Conformity VCE ~ 14/10/23 Flashcards
How are people influenced by the presence of others?
Their behaviours, feelings and thoughts change
What are the 4 types of influences?
- Real
- Imagined
- Intentional
- Unintentional
What is an aggregation?
A collection of people in one location with no obvious social status or organisation that lack interdependence and barely have any direct interaction
What is a social group?
Any collection of two or more people that share a common purpose and interact whilst influencing one another
What is culture?
The way of life of a particular society or community which sets it apart from other societies and/or communities
How is culture passed down?
Generation to generation
What is culture the basis for?
Everyday behaviours and practices
What are some examples of culture?
- Music
- Traditions
- Beliefs
- Food
- Attitudes
- Language
- Art
- Customs
- Values
Norms
What can culture refer to?
Social groups within a community or perhaps places in which we interact
How does culture influence conformity?
Encouraging us to adjust our thoughts, feelings and behaviour in order to fit expected standards and be consistent to a group
Who conducted the experiment on conformity?
Asch
According to Asch’s experiment, where did low levels of conformity occur?
In individualist cultures
According to Asch’s experiment, where did high levels of conformity occur?
In collectivist cultures
What is social loafing?
Tendency of an individual to make less effort when involved in a group activity
When was social loafing first systematically studied and observed?
In a tug-of-war experiment involving 2 teams of 8 people
What were the results of the tug-of-war experiment?
Collective effort exerted by each team did not match the total of the individual efforts
What do social loafers do?
Conform to their group by applying less effort and agreeing to their group’s decisions
What do social loafers believe?
Their conforming will not make a difference in the group’s decisions
Who discovered social loafing?
Two American psychologists named Steven Karu and Kipling Williams
When was the social loafing experiment conducted?
1993
What did Karu and Williams do?
Analysed the results of 78 research studies
What did Karu and Williams discover?
Social loafing is less likely to influence conformity when:
- The group is small
- All group members place maximum effort
- The task is important, challenging or appealing to those performing it
What factors influence conformity?
- Group size
- Unanimity
- Informational influence
- Normative influence
- Culture
- Social loafing
- Group think
- Deindividuation
How did Asch use group size in his experiment?
- Asch varied group size in his experiments
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 or 15 confederates
What did Asch’s results indicate about unanimity?
- Difficult to be a minority of one
- Difficult to stand against a group (regardless of when everyone is wrong and your right)
- Only takes one person to disagree to significantly affect conformity
When does informational influence occur?
When conformity results from a need for direction + information on how to respond in a specific situation
What does informational influence do?
Leads people to accept other people’s view when they are uncertain
When is informational influence more likely to lead to conformity?
- Participants feel incompetent due to a difficult task
- Participants are concerned about being right
When does normative influence occur?
- When conformity results from a need to be liked and accepted
- When our response in a group situation is guided by one or more social norms
When was the group polarisation research study conducted?
1960s
Who conducted the group polarisation experiment?
Brehm and Kassin
What does group discussion do?
Leads individuals to strengthen their original views
What happens to individuals after group discussions?
They are more likely to end up with more extreme positions
What does talking it over intensify?
Pre-existing attitudes, beliefs and opinions
What is anti-conformity?
Deliberate refusal to comply with accepted standards in society
What expressions is anti-conformity often accompanied by?
- Ideas
- Beliefs
- Judgements that challenge those standards
What are anti-conforming people more likely to be motivated by?
Rebelliousness or stubborness
What is independence?
Freedom from the influence or control of other individuals or groups
What happens when social pressure to conform becomes so strong?
It threatens independence which causes rebelliousness
What are the positive influences of television?
- Develops learning skills
- Expands knowledge + understanding of other languages
What are the negative influences of television?
- Leads to a lack of sleep
- Damages eye sight
What are the positive influences of video games?
- Develops problem solving skills
- Improves decision making
What are the negative influences of video games?
- Encourages violence + inappropriate language
- Causes detachment from reality
What are the positive influences of social media?
- Build relationships
- Helps find your voice
What are the negative influences of social media?
- Exposes people to bullying, rumours, discrimination, peer pressure, sexualising etc
- Mentally and emotionally draining
What are the positive influences of advertising?
- Helps in market penetration
- Encourages companies to compete in order to make new + better products