conformity

Question 1

what are the three types of conformity

Answer 1

internalisation, identification, compliance

Question 2

what are the two types of social influence

Answer 2

normative and informational

Question 3

what research supports normative social influence

Answer 3

Lucas et al (2006)

Question 3

what was Lucas et al (2006) study

Answer 3

students were asked to give answers to mathematical problems that were either easy or difficult

Question 4

what was the findings of Lucas et al (2006)

Answer 4

there was greater conformity to incorrect answers when the questions were more difficult

Question 5

how does Lucas et al (2006) support informational social influence

Answer 5

most people who conformed had rated their mathematical skills low and would choose the same answer as the majority as they believe that the others are smarter than them therefore will have the correct answer

Question 6

what is affiliation

Answer 6

a need for being in a relationship with others- people who need affiliation are more likely to conform

Question 7

what is social influence

Answer 7

the ways in which external factors alter out behaviour

Question 8

what is conformity

Answer 8

a change in a persons behaviour or opinion as a result of a real or imagined pressure from a person/ group of people (Aronson 2011)

Question 9

what was the first study of conformity

Answer 9

Jenness’ jellybeans (1932)

Question 10

what was Jenness’ jellybean study (and what was the sample)

Answer 10

101 psychology students individually guessed how many jellybeans were in a jar. Then made into groups of 3 to come up with another guess- after the group discussion they had to individually guess again

Question 11

what does Jenness’ jellybean study show

Answer 11

people will conform to other people in a group in order to avoid being the odd one out/ in order to sound smarter

Question 12

what is internalisation

Answer 12

deep type of conformity, person genuinely agrees with the group, leads to a private and public change of behaviour/ opinions that is likely to be permanent

Question 13

what is identification

Answer 13

moderate type of conformity, at the same as the group because we value the group but don’t agree with everything the group does, public change of behaviour private opinions are the same

Question 14

what is compliance

Answer 14

superficial conformity, outwardly go along with the majority while disagreeing privately, temporary (only lasts when the group is present

Question 15

what is normative social influence

Answer 15

agreeing with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted and gain social approval and ‘fit in’

Question 16

what is informational social influence

Answer 16

agreeing with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct and we think that they know more than us

Question 17

what is Asch’s lines research (and what as the sample)

Answer 17

123 American males, put into a group of 6-8 people, were shown three lines and had to say which one matches the example. On the first few trials the right answers were given but on the rest of the trials the confederates purposely gave the wrong answers (critical trials)

Question 18

what are confederates

Answer 18

people who work with researchers and pretend to be participants

Question 19

what were the results to Asch’s study

Answer 19

36.8% gave the wrong answer in critical trials, 75% conformed at least once to the incorrect response of the confederates

Question 20

how did Asch make sure the test was easy

Answer 20

he used a control group where there were no confederates and people only made a mistake 1% of the time

Question 21

what are the factors affecting conformity

Answer 21

task difficulty, group size, unanimity

Question 22

change in task difficulty in the line experiment

Answer 22

Asch made the line lengths close together, conformity increased

Question 23

change in group size in the line experiment

Answer 23

there was little conformity when only 1/2 people had the wrong answer, majority of three people with the wrong answer increased conformity to 31.8%

Question 24

change in unanimity in the line experiment

Answer 24

originally all confederates gave the wrong answer, Asch made one of them give the right answer, this reduced the conformity of the participant

Question 25

distortion of perception in the line study

Answer 25

a small number of participants came to see the lines in the same was as the majority (internalisation)

Question 26

distortion of judgement in the line study

Answer 26

they were doubtful/ unsure of their own answer (internalisation)

Question 27

distortion of action in the line study

Answer 27

most participants continued to privately think differently from the group but changed their public answer (compliance)