Conformity

Question 1

define social influence

Answer 1

how people affect one another, including changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings and behaviours resulting from the comments, actions, or even the mere presence of other

Question 2

define conformity

Answer 2

change in beliefs, opinions and behaviours as a result of explicit or implicit pressure (real or imagines) from others

Question 3

define complience

Answer 3

responding favourably to an explicit request by another person.

Question 4

define obedience

Answer 4

explicit request by another person.

in an unequal power relationship, submitting to the demands of the person in authority.

Question 5

What is automnous mimicry

Answer 5

Sometimes our beliefs and behaviours become more similar to those of others around us in a spontaneous and automatic sense, without any obvious intent of one person to change the other.

Question 6

Give study details about automnous mimicry

Answer 6

Chartrand & Bargh, 1999
Ps took part in two 10-minute sessions in which each of them, along with another participant (confederate), described various photographs from popular magazines
 There was a different confederate in each of the two sessions:
the confederate in one session frequently rubbed his or her face
the confederate in the other session continuously shook his or her foot.
 Ps were videotaped

Results
Students mimicked the behaviour of the confederate, by themselves either rubbing their own faces or shaking their own feet
When the experimenters asked the participants if they had noticed anything unusual about the behaviour of the other person during the experiment, none of them indicated awareness of any face rubbing or foot shakin

Question 7

Outline some reasons for mimicry

Answer 7

Ideomotor action – The phenomenon whereby merely thinking about a behaviour makes performing it more likely (William James, 1890).

The thought that we might type the wrong letter on the keyboard makes us more prone to typing that very letter (Wegner, 1994)
-Establishing a good interaction
participants who were led to think about elderly people acted more like older people themselves, taking longer to walk down the hallway to the elevator (Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996), but only individuals with positive attitudes toward older adults (Cesario, Plaks, & Higgins, 2006).
that people tend to like those who mimic them more than those who do not, even when they’re unaware of being mimicked (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999).
people who have been mimicked tend to engage in more prosocial behaviour immediately afterward, such as donating money to a good cause, or leaving a larger tip for the person who mimicked them (van Baaren, Holland, Kawakami, & van Knippenberg, 2004; van Baaren, Holland, Steenaert, & van Knippenberg, 2003).

• Imitation is an important part of social interaction.
  • We easily and frequently mimic others without being aware that we are doing so. • We even expect people to mimic us in social interactions, and we become distressed when they do not (Dalton, Chartrand, & Finkel, 2010) • May help explain why we like some people immediately, but never get it together with others (Chartrand & Dalton, 2009; TickleDegnen & Rosenthal, 1990, 1992)

Question 8

Outline Informational social influence

Answer 8

Conforming to Be Accurate
• Change in opinions or behaviour that occurs when we conform to people who we believe have accurate information.
• People accept information from another as evidence about reality.
• Occurs when there is uncertainty.

Question 9

Define descriptive norm

Answer 9

the perception f what most people do in a given situation (Cialdini, Reno & Kallgren,1990)

Question 10

Outline Sherif’s Autokinetic experiement

Answer 10

• Aim: Sherif (1935) conducted an experiment with the aim of demonstrating that people conform to group norms when they are put in an ambiguous (i.e. unclear) situation.
• Method: Sherif used a lab experiment to study conformity. He used the autokinetic effect – this is where a small spot of light (projected onto a screen) in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still (i.e. it is a visual illusion).
• Sherif presented the point of light a large number of times and had participants, who were unaware the movement was an illusion, estimate the amount the light moved on each trial.
• Ps were tested over several trials alone, and on subsequent days Ps were tested in groups of two or three.
• Ps were again tested alone one year later.

The results show that when in an ambiguous situation (such as the autokinetic effect), a person will look to others (who know more / better) for guidance (i.e. adopt the group norm). They want to do the right thing, but may lack the appropriate information. Observing others can provide this information. This is known as informational conformity.

Question 11

Outline mispercieved norms

Answer 11

We sometimes rely on a flawed notion of the norm when deciding how we should behave.
• Example: Excessive drinking
How much students drink is highly correlated with how much they believe the average student drinks (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007).

• Students typically overestimate the descriptive norm for college student drinking (Borsari & Carey, 2003; Perkins, Haines, & Rice, 2005).
• On the positive side, providing students with accurate information about drinking norms has been found to reduce excessive drinking (Burger, LaSalvia, Hendricks, Mehdipour, & Neudeck, 2011; Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Walter, 2009).

Question 12

Outline Asch’s confromity experiement

Answer 12

Method
Ps were male college students who were told that they were to be participating in a test of visual abilities.
18 trials during the experiment, and on each trial they would see two cards. The standard card had a single line that was to be judged. And the test card had three lines that varied in length between about 2 and 10 inches.
Ps indicate which line on the test card was the same length as the line on the standard card. Although on the first two trials the confederates each gave the correct answer, on the third trial, and on 11 of the subsequent trials, they all had been instructed to give the same incorrect answer.
results:
76% of the 123 men who were tested gave at least one incorrect response when it was their turn
37% of the responses, overall, were conforming
in addition to the 24% of the men who never conformed, only 5% of the men conformed on all 12 of the critical trials.
• Reasons to conform
They initially experienced uncertainty and self-doubt and this gradually evolved into self-consciousness, fear of disapproval and feelings of anxiety and loneliness. Some doubted their own perceptions
Others did not believe the group to be correct but went along not to stand out, avoid censure, ridicule or social disapproval.

Question 13

outline the modified conformity experiement

Answer 13

Deutsch & Gerard (1955)
• 3 conditions
Face-to-face: participant face-to-face with three confederates who made unanimously incorrect judgements
Face-to-face and group goal: participants responded face-to-face, but with an explicit group goal to be as accurate as possible
Private and anonymous: anonymous, isolated in a cubicle and allowed to respond privately
• Uncertainty manipulation
half the participants respond while the stimuli were present
half respond after the stimuli had been removed

Question 14

Outline Normative Social Influence

Answer 14

Normative Social Influence: Conforming to Be Liked and to Avoid Rejection
• A process where people conform to avoid disapproval and other social sanctions (rejection, isolation).
• When we engage in conformity due to normative social influence we conform to social norms—socially accepted beliefs about what we do or should do in particular social contexts (Cialdini, 1993; Sherif, 1936; Sumner, 1906).

(Asch’s experiemnt)

Question 15

Outline the differences between informative and normative social influence

Answer 15

The result of conformity due to informational social influence is normally private acceptance: real change in opinions on the part of the individual.
• The result of conformity due to normative social influence is normally public compliance: a superficial change in behaviour (including the public expression of opinions) that is not accompanied by an actual change in one’s private opinion.
• Behaviours that are originally performed out of a desire to be accepted (normative social influence) may frequently produce changes in beliefs to match them, and the result becomes private acceptance.
• In most cases the goals of being accurate and being accepted go hand-inhand, and therefore informational and normative social influence often occur at the same time.

Question 16

give 4 situational factors affecting conformity

Answer 16

Group size
• Group unanimity
• Importance of task
• Expertise and status

Question 17

outline how group size affects conformity

Answer 17

Asch replicated his study varying the number of confederates (from 1 to 16): when the size of the majorities got bigger, the lone participant was more likely to give the incorrect answer.
The increase in the amount of conformity that is produced by adding new members to the majority group (known as the social impact of each group member) is greater for initial majority members than it is for later members
works on both ISI and NSI

Question 18

Outline how group unamity effects conformity

Answer 18

Group unanimity
• Consistency or unanimity of the group members are even more important than group size.
SOURCE: Adapted from Asch, 1956.
• When even one confederate gives the correct answer conformity rates dropped to 5%
• Conformity is reduced even when the dissenting confederate gives a different wrong answer
. • The presence of an ally weakens both informational social influence (“Maybe I’m not crazy after all”) and normative social influence (“At least I’ve got someone to stand by me”).

Question 19

how does importnace of the task effect confromity?

Answer 19

Baron, Vandello, and Brunsman, 1996
• Ps identify the first person in the lineup
• Task importance manipulation:
 performance on the task was an important measure of eyewitness ability and Ps who performed most accurately would receive $20
the test procedure was part of a pilot study and that the decisions were not that important.
• Task difficulty manipulation:  showing the photos for 5 and 10s (easy condition)  showing the photos for ½ and 1s (difficult condition)
Results • On easy tasks, Ps conformed less when the decision had more important consequences for them (normative social influence). • On the difficult tasks Ps conformed more when they thought the decision was of high importance (informational social influence).

Question 20

Outline how experitise and status effects confromity

Answer 20

The expertise and status of the group members powerfully influence the rate of conformity.
• The two often go together, because we grant greater status to those with expertise, and we often assume (not always correctly) that those with high status are experts (Koslowsky & Schwarzwald, 2001).
• Expertise primarily affects informational social influence. Experts are more likely to be right, so we take their opinions more seriously.
• Status, in contrast, mainly affects normative social influence. The disapproval of high-status individuals can hurt more than the disapproval of people we care less about.

Question 21

what is majority influence?

Answer 21

• Majority influence occurs when the beliefs, attitudes and values held by the larger number of individuals in the current social group prevail.

Question 22

what is minority influence?

Answer 22

Minority influence occurs when the beliefs held by the smaller number of individuals in the current social group prevail.

Question 23

Outline moscovicis study into minoirty influence

Answer 23

Ps were told the study was about colour perception
• There were shown 36 blue coloured slides and were asked to state the colour of the slide out loud
• there was a minority of confederates in the group (two) and a majority of experimental participants
• the two confederates had been instructed to give one of two patterns of answers that were different from the normal responses.

consistent-minority condition: the two confederates gave the unusual response (green) on every trial.
inconsistent-minority condition: the confederates called the slides green on two-thirds of their responses and called them blue on the other third

Question 24

outline the power of the minority

Answer 24

• Minorities can have influence over majorities, provided they gave consistent, unanimous responses. • They are able to produce strong and lasting attitude change—true private acceptance—rather than simply public compliance; people conform to minorities because they think that they are right, and not because they think it is socially acceptable.
• The presence of minority groups can lead majorities to engage in fuller, as well as more divergent, innovative and creative thinking about the topics being discussed

Question 25

Outline a study into the power of minoirty

Answer 25

Nemeth and Kwan (1987)
• Ps work in groups of four on a creativity task.
• Presented with letter strings such as tdogto and asked to indicate which word came to their mind first as they looked at the letters.
• All participants indicated the most obvious word (in this case, dog) as their response on each of the initial trials
• Ps were told that (according to experimental condition)
3 of the other group members had also reported seeing dog and that 1 had reported seeing god
3 out of the four had reported seeing god whereas only 1 had reported dog.
• Ps then completed other similar word strings on their own, and their responses were studied
results:
When Ps thought that the unusual response was given by a minority of 1 individual in the group rather than by a majority of 3 individuals, they subsequently answered more of the new word strings using novel solutions (e.g. finding words made backwards or using a random order of the letters)
• Individuals who thought that the majority of the group had given the novel response did not develop more creative ideas
• Messages that come from minority groups lead us to think more fully about the decision, which can produce innovative, creative thinking in majority group members

Question 26

outline how personal differences affect conformity

Answer 26

• People who have lower self-esteem, high need for social support or approval, low, IQ, high anxiety, feelings of relatively low status tend to conform more (e.g., Costanzo, 1970; Crutchfield, 1955; Elms & Milgram, 1966)
• Individuals who are either younger or older being more easily influenced than individuals who are in their 40s and 50s (Visser & Krosnick, 1998).
• People who highly identify with the group that is creating the conformity are also more likely to conform to group norms, in comparison to people who don’t really care very much (Jetten, Spears, & Manstead, 1997; Terry & Hogg, 1996).
• Research has generally found that the impact of person variables on conformity is smaller than the influence of situational variables, such as the number and unanimity of the majority.

Question 27

Outline how gender effects confromity

Answer 27

Women tend to conform more than men—but only a bit (Bond & Smith, 1996; Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Carli, 1981; Eagly & Chrvala, 2006).

• The difference tends to be greatest when the situation involves faceto-face contact (greater concern for maintaining group harmony)
• The difference also seems to be strongly influenced by the specific content of the issue at hand…

Sistrunk & McDavid (1971)
• Results  both men and women were less likely to conform on topics that they know a lot about, in comparison with topics on which they feel less knowledgeable
• It appears that the small observed differences between men and women in conformity are due, at least in part, to informational influence.

Question 28

outline cultural effects and cofnrmity

Answer 28

Bond and Smith (1996) analyzed results of 133 studies that had used Asch’s line-judging task in 17 different countries.  conformity was greater in more collectivistic than in individualistic countries
• Kim and Markus (1999) analyzed advertisements from popular magazines in the United States and in Korea
 U.S. magazine focus more on uniqueness (e.g., “Choose your own view!”; “Individualize”)
Korean focus more on themes of conformity (e.g., “Seven out of 10 people use this product”; “Our company is working toward building a harmonious society”)

Tight and Loose Cultures (Gelfand et al., 2011)
Tight: strong norms regarding how people should behave and do not tolerate departure from those norms
Loose: norms are not as strong, and their members tolerate more deviance

• Tight nations are more likely to have governments that are autocratic or dictatorial, to punish dissent, to have sharp controls on what can be said in the media, to have more laws and higher monitoring to ensure that the laws are obeyed, and to inflict more punishment for disobedience.
• Tighter nations tend to have higher population densities, fewer natural resources, unreliable food supplies, less access to safe water, more risk of natural disasters, more territorial threats from neighbours, and a higher prevalence of pathogens (Gelfand, 2011). Behavioural constraints are associated with, and perhaps partly caused by, ecological constraints.

Question 29

outline psycholgical resistance in conformity research

Answer 29

Psychological Reactance

Pennebaker and Sanders (1976)

Image: Kent Nickell

Less graffiti in the second restroom (“Please don’t write on these walls”) than in the first one (“Do not write on these walls under any circumstances!”)

A strong motivational state that resists social influence (Brehm, 1966; Miron & Brehm, 2006). • Reactance is aroused when our ability to choose which behaviors to engage in is eliminated or threatened with elimination, and we loose a sense of freedom and autonomy.

Question 30

can cofnromity be a good thing?

Answer 30

College students were more likely to throw litter on the ground when they had just seen another person throw some paper on the ground but were least likely to litter when they had just seen another person pick up and throw paper into a trash can (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990).
• Homeowners reduced the amount of energy they used when they learned that they were consuming more energy than their neighbors (Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007)
Undergraduates selected the healthy food option when led to believe that other students had made this choice (Burger et al., 2010). • Hotel guests were more likely to reuse their towels when a hanger in the bathroom told them that this is what most guests did (Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2008). • More people began using the stairs instead of the elevator when informed that the vast majority of people took the stairs to go up one or two floors (Burger & Shelton, 2011).

conformity in social media:
People are less likely to share their honest opinions on social media, and will often only post opinions on Facebook with which they know their followers will agree (Pew Research Center, 2014).