Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

When an individual chooses to behave in a way that the majority does or thinks is socially acceptable

Question 2

What’s compliance?

Answer 2

• type of conformity

- going along with others to gain their approval or avoid disapproval. Only public and not private

Question 3

What’s identification?

Answer 3

• type of conformity

- going along with others because you’ve accepted their point of view publicly and privately but only temporarily

Question 4

What’s internalisation?

Answer 4

• type of conformity

- going along with others because you have accepted their point of view publicly, privately and permanently.

Question 5

Asch’s lab experiment 1956

Answer 5

• male student volunteers
• in a group with 7-8 confederates
• asked which of 3 lines on a card matched a line on another.
• confederates gave wrong answer on 12/18 trials
  Participants conformed on 36.8%
  -25% never conformed

Question 6

What reasons did asch’s participants give for not conforming?

Answer 6

• distortion of perception: came to see lines same as majority
• distortion of judgement: doubted their own accuracy so yielded to the majority
• distortion of action: most participants were aware of the answer but conformed to avoid disapproval

Question 7

What’s normative social influence?

Answer 7

• explanation for conformity

- people comply to gain approval and avoid disapproval

Question 8

What’s informational social influence?

Answer 8

• explanation for conformity

- the need to have the correct answer