Conformity, Compliance and Obedience

Question 1

What is social influence and how can it help us to understand norms?

Answer 1

Process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or perceived presence of people. This allows us to understand why people conform to norms.

Question 2

What is compliance?

Answer 2

Changes in behaviour elicited by direct requests. The basis of which is usually power. If someone has power, you usually don’t have to resort to request strategies.

Question 3

What are some strategies for compliance?

Answer 3

Ingratiation (individual attempts to influence someone by becoming more likeable to their target)

Norm of reciprocity

Sequential events
(If you initially say yes, more likely to say yes to other requests)

Question 4

Sequential request strategy; Foot in the door

Answer 4

Begin with small request, secure agreement, then make a separate larger request.

Question 5

Sequential request strategy; Lowballing

Answer 5

Secure agreement with a request and then increase the size of the request by revealing hidden costs.

Question 6

Sequential request strategy; Door in the face

Answer 6

Begin with large requests that will be rejected, then follow that up with a more modest request.

Question 7

Sequential request strategy; That’s not all

Answer 7

Begin with an inflated request, immediately decrease the apparent size of that request by offering a discount or bonus.

Question 8

What is obedience?

Answer 8

behaviour change produced by the demands of authority.

Question 9

What was Milgrams (1963, 1974) study?

Answer 9

To understand blind conformity after WWII. Questioning, would participants obey instructions in spite of causing harm to others?

Participants were asked to administer ‘shocks’ to confederates when they answered incorrectly on a test. The results were alarming, as most people’s intuition and emotions were undermined by the authority of a scientist asking them to continue.

Question 10

What did the results of the Milgram study do for the field of psychology?

Answer 10

The results showed that scientists grossly underestimated the shocks people would administer to confederates as a majority of people obeyed the requests of the scientist.

This made psychologists review ethics involved in experimental participation; particularly, right to withdraw, distress and deception

Question 11

What are some factors that influence obedience?

Answer 11

Commitment to the course of action.

Immediacy:
of the victim, lower obedience
of the authority figure, higher obedience

Group pressure (influenced by others' responses) 
The legitimacy of authority figures.

Question 12

What is conformity?

Answer 12

It is the changing of our perceptions, opinions, or behaviours to be consistent with group norms.

Question 13

What is the theoretical basis of Sherif’s experiment?

Answer 13

Based on Allport’s convergence effect, where people give more conservative estimates in groups than when alone. Reason? it is a complex social world with a lot of ambiguous stimuli, so we look to others to guide the view of reality.

Question 14

What was Sherif’s method?

Answer 14

The auto kinetic experiment, where all the lights in a room were turned off and participants had to judge how far a dotted light was moving from a target. However, the dot never moved. Wondered, will people converge on a group norm?

Question 15

What were the results of Sherif’s study?

Answer 15

People converged on the mean estimate of the group, this norm estimate persisted, by being internalised by individuals when estimating alone.

Question 16

How did Asch extend Sherif’s study?

Answer 16

It was understanding how people conform to group norms when the stimuli is not ambiguous. When they clearly know the stimuli is wrong, will they conform?

Question 17

What was Asch’s method?

Answer 17

8 participants, 7 confederate 1 not. People were asked to compared the size of 3 lines to another hero line. Confederates deliberately said the incorrect answer a third of the time, seeing what the real participant would do.

Question 18

What were the results of Asch’s study?

Answer 18

Participants stood by there answer 25% of the time.
60% of participants conformed to the wrong majority out of 6 trials.
Average conformity rate was 33%.

Question 19

Why did people conform to an obviously wrong response?

Answer 19

Own perceptions were inaccurate
Fear of censure/ social disapproval
Saw the lines as the majority did.

Question 20

What is the difference between Sherif’s and Asch’s study?

Answer 20

Sherif is studying informational influence where the depth of conformity is private acceptance.

Asch is studying normative influence where the depth of conformity is public.

Question 21

What are some factors that influence conformity?

Answer 21

The privacy of responses reduces conformity.

Cultural differences: Independent > collectivist cultures

Gender: female < males

Group size: 3-5 is the best amount.

Question 22

How does unanimity of responses reduce conformity?

Answer 22

It reduces conformity in groups depending on the competency of a person. If a person in the study goes against the group, it allows for opened explanations to the phenomena.

Question 23

What are the two modes of influence that underly the social processes of conformity?

Answer 23

The informational and normative influence.

Informational is a reality check, especially for ambiguous stimuli.

For normative, to gain social approval, where there must be a surveillance by the group.