Dual Process Model Flashcards
1
Q
What is normative social influence?
A
- People conforming because they desire to be liked by other group members and to avoid rejection
- Based on the need for acceptance and approval from the group
- It is associated with compliance because within NSI the conformity only occurs when the individual is with the group and stops without group pressure
- e.g. listening to a certain type of music with friends as being a part of the group is desirable and you don’t want to be rejected but not listening to it away from the group
2
Q
What is informational social influence?
A
- Is based on the desire to be right and occurs when we turn to others we believe to be correct in attempt to gain information on how to think/act
- This type of conformity is common when people are uncertain about their opinions/how to behave
- It is associated with internalisation as the individual continues to conform to the group’s behaviour even without group pressure as they believe it is correct
- e.g. someone copying another student’s test answers when they don’t know the answer
3
Q
How does Lucas et al support ISI?
A
- A strength of ISI as an explanation of conformity is that it has supporting evidence
- Lucas et al asked students to give answers to math problems that ranged from easy to difficult. Confederates purposefully gave wrong answers every time
- Found that students were more likely to give the wrong answer (and conform to the majority) when questions were difficult rather than easy. This was especially true for students who rated their maths ability as poor
- This is a strength because as predicted by ISI, PPs conformed by looking to others for answers because they had a ‘desire to be right’ and that this happens in ambiguous situations when they didn’t know the answers themselves
- As this supports the idea of ISI, this validates DSM
4
Q
What is a strength of NSI?
A
- A strength of NSI as an explanation of conformity is that it has supporting evidence
- Using a line judgement task, Asch found that on 12 critical trials there was a 37% conformity rate to wrong answers made by the majority
- Participants conformed to the wrong answers even when the correct answer was obvious
- This is a strength because it shows that PPs conformed because of the desire to be liked by the group, be part of the majority, and avoid rejection. Since the answer was obvious it is more likely that the reason was conforming was NSI rather than ISI
- Thus this supports the idea of NSI which increases the validity of DPM
5
Q
How is individual differences a weakness of DPM?
A
- A limitation of DPM is that it fails to account for individual differences and locus of control in conformity
- Some individuals care more about being accepted by others and are more likely to be influenced by the majority and conform to be liked compared to those who care less about being liked
- Shute found that people with a external locus of control are more likely to conform as they believe that the cause of behaviour is external and beyond their control
- This is a weakness because the DPM believes all humans react to conformity in the same 2 ways (ISI or NSI) when personality related factors are key in determining the chance of conforming - these are factors that vary between individuals
- Thus, as the DPM doesn’t account for individual differences it is an incomplete explanation aand reduces in validity
6
Q
How are social circumstances a weakness of the DPM?
A
- Another weakness is that there are alternative explanations
- Deutsch & Gerard found a 7x greater conformity rate when other group members belonged to the individual’s in-groups (where the participant identifies and shares interests with them) rather than an out-group
- Thus, belonging to a certain group can influence conformity more than ISI and NSI
- This is a weakness because it suggests that the DPM is an incomplete explanation of conformty as it doesn’t account for the role of social circumstances
- Thus the DPM decreases in validity
