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Need To Know Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

Factors affecting minority influence

A
  • Consistency
  • repeating message numerous times
  • Flexibility
  • showing ability to compromise
  • Commitment
  • doing something that how much it matters
  • relates to augmentation principe
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2
Q

Authoritarian personality traits

A
  • rigid beliefs in conventional values
  • general hostility towards others
  • intolerance of ambiguity
  • submissive attitudes towards authority figures
  • Belief in aggression toward those who don’t have conventional thinking, or who are different
  • tendency to project own feelings of inadequacy, rage and fear onto weaker person
  • Resistance to creative, dangerous ideas.
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3
Q

Authoritarian personality

Adorno,frenkel Brunswick, levinson and sanford

A
  • Adorno, frenkel Brunswick, levinson and Sanford focused on individual differences in prejudice.
  • argued people with authoritarian personality most likely to have:
  • rigid beliefs in conventional values
  • general hostility towards other groups
  • intolerance of ambiguity
  • submissive attitudes towards authority figures
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4
Q

Authoritarian personality development

A
  • adorno states it has roots in childhood experiences so children who:
  • Receive a harsh upbringing
  • Little affection
  • Much punishment from parents
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5
Q

Authoritarian personality causes

A
  • causes child to have hostility towards parents but it remains unconscious because child is unwilling to admit hostility.
  • Causes motivated forgetting or repression
  • Child idealises parents & behaves submissively towards authority figures
  • Hostility is displaced on to non threatening minority groups and appears in the form of prejudice.
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6
Q

Adorno et al

A

Adorno devised questionnaires relating to their theory:

  • ethnocentrism scale E-scale
  • Fascism scale F-scale
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7
Q

Authoritarian personality evidence

A
  • if people scored high on f scale = more prejudiced than low scores
  • Alteymeyer suggests roots in authoritarianism lie in adolescence rather than in early childhood
  • Adolescent whose parents are authoritarian imitate behaviour of parents and are rewarded for doing so.
  • evidence for prejudice depends on cultural norms than on personality
  • eg pettigrew studied prejudice in South Africa and US
  • levels of authoritarianism were same in 2 counties but there was more prejudice towards black people in South Africa than in US
  • major historical events can cause a general increase in prejudice eg impact of attack on US fleet in pearl harbour on Americans attitudes on Japanese.
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8
Q

Authoritarian personality Evaluation

A

individual differences = individuals differ in prejudice & individual differences can be assessed using fscale

  • Childhood experiences play some part in whether someone will develop authoritarian personality
  • Adorno et al assumes authoritarian personality associated only with right wing views, but those with extreme left wing views are equally authoritarian
  • Prejudice depends more on cultural & social factors than on personality when there are rapid increases in prejudice within a society eg nazi germany
  • Adorno et al reported in depth interviews with high f scale scorers supported theory authoritarian personality depends on a harsh upbringing
  • interviewers knew in advance f scale scores of those being interviewed
  • may have distorted findings.
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9
Q

Conformity to Social Roles info

A
  • Social roles are part people play as members of a social group (e.g. student, teacher, policeman etc).
  • Conforming to social role is called identification.
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10
Q

Agentic state definition

A

-person sees them self as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes

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11
Q

Legitimate authority definition

A

-person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation

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12
Q

Development of authoritarian personality list

A
  • a very disciplined upbringing
  • unconscious hostility
  • displacement
  • prejudice
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13
Q

Authoritarian personality definition

A
  • distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values
  • belief in absolute obedience of submission to authority
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14
Q

Dispositional definitions

A

-Explanations of behaviours being caused by individuals own personal characteristics

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15
Q

F scale definition

A
  • measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies right wing authoritarianism
  • cluster of personality variables associated with right wing attitude to life
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16
Q

Locus of control definition

A

-Peoples beliefs about whether outcomes of actions are dependent on what they do ( internal loc) or events outside their personal control (external loc)

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17
Q

Social support definition

A
  • perception individual has assistance available from other people & they’re part of supportive network
  • helps to overcome conformity pressures
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18
Q

Externality définition

A

-Individuals who believe behaviour & experience caused by events outside their control

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19
Q

Internality definition

A

-Individuals who believe they’re responsible for their behaviour and experience rather than external forces

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20
Q

Commitment definition for psychology

A
  • degree to which members of minority are dedicated to a particular cause or activity
  • greater the perceived commitment the greater the influence
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21
Q

Consistency psychology

A

-Minority influence is effective provided theres stability in expressed positon over time & agreement among different members of minorities

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22
Q

Flexibility definition

A

-willingness to be flexible & to compromise when expressing a position

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23
Q

Minority influence definition

A
  • form of social influence

- members of majority group change beliefs or behaviours as result of their exposure to persuasive minority

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24
Q

Social change definition

A

-Occurs when society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which becomes widely accepted as the norm

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25
Q

Social norms intervention

A

-Attempts to correct misperceptions of norm behaviour of peers in attempt to change risky behaviour of target population

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26
Q

Agentic shift definition

A
  • People move from autonomous state into agentic state when confronted with authority figure
  • shift from autonomy to ‘agency’ is called agentic shift
  • If we obey an order that goes against our conscience we’re likely to experience moral strain
  • results in when we have to do something we believe to be immoral in order to function as an agent of authority
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27
Q

Milgram proposed the agentic theory meant what

A

‘’When we act as the agent of someone in authority we find it easier to deny personal responsibility for our actions it’s just doing our job or just following orders’’

28
Q

The autonomous state definition

A

-Individuals allow someone else to direct their behaviour they pass responsibility to them

29
Q

Factors that can enhance the effectiveness of a minority including

A
  • consistency
  • commitment
  • flexibility
30
Q

Locus of control maybe exaggerated rotter et al evaluation

A
  • found loc only important in new situations
  • has little influence in familiar situations where previous experiences are always more important
  • suggests loc can explain only limited range of situations in which people might resist social influence
  • means loc isn’t important factor in resistance
31
Q

Locus of control contradictory research evaluation twenge et al

A
  • analysed data from US obedience studies over 40yr period 1960-2002
  • data showed over time span people have become more resistant to obedience but more external
  • if resistance were linked to internal loc then we would expect people to become more internal
32
Q

Locus of control support research evaluation Holland

A
  • repeated milgrams study
  • measured whether participants were internals or externals.
  • 37% internals didn’t continue to highest shock level
  • showed independence
  • 23% of externals didn’t continue
  • internals showed greater resistance
  • support increases validity of loc explanation & confidence that it can explain resistance
33
Q

Locus of control + internal loc + external loc

A

Locus of control:

  • sense we have about what directs events in our lives
  • Rotter proposed concept of locus of control

-concerned with internal loc vs external
Internal loc

  • internals believe they’re responsible for what happens to them
  • Externals believe things happen without their own control
34
Q

Locus of control resistance to social influence

A
  • internal loc people more likely to be able to resist pressure to conform or obey
  • more likely to base decisions depending on own beliefs
35
Q

Social support obedience milgram

A
  • Obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when genuine participants were joined by disobedient confederate
  • independent behaviour increased from 35% to 90% in disobedient peer condition
  • Social support people more confident to resist obedience if they can find ally whose willing to join them
36
Q

Research support resistance to obedience gamson et al

A
  • found higher levels of resistance in their study than milgram because they were in groups
  • had to produce evidence to help an oil company run a ‘smear campaign’
  • 29 out of 33 groups of participants
  • 88% rebelled
  • show’s peer support linked to greater resistance
37
Q

Evaluation social support research to support resistance to conformity Allen and Levine

A
  • found independence increased with one dissenter in asch type study
  • even if dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had problems with vision
  • resistance isn’t motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of pressure to conform to the group
38
Q

Obedience resistance to social influence + the 2 explanations

A
  • ability of people to withstand social pressure to conform to majority or to obey authority
  • influenced by both situational and dispositional factors

2 explanations are:

  • social support
  • locus of control
39
Q

Serge moscovici experiment blue green slide study descriptions and findings

A
  • participants had eye tests to ensure they weren’t colour blind
  • placed in group of 4 other participants and 2 confederates
  • were shown 36 slides which were clearly different shades of blue
  • asked to state colour of each slide out loud
  • in first part confederates answered green for each of the slides.
  • were completely consistent in responses
  • in second part they answered green 24x and blue 12x and inconsistent
  • suggests minorities can influence majorities
  • indicates this influence is more effective when minority are consistent in responses
40
Q

Two types of consistency descriptions

A
  • synchronic consistency:
  • people in minority are all saying the same thing
  • diachronic consistency:
  • they’ve been saying same thing for a long time
41
Q

Moscovici et al conclusion.

A
  • suggests minorities can influence majorities
  • indicates this influence is more effective when the minority are consistent in response
  • when minority gave inconsistent answers they were largely ignored by majority
  • later research has confirmed these findings
42
Q

Évaluations moscovici study green blue study

A
  • bias sample of 172 female US participants
  • unable to generalise results to other populations eg male participants
  • can’t conclude male participants would respond to minority influence in same way
  • breached ethical guidelines
  • artificial tasks- real life situations more complex
  • findings lack external validity and have limited real world applications
  • effect of minority may not be apparent - people may be reluctant to admit their conversion publically
  • found higher agreement with minority when they wrote down their answers so internalisation took place
43
Q

Social influence processes involved in social change include

A
  • minority influence
  • internal loc
  • disobedience to authority
44
Q

Kelman and Hamilton suggest 3 main factors to explain obedience

A
  • legitimacy of the system
  • legitimacy of authority within the system
  • legitimacy of demands or orders given
45
Q

Legitimacy of the system

A
  • concerns the extent to which the ‘body’ is a legitimate source of authority examples
  • government
  • army
  • religious group
  • school
  • family
46
Q

Legitimacy of authority within the system

A
  • is the power individuals hold to give orders because of their position in the system
  • therefore is linked to status and hierarchy within a particular establishment
47
Q

Legitimacy of demands or orders given

A
  • refers to extent with which the order is perceived to be a legitimate area for the authority figure
48
Q

Thé legitimacy theory evaluation cultural differences

A
  • in some cultures authority more likely to be accepted as legitimate
  • entitled to demand obedience from individuals.
  • reflects ways that different societies are structured and are raised to perceive authority figures
49
Q

Authoritarian research support evaluation

Milgram and Elms

A
  • conducted follow up study using pps who took part in milgrams original study
  • found those who were fully obedient and went to 450 volts scored higher on tests of authoritarianism
  • lower on scales of social responsibility than those who defied expérimenter
  • findings support Adornos claims although only a correlation could be determined
  • large amount of evidence to indicate that people who are very rigid, conservative , and prejudiced have been brought up the way Adorno described
  • with great deal of corporal punishment and little chance to express their own opinions
50
Q

Variables affecting obedience list

A
  • proximity
  • location
  • uniform
51
Q

Situational factors in obedience

Proximity description

A
  • learner in same room levels of obedience dropped to 40%
  • (touch proximity condition) levels dropped to 30%
  • (experimenter absent condition) obedience levels dropped to 21%
52
Q

Situational factors in obedience

Location

A
  • due to studies being conducted at Yale uni
  • pps reported this gave them confidence in integrity of study
  • result-made them more likely to obey
  • when study was moved to run down offices with no affiliation to Yale,
  • obedience levels dropped to 48%
53
Q

Situational factors in obedience

Uniform

A
  • uniforms influence obedience because they’re easily recognisable
  • convey power and authority
  • bushman found people were more likely to obey researcher in police style uniform than dressed as a business executive
54
Q

Situational factors in obedience
Evaluation
Proximity; increasing proximity doesn’t always lead to decreased obedience

A
  • Mander claims milgrams findings about influence of proximity on obedience aren’t borne out of by real life events
  • study of reserve police battalion 101 found close physical proximity to their Jewish victims didn’t make these men less obedient
  • Mandel concludes using ‘obedience’ as an explanation for these atrocities masks real reasons behind such behaviours
55
Q

Situational factors in obedience
Evaluation
Location high levels of obedience weren’t surprising

A
  • Fromm claims milgrams pps knew they were part of scientific experiment
  • made them more likely to obey
  • experimenter represents prestigious institution and experimenter is representative of science
  • Fromm suggests 65% obedience was less surprising than 35% disobedience
  • result -we shouldn’t generalise from milgrams lab to event such as the behaviour of perpetrators in genocides like Holocaust
56
Q

Variables affecting conformity asch
Évaluation
There are problems with determining the effect of group size

A
  • bond suggests limitation of research in conformity
  • studies have used limited range of majority sizes
  • no studies other than asch have used majority size greater than nine and range of majority sizes used is much narrower typically between 2 and 4
  • suggests we know very little about effect of larger majority sizes on conformity levels
57
Q

Social influence processes in social change dccas list

A
  • drawing attention to the issue
  • cognitive conflict
  • consistency
  • augmentation principle
  • snowball effect
58
Q

Social influence processes in social change dccas description

A
  • drawing attention to the issue- a minority can bring about social change by drawing attention to an issue eg suffragettes
  • cognitive conflict -minority creates conflict in the minds of majority between what’s currently believed and what minority believes eg only men can vote
  • consistency - social change more likely when minority is consistent in its position eg suffragettes were consistent in views regardless of other people’s attitudes
  • augmentation principle - if minority suffers for its view its taken more seriously eg suffragettes risked imprisonment
  • snowball effect - minority influence initially has small effect but this spreads more widely until it eventually leads to large scale social change eg after suffragettes actions idea finally spread to majority
59
Q

Social influence processes in social change dccas
Évaluation
Social change happens only gradually through minority influence

A
  • role played by minority influence may be limited since minorities rarely bring about social change quickly
  • tendency for human beings to conform to majority position
  • people more likely to maintain status quo rather than engage in social change
  • suggests the influence of a minority creates the potential for change rather than bringing about actual social change
60
Q

Social influence processes in social change dccas
Évaluation
Being perceived as ‘deviant’ limits the influence of minorities

A
  • potential for minorities to influence social change is often limited because they’re seen as ‘déviant’ by majority
  • means members of majority may avoid aligning themselves with minority position as they don’t want to be seen as deviant themselves
  • minorities therefore face the challenge of avoiding being portrayed as deviant and also persuading people to embrace their position
61
Q

Social change through majority influence

A
  • young adults misperceive the frequency with which a behaviour eg binge drinking occurs among their peers
  • social norms interventions communicate to a target population the actual norm concerning such behaviour so that recipients will change their behaviour to bring it in line with the norm
  • Montana- correction of misperceptions about norm of ‘drink driving’ led to reduction in the frequency of this behaviour
62
Q

Social change through majority influence
Évaluation
The social norms approach doesn’t always work

A
  • social norms interventions shown positive results
  • they have limitations
  • dejong et al tested effectiveness of social norms campaigns to reduce alcohol use among students
  • Despite receiving normative info that corrected their misperceptions of drinking norms students didn’t report lower alcohol consumption as a result of campaign
  • therefore not all social norms interventions able to produce social change
63
Q

Social change through majority influence
Évaluation
Attempting social changes through the social norms approach can have a boomerang effect

A
  • social norms interventions aimed at individuals whose behaviours less desirable than norm but those whose behaviours more desirable also received the message
  • for those who already engage in constructive behaviour being advocated a normative message can cause them to behave more in line with norm
  • Schultz calls this boomerang effect eg a social norms campaign concerning energy usage caused those who used less than norm to increase their usage
64
Q

Conformity to social roles by zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
Evaluation
- conformity to roles isn’t automatic

A
  • Haslam and reicher challenged zimbardos belief that guards behaviour was simply a consequence of them embracing role
  • although some guards behaved sadistically towards prisoners others were good guards who didn’t degrade or harass prisoners
  • argue this shows guards chose how to behave rather than blindly conforming to social role as suggested by zimbardo
65
Q

Conformity to social roles by zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
Evaluation
The study suffered from the problem of demand characteristics

A
  • banuazizi and mavahedi claimed participants acted that way because they guessed how researcher wanted them to behave
  • presented details of study to large sample of students
  • vast majority guessed true purpose of study and predicted guards would act in hostile domineering way and prisoners in passive way
  • suggests behaviour of zimbardos guards was less to do with conformity to social roles and to do with demand characteristics of artificial situation
66
Q

Conformity to social roles by zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
Evaluation
Zimbardos study is unethical

A
  • zimbardo followed Stanford uni ethical guidelines it’s clear participants still suffered distress
  • zimbardo acknowledged study should’ve been stopped even earlier
  • However debriefing sessions over several years found no lasting negative effects due to participation
  • reicher and Haslam reacted to this issue and took greater steps to minimise any potential harm for their participants
  • result - bbc study was testing but not harmful
67
Q

Conformity to social roles by zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
Evaluation
The Stanford prison experiment can help explain events at Abu Ghraib

A
  • zimbardo argues conformity to social role effect can explain abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US military personnel at Abu ghraib prison in Iraq
  • zimbardo believes guards who committed these abuses were victims of situational factors were present in his study and at Abu ghraib
  • included lack of training or accountability to higher authority
  • concludes these factors combined with an opportunity to misuse the power associated with their role led guards to abuse prisoners in both situations

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