Conformity Flashcards
define conformity
it is a type of social influence involving changing our behaviour and attitudes in response to the influence of others or social pressures
what are social norms?
unwritten rules about how to behave in a social group or situation that members accept as normal or correct
what is normative social influence?
when we conform to fit in with the group to gain approval of others as you dont wish to appear foolish
what is informational social influence?
the desire to be right-when we conform because we are unsure of the situation and are unsure how to think or behave so we look to others who we believe to have more knowledge than us for guidance
what type of conformity does compliance link with? and what is it?
Normative
it is where you publicly change your behaviours to fit in with the group while privately disagreeing
eg laughing at a joke you didnt find funny
what type of conformity does internalisation link with? and what is it?
informational
it is where you publicly change your behaviour to fit in and also privately agree (so you change your internal and external view)
Outline sherif’s study
AIM to demonstrate that people conform to group norms when in an ambiguous situation
PROCEDURE lab experiment
auto-kinetic effect…small spot of light projected on a screen and it may appear to move but it doesnt
tested ppts individually and then in groups of 3, 2 with similar guess and 1 totally different
FOUND that the person whos result was different conformed to the view of the others to come to a group agreement
CONCLUSION was that in an ambiguous situation, a person will look to others for guidance
what type of conformity did the participants in Sherif’s study show?
Informational as they looked to others who they thought to have more knowledge for guidance
outline Asch’s study
AIM to investigate the extent to which social pressures form a majority group could affect a person to conform
PROCEDURE lab experiment
line judgement task
a naive ppt in room with 7 confederates, they all agreed their answer previously
has to say answer aloud (which line was longest and it was always obvious) the ppt were last to say answer
18 trials- condfederates gave answer wrong on 12 occasions
FOUND one third confirmed in each trial and 75%conformed at least once
CONCLUSION they didnt believe their conforming answers were right but went along with it anyway as didnt want to appear foolish
what conformity does Asch’s study link with?
Normative social influence & compliance
didnt want to appear foolish, wished to gain approval
publicly agreeing, privately disagreeing
Variations of Asch’s study were…
Size of group-conformity tends to increase as the size of the group does, little chance however when group is 4-5 so this is optimal group size
Non-conforming role model- when another person in the group gave a different answer, the level of conformity dropped, just on confederate going against majority dropped conformity to 80%
Giving answers in private
Difficulty of task-harder the task, the more conformity rises as look to others for confirmation
Evaluate both Sherif and Asch’s study
cant be applied to the real world, lacks ecological calidity as it is artificial, theyre with strangers so may act different if they were with family and friends.
reliable as both found similar results and that people conform when are unsure
conformity was high in the 1950’s when this was carried out so may not find the same now
