Conformity Flashcards
Define ‘conformity’
Changing one’s behaviour or beliefs to accord with others
Pressure can be explicit or implicit or….
real or imagined
Advantages of conforming for the individual
Simplifies the world. Decisions are already made for us by designated norms. For example, we don’t need to decide whether to wear clothes to class, or whether to call someone during a meeting or after.
Advantages of conforming for society
Some level of conformity is essential. Ex; driving rules
Two main types of influences
Normative and informational
Normative influence
Produces conformity because a person fears the negative consequences of deviating from others. The goal is to be accepted.
Informational influence
Produces conformity because a person believes that others are correct in their judgements. The goal is to be right.
Two types of conformity
Private and public
Private conformity
Change in beliefs is real and occurs when a person privately accepts the position taken by others
Public conformity
Superficial change in overt behaviour without a corresponding change in beliefs, produced by real of imagined group pressure
Sheirf’s study
_________ influence and ________ acceptance
informational, private
Asch’s study
__________ influence and ________ conformity
normative, public
8 factors that affect whether people conform
- Group size
- Group unanimity
- Cohesion
- Expertise and status
- Culture
- Gender
- Task ambiguity
- Anonymity
- Group size
As group size increases, conformity increases. Once 4 or 5 people say or do something it seems to others like that is the right or acceptable thing to do
- Group unanimity
If someone isn’t conforming to the group, people feel less pressure to comply. All it takes is one person to do something different to reduce pressure to conform
- Cohesion
The more cohesive a group, the more it seems really important to be in it, the greater demand for conformity
- Expertise and status
We are more likely to conform when we believe that the group members are experts
We overextend this sometimes and conform to experts even when their area of expertise is irrelevant to the judgement being made
- Culture
Conformity is higher in interdependent cultures because fitting in with others is a core value
- Gender
Women conform more than men but the difference is very small.
- Task ambiguity
When the task is unclear - informational influence
When the task is clear - normative influence
- Anonymity
More likely to conform when other people view our behaviour
Obedience
Changes in behaviour produced by the commands of an authority.
What did Milgram’s studies focus on?
Obedience to authority
Factors that led people to administer shocks in Milgram’s study
- Novel (unusual) situation
- Perceived authority figure
- Escalation of shocks (implicate consistency, implicate dissonance)
- Questions of responsibility (experimenter was responsible, external justification)
In recent replications of Milgram’s study, what percentage of people administered greater than 150 volts?
70%
The more ______ a group is, the greater demand for conformity
cohesive
We are more likely to conform when we believe that the group members are ______
experts
When responses are anonymous, what type of influence would be relevant?
informational
