conformity - types and explanations

Question 1

what is conformity?

Answer 1

a change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people

Question 2

types of conformity - internalisation

Answer 2

• when a person genuinely accepts the group’s norms
• results in both a private and public change of opinions or behaviour
• change is usually permanent as attitudes have been internalised, change persists even in the absence of other group members

Question 3

types of conformity - identification

Answer 3

• when people conform to opinions and behaviours of a group because they value something about that group
• identification may mean we change our opinions and behaviours to be accepted by the group even if we don’t personally agree with everything

Question 4

types of conformity - compliance

Answer 4

• involves going along with others in public, but privately not changing personal opinions or behaviours
• results in only a superficial change, and opinions and behaviours will stop as soon as group pressure does

Question 5

explanations for conformity - informational social influence (ISI)

Answer 5

• about who has the better information - your or the rest of the group
• we follow behaviour of a group because we want it to be right
• it is a cognitive process and leads to a permanent change in opinion and behaviour
• most likely to happen in new situations, or when there is some ambiguity
• also occurs in crisis situations where decisions have to be made quickly

Question 6

explanations for conformity - normative social influence (NSI)

Answer 6

• about norms, when people regulate the opinions and behaviour of a group or individual so that its not surprising we pay attention to them
• people prefer to gain social approval rather than appear foolish or be rejected
• likely to occur with strangers when you may feel concerned about rejection
• may also appear with friends because we care most about social approval from people we know
• may be more common in stressful situations when there is a greater need for social support

Question 7

research support for NSI

Answer 7

• when Asch interviewed his participants, she said they conformed due to feeling self conscious giving the right answer, they were afraid of disapproval
• when participants wrote their answers down, conformity was only 12.5%, due to there then being no normative group pressure
• shows that at least some conformity is due to desire to not be rejected

Question 8

research support for ISI

Answer 8

• Lucas et al found that participants conformed more often to incorrect answers they were given when maths problems were difficult
• this is because when the problems were easy, the participants ‘knew their own minds’ but when they were hard the situation became ambiguous
• participants didn’t want to be wrong so they relied on the answers that were given

Question 9

individual differences in NSI

Answer 9

• NSI doesn’t predict conformity in every case
• some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others (nAffiliators)
• Paul McGhee and Richard Teevan found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
• NSI underlies conformity for some people more than others, individual differences in conformity that cannot be explained by a general theory of pressures