Lecture 8: Chapter 9: Norms and Conformity Flashcards
What are social norms?
Implicit or explicit rules that govern behaviors, values and beliefs of group members
What is the difference between implicit and explicit norms? Give an example of each
Implicit = rules that aren’t told, but everyone knows and does
–> Standing in a cue, clapping after a concert
Explicit = rules that are publicly told
–> Laws, syllabus
Which 2 motivational principles are connected to why groups seek to reach agreement and why people accept influence from others?
Mastery: see things the right way, hold correct opinions, do the right thing
Connectedness: being liked and valued, achieving connection that promotes a sense of me/mine
What is the difference between face-to-face groups and social category groups?
Face to face: formed because they share a common goal (sports team, lab groups)
Social category: formed because they share socially relevant features (age, gender, interest etc.)
What is the similarity and the difference between social norms and social attitudes?
Similar: both are mental representations of appropriate ways of thinking/acting
Difference: attitudes represent individual’s pos/neg evaluation, norms reflect shared group evaluations of what is true or false
What are the 2 types of social norms?
Injunctive and descriptive social norms
What’s the difference between injunctive and descriptive social norms? Give an example of each
Injunctive = mental representations on how people are supposed to behave
–> Explicit or implicit
–> Parents should love their kids
Descriptive = mental representations on how people actually behave
–> Implicit
–> Parents love their kids
How did Sherif’s research demonstrated a group’s power to affect its members belief? Give 1 point of critique on the study
In a totally dark room, participants focused on a single point of light. The light disappeared and then appeared and the participant had to indicate how far the light moved, which was impossible, because there is no reference point
When participants were placed in groups, their responses converged and later became nearly identical
They came to a collective agreement, so they established a social norm
Critique = participants could only rely on others, because they weren’t told if they were right or wrong and the light movement couldn’t be measured. Social influence was forced
What was Asch’s line judgement task?
7 confederates and 1 participant seated around the table. They had to indicate which comparison line corresponded with the length of a given line.
Every confederate said the wrong line and created a strong descriptive norm, so there was public conformity, but no private conformity (he still knew it was wrong)
What is conformity? And what is the difference between public and private conformity?
Conformity = convergence of individuals’ thoughts, feelings or behavior toward a social norm
Public = overt behavior consistent with social norms that aren’t privately accepted
Private = private acceptance of social norms
Why do people do public conformity? Why can it be an issue?
They fear ridicule, rejection, incarceration or worse
It’s an issue when people infer injunctive norms and beliefs from observing others, leading to pluralistic ignorance
What is pluralistic ignorance?
Everyone publicly complies without private acceptance, but then THINKS everyone else privately accepts the norm
What are the 2 perspectives in explaining origins of social norms?
- Societal-value perspective = belonging
- Functional perspective = mastery
What is the false consensus effect? When does this effect become stronger?
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others agree with their views of the world. We usually expect others to see the world the way we do
Stronger if the connection to others is more important
The key reason people conform to norms is that we expect everyone to see the world the same way –> Expecting consensus. What are the two parts of this expectation?
- We expect others to see the world the way we do –> false consensus effect
- We expect to see the world the same way others do
When are we vulnerable to social influence concerning expecting consensus?
If we disagree, it leaves us uncertain, uncomfortable and vulnerable to social influence until a new consensus is formed
When does informational influence occur and what need does it satisfy? Give an example of it
It occurs when people privately conform, because they believe a group’s norms reflect reality.
This satisfies our need for mastery
E.g. When people question if money in the bank is safe, they make mass withdrawals and the system collapses. So conformity to those norms helps to create the reality that the norm is seen as reflecting
What is the influence of the size of a group on consensus in Asch’s line study?
The percentage of conforming responses rises when there are 1, 2 or 3 confederates. At 3 confederates, consensus was established. Adding more people than 3 didn’t make much difference
So unanimous group of 15 didn’t cause more conformity than unanimous group of 3
What is normative influence? What need does it satisfy?
A group has normative influence when members privately conform to norms to attain a positive and valued social identity and to win respect from other group members
It satisfies needs for connectedness
What’s the difference between normative and informational influence?
Informational: you conform because you think the group’s norm reflects reality
Normative: you conform, because you want to achieve connectedness
What is a reference group?
A group of people you believe are an appropriate source of information for a particular judgment.
They share attributes relevant for making that judgment
How do you determine which reference group you turn to?
What’s the difference in reference group for a physical judgment compared to a value-laden/opinion-based judgment?
It depends on the kind of judgment you are making
Physical: most people can serve as reference group (if visual task, you more likely agree with someone who has good eyesight)
Value-laden/opinion-based: we agree more with people who share similar values, attitudes and relationships
Which type of culture shows more conformity if sources of influence are other in-group members?
Collectivist cultures
Why are persuasive appeals from in-group members processed more systematically than appeals from out-group members?
Information from appeals from in-group is usually important to group memberships
Persuasion heuristic: if my group thinks it, it must be right
What is the functional perspective of social norms? (Mastery)
Norms aren’t arbitrary but confer survival advantage
What are 4 aspects of the societal value perspective on social norms? (connectedness)
- Group cohesion/belonging
- Norms are culturally relativistic/arbitrary
- Arbitrary norms are established and internalized
- Sanctions are established to reinforce norms
What is the integrative perspective on social norms? Give an example
Combination of the functional and societal value perspectives
Norms emerge due to fundamental challenges of survival and persist after
E.g. relationship status signals (ring), greetings (normal in culture + show you’re no danger)
With which type of norms are mastery concerns of conformity associated? And connectedness?
Mastery: descriptive norms
Connectedness: injunctive norms
Which 3 motives are important for private conformity with in-groups?
Mastery - connectedness - me and mine motives
Some circumstances can make one motive more important than the other to conform to norms
Study figure 9.4 in book: Motives behind private conformaty, p.325
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When do groups compromise to middle-of the-road? Why doesn’t it occur very often?
It only happens when a group’s view is evenly split (half supporting, half opposing) –> looking for compromise
Often groups lean one way or the other, so the communication focuses and accentuates that view
What is group polarization?
Tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by individuals
When a majority of group members initially favor one side of the issue, communication and interaction moves the group to an even more extreme position
What were Stoner’s findings on group polarization and risk?
When people work together in groups, they opt for more risky actions than when they make decisions alone.
This effect has nothing to do with the risk itself, but it matters what most people in the group prefer (risk or caution)
What explains the formation of polarized group norms?
How information is processed (superficial or systematic) and what motives people have in mind as they process
Both superficial and systematic processing most likely lead to more extreme group norms
On what does the direction of group polarization depend?
Depends on one’s initial inclination. Group discussion then shifts initial inclination
In which type of group is group polarization most likely to be more extreme?
In homogenous groups (where people are more similar)
Which 3 things are cues for what a group thinks? How does this relate to superficial processing of group norms?
- Group interactions, where views are directly voiced
- Guess group norm from who the members of the group are
- People reveal preferences by the kinds of questions they ask or body language
People can use the group position alone as a guide to what their own position should be to reach consensus
It’s superficial, because it’s a shortcut to the position that people believe to be correct/appropriate without having to do a lot figuring out the right answer
Why do happy people often conform more than sad people?
Consensus provides a quick and easy guide to appropriate decisions. Happy people often avoid systematic thinking
How does superficial reliance on consensus as a heuristic lead to extreme positions? Explain the 2 processes
- Using consensus heuristic = When undecided members adopt the majority consensus, the group’s average moves towards the extreme
- Representing group ideal = People want to be the best possible members of their group –> they think as themselves as superior –> they get negative feedback from others –> social comparison leads to thinking they’re not so superior –> speedy adoption of extreme positions so we are again above average on important dimensions. If this happens in the entire group, the norm grows more extreme
Which 4 aspects give a great persuasive edge to a group’s position in systematic processing that moves the norm towards polarization?
- Majority arguments are more numerous (more people support it)
- Majority arguments are discussed more/longer (if people think others share their views, they’re more likely to express them)
- Majority arguments seem more compelling (if multiple people make the same argument, it has extra impact)
- Majority arguments are presented more compellingly (views are expressed faster and are more prominent)
What is evidence on the fact that majority arguments are discussed more?
When researchers placed people in a group discussion and were asked to discuss all the facts available to them, the discussion resulted in an even more intense focus on shared information and not their individual unshared information
Group members believe that the info on which they all agree is the info most relevant to the issue under discussion. This strengthens the majority’s case
Why do majority arguments seem more compelling? Give 3 reasons
- If we hear something over and over again, there is an advantage of familiarity
- If different people say the same thing, it’s more persuasive than when one person repeats multiple times
- If most people agree to the majority, it must me a strong argument and the minority must make weak arguments
Why are majority arguments presented in a more compelling way?
- Most people first provide info they believe that are shared and familiar –> info told at the beginning has more impact than later info
- Majority views are expressed faster, minority views often hesitate. If the differences between the groups are very large, the difference in speed of expression grows
- People surrounded by others who share their views, are often more confident
Study figure 9.6 in the book p332
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What is stealth marketing? Give an example
A marketing tactic that create an apparent consensus or descriptive norm where an individual gives consensus without consideration
(Everyone uses this, the coolest people have this)
E.g. influencers promote certain products, use of biased polls in politics where only supporters were sampled
On what assumption does the idea that consensus provides reality insurance rely?
We think we can trust consensus, because multiple individuals considered the evidence independently and from different perspectives and came to the same conclusion
What is the contradiction in trusting a consensus?
We trust a consensus when independent separate individuals endorse it (integration of multiple perspectives)
But: we really agree most with people who share our characteristics.
So we demand group members to be different/independent and similar in accord
What makes in-group consensus more persuasive than out-group consensus?
In group has:
- Similarity: we are like other members
- Difference: people are different in many other ways, so they can give different perspectives
Out group seems homogenous to ingroup and you suspect contamination. This results in little persuasive impact
What is the biggest threat to the ideal of consensus formation and why?
Public conformity
People desire to avoid negative consequences, so they go along to get along. Their public conformity destroyed the reliability of the consensus
Give an example of pluralistic ignorance at school
Being afraid to ask a question because of the silence of your classmates, which led you to believe that everyone but you understood the teacher
What is the Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT)? What does it lead to? What is an important pre-requisite in order for it to work?
Individuals influence each other primarily through interactions, leading to clusters of like-minded people
It leads to clustering
Pre requisite = attitude must be able to change and can happen quickly
When is clustering in groups especially strong and why? Give 2 reasons
Strong for more important issues
Because:
- You talk more about important issues
- Motivated to be better than average in important attitudes
What are 2 important aspects of normative influence?
- Failure to comply = ridicule/punishment/exclusion
- Can be with groups consisting of people we don’t know
What is a consequence of fear of repercussion (normative influence)? What is the difference with the consequence of informational influence?
Battle between public compliance vs. private acceptance
Informational: public compliance AND private acceptance
Give 3 situations where you’re more likely to conform due to informational social influence?
- Ambiguous situations
- Crisis situation
- Experts present
What is groupthink?
Faulty decisions groups make because consensus is prioritized over correctness
When is groupthink most likely to occur?
- In a highly cohesive group
- When there are social pressures to reach consensus
- When consensus is more important than critical scrutiny of important issues
Describe Irving Janis’ model of groupthink. Name the 4 phases
- Antecedent conditions:
- Motivation
- Groupthink
- Defective decision-making
What are 5 antecedent conditions in Janis’ model of groupthink?
- High cohesiveness
- Insulation of group
- No procedures to search/appraise info
- Directive leadership
- High stress
Explain the motivation part in Janis’ model of groupthink
Tendency for concurrence seeking
What are 4 aspects of the groupthink stage in Janis’ model of groupthink?
- Stereotyping outgroups
- Direct pressure on dissenters
- Self-censorship: suppressing own concerns when in doubt, expressing them when confident
- Illusion of unanimity
What are 3 aspects of defective decision-making in Janis’ model of groupthink?
- Tunnel vision
- Failure to reappraise alternatives
- Selective processing of information
What are 5 ways to prevent groupthink?
- Leader doesn’t express own opinion at beginning
- Not isolating group from external input
- Assign group members to play devil’s advocate
- Create subgroup that meet before the meeting to come up with different recommendations
- Seek anonymous opinions, vote anonymously
What can you test with Asch’s line judgement task?
Test conformity to group norms
What does expecting consensus mean? What is it called if this doesn’t happen?
we expect to agree with others on the way we see reality, especially those in our social group
Opposite is false consensus. We falsely assume that others agree with us
What are the 3 forms of conformity? Give an example of each
- Forced conformity: e.g. school uniforms
- Voluntary conformity: you choose to be part of that group, e.g. join a music club
- Functional conformity: conform because of convenience, e.g. Queues
There are many ways in which consensus can go wrong. Name 3 and provide each with some evidence.
- Consensus without consideration:
–> when students listened to a speech, they were more likely to support them if they heard applause then when they heard jeering - Contamination: occurs when consensus was based on a shared bias that exists in the group.
–> when participants have to match arguments to photos that they have been previously presented with, they are better at doing so for ingroup members. So this shows that they see ingroup members as independent individuals - Public conformity: can lead to pluralistic ignorance if everyone is publicly conforming to a perceived consensus that nobody believes in
Why does groupthink happen?
- People don’t consider all information (people with different opinions often don’t voice them or don’t get attention)
- Group members have shared biases
- People publicly conform (out of fear of being excluded)
How can minority views sway the majority views? Name 4 ways
- Offer alternative consensus
- Remain consistent
- Strike the right balance between similarity to and difference from the majority
- Promote systematic processing
How can a minority create an alternative consensus that convinces the majority?
The minority must have an own consensus rather than just different opinions. It usually must be supported by more than 1 person
What is the evidence on the fact that remaining consistent as a minority helps to convince the majority?
When participants were shown a series of blue slides, they were more convinced by the confederates’ opinion that they were green when the confederate remained consistent across all the slides
How can having the right balance between similarities and differences help the minority to convince the majority? How do you need to do that?
The minority must voice its own view while at the same time not appearing extremely different from the majoirty
This could be done through first agreeing with majority on some issues before disagreeing on other issues
How can promoting systematic processing help the minority to convince the majority?
It makes it more likely that the majority will also consider alternative information
How do minorities use consensus to influence others? Name 3 strategies and their results
- Consistently advocate alternative
–> Power of consensus - Represent diversity
–> Convergence of diverse, independent views - Produce systematic processing
–> Private acceptance
Study fig 9.10 p 346 or summary p.69
Are there any differences between processes in majority vs. minority groups?
Both groups can:
- Satisfy concerns about mastery (disagreement between maj/min can create concerns about validity of maj. position) and connectedness (being part of minority is also attractive, bc. independent mind and stuff)
-Encourage heuristic/systematic processing of evidence and elicit public compliance or private acceptance (majorities can often reward, minorities can often punish)
What is the difference between tight and loose cultures?
Tight: strong expectations of adherence to social norms and little tolerance for deviance (Japan)
Loose: fewer expectations for conformity and may encourage new forms of behavior (Netherlands)
Why do some groups/cultures become tight? Give an example
When there is a history of threats in the environment, it produces higher tightness
Threats such as:
- Extreme climate
- Natural disasters
- Less natural resources
- Poverty
- History of diseases
So the south of USA is more tight (more hurricanes, extreme heat and drought) than the west-coast
What are 2 characteristics of teams in tight cultures? Explain with the example of climbing Mount Everest
- More teamwork –> more people summit and reach the top
- More groupthink –> more deaths
Where were more covid cases, in loose or tight cultures?
Loose cultures had more cases of covid. Tight groups cooperate faster under threat
