Lesson 2 - Explanations for Conformity Flashcards
Who developed the two types of social influence?
Deutsch and Gerard.
What are the two types of social influence?
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
Normative Social Influence (NSI)`
What is Informational Social Influence (ISI)?
This is where the person conforms because they are unsure of the correct answer, and how to behave.
What factors make ISI most likely?
The situation has an ambiguous answer;
The situation is more difficult or complex;
The situation is a crisis:
Another person is perceived to be an expert
What type of conformity does ISI usually lead to?
Internalisation
What is Normative Social Influence (NSI)?
This is where people conform due to a fundamental need to be liked and accepted. People do not want to stand out, and will thus conform to a norm in order to fit in and be accepted.
What factors make NSI most likely?
When in a situation where strangers can reject you;
In stressful situations where social support is more required.
What type of conformity is NSI most likely to lead to?
Compliance
Evaluation of NSI and ISI - Lucas et al
Lucas et al asked students to give mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult. He found that conformity occurred more when the questions were difficult, and people felt that their mathematical ability was in question.
Evaluation of NSI and ISI - Asch
Asch found that many of his participants went along with a clearly wrong answer because other people did. These participants feared rejection from the others, so simply complied with the majority.
Evaluation of NSI and ISI - Individual Differences
Not every individual shows NSI. However, there are some people who are overly concerned about being liked, known as nAffiliators. These people are more likely to conform.
McGhee and Teevan found that students in high need of affiliation were more likely to conform.
ISI also does not affect everyone in the same way. Asch found that students were not as conformist when compared to other types of participants (28% to 37%).
Evaluation of NSI and ISI - ISI and NSI work together
Both these processes may actually be involved together. For example, in Asch’s experiments, conformity was reduced when there is one other dissenting participant. This however, could counter ISI or NSI, or both, so it is overall too difficult to try and establish one of them.
