Explanations Of Conformity Flashcards
Who developed the explanation for conformity and what model did they propose
Deutsch and Gerard developed the two-process theory which suggests people conform for two main reasons: normative social influence(NSI) and informational social influence(ISI)
What is normative social influence
When a person conforms to be accepted and feel that they belong to a group, conform as it is socially rewarding and to avoid social rejection
What type of experience is normative social influence
An emotional experience
What is informational social influence
When a person conforms to gain knowledge or because they believe someone else is ‘right’ so they also want to be right, associated with internalisation
When do people do ISI
When in presence of experts or when believe others have more knowledge than they do, when the situation is confusing or task difficult
What type of process is ISI
Cognitive process
Expand on strength of ISI that it has research support
-one piece of evidence that supports the informational explanation is provided by Lucas Et al
-found in a maths test students were more likely to conform when they were faced with more difficult questions than easier ones
-this suggests when we are unsure if the answer we copy others not to fit in but to be right. Supports the validity of the two process theory as demonstrated that it is accurate
Outline research to support NSI
Linken and Perkins found adolescents were less likely to take up smoking if they were exposed to the simple message ‘most teenagers don’t smoke’
Expand on limitation that not all individuals react to NSI in the same way
-McGhee and Teevan found that not everyone is as easily influenced by NSI, those that care less about being liked are less affected while students in high need of affiliation were more likely to conform
-suggests the explanation is not universal as it does not consider all factors such as personality
Expand on limitation that behaviour is more complex than the two process approach claims and both NSI and ISI may be involved at the same time
-for example in an experiment by Asch conformity decreased when someone else went against the majority meaning that not wanting to get the question wrong and being liked was considered
-this suggests neither NSI or ISI alone provide an adequate explanation of conformity which challenges the overall validity of the two process model
What type of conformity does NSI lead to and why
Leads to compliance as people will agree publicly with group but privately do not change their personal opinion
