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conformity and obedience Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three types of conformity?

A
  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalisation
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2
Q

What is compliance? (3)

A

-‘going along with others’ in public, privately not changing opinions (superficial change)
-changed behavior stops when group pressure stops
-NSI

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3
Q

What is identification? (4)

A

-conforming to behaviour of a group because we value the group, identify with it and want to be a part of it
-publicily change our opinions/behaviour to fit in, even if we don;t privately agree with everything group stands for
-NSI

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4
Q

What is internalisation? (4)

A

-when person actually accepts groups norms
-results in private change and public change of opinions and behaviour
-change usually permanent- attitudes have been internalised so even when pressure stops, changed behavior continues
-ISI

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5
Q

What are the two explanations for conformity?

A
  • Informational social influence (ISI)
  • Normative social influence (NSI)
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6
Q

What is informational social influence (ISI)? When does it usually occur? (4)

A

-when we go along with a groups behaviour in order to be accurate
-about the need to be right
-usually happens when what’s right and wrong is ambiguous, decisions have to be made quickly or if group is regarded to be more ‘expert’
-presume others are right

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7
Q

What is normative social influence (NSI)? When does it usually occur? (3)

A

-when we go along with a groups behaviour in order to be liked
-to avoid social rejection we go along with group norms
-usually occurs in unfamiliar situations and with people you know as you are more concerned about social approval from friends rather than strangers

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8
Q

Asch (1951) Conformity research:
Aim

A

Aim: To examine the extent to which social pressure from a majority affects individual conformity

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9
Q

Asch (1951) Conformity research:
Research

A

sch (1951)- pp conformed to wrong answers because they felt self-conscious giving right answer and were afraid of disapproval
Conformity rates fell to 12.5% when pp wrote answers instead- supports NSI as they were conforming to avoid rejection

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10
Q

One issue with Asch’s research as proof of NSI/ISI

A

There’s individual differences:
-Asch (1955) found only 28% of students conformed but other pp conformed 37%
-Sugg people who are knowledgeable/confident are less influenced by the apparent ‘right’ view of group- suggests different people respond differently to ISI

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11
Q

Asch (1951) Research
Findings (3 stats)

A
  • pp avg. rate of conformity on critical trials was 36.8%
    -1/4 never conformed
    -3/4 conformed at least once
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12
Q

How did Asch test the three variables that affect conformity in his 1955 experiment?
(Procedure)

A

Group size: no. of confederates varied between 1-15
Unanimity: Introduced truthful confederate or untruthful dissenter
Task difficulty: made line judging task harder- lines more similar

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13
Q

Asch (1955) Variables affecting conformity
Group size findings:

A

Group size: with 3 confederates, conformity to wrong answer 31.8%
Adding more confederates made little difference

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14
Q

Asch (1955) Variables affecting conformity
Unanimity findings:

A

Unanimity: presence of dissenter reduced conformity (whether the dissenter was right or wrong)
Having dissenter allowed pp to behave more independently

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15
Q

Asch (1955) Variables affecting conformity
Task Difficulty findings:

A

Task Difficulty: conformity increased when task got more difficult.
ISI plays a greater role when task gets harder- situations more ambiguous so look to others for guidance and assume they’re right

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16
Q

Milgram (1963) Original Obedience Study
Procedure: (9 steps)

A

Procedure:
1. Recruited 40 male participants aged between 20-50 years in jobs ranging from unskilled to professional
2. Participants thought they were taking part in a memory study and were paid $4.50 for showing up
3. Participants drew lots for their role, confederate (Mr Wallace) was always the ‘learner’, participant was always the teacher and another confederate was the ‘experimenter’ and wore a lab coat.
5. Participants were told they could leave the study at any time.
6. Learner was strapped in a chair in another room and wired with electrodes.
7. Teacher had to give the learner an increasingly severe electric ‘shock’ each time they made a mistake – teachers not told that the shocks were all fake and learner was an actor.
8. Shocks started at 15 volts and went as high as 450 volts (labelled ‘danger-severe shock’). At 300v learner would pound on the wall, after 315v learner would pond on wall again and give no further response.
9. Teacher used a sequence of four standard prods if the teacher (pp) felt unsure about continuing (e.g ‘you have no other choice you must go on’

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17
Q

Milgram (1963) Original Obedience Study
Findings: (4)

A

Findings:
* No pp stopped below 300v
* Five stopped at 300v
* 65% continued to 450v
* Pp showed signs of tension (sweating, trembling, 3 of them had seizures)

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18
Q

Milgram (1963) Original Obedience Study
Conclusions:

A

Conclusions: It was predicted that no more than 3% would continue to 450v- findings were unexpected. People are much more obedient to authority figures than they thought

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19
Q

3 Situational Variables that explain obedience

A
  • Uniform
  • Proximity
  • Location
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20
Q

How did Milgram test proximity in his variations? How did the obedience rate change? (3)

A
  • ‘Proximity variation’ teacher and learner in same room- dropped from 65% to 40%
  • ‘Touch proximity variation’ teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto shock plate- dropped to 30%
  • ‘Remote-instruction’ experimenter gave instructions via telephone - dropped to 20.5%
21
Q

How did Milgram test location in his variations? How did the obedience rate change? (1)

A
  • Exp. carried out in run-down buliding rather than Yale university- experimenter had less authority
  • dropped to 47.5%
22
Q

How did Milgram test uniform in his variations? How did the obedience rate change? (1)

A

Experiment was called away due to ‘phone call’ and his position was taken over by ‘ordinary member of the public’ (confederate) in normal clothes (not lab coat like experimenter)
- dropped to 20%

23
Q

What’s the agentic state? (explanation for obedience)

A
  • when a person acts as an ‘agent’ for an authority figure
  • feels no personal responsibility or guilt for their actions
  • opposite to an autonomous state
24
Q

Minority influence leads to…

A

…internalisation

25
Q

In order for a minority influence to be successful, what three things do they need to ensure?

A

-Consistency (Synchronic and Diachronic)
-Commitment (Augmentation principle)
-Flexibility

26
Q

Moscovici, The green-blue slides (resistance to social influence)
Procedure: (2)

A

Procedure:
1. 6 people viewed a set of blue-green colored slides, varying in intensity- then said they were blue or green
2. Study had three conditions:
- Conf. always said green
- Conf. inconsistent about the colour of the slides
- Control group- no conf

27
Q

Moscovici, The green-blue slides (resistance to social influence)
Findings: (3 conditions- 3 stats)

A

Findings:
- Consistent minority condition: 32% gave the wrong answer on at least one trial
- Inconsistent minority: agreement fell to 1.25%
- Control: ppt said wrong answer 0.25% of the time

28
Q

What happened in Bickman’s research?

A

Bickman investigated the power of uniform in a field experiment. Bickman used male actors: one dressed as a milkman; one dressed as a security guard. The actors asked members of the public to following one of three instructions: pick up a bag; give someone money for a parking metre; and stand on the other side of a bus stop sign which said ‘no standing’.
On average the guard was obeyed on 76% of occasions, the milkman on 47% - These results all suggest that people are more likely to obey, when instructed by someone wearing a uniform. This is because the uniform infers a sense of legitimate authority and power.

29
Q

what are the main 3 techniques to induce compliance?

A

The door-in-the-face technique
The foot-in-the-door technique
Low-balling

30
Q

what is the ‘door-in-the-face technique’?

A

starting with an extreme request, and then retreating to a more moderate request (original request) which is more likely to be accepted

31
Q

Cialdini 1975 ‘door-in-the-face’ technique research

A
  • First (large) request:
  • Counsel offending teens for 2hrs a week for 2years
  • Most refuse
  • Second (small) request:
  • Just one day trip
  • 50% agree
  • Control group:
  • Just ‘small’ request
  • 17% agree
32
Q

what is the ‘foor-in-the-door-technique’?

A

foot-in-the-door technique = first ask for a very small favour (which will more than likely be granted). Then follow this up with a larger, but related favour (the one they originally had in mind)

33
Q

The foot-in-the-door technique - Freedman and Fraser 1966 research

A

Freedman and Fraser 1966 research – sign in garden research and desires to be consistent

34
Q

What is ‘low balling’?

A

Compliance to an initial attempt – followed by a more costly and less beneficial version of the same request – target feels obliged to agree - used in sales

35
Q

conformity can be either ___ or ___

A

Conformity can be conscious (changing behaviour in response to others) or unconscious (automatic mimicry)

36
Q

Conscious conformity vs unconscious conformity

A

CONSCIOUS: changing behaviour in response to others
UNCONSCIOUS: automatic mimicry

37
Q

2 key pieces of research for conformity:

A

Sheriff Autokinetic effect
Asch research

38
Q

Sheriff Autokinetic effect research (4)

A

1) Asked groups to estimate the amount of movement of a stationary light in a dark room.
2) Group norm rapidly established – similar answers
3) New Ps conformed quicker
4) Internalisation

39
Q

why was the sheriff autokinetic effect research criticised? how was this addressed

A
  • too ambiguous, movement of light isn’t a measurement and this might have influenced responses
  • Asch research
40
Q

explain Moscovici’s dual conversion theory: (2)

A
  • Moscovici’s explanation of how a minority influences a majority
  • Focuses on the cognitive and interpersonal processes that can directly or indirectly impact how the minority influence the majority
41
Q

name two key aspects of Moscovici’s dual conversion theory which influence how a minority influence a majority:

A
  • Conflict is critical factor (individuals motivated to reduce conflict)
  • Self-categorisation theory – categorisation as group member
42
Q

state the 5 key pieces of research into obedience

A
  • Milgram Research
  • Stanford Prison Experiment 1974
  • William Calley – Vietnam War Case
  • Burger 2009 Study – Milgram replication study (70% obedience)
  • Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves & Pierce (1966)
43
Q

Explain what happened in Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves & Pierce’s research into obedience (6)

A

o Staff nurse received call from ‘Dr Smith’ asking nurse to administer 20mg of new drug to patient
o Drug stated maximum dose was 10mg
o 95% of nurses obeyed and were going to administer 20mg dose (stopped by an observer)
o Broke a number of hospital regulations
o But nurses expected to obey instructions from doctors in normal medical practice
o Disobedience would have been difficult for nurses in this situation

44
Q

what are the 4 theories of why we obey?

A
  • Sociocultural perspective
  • Binding factors
  • Responsibility – the agentic shift (Milgram’s Agency Theory)
  • Situational factors
45
Q

theories of obedience: social cultural perspective

A
  • Sociocultural perspective – learn to obey authority and expect to encounter legitimate, trustworthy authority
46
Q

theories of obedience: Binding factors

A

Binding factors – subtle creation of psychological factors to disobedience – gradual increase in punishment levels in Milgram’s research is a means of ‘entrapment’

47
Q

theories of obedience: Responsibility

A

Responsibility – the agentic shift (Milgram’s Agency Theory) - the subordinate in a hierarchical system acts as a ‘puppet’ for an authority figure – may feel guilt but feels powerless to disobey and allocates responsibility for their actions to the authority figure

48
Q

theories of obedience: Situational Factors

A

Situational factors – such as proximity, location and uniform have such strong influences on our behaviour that we are more likely to obey

z-SOCIAL PSYCH (7 decks)

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