Last Half of Social Influence

Question 1

List situational factors that affect obedience, and research examples.

Answer 1

Proximity (proximity conditions in Milgram)
Location (run down location variation)
Uniform (lab coat vs normal clothes)

Question 2

Define the agentic state

Answer 2

A state in which you are an agent for someone else’s will.

You believe they will take responsibility for your actions.

Question 3

What might keep you in/ create an agentic state?

Answer 3

Self image is not affected morally in the agentic state.
Social binding factors.
Legitimacy of authority.

Question 4

Name strengths of the Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority.

Answer 4

Explanation of obedience in real life

• Agentic state = soldiers in the wars, particularly in the holocaust.
• Legitimacy of authority - pilots in cockpits: co-pilot trusted them due to their authority

Question 5

Name a weakness of the agentic state.

Answer 5

It may, as Milgram himself suggested, also have been pure cruelty from the prison guards and not a “shift of responsibility”.

Question 6

Name the personality test that is used most often to judge how authoritarian someone is.

Answer 6

The F (Fascist) scale.

Question 7

What did Altemeyer (1981) state were the three characteristics of RWA (Right Wing Authoritarianism)?

Answer 7

• Conventionalism
• Authoritarian aggression (to those who did not follow conventions)
• Authoritarian submission (to those of perceived authority).

Question 8

Key study APFC for Authoritarian personality

Answer 8

ELMS and MILGRAM (1966)
A - investigate effect of dispositional factors on obedience
P - follow up from shock experiment - 20 obedient and 20 defiant participants tested on personality variables
F - Higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient participants
C - an authoritarian personality is linked to higher obedience.

Question 9

Name a strength of the Authoritarian personality as a factor in obedience.

Answer 9

Research support - see Elms and Milgram.

Question 10

Name weaknesses of the Authoritarian Personality as a factor in obedience.

Answer 10

• The social context is more important (situational factors).
• Not all obedient people are Authoritarian, and vice versa.
• Education is a possible explanation for both obedience and Authoritarianism - low levels of education linked to high obedience and Authoritarianism.

Question 11

Name research support for Social Support in resisting conformity.

Answer 11

Asch’s Social support condition reduced obedience.
Conformity went from 33% to just 5.5%
Milgram’s social support condition reduced obedience.

Question 12

Describe Locus of Control and how this affects obedience.

Answer 12

External LOC= believes that things happen to them, due to luck or fate, their future is set for them and they cannot change things. Often more obedient.
Internal LOC= believes that they can change their future. Independent, achievement oriented. Often less obedient.

Question 13

Mention validity of social support study

Answer 13

Allen and Levine (1971)
Repeated Asch study but social support had thick glasses
Invalid social support better than none but not as good as valid social support

Question 14

Evaluate locus of control’s effectiveness.

Answer 14

Works only for normative influence and not informative influence.

Question 15

Name a real life example of social support

Answer 15

The Rosenstrasse protest - women faced the gestapo and won due to social support.

Question 16

Name the three main influential variables in Minority influence.

Answer 16

Commitment
Consistency
Flexibility

Question 17

Name and briefly describe a study related to consistency

Answer 17

Moscovici et al. (1969) a consistent minority convinced participants in saying more slides were green even when they were clearly blue. (from around 1% to 8%).

Question 18

Name and briefly describe a study related to flexibility

Answer 18

Nemeth (1987) ski accident simulation. A flexible minority meant participants were more likely to move toward the low minority position

Question 19

Evaluations of minority influence

Answer 19

• A “tipping point” is required; in simulations, this was found to be only 10%
• Minority influence is associated with deviance and has a bad reputation, regardless of the point being put across.
• Minority influence has a real value (Nemeth). It “opens” the mind and encourages others to say what they think.

Question 20

Label the 5 steps from Moscovici’s “conversion” process regarding social change.

Answer 20

1. Draw attention to an issue
2. Cognitive conflict
3. Consistency
4. Augmentation principle
5. the snowball effect

Question 21

Name an example of majority influence in social change.

Answer 21

“most of us” ad campaign led to less drinking and driving

Question 22

what is a “social norms intervention”?

Answer 22

Identifies a widespread misperception relating to a behaviour.
Advertising the actual (less risky) norms, people will be more likely to behave according to this

Question 23

Name an example of minority influence in social change.

Answer 23

The suffragettes - began as a few women, reached a “tipping point” and hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Question 24

Evaluate weaknesses of minority influence into social change

Answer 24

• Social change may be very gradual: it took the suffragettes hundreds of years to get all women the vote
• being perceived as “deviant” limits the effectiveness of minorities

Question 25

Evaluate weaknesses of majority influence into social change

Answer 25

- the "social norms" interventions do not always work that well - Schultz et. al suggested a "boomerang effect" with social norms interventions in which it may also worsen some people's behaviour who behave better than average.