Conformity:types and explanations Flashcards
What are the 3 types of conformity
Internalisation
Identification
Compliance
What is Internalisation
- Genuinely accepts group norms
- Change of public and private change of opinions/behaviours
- Change likely to be permanent
- Attitudes have become part of what person thinks
What is Identification
- Individual values group, wants to be part of it
- Public change not private
What is Compliance
- ‘Going along with others’ in public not in private
- Superficial change in opinions/behaviours
- Stops as soon as group pressure ceases
What are the two explanations for conformity
Normative Social Influence
Informational Social influence
What is Normative Social Influence
Desire to behave and fit in
- Norms: regulate the behaviour of groups and individual
- Emotional: people prefer social approval rather than rejection
Likely to occur in unfamiliar situations with unfamiliar people
- Occurs when you don’t know how to behave
- More pronounced in stressful situations because need of social support
What is Informational Social influence
Desire to be right
- Cognitive process - people want to be right
- If lots of people agree, you will agree
Occurs in ambiguous situations
- In situations where it is not clear what is right
- Happens when decisions have to be made quick
Presence of expert
Research Support for ISI
Lucas et al. Maths problems
- More conformity in harder questions and where there was self doubt
- Conformed where answer was unclear
Individual differences of ISI
- Asch found less conformity in students
- Knowledgeable/self confident people conform less and are less influenced like engineer
Research support for NSI
- Asch found that participants were afraid of disapproval and felt self conscious
- When participants wrote down answers conformity rates dropped by 12.5%
Individual Differences for NSI
- Mcghee found that nAffliators were more likely to conforms
- nAffiliators = greater need for social relationships
- Some people have more of a desire to be liked
