Conformity

Question 1

Asch’s Research

Answer 1

123 men judged line lengths - confederates gave wrong answers
. Conformed = 56.8%
. Never conformed = 25%

Question 2

Variations of Asch’s Research

Answer 2

Group Size = varied from 2 to 16
Unanimity = placed a confederate in the group - conformity reduced
Difficulty = line lengths more similar - conformity increased (ISI)

Question 3

Types of Conformity

Answer 3

Compliance = go along with group publically, no change personally

Identification = change behaviour to be part of a group we identify with - short term change in personal beliefs

Internalisation = private and public acceptance of group norms

Question 4

What is Informational Social Influence (ISI)

Answer 4

Conform to be right. Group knows better than us

Question 5

What is Normative Social Influence (NSI)

Answer 5

Conform to be liked/accepted

Question 6

Evaluation of Asch’s Research

Answer 6

Artificial situation and task = knew it was a study (DC)

Limited Application = only American men

Research Support = Lucas et al found more conformity when maths problems were harder

Question 7

Zimbardo’s Research

Answer 7

Stanford Prison Experiment (Social Roles)
Mock Prison, 21 volunteers, randomly allocated prison or guard
. Guards became increasingly brutal, prisoners rebelled and became depressed - study stopped after 6 days
. Participants strongly conformed to their roles

Question 8

Evaluation of Zimbardo’s Research

Answer 8

Control = random allocation - increased internal validity

Lack of realism = not real environment, play acted their roles.
Counterpoint = 90% thought it was real

Exaggerates power of roles = only 1/3 of guards were brutal, conclusions exaggerated