Conformity Flashcards
What are the 3 types of conformity?
- Internalisation (changing behaviour and beliefs)
- Identification (changing behaviour to match peers)
- Compliance (changing behaviour to avoid standing out)
What is informational social influence?
- A cognitive explanation of conformity
- Describes how we conform when we believe others have “better information”
When is ISI most likely to occur?
In situations where:
- There is ambiguity about what to do
- A decision has to be made quickly
- The situation is new to an individual
What is normative social influence?
- An emotional explanation of conformity
- Describes how we conform when we don’t want to be rejected or we want to be accepted
When is NSI most likely to occur?
In situations where:
- An individual is concerned about being rejected
- An individual is concerned about the approval of their friends
- There is a lot of pressure and a need for social support
Whats is some research support for ISI?:
- Lucas et al (2006),
- Gave students maths questions as a group
- Found conformity rate was higher when questions were higher
How do we know ISI can be inconsistent?
-Perrin and Spencer (1980) found that conformity levels were significantly lower when dealing with engineering students (suggesting that ISI isn’t relevant to everyone)
Whats is some research support for NSI?:
- Asch (1951), line comparison study
- conformity dropped to 12.5% when participants asked to write their answers instead of saying them out loud
How do we know NSI can be inconsistent?
- nAffliators are more concerned with the opinions of others and so are more likely to conform
- McGhee and Teevan (1967), students in high need for affiliation were most likely to conform
- NSI affects people differently
What is Deutsch and Gerrard’s ‘two-process’ approach and what evidence to we have against it?
- The two-process approach was based on the idea that behaviour is either due to ISI or NSI.
- Asch’s line comparison experiment had cases of both types of conformity in identical circumstances
What conditions did Asch determine had an impact on conformity rates?
- Unanimity (dissenting confederate)
- Group size (stopped having an effect in groups larger than 3)
- Task difficulty (increased role of ISI)
How can Asch’s studies be criticised?
- Only white american men took part in the study (poor external validity)
- The 1950’s was a particularly conformist time in america anyway (no longer relevant)
- The participants were presented with an artificial situation (low ecological validity, demand characteristics)
- Participants were deceived (ethical issues)
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s study?
-To determine if our actions are controlled more by conforming to a role or how our personality influences us
How can the Stanford Prison Experiment be criticised?
- Major ethical issues
- Lack of realism (guard based his character off of ‘Cool Hand Luke’)
- Zimbardo exaggerated the importance of situational variables (only 1/3 of the guards were violent)
- Partial recreation by BBC, very different results
