Explanations For Conformity

Question 1

What is informational social influence?

Answer 1

• ISI is motivated by the need to be right
• The individual uses others with seemingly more information to identify the correct behaviour in an ambiguous situation
• More likely to lead to internalisation

Question 2

What is normative social influence?

Answer 2

• NSI is motivated by the need to be accepted by others
• The individual uses others to identify behaviour that leads to group acceptance
• More likely to lead to compliance

Question 3

What are the evaluations for Explanations Of Conformity?

Answer 3

• Research support for NSI from Asch (+)
• Research support for ISI from Lucas et al (+)
• Unclear whether ISI or NSI is at work in studies (-)

Question 4

Explain the evaluation point ‘Research support for NSI from Asch’

Answer 4

• A strength of NSI is that it has supporting research by Asch
• When Asch interviewed his participants some said they conformed because they felt self-conscious and feared disapproval from the group. When participants wrote their answers privately conformity decreased from 36.8% to 12.5%
• This is a strength of NSI as it shows participants were more likely to conform when their responses were public, highlighting the role of social approval in their conformity
• Therefore this strengthens the claim that NSI is a valid explanation of conformity

Question 5

Explain the evaluation point ‘Research support for ISI from Lucas et al’

Answer 5

• A strength of ISI is that it has supporting research by Lucas et al
• Lucas et al found that participants conformed more often to incorrect answers when the maths problems were difficult. In these situations the difficulty of the problems created ambiguity, leading participants to rely on others for guidance
• This is a strength of ISI as it shows individuals are more likely to conform on a public and private level in unclear situations
• Therefore this strengthens the claim that ISI is a valid explanation of conformity

Question 6

Explain the evaluation point ‘Unclear whether ISI or NSI is at work in studies’

Answer 6

• A limitation of ISI and NSI is that it is unclear which one is the reason for conformity in studies or in real life
• Asch found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant. The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI because they provide social support or they may reduce the power of ISI because they provide an alternative source of social information. Both of these interpretations are possible
• This is a limitation as it is hard to separate ISI and NSI as both processes may operate together in most real-world conformity situations
• Therefore this limits the validity of ISI and NSI as distinct explanations for conformity

Question 7

Outline Asch’s Baseline Procedure

Answer 7

• Asch (1951) investigated whether participants would conform to a majority when the correct answer was obvious
• The study involved 123 male American students. Each group consisted of 6 confederates and 1 genuine participant. Participants were presented with a standard line and three comparison lines (A, B and C). Participants had to say aloud which comparison line matched the standard line in length. The correct answer was always obvious, but the confederates gave unanimous wrong answers on 12 of the 18 trials, known as the ‘critical trials’
• Genuine participants conformed to incorrect answers 36.8% of the time on critical trials and 75% of participants conformed at least once
• Asch concluded people conform to avoid standing out, even when the correct answer is obvious

Question 8

What are the evaluations for Asch’s Baseline Procedure?

Answer 8

• High Control (+)
• Artificial Situation And Task (-)
• Limited Sample (-)

Question 9

Explain the evaluation point ‘High Control’

Answer 9

• A strength of Asch’s study is that it is a lab experiment and therefore establishes cause and effect
• This means Asch can be confident that it is the IV, confederates’ answers, that is causing the DV, participants’ answers
• This is a strength because we can be confident that results about conformity are not being affected by confounding variables
• Therefore this study has internal validity

Question 10

Explain the evaluation point ‘Artificial Situation And Task’

Answer 10

• A limitation of Asch’s study is that it has low ecological validity
• The groups in Asch’s study did not resemble the groups that we experience in everyday life and the participants were made to do a trivial task that lacks mundane realism
• This is a limitation because the results about conformity may be difficult to generalise to real life situations of conformity
• Therefore this study has low external validity

Question 11

Explain the evaluation point ‘Limited Sample’