Paper 1 - Social Influence

Question 1

Name the 3 types of conformity.

Answer 1

Compleince, internalisation, identification.

Question 2

Outline, compliance, internalisation, identification.

Answer 2

Compliance - When a person may agree in public buy privately disagrees.
Internalisation - When a person changes behaviour to fit in with the group while also agreeing privately.
Identification - When a person conforms to the demands of their given social role.

Question 3

What studies can be used in reference to the three types of conformity, compliance , internalisation, identification.

Answer 3

Compliance - Asch line study.
Internalisation - Jennes bean har study.
Identification - Zimbardo prison study.

Question 4

Name the two explanations for conformity.

Answer 4

Normative influence and informational influence.

Question 5

Outline Normative and Informational influence as explanations for conformity.

Answer 5

Normative Influence - The desire to be liked, we conform to fit in with the group as we don’t want to appear foolish.
Informational Influence - The desire to be right, when we conform because we are unsure of the situation or lake knowledge, so we look to others who we believe have more information than us.

Question 6

What study’s can be used in reference to explanations of conformity, normative and informational influence.

Answer 6

Normative - Asch line study.

Informational - Jennes bean jar study.

Question 7

Which type of influence do the explanations tend to lead too? And is it temporary or permanent ( only applies to normative influence).

Answer 7

Normative - Leads to compliance which is therefore a temporary change if behaviour.

Question 8

Briefly outline Jennes bean jar experiment.

Answer 8

Participants we’re asked to estimate how many beans were in a jar and then asked to do the same in a group.

Question 9

Briefly outline the results of Jennes bean jar study.

Answer 9

When participants we’re asked in social groups, he found that estimates were roughly the same value.
( However they previously reported quite different estimates as individuals. )

Question 10

What did the results of Jennes bean jar show?

Answer 10

It was successful in showing majority influence, thus proving that individuals behaviour and beliefs can be influenced by a group.
Additionally this is an example of informational social influence as participants would be uncertain about actual number in the jar.
Also an example of Internalisation.

Question 11

Briefly outline the procedure of Asch’s study.

Answer 11

7 participants per group 6 we’re Confederates and 1 was a real participant.
Participants had to say out loud and identify which line was the same length as the example line out of 3.
Confederates were told to give 12/18 incorrect answers.

Question 12

Outline the results Asch found in his research.

Answer 12

True participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials where Confederates gave the wrong answers. Additionally 75% of the sample conformed to the majority on at least one trial.

Question 13

Outline the results Asch found in his research.

Answer 13

True participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials where Confederates gave the wrong answers. Additionally 75% of the sample conformed to the majority on at least one trial.

Question 14

How does Asch’s study lack ecological validity?

Answer 14

It was based off people’s perception of the lines, and therefore does not reflect the complexity of real life conformity.

Question 15

How does Asch’s study lack population validity?

Answer 15

He used only males, therefore gender bias not relatable to females.

Question 16

Name all of the ethical issues regarding Asch’s study.

Answer 16

Deception as participants we’re told the study was about perception of lines.
Therefore they could not give informed consent.
Embarrassment when the true nature of the study was revealed creating psychological harm.
However he did debrief at the end.

Question 17

Name the 4 factors affecting comformity found by Asch.

Answer 17

Group size, group unanimity, difficulty of task, answer in private.

Question 18

Briefly outline how Asch changed group size and what effect it had on the results.

Answer 18

He altered the number of Confederates, with one Confederate the conformity was 3%, with 2 it was 13% and with 3 it was 32% however the conformity did not rise after a size of about 4/5.
Because conformity does not seem to increase in groups larger than four, this is optimal group size.

Question 19

Outline Asch’s findings into Group Unanimity.

Answer 19

A person is more likely to conform when all members of the groups are in agreement and give the same answer.
When the groups answer was not unanimous conformity dropped

Question 20

Outline Asch’s findings into the difficulty of the task.

Answer 20

The harder the task the higher conformity. Ie when the lines were more closely related they were harder to judge and we look to others for confirmation.

Question 21

Outline Asch’s findings into answering in private.

Answer 21

When participants we’re allowed to answer in private conformity decresed. This is because there are fewer pressures and normative influence is not as powerfully as there is no fear of rejection.

Question 22

Briefly outline the procedure of Zimbardo’s prison study into social roles.

Answer 22

He converted the basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a ‘mock’ prison.
Then advertised to students to play the roles of prison guard and prisoner for a fortnight.
Assigned guards khaki uniforms and a whistle and prisoner uniforms to those assigned prisoner.
They were randomly assigned to each role.
Handcuffs and dark glasses so no eye contact.
No physical violancece was tolerated.
Guards worked 8 hour shifts.
Zimbardo was both researcher and warden.

Question 23

Outline the findings of Zimbardo’s prison study.

Answer 23

Very fast both types of participants adopted their social roles, guards after a few hours harassed the prisoners becoming sadistic. They enjoyed it and other guards joined in.

Prisoners adopted theirs by telling tales on other prisoners, and talking about prison issues

As the Prisoners became more submissive the guards became more aggressive, prisoners we’re dependant on guards and told tales to please them and get rewards.

Question 24

How can demand characteristics be found in Zimbardo’s study, and cause ecological validity issues?

Answer 24

Some of the guards admitted later on they were acting.
Because the guards and prisoners we’re playing a role it might not have the same affect as in real life if they really we’re in that role. Therefore the study cannot be applied to real life = low ecological validity.

Question 25

Zimbardo’s study lacks population validity explain.

Answer 25

The study was completely comprised of American male students, therefore cannot be applied to females, and furthermore cannot be applied universally as it may differ in collectivist cultures etc.

Question 26

How has Zimbardo’s study positively affected the US prisons?

Answer 26

It has changed the way US prisons are run, juveniles accused of federal crimes are no longer houses with adult inmates due to the risk of violence.

Question 27

Outline the ethical issues with Zimbardo’s study.

Answer 27

Lack of informed consent as Zimbardo’s himself didn’t know what would happen in the study.
Prisoners did not consent to being arrested at their home.

Those in the roles of prisoners we’re not protected from psychological harm, from anxiety and distress, eg one prisoner had to be released after 36 hours for uncontrollable screaming. However he could not have hypothesised this.

In addition Zimbardo did conduct debriefing sessions for many years afterwords and there were no psychological lasting affects.

Question 28

How did the unethical approach of Zimbardo affect future research?

Answer 28

His unethical approach led to the creation and introduction of ethical guidelines, studies must now gain ethical approval from a committee now before they are started preventing any distress like Zimbardo’s study did.

Question 29

Why did Milgrim want to conduct his test, and what type of influence did it show?

Answer 29

He wanted to demonstrate that Americans are different to Nazis/Germans and that they wouldn’t follow through with the shocks, and it shows obedience ( following orders usually from and authoitive figure.)

Question 30

Briefly outline the procedure of Milgrims study.

Answer 30

2 participants were assigned the role of a teacher (true participant, or a student (confederate named Mr Wallace).
The Investigator then asked the participants to administer shocks to the learner for every wrong answer they gave. Increasing every time they gave a wrong answer ( from 15-450v).
The Investigator/experimentor wore a grey lab coat, and was told to read out 4 prods whenever the participant did not obey.
Prod 1 - please continue
Prod 2 - the experimentor requires that you continue
Prod 3 - it is absolutely essential that you continue
Prod 4 - you have no other choice but to continue

Question 31

Outline the findings of Milgrims study.

Answer 31

All participants went to 300v and 65% we’re willing to go to 450v.
Milgrim did many other studies that changed the Iv to affect the dv, such as Investigator giving instructions on the phone from another room in of which obediance fell to 20%.

Question 32

How does Milgrims study lack ecological validity?

Answer 32

Milgrims study was conducted in a artificial lab setting, with artificial conditions.
Meaning that it might not be possible to generalise the results into a real life setting, as people do not usually get orders to hurt others.

Question 33

How was Milgrims sample biased?

Answer 33

Milgrims sample was biased as he only used males participants, meaning it cannot be generalised to females.

Question 34

What value has Milgrims work provided to social psychology?

Answer 34

Milgrims research gives light to as why people under influence of the Nazi regime actually went through with their horrendous deeds, and killed millions of innocent lives. It highlights how we can all be blind to obedience.

Question 35

How does Milgrims study have good reliability?

Answer 35

Milgrim used a standardized procedure and it was a lab experiment, this is good because it improved reliability and helps to form casual relationships.

Question 36

How did Milgrims study involve deception?

Answer 36

The participants actually believed they were shocking real people.
However Milgrim argued that deception is necessary to study obedience.
He also interviewed participants after and 83% said they were glad to be in the experiment. Only 1.3% percent said they wouldn’t want to be involved at all.

Question 37

Outline the Agentic State, and how is it linked to milgrams study.

Answer 37

The Agentic State theory suggests that people will obey an authority when they believe the authority will get the blame. This is supported by some of milgrams research.
For example when he reminded individuals that they we’re responsible for their actions almost non obeyed
And in contrast if experimentor said he would take the blame many participants went on.

Question 38

How is one of Milgrims variations linked to the Agentic State.

Answer 38

His variation that involved the participants instructing a assistant (confederate) to shock the individual 92.5% went all the way too 450 volts. Showing that when there is less personal responsibility obedience decreases.

Question 39

Outline how the legitimacy of the authoritive figure affects obedience, and relate to Milgrim.

Answer 39

People tend to obey those who they know and recognise as having authority, and knowing their authority is morally right. It is learned throughout life such as in school. In Milgrims study the experimenter is seen as having a legitimate scientific status so he is morally correct.

Question 40

How do situational factors affect obedience, and relate to Milgrams study.

Answer 40

Milgrim changed the basic procedure (Iv) and in doing so he could identify the situational factors affecting the obedience (DV). Obedience in this case was 65% (original).

Question 41

How did the uniform of the experimentor affect obedience?

Answer 41

When wearing a lab coat which gave him.more scientific credibility obediance was high. However when wearing every day clothes obediance was very low. Their uniform gave them authoritive status.

Question 42

How did the status of the location affect Milgrims study?

Answer 42

When he first conducted his test it was done at Yale, one of the most prestigious Unis. However when he moved the study to a set of run down offices obedience dropped to 47%. So status of location affects obedience.

Question 43

How did the proximity of the authoritive figure affect obedience.

Answer 43

People are more likely to obey an authoritive figure who is in close proximity, in Milgrims study they were in the same room. But when he did the experiment with the experimenter in the other room prompting through a phone the obedience rate fell to 20%. Many participants cheated giving no shocks or missing shocks.

Question 44

Briefly outline Adornos dispositional explanation : Authoritarian personality.

Answer 44

He felt that personality factors could explain obedience, he proposed that those who favour Authoritarian social systems could admire obedience to authority.
One charactristic of these individuals is that they can be hostile to those who are of inferior status.

Question 45

Outline how Social support can can lead to resistance to social influence, include reference to Asch and Milgrim.

Answer 45

In one of Aschs variations, he showed that the presence of a dissident (un conformed confederate), led to a decrease in conformity due to less social pressure. He gave the participant social support. Making them more confident in their decision.

Milgrims variation in of which he introduced 2 other participants (Confederates) we’re also teachers but refused to one. (One at a low voltage and one slightly higher). There presence made obedience levels drop to about 10%

Question 46

What is an high internal locus of control.

Answer 46

People with high external of control perceive themselves as having a great deal of personal control over their behaviour. And therefore are more likely to take responsibility over their actions.

Question 47

What is an high external locus of control?

Answer 47

Where individuals perceive their behaviour as a result of external influences, or even luck.

Question 48

What does research show about internal ocus of control, and what does rotter propose about this.

Answer 48

Research shows that people with internal locus of controls are better at resisting obedience. And Rotter suggests this is the case as they feel responsible for their actions.

Question 49

Define minority influence, and when it occurs.

Answer 49

Minority influence occurs when a small group influences the opinion of a much larger group. This van haoo n when a minority behaves in a certain way.

Question 50

What did Moscovici find to have a role in minority influence.

Answer 50

Moscovici found that consistency and a unchanging view is more likely to influence the majority than if the minority is inconsistent and changes their mind.

Question 51

Outline the procedure of Moscovivi’s study.

Answer 51

Conducted an experiment with females, showing 36 blue slides with different intensities. There we’re 2 Confederates.
In the first part the Confederates answered green for each of the 36 slides. They were totally consistent.
In the second part they answered green 24 times and blue 12 times.
(A control group without Confederates was also done)

Question 52

Outline Moscovici’s findings.

Answer 52

When the Confederates answered consistently around 8% of the participants said the slides we’re green.
And when answered in-consistently around 1% said they were green.

Question 53

What are the 2 identifiable types of consistency.

Answer 53

Diachronic consistency. And synchronic consistency.

Question 54

Outline Diachroni consistency.

Answer 54

Consistency over time, the majority sticks to it’s guns, and dosent modify it’s views.

Question 55

Define Synchroinc consistency.

Answer 55

Consistency between it’s members, and all members agree and back each other up.

Question 56

How can consistency be important. (2 ways)

Answer 56

Members of the majority will take notice when confronted with consistent opposition. And will rethink their position.

A consistent minority disrupts norms and creates uncertainty, doubt and conflict can lead to majority taking minority view seriously. More likely to question their own views.

Question 57

Explain commitment in terms of minority influence.

Answer 57

When the majority is confronted with someone with self-confidence and dedication yo take a popular stand and refuses to back down they assume they gave a point to prove.

Question 58

Explain commitment in terms of minority influence.

Answer 58

When the majority is confronted with someone with self-confidence and dedication yo take a popular stand and refuses to back down they assume they gave a point to prove.

Question 59

Explain how flexibility affects majority conformity.

Answer 59

The key to minority influence is how the majority interprets the minority.
If consistent the minority is seen as inflexible and rigid, and unlikely to change views of majority.
However if they appear flexible and compromising, they are likely to be less extreme and reasonable, and have a better change of changing majority views.

Question 60

Explain how flexibility affects majority conformity.

Answer 60

The key to minority influence is how the majority interprets the minority.
If consistent the minority is seen as inflexible and rigid, and unlikely to change views of majority.
However if they appear flexible and compromising, they are likely to be less extreme and reasonable, and have a better change of changing majority views.

Question 61

What did Nemeth say about flexibility.

Answer 61

Nemeth argues that it is not just appearance of flexibility but, the actual flexibility and compromise.