Conformity and Obedience

Question 1

Compliance

Answer 1

individual accepts influence in hope of achieving a favourable reaction from another person/group.

• conforming to the majority (publicly) despite not really agreeing with them (privately)
• SEEN IN ASCH’S STUDY

Question 2

Internalization

Answer 2

individual accepts influence because the content of the induced behaviour (the ideas and actions of which is composed) is essentially rewarding.

• involves public and private conformity.
• person publicly changes their behaviour to fit in the group, while also agreeing with them privately

Question 3

Identification

Answer 3

individual accepts influence because the individual wants to establish or maintain a satisfying self-defining relationship to another person/group.
- individuals conform to the expectations of a social role e.g. nurse, police officer

Question 4

Normative social influence

Answer 4

• motivated by a desire to be accepted
• power of a social group to reward or punish
• conflict between self and group opinion/behaviour

Question 5

Informational social influence

Answer 5

• motivated by the desire to be correct/right
• need for certainty
• private beliefs are likely to change
• internalisation

Question 6

Asch’s 1951 Study

Answer 6

A: see if participants would conform to majority by giving incorrect answers even when the correct answers were obvious

M: laboratory experiment

P: 50 American males took part in what they believed as a visual perception study. placed in groups of approx 7-9 others. only one person in the group was a participant, the rest were confederates.

R: around 1/3 participants conformed to the majority. over 12 trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once, 25% never conformed. in control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer.

C: most participants did not believe their conforming answers but went along with the group to avoid being ridiculed or feeling embarrassed, suggests they conformed to be accepted (normative social influence)

Question 7

Asch’s study - strengths

Answer 7

• control group - increases the likelihood that the participants were yeilding to the group pressure, THEREFORE, increases the validity of the results and means the participants were conforming due to normative social influence.
• supporting research - Crutchfield (1955) attempted replicate Asch’s study, there was consistent results which makes Asch’s study more reliable.

Question 8

Asch’s study - weaknesses

Answer 8

• outdated
• 1950s America, conforming was a social norm
• unlikely people would want to ‘stand out’
• findings = era specific

Question 9

Mori and Arai’s (2010) study

Answer 9

A: replicate Asch’s study without the need for confederates and including both males and females.

M: laboratory experiment.

P: 104 Japanese students split into groups of 4. participants stated their answers aloud, the minority participant going 3rd. they wore specifically filtered glasses that allowed them to look at the same image and see different things. there was no confederates but one participant perceived a different correct answer.

R: conformity rates for females were similar to those found in Asch’s original study.

C: females in Japan are more likely to conform than males and having an ally made no difference.

Question 10

Mori and Arai - strengths

Answer 10

• participants knew each other, unlike Asch’s study
• used both males and females
• laboratory experiment - results are more valid

Question 11

Mori and Arai - weaknesses

Answer 11

• findings relate only to Japan
• participants were aware of conformity studies
• background visual ‘noise’ = increased difficulty

Question 12

Individual factors

GENDER

Answer 12

• many studies found gender differences in conformity, generally showing that women conform more than men.
• woman may conform more because they tend to take on a communal role while men are more comfortable maintaining independence.

Question 13

Individual factors

AGE

Answer 13

• ages 10-14 most likely to conform

Question 14

Individual factors

SELF ESTEEM

Answer 14

• research shows those with low self-esteem are more likely to conform than those with a high self-esteem
• those with higher self-esteem have more confidence in their own judgements and have less fear of rejection or being ridiculed.

Question 15

Situational factors

SIZE OF GROUP

Answer 15

• with 1 confederate, there was almost no conformity
• with 2 confederates, conformity rate was 12.8%
• with 3 confederates, rose to 33.3%

the presence of an ally meant the majority is no longer unanimous causing conformity rates to drop.

Question 16

Situational factors

SOCIAL SUPPORT

Answer 16

• Asch shows that a non-unanimous majority decreases conformity hugely.

Question 17

Cultural factors

INDIVIDUALISTIC

Answer 17

• personal success is important
• individual rights
• value assertiveness, independence and self reliance

Question 18

Cultural factors

COLLECTIVIST

Answer 18

• society success is important
• traditions (social responsibility)
• value conformity as a sign of respect

Question 19

Milgram’s study (1963)

Answer 19

A: investigate how far people would go in obeying an instruction from an authority figure, even if it involved harming another person.

M & P: laboratory experiment. participants were 40 males. aged between 20 and 50, from the New Haven area. they were volunteers who responded to a newspaper advert, they were paid $4.50. Participants were deceived of the true aim of the study and were told it was to investigate the impact of punishment on learning. they were told they were randomly allocated as teacher or learner, however the learner was actually a confederate, and the shocks were fake, true participant unaware. shocks increased at 15 volt increments, up to maximum 450 volts.

R: 100% continued to give electric shocks to 300 volts, 65% continued to the end to 450 volts. the procedure put the participants under great pressure. many participants showed signs of extreme distress such as sweating. trembling, biting their lip. some even protested and wanted to stop.

C: Milgram concluded that under the right circumstances ordinary people will obey unjust orders. he explained those who administered such high shocks were in an agentic state.

Question 20

Milgram - strengths

Answer 20

• methodology used, laboratory experiment = high levels of control. allowed the study to be replicated to check for reliability. cause and effect could be established, people obeyed due to presence of authority figure.
• research evidence - SLATER ET AL (2006) replicated Milgram’s experiment, more ethical way used an avatar as the learner. 74% of people obeyed until 450 volts, supports that people will obey an authority figure.

Question 21

Milgram - weaknesses

Answer 21

• lacks ecological validity bc participants may have known they were not actually shocking someone. cannot be sure that the study was actually measuring obedience to authority, and even if it was, cannot generalise the findings to real life situations
• ethical issues, participants were decanted and had no protection from psychological harm, 3 participants suffered from seizures. participants should not be negatively affected during research and it also makes difficult to replicate to check for reliability HOWEVER, 84% SAID THEY WERE GLAD TO BE INVOLVED, 74% LEARNED SOMETHING OF PERSONAL IMPORTANCE, YEAR LATER PSYCHIATRIST FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF EMOTIONAL HARM.

Question 22

Agentic state

Answer 22

• handing over the responsibility to someone else

- participants feels that they are ‘not responsible

Question 23

Autonomous state

Answer 23

• personally responsible for their own actions and their behaviour
• aware of the consequences of their behaviour

Question 24

Situational factors

PROXIMITY

Answer 24

in milligram’s study the teacher and learner were in separate rooms. milgram conducted a variation where the teacher and learner were in the same room, dropped from 65% to 45%

• another variation, teacher forced learner’s hand directly onto the shock plate, dropped to 30%.
• the closer the proximity of the teacher and learner, the lower the level of obedience.
• experiment gave instructions over the phone, 21% administered 450 volts.

Question 25

Situational factors

LOCATION

Answer 25

• milgrams study - Yale university.
• also conducted a variation in run down building in Connecticut, dropped from 65% to 47.5% - highlights the impact of location of obedience, with less credible locations resulting in a reduction in the level of obedience.

Question 26

Situational factors

UNIFORM

Answer 26

• experimenter wore lab coat and was replaced by someone in ordinary clothes, dropped from 65% to 20%, dramatic power of uniform.
• Bickman (1974) used three actors in New York, dressed as milkman, security guard, ordinary clothes and asked the public to follow instructions. guard = 76%, milkman= 47%, ordinary clothes = 30%.

Question 27

Socialisation

Answer 27

• occurs from birth and continues throughout our lives
• teaches us the ‘rules of life’ in a formal and informal manner, correct behaviour for every situation.
• authoritarian parenting - internalise the need to obey. binding factors keep us in an agent state, we fear disruption to social situation and do not question authority.

Question 28

Authoritarian parenting

Answer 28

• parents have high expectations and strict rules they expect to be followed.
• use punishment rather than discipline, not able/willing to explain reasoning behind their rules.
• focused on adherence to authority rather than valuing self control
• children raised by them are typically good at following rules
• too punitive and lacks warmth, love and nurturance children need.