Explanations For Conformity Flashcards
What is the two process theory for conformity and who came up with it
Deutsch and Gerard () developed a two-process theory and thus identified two reasons for conformity: the desire to be accepted and the desire to be right. In other words, the need to be right is Informational Social Influence (ISI) and the need to be liked is Normative Social Influence (NSI)
This model views conformity as a cognitive (thinking) process in which a person weighs up the information given and their need for approval from the group.
What is ISI
The person conforms because they are unsure of the correct answer/how to behave, so they look to others for information. In most cases, the drive for conformity is the need to be right, and is often a sensible decision. If the majority are correct, then the conformer will be too. If they are wrong, at least they will not stand out.
When is ISI most likely to happen
Informational social influence is most likely when:
• the situation is ambiguous (the answer may not be obvious)
• the situation is more difficult or complex
• the situation is a crisis .i.e. rapid action is required.
• We believe others to be expert’s .i.e. more likely to know what to do.
What type of conformity does ISI lead to
Internalisation
What is NSI
As the term suggests, NSI is all about norms – what is normal or typical behaviour for a social group. Norms regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals so we do tend to pay attention to them. Furthermore, people have a fundamental need to be liked and accepted by others and to be part of a group. We therefore 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’. This is known as Normative Social Influence (NSI) – following the norm to ‘fit in’ and ‘be liked and accepted’ in the group. Research has shown that people like those who are similar to them and so conformity can be an effective strategy to ensure acceptance. Research has also shown that NSI is likely to occur in situations with strangers when you may be concerned about rejection. Furthermore, NSI may be more pronounced in stressful situations where people have a greater need for social support.
What type of conformity does NSI lead to
Compliance
Strengths of ISI and NSI
There is research support for both ISI and NSI.
With regards to ISI, Lucas et al asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult, Lucas found that conformity occurred more to incorrect answers when the mathematical problems were more difficult rather than easy. In fact this was especially true for those students who felt that they mathematical skills were poor. This study thus supports the ISI explanation of conformity because this explanation suggests that conformity is more likely to occur when the situation is ambiguous or difficult. In Lucas’s study, those students who were poor at maths looked to others who they felt had more knowledge and were thus right.
With regards to NSI, Asch found that many of his participants went along with a clearly wrong answer because other people did. These participants feared rejection so agreed with the wrong answer. In Asch’s experiments, the answers to questions were not ambiguous or difficult but people still conformed due to NSI.
Weaknesses of ISI and NSI
There are individual differences in NSI and ISI
Some research has shown that not every individual shows NSI. For example, some individuals who are not concerned about being liked are less affected by NSI. However, there are some people who are concerned about being liked. Such people are described as nAffiliators. These are people who have a greater need for ‘affiliation’ – a need for being in a relationship with people - nAffiliatiors are more likely to conform! In fact, McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students high in need of affiliation were more likely to conform. This shows that individuals who are nAffiliators will conform but those who are not will not conform to NSI. This suggests that the NSI explanation for conformity may lack population validity (it doesn’t apply to everyone).
Similarly, ISI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way. For example, Asch (1955) found that students were not as conformist (28%) compared to other types of participants (37%) – such as people working in offices - suggesting that even if the situation may be ambiguous we don’t always look to others for support and thus will not always conform!
ISI and NSI may work together in explaining conformity rather than separately
Rather than seeing NSI and ISI as two different processes on why we conform (i.e. we conform due to ISI or NSI) the actual truth of the matter is that both processes may be involved. For example, in Asch’s experiments, conformity was reduced when there is one other dissenting participant (i.e. when another participant disagrees with the majority). In this case the dissenter may reduce the power of NSI because he is providing social support to the participant or may reduce the power of ISI because the participant now has an alternative source of information from this dissenter. This shows that it is not always clear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in conformity situations.
Many supporting studies for NSI and ISI as explanations for conformity are lab studies which lack ecological validity
Many of the studies carried out to support NSI and ISI are carried out in lab conditions (e.g. Asch) and thus lack ecological validity. In other words we cannot be sure that participants behaviour in the lab will mirror the same behaviour in the real world. For example, in Asch’s studies, participants were asked to judge the length of lines. In the real world, people rarely judge lines so the task given in lab settings is not true to real life so how can we be sure that in a real life situation people will behave in the same way?
