Exam 3 (Chapters 8-10) Flashcards
Define Conformity
a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of
other people
Examples or Conformity
-You’re in the hall, waiting to get into your classroom when you hear the fire
alarm ring. You look around at the other people in the hall. They all start hurrying to the exits, so you do the same.
-You plan to study for your upcoming quiz tonight, but your friends text you to
grab dinner and hang out. You don’t want them to be annoyed at you if decline them again, so you decide to join them.
-You’re taking a quiz when you’re stumped on one question. You could cheat
and peak at your notes, but then you think about how disappointed your parents would be if they knew you cheated, so choose not to.
What are the two types of influence?
-Informational social influence
-Normative social influence
Define Informational Social Influence
-relying on other people as a source of information to guide our behavior
(We conform because we believe that others’ interpretation of an ambiguous
situation is more correct than our own and can help us choose an appropriate course of action)
Example of Informational Social Influence
If there is a potential hurricane, we talk to family/friends/others to see
what they plan to do, who is evacuating or not, how they were preparing, etc.
and follow their lead. We also pay attention to the news, meteorologists, and
other experts because we assume they know what they are talking about.
What occurred during Sherif’s experiment?
-Had participants estimate how far a dot of light had moved
-Participants were then placed in a group together and had to state outloud their estimates
-Results:
-Over several trials of voicing their estimates, their estimates converged to a
common estimate
What was the conclusion on Sherif’s experiment?
People used each other as a source of information bc they thought others would know more than them
Define Private acceptance
conforming to other people’s behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or saying is right
When will people conform?
- When the situation is ambiguous
- When the situation is a crisis
- When there are experts present
What happens when the situation is ambiguous?
When you don’t know what’s going on, it’s natural to look to others for some
guidance
example of when a situation is ambiguous
Take the hurricane example again. We don’t know how dangerous it
will be, where exactly it will make landfall, whether or not we’ll lose
power, etc. Because of all these uncertainties, we tend to seek
information from others to help us decide how to act.
What bout when their is an expert present?
The more expertise or knowledge a person has, the more valuable we
see them as a source of information
Example of when their is an expert present?
When there is a risk of a hurricane, many of us watch/read the news
and listen to meteorologists and emergency response teams. Because
we see them as experts, we assume they know what they are talking
about, and we’re more likely to follow their guidance.
Define social norms
the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors,
values, and beliefs of its members
Define Normative social Influence
-going along with what other people so in order to be liked and
accepted by them
What is an example of Normative social influence?
You don’t want to go to a party, but you do it anyway because you don’t want your friends to be mad at you.
( We publicly conform with the group’s beliefs and behaviors but do not always privately accept them)
Normative social influence results in ______
Public Compliance
Define Public Complance
-conforming to other people’s behavior publicly without necessarily
believing in what they are doing or saying (You don’t necessarily agree with the behavior but you do it anyway)
What occurred in Asch’s line-judgement?
-Put the participant into a
group of 8 (1 participant; 7
confederates)
-Presented the group with a
line and asked them to match
that line to one of three
choices
-There was clearly a correct
answer
- All confederates gave the wrong answer and then the participant would
have to give his choice last
What were the results on Asch’s line-judgement?
◦Many people conformed
even though the group’s answer was clearly wrong
◦76% of the participants
conformed on at least one trial
◦On average, people
conformed on about 1/3 of the time
Why did poeple conform during Asch’s line study?
people conformed because of normative social influence
◦The fear of being the lone dissenter was so strong that people conformed, at
least some of the time ◦People knew they were giving the wrong answer but did it anyway to not go
against the group
What happened in Asch’s line variation study?
-In this study, confederates gave the wrong answer, same as in the
original study
-However, in this variation, Asch had the participant write his answer on
the piece of paper instead of saying it out loud
◦The participant did not have to worry about what the other group members thought of him because they would never find out what his answers were
Results:
◦Conformity dropped considerably
◦Ps conformed only 1.5 times of the 12 trials
Social Impact Theory
conforming to social influence depends on the group’s:
◦Importance
◦Immediacy
◦Number of member
Social Impact Theory (strength/importance)
how important the group is to you
◦The stronger the group (or the more important the group is to you) the
more likely you’ll conform to normative pressures
Example of a strong social impact theory
It makes sense that you’d probably feel more pressure to conform if it’s your family or close
friends (very strong) than a classmate that you don’t know very well (not strong)
Define Idiosyncrasy credits
the tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms; if enough
idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, deviate from the group without retribution
example of idiosyncrasy
You don’t really like going to the movies. However, your best friends love it, so you usually go with them when they ask you to a movie. Let’s say they want to watch a movie this weekend, and you really don’t want to. So you decline to go and ask if y’all can do something else. Because they know you’re not into movies but go anyway for them, they’re not mad at you this time for going against them.
Social Impact theory (Immediacy)
◦How close the group is physically during the attempt to influence you
◦The more physically close the group, the more likely you’ll conform
Example of immediacy in social impact theory\
◦How close the group is physically during the attempt to influence you
◦The more physically close the group the more likely you’ll conform
Social Impact theory (number)
How many people are in the
group ◦The more people in the
group the more likely
you’ll conform
◦BUT only up to a certain point
◦Optimal group sizes for conformity
is between 3 -5 ◦After 5 people, adding anymore to
the group will not increase the
likelihood of conformity
◦It does not take a large group
to make you conform
When else will people conform?
-When there are no allies in the group
-When the group’s culture is collectivistic
Define injunctive norms
-people’s perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by
others
-What are people supposed to do
Example of injunctive norms
people are supposed to slow down at a yellow light; people are supposed to
recycle
Define descriptive norms
-people’s perceptions of how people actually behave in given situation,
regardless of whether the behavior is approved or disapproved of by others ◦What people actually do
Example of descriptive norms
most speed up when they see a yellow light; people throw away a lot of
recyclable items
Reno, Cialdini, & Kallgren (1993) study
Three conditions
◦Descriptive norm condition
◦ Confederate walked by the P and dropped an empty fast-food restaurant bag on the ground ◦ By littering, the confederate was subtly communicating that “this is what people do in this situation”
◦Injunctive norm condition
◦ Confederate picked up a littered bag from the ground before passing the P
◦ By picking up someone else’s litter, the confederate was subtly communicating that “littering is wrong” ◦Control condition
◦ Confederate walked by the P and didn’t do anything
In addition, they conducted this study in one of two environments
◦The parking lot was heavily littered
◦ Communicated that “littering is what most people do here”
◦The area was clean and unlittered
◦ Communicated “littering is not what people do here”
Reno, Cialdini, & Kallgren (1993) study - Results
Control condition
◦Almost 40% of the participants
threw the flyer on the ground, regardless if the area was littered or clean
Descriptive norm condition
◦Littering was reduced more in the
clean area (11% of participants littered) than in the littered area (30% littered)
Injunctive norm condition
◦Lowest amount of littering
compared to all other conditions ◦About 7% littered in the clean and
4% in the littered area
Define obedience
a change in one’s behavior due to the direct influence of an authority figure
Example of obedience
Listening to your parents, following a teacher’s instructions, completing the work your boss tells you to do
Consequences of obedience
◦People will obey an authority figure to hurt or even kill other human beings
◦Ex: My Lai massacre, Holocaust, genocide
Milgram’s (1963) study:
A participant and confederate were told that the study was investigating
the effects of punishment on learning
accomplice to the researcher.
◦Participant is always the “teacher” ◦Confederate always the “learner”
◦Remember, a confederate is someone who is “in” on the study. They’re an ◦Milgram, as the experimenter, is perceived as the authority figure
