Lecture 5 - Social Influence Flashcards
What is social influence?
The process whereby people directly or indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings and actions of others
What are the three different types of social infleunce?
- Compliance/ obedience
- Conformity
- Minority influence
What is compliance/ obedience?
Change that goes against one’s own beliefs (i.e., public behavioural change not accompanied by private attitude change)
What is conformity?
Change that restructures one’s underlying beliefs (i.e., public behavioural change that is accompanied by private attitude change)
What is minority influence?
Process whereby numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority
What is Milgram 1963’s study’s aim?
To understand the extent to which people will obey orders even when aware they are causing harm
What is Milgram’s 1963 study’s participants?
40 Male Participants recruited through newspaper advert
What year did Milgram vary his procedure?
1974
Milgram Sample
Volunteer of 40 males
Milgram Method
- rigged hat = confederates is learner and ppt as teacher
- ppts gives a series of word pairs and if confederate gets wrong, ppt gives them an electric shock
Milgram Shock Levels
from 15V to 450V and went up in 15V increments
Milgram: what happens at 300V
learner falls silent
How was Milgram’s experiment standardised
The confederates ‘noises’ as a response to the shocks were prerecorded
Milgram: How many ppts went to 450V?
65%
Milgram: How many ppts stopped at 300V?
12.5%
Milgram Conclusion
Obey acts of evil not due to an evil disposition but a result of situational factors
Milgram variation: less responsibility
Another confederate gives shocks
92% go to 450V
Milgram variation: Ally
Ally disagrees with experimenter
10% go to 450V
Milgram variation: Setting
Less prestigious setting of a run down office block
48% go to 450V
Milgram Variation: experimenter in everyday clothes
20% go to 450V
Milgram Variations: Absent experimenter
21% go to 450V
Milgram Variation: Learner in the same room
40% go to 450V
What are the ethical considerations of Milgram’s study?
- Milgram asked his colleagues what they thought would happen – but no such thing as an ethics committee
- One participant had a heart attack, many experienced distress
What methodological and data issues occur in Milgram’s study?
- Gina Perry – examined archival materials from original studies
- Reported that supervisors (i.e., authority figures) went off script, some participants were aware of the purpose of the study, and debriefing didn’t occur for months for some
What alternative interpretation is there in Milgram’s study?
- Reicher and Haslam – point out that the context of the study (see 1974 versions) can lead to variation in level of obedience
- Importance of identification – with the scientific process, with the ”learner”…
What was Sherif 1935’s study looking at?
The autokinetic effect
What did Sherif do in his 1935 study?
- Asked participants to estimate how far a light moved on several trials:
- Estimates converged on an idiosyncratic value (typical to that individual). - Then asked people to estimate how far the light moved in groups of 2 or 3
- Finally, participants were asked to perform task once more alone …
What did Sherif find in his 1935 study?
- People need to be certain + confident in the correctness of their actions
This situation was ambiguous and uncertain - People looked to others to help define “reality”
Once developed, the norms anchor perceptions of reality
→ If social influence is the product of ambiguity, would people be less influenced if they could objectively measure movement?
Asch’s line judgment task - how many ppts
- 123 ppts
Asch - where were people sat
real ppt sat penultimate
rest were confederates
Asch - confederates answers
same but incorrect 12/18 times
Asch - ppts correct when confederate correct
98%
Asch - ppts correct when confederate incorrect
36.8%
Asch - how many ppt conformed
75%
Asch - how many ppts always conformed
5%
Asch - how many ppts never conformed?
25%
Asch - conclusion
Some conform even when clearly wrong
Variables affecting Asch conformity - grp size
group size increase -> higher conformity but plateaus at 3/4
Variables affecting Asch conformity - anonymity
reduced to 12.5%
Variables affecting Asch conformity - ambiguity
high ambiguity led to high conformity - ISI
Variables affecting Asch conformity - Ally
dropped to 5.5%
What are the dual-process theories?
Normative and informational influence
Who constructed the dual-process theory?
Deutsch & Gerard (1955)
What is information influence?
Influence to achieve accurate perceptions - the want to be right
What is normative influence?
Influence to gain approval and avoid rejection - the want to be liked
What are the limitations of the dual-process theory?
- The problem of “residual conformity”
- Characterising other people as either sources of (valid) information or sources of (invalid) social pressure highlights dynamics of interpersonal dependency.
- Ignores other forms of relationship between individuals and sources of influence, the importance of group belonging.
What is the self-categorization theory?
- argues that groups are part of the self - not just external influences
- Groups (and other people) provide people with social identity, a sense of who they are and what that means
- The influence of self-defining social groups is both informational and normative at the same time:
What is the aim of Platow et al (2005)’s study?
To explore whether laughter depends on a shared sense of social identity
What are the participant’s in Platow et al’s study?
60 undergraduate students
What did Platow et al do in their study?
Asked participants to listen to a potentially funny recording and manipulated whether participants believed the audience was predominantly comprised of in-group or out-group members (as well as presence or absence of canned laughter), then rate how funny they found the recording
What is minority influence?
→ Individuals have agency, and individuals can influence large majorities
→ Conflict, innovation and change are also important features of society
What is Moscovici et al 1969 study?
- In groups of 6, participants were presented with a blue slide (varying in intensity) + asked to name the colour
3 conditions:
- Control (6 naïve participants/ no confederates)
- Inconsistent minority (confederate said “green” 2/3 of time + “blue” 1/3 of time)
- Consistent minority (confederate always said “green”)
What are the theories of minority influence?
- Majority influence → direct public compliance
- People accept what the majority has to say
- Little or no private attitude change
- Short-term change - Minority influence → indirect, latent private change
- People have to think about the minority and try to understand them
- More enduring
- Occurs through process of conversion
