Explanations For Conformity

Question 1

What did Deutsch & Gerard do (1955)

Answer 1

Developed a theory to explain why people conform
-> they proposed that there were only two reasons why people conformed

1. ISI (the desire to be right)
2. NSI (the desire to be accepted)

Question 2

What is normative social influence

Answer 2

That people have a fundamental need for social approval and acceptance.
-> We avoid any behaviour that will make others reject or ridicule us.
-> This can lead us to copy the behaviour of others in order to ‘fit in’.

Studies have shown that people like those who are similar to them and so conformity can be an effective strategy to ensure we fit in with a group.

Question 3

What type of conformity is NSI likely to lead to

Answer 3

Compliance

Question 4

What is Informational Social Influence

Answer 4

That people have a fundamental need to be right & have an accurate perception of reality

-> Individuals may make objective tests against reality (e.g. check the facts) but if this is not possible they will rely on the opinions of others to check if they are correct and then use this as evidence about reality.

Question 5

What type of conformity is ISI likely to lead to

Answer 5

Internalisation

Question 6

What factors make ISI more likely to happen

Answer 6

• if the situation is ambiguous (the correct answer is not clear)
• when others are experts

Question 7

AO3 P1(+ & -) -> Asch (1951)

Answer 7

• research support for NSI, where participants were asked to say which of the three ‘test lines’ was the same as the ‘standard line’.
  -> Participants in a group w confederates, who gave the same wrong answer.
  ->33% of the trials, participants conformed to the group and gave the wrong answer.
  After the study, they claimed they knew the correct answer, but conformed to avoid ridicule. This experiment provides evidence for NSI, increasing its validity as an explanation.

-> laboratory setting, so it lacks ecological validity
- guessing the length of a line is not something that we do in everyday life, so we could argue that this study also lacks mundane realism, so this explanation may not be completely accurate for conforming in everyday life.

Question 8

AO3 P2 (+) ISI (Jenness)

Answer 8

Jenness (1932) asked participants to estimate how many beans they thought were in a jar - each person had to make an individual estimate first, and then do the same as a group.
When in a group, participants would report estimates of a similar value, despite having rather different ones before.
This is likely to be an example of ISI as it is a situation where participants would be unsure about the actual number, and so be genuinely influenced by the group.
-> Jenness highlighted that ISI was higher in females.

Question 9

P3 (-) ISI [Asch 1955] students vs workers

Answer 9

ISI may lack population validity: ISI does not affect everyone’s behaviour the same way, shown by Asch (1955)
-> when he found that students were not as conformist (28%) as other types of people, such as workers in offices (37%)
-> suggesting that even if we are in an ambiguous situation, it doesn’t mean we will always look to others for support and then conform.

Question 10

P4 AO3 - (general -)

Answer 10

Deutsch and Gerard’s theory doesn’t take into account other factors which may explain why we conform. - For example, it doesn’t consider how people with an internal locus of control are shown to be less likely to conform than those with an external locus
- doesn’t consider how there may be a third explanation for conformity that NSI and ISI do not provide - ingratiational conformity, when people are motivated by the need to impress (McLeod - 2007). Therefore, these are relatively incomplete explanations of why we conform.