conformity & obedience

Question 1

what is conformity?

Answer 1

the tendency to change our perceptions, opinions or behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms

Question 2

what is social influence

Answer 2

the process whereby attitudes & behavior are influenced by the real or implied presence of others

Question 3

what is obedience

Answer 3

behavior change produced by the direct request of someone

Question 4

what is compliance

Answer 4

changes in behavior that are elicited by a direct request - agree in public, disagree in private

Question 5

conversion

Answer 5

changing your own beliefs to fit group norms - privately agreeing

Question 6

sherif 1937 (auto-kinetic experiment)

Answer 6

• p’s had to judge how far a light dot was moving in a dark room (it didn’t actually move)
• 2 conditions: alone or in a group
• answers differed from each other when p’s were alone, but when they joined a group, answers began to converge
• suggests that others can influence our basic perceptions

Question 7

private vs public conformity

Answer 7

private = the change of beliefs that occurs when a person privately accepts the position taken by others

public = a superficial change in overt behavior without a corresponding change of opinion

Question 8

informational vs normative influence

Answer 8

informational = involves peoples desire to be right - we conform because we want to make good & accurate judgements

normative = revolves around peoples desire to be like or to not appear foolish - we conform because we are afraid of rejection

Question 9

situational factors that effect conformity (4)

Answer 9

1. group size: conformity increases with group size up to a point (3 or 4 people)
2. unanimity: dissent, of any kind, can reduce the normative pressure to conform
3. mood: happier = more likely to conform
4. culture: collectivistic = more likely to conform to group members, not strangers

Question 10

dispositional factors that affect conformity (5)

Answer 10

1. age: increases until adolescence, decreases into adulthood
2. gender: depends on familiarity & type of social situation - women conform more if they think they are being watched, and vice versa
3. intelligence: less intelligent ppl conform more
4. personality traits: more shy, introverted, etc. = more conformity
5. self esteem: low self-esteem = more conformity

Question 11

what factors influence obedience? (5)

Answer 11

1. authoritarian personality: submissive to authority = more likely to obey
2. dehumanization: doesn’t see victim as human = more obedience
3. the authority figure
4. proximity of the victim
5. procedure

Question 12

what is the social impact theory

Answer 12

states that social influence depends on strength, number & immediacy

• strength: ability, status or relationship to target - people more likely to conform with someone they view as competent
• immediacy: proximity in time & space to target - closer the source, the greater its impact
• number: as number of sources increases, so does their impact (to a point)

Question 13

Haun & Tomasello (asch children)

Answer 13

• groups of 4 children, 1 child was the minority (had a different picture book to the others)
• books had 3 pictures of different sized animals on the one page, and one animal on the other which matched
• minority child always went last
• 3 conditions: pointing (private) x2 - at the beginning and end - speak no conflict and speak conflict
• performance was almost perfect on pointing trials
• minority children performed better on speak no conflict than conflict trials = conformed
• 2nd experiment was the same but had 4 conditions: no conflict point, conflict point, no conflict speak, conflict speak
• in conflict trials minority performed sig better when pointing that speaking = conformed when speaking but not pointing
• normative influence bcuz they conformed to manage others evaluation of their public self

Question 14

Dolinski et al (milgram copy)

Answer 14

• very similar to milgram but used females as well & only went up to 10th shock level (ethical issues)
• dominant majority of p’s went up to 10 = obedience
• p’s were 3x more likely to withdraw before 10 if learner was female, regardless of their own gender

Question 15

what is the foot in the door technique?

Answer 15

• a 2 step compliance technique where an influencer sets the stage for the real request by first getting a person to comply with a much smaller request
• could work because of self perception theory - we infer out attitudes by observing our own past behavior

Question 16

asch’s line experiment

Answer 16

• showed p’s 3 diff lines next to one that was the same
• first few trials confederates gave the right answer, then started giving wrong ones
• ps conformed to incorrect answers most of the time

Question 17

minority influence

Answer 17

social pressure exerted by a single person or smaller fraction of a group
influential when:
- consistent
- idiosyncrasy credits: people know u = more influence
- motivation

Question 18

group polarization

Answer 18

phenomenon in which group decisions enhances or amplifies the og opinion of the members

Question 19

group think

Answer 19

when maintaining harmony among group members is more imp than carefully analyzing the problem

Question 20

what are the 6 types of power?

Answer 20

1. reward - based on one’s control over the distribution of rewards
2. coercive - based on one’s ability to punish or threaten others
3. legitimate - authorized power by law
4. referent - based on charisma and group
5. informational - based on potential use of info
6. expert

Question 21

milgram’s og experiment

Answer 21

imp factors: authority figure, proximity of the victim & experimental procedures

65% of p’s obeyed the experimenter on administering the highest level of voltage