conformity: types = explanations

Question 1

what does internalisation result in?

Answer 1

both a public and private change of opinions/behaviour

Question 2

is change likely to be permanent or temporary? (internalisation)

Answer 2

permanent

Question 3

true or false?
change in behaviour for internalisation persists even in the absence of group

Answer 3

true

Question 4

what is identification?

Answer 4

conforming to the group because there is something about it that we value

Question 5

how do opinions change during identification?

Answer 5

publicly change opinions, even if we don’t privately agree with everything the group stands for

Question 6

what is compliance?

Answer 6

going along with others in public, but privately not changing personal opinions

Question 7

when does a particular behaviour/opinion stop during compliance?

Answer 7

when the group pressure stops

Question 8

what type of process is normative social influence (NSI)?

Answer 8

emotional process

Question 9

why do people conform, according to NSI?

Answer 9

people don’t like to appear foolish and prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected

Question 10

when may NSI be more pronounced?

Answer 10

in stressful situations where people have a greater need for social support

Question 11

what type of process is informational social influence (ISI)?

Answer 11

cognitive process

Question 12

why do individuals follow the majority, according to ISI?

Answer 12

they want to be right

Question 13

when is ISI most likely to occur?

Answer 13

new situations
ambiguous situations
crisis situations (e.g. when decisions have to be made quickly)

Question 14

name a strength of NSI

Answer 14

research support (Asch)

Question 15

name a weakness of NSI

Answer 15

individual differences (nAffiliators)

Question 16

name a strength of ISI

Answer 16

research support (Lucas et. al)

Question 17

name a weakness of both processes

Answer 17

hard to distinguish between NSI + ISI

Question 18

how does Asch’s research support NSI?

Answer 18

when he interviewed his participants, some said they conformed because they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer + were afraid of disapproval

Question 19

what % did conformity fall to when Asch’s participants wrote their answers down?

Answer 19

12.5%

Question 20

why is ‘individual differences’ a weakness for NSI?

Answer 20

desire to be liked (and therefore conform) differs for some people more than others
people who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI
whereas other people (e.g. nAffiliators) are more likely to be influenced by NSI

Question 21

what is an nAffiliator?

Answer 21

people who have a greater need for affiliation + relationships

Question 22

what did McGhee + Teevan find out?

Answer 22

students in need of affiliation were more likely to conform

Question 23

how does Lucas’s research support ISI?

Answer 23

when participants completed maths problems, they conformed more often to incorrect answers when the questions were difficult (they didn’t want to be wrong)

Question 24

why did the participants rely on other people’s answers in Lucas’s study?

Answer 24

they didn’t want to be wrong

Question 25

why isn’t it always possible to know whether NSI or ISI is at work?

Answer 25

often both processes are involved at the same time

Question 26

how does Asch’s study prove that NSI + ISI are conflicting processes?

Answer 26

participants may have conformed to gain social approval + not be embarrassed (NSI) or because they thought the other participants were right (ISI)
a dissenting participant may reduce power of NSI (because they provide social support) or may reduce power of ISI (because there is an alternative source of information)