that they knew the confederates answers were wrong but they didnt want to be the odd one out
explain what informational social influence is
- based on the desire to be right
- this often occurs when an individual is unaare of hw to behave in a social situation so look to other for guidance
explain research that supports the role of informational social influence
jennes
- participants asked to make independant judgements about the number of beans contained in a jar
- they then discussed their estimates in a group
- participants then made a second estimate
- it was found this second estimate moved closer to the group estimate
what did asch change to his study to support normative social influence and what were the findings
- he asked the participants to write their answers down
- conformity dropped to 12.5%
- this demonstrates they were conforming to win social approval
what is the key study into research of social roles
zimbardo
what is dispositional
they have sadistic personalities
what is situational
the situation creates behaviour
explain the procedure of zimbardos study
- mock prison in stanford university
- 21 male student volunteers randomly assigned role of guard or prisoner
- prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked in their cells for two weeks
- guards had a uniform with handcuffs, wooden club and mirror shades. The guards had complete power over the prisoners
how were the social roles strictly divided in zimbardos study
- prisoners were given 16 rules to follow
- prisoners only referred to by number
- guards had complete power
what were the findings of zimbardos study
- study was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14 because the guards behaviour became a threat to the prisoners health
- guards, prisoners and researches all conformed to their social roles
- prisoners rebelled within 2 days
- one prisoner went on a hunger strike
explain a study that discredits zimbardos research
movahedi
- argued participants were just play acting
- behaviours were based on sterotypes suggesting the findings tell us little about conformity to social roles
explain a study that supports zimbardos research
mcdermott
- argues the participants behaved as if the prison was real
- 90% of the prisoners onversations were about prison life
- this suggests the study did replicate social roles
what are some strengths of zimbardos study
- supporting research
- practical applications - prison systems
what are some limitations of zimbados study
- ethical issues
- demand characteristics
- male sample
- small sample
- lack of realism
strength
give a PEELH for conformity as a whole
- P - supporting evidence from lab studies
- Eg - asch conducted an experiment and found that when all confederates gave the same answer, 75% of participants conformed at least once
- Ex - this suppoorts the idea that people conform to fit (normative social influence) in even when they know the answer is wrong
- L - therefore, conformity is a real psychological phenomenon with measureabe effects whic gives the theory scientific credibility
- H - aschs study used an artififical task of comparing the lentghs of lines meaning the study lacks ecological validy so confomrity may not be as strong in real life
limitation
give a PEELH for conformity as a whole
- P - conformity research ignores individual differences
- Eg - perrin and spencer replicated aschs study using engineering students and found much lower conformity rates
- Ex - this suggests factors like confidence and expertise can effect how likely someone is to conform whihc isnt fully explained by theories
- L - conformity cannot be seen as a universal response, and explanations like normative and informational social influence may lack generalisability
- H - these findings may reflect changes in time and culture, showing conformity levels vary accross generations, rather than completely undermining the theory itself
strength
give a PEELH for aschs research
- P - lab experiment with controlled conditions
- Eg - variab;es likle group size ad unanimity were carefully manipulated
- Ex - allowed asch yo isolate the effects of these variables whihc improves the internal validity of the findings
- L - the study provides stromg evidence for how specific social pressurs influence behaviour
- H - because the study took part in the 1950s america, a place known for strong conformity norms, the findings may not reflect how people behave today. Decreasing temporal validity
limitation
give a PEELH for aschs research
- P - lacks ecological validity
- Eg - the task of judging line lengths was trivial and had no real consequences
- Ex - in real life, conformity usually happens in situations involving moral or social stakes
- L - the study may underestimate or overestimate how people conform in real life settings
- H - the simplicity of the task allowed researchers to focus purely on social pressure which was the aim of the study
strength
give a PEELH for zimbardos research
- P - supporting research
- Eg - mcdermott re analysed partcipants conversations during the study and found that many believed the prison was real, with 90% of conversations involving prison life
- Ex - this supports the idea that participants genuinely did conform to social roles which adds validity to zimbardos research
- L - this strengthens the arguement that situational factors like assigned roles can perfrullt influence behaviour
- h - some behaviours may have been exaggerated due to demand characterisitics as participants knew it was an experiment
limitation
give a PEELH for zimbardos research
- P - challenged by other research
- Eg - movahedit argued participants may have simply been acting in line with sterotypes of how guards and prisoners are expected to behave
- Ex - this means participants werent truly conmforming to social roles but were performing based on what the researchers wanted
- L - this challenges the internal validity of the study
- H - the emotional reactions in the participants suggest at least some level of genuine psychological effect
