explanations and types of conformity Flashcards
what is social influence
the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour in social situations
human behaviour of influences by other people and the social context in which this occurs
what is conformity
a change in beliefs or behaviour in order to be in line with a group
what does the dual process model identify
two reasons or explanations of conformity
(NSI,ISI)
what is informational social influence
conforming to be right
- unsure about something we may seek the opinion of others if they have more knowledge
- majority is likely to be right
- more common in unfamiliar situations
- leads to pernamant change in opinion
what are the two explanations of conformity
informational social influence
normative social influence
what is normative social influence
conforming to be liked
- dont want to be left out
- motivated to be liked, accepted and respected by the groups
- change is temporary and reliant on the pressure of the group (public but not private)
what are the types of conformity
compliance
identification
internalisation
what is compliance
individuals go along with the group to gain approval
doesnt result in change in underlying attitude only expressed in public
what is the explanation for compliance
NSI
what is identification
has elements of both compliance and internalisation
individual accepts the attitudes and behaviour they are adopting as true to fit in
they are conforming to a role
what is internalisation
individuals go along with a group because of an acceptance of their views
aceptance both publically and privitaley
true conformiting
what is the explanation for internalisation
ISI
what type of conformity has the shallow level of processing
compliance
what type of conformity has the deeper level of processing
internalisation
what was aschs aim
explore whether people conform to a group even when they know they are wrong
advancing knowledge by discovering information about power of the majority
what procedure did asch use
123 males used for a task involving which line were the same length to the target line
everyone but the pp was a confederate
the real pp was positioned either last or second to last in each experiement
two trials took place a nuetral trial and critical trial
there was 12 critical and 6 neutral trials
what was aschs findings
33% was the conformity rate meaning that pps agreed with the confederates 1/3 of the time
individual differences were:
one quarter didnt conform on any trial
1/2 coformed on 6 or more trials
1 in 20 coformed on all 12 critical trials
pps made mistake on 1% of the trials
after interview pps said that privately they trust their own judgement and perception but chnged their view publically
what was aschs conclusion
becuase answers where obvious shows the impact of the majority
but the majority doesnt always have the same impact on every individual (NSI)
what is a neutral trial
confederates answered correctly
what is a critical trial
confederates deliberatly gave the same incorret answer
what were the variations of ashcs study
task difficulty
group size
breaking unanimity
how was task difficulty measured
the difficulty of the task is increased the lines were made to look more similar
what were the task difficulty findings
more similar the length/ increase task difficulty conformity increased as it was harder to judge the correct answer
how was group size measured
the group of people was increased
what were the group size findings
little conformity when there was 1-2 people but under pressure of majority conformity increased to 30%
further increase didnt increase levels of coformity because pp thinks its unusual
size of majority is important but only up to optimum point
how was breaking unanimity measured
one confederate was instructed to give either correct or a different incorrect answer
what were the breaking unanimity findings
conformity dropped from 33% to 5%
explains that the pp was no longer standing alone against the group
once unanimty was broken the group lost power and it was easier not to conform
what is the Stanford prison experiment procedure
24 males uni students randomly assigned the role of guard or prisoner
prisoners were arrested at home and stripped of clothers
guards had sunglasses and uniform
guards told to keep order but given no specific rules (no physical harm)
what was the standord prison experiemnt aim
investigate how readilty people conform to a role of guard or prisoner in role playing exercise
what were teh standford prison experiemnt results
within hours some guards harassed prisoners
behaved in a brutal and sadistic manner
one prisoner had to be released after uncontrollable screaming of anger
others had to leave after showing emotional disorder signs that may have long lasting affects
had to shut after 3 days (someone can in and said how bad it was)
what were the strengths of zimbardos study
real life environement
controlled observation
randomised
what were the weakness of zimbardos study
cultral bias / gender
participant variables
lab study
lacks population validity
cant generalise
demand characteritics not conformity
what were the ethic strengths of zimbardos study
checked they were emotionally stable before
debrief
cost benefit analysis
consent
didnt know how thigs would play out
was approved
ended when saw it was bad
no deception
what were the ethics weakness of zimbardos study
right to withdraw wasnt made easy
protection from harm
he didnt protect pps (too involved)
