Psychology - Social Influence Flashcards
What is social influence?
Social influence is the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, or behavior are modified by the presence or actions of others. Key areas include conformity, compliance, obedience, and minority influence.
What is compliance in conformity?
Compliance occurs when a person publicly agrees with a group but privately disagrees. This change in behavior is temporary and driven by the desire to fit in or avoid rejection.
Example: Laughing at a joke you don’t find funny because your friends are laughing.
Study: Asch’s Line Study.
What is internalisation in conformity?
Internalisation is when a person adopts the group’s beliefs both publicly and privately, making a permanent change in behavior.
Example: Converting religions or adopting vegetarianism after exposure to a friend’s beliefs.
Study: Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment.
What is identification in conformity?
Identification occurs when someone conforms to the expectations of a social role (e.g., teacher, guard). It involves external behavioral change but may not reflect internal agreement.
Example: Zimbardo’s Prison Study.
What is normative social influence?
It is conformity driven by the desire to fit in and avoid rejection. This often results in compliance, where public behavior changes but private beliefs do not.
What is informational social influence?
It is conformity based on the desire to be correct, looking to others as a source of information, especially in uncertain situations. This often results in internalisation.
Example: Choosing the correct fork at a formal dinner by copying others.
Study: Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment.
Describe Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment.
Jenness asked participants to estimate the number of beans in a jar individually and then as a group. Group estimates converged, demonstrating informational influence and majority influence.
What was the procedure of Asch’s Line Study?
Groups of 5-7 participants were shown a standard line and comparison lines. Only one was a real participant; the rest were confederates who gave incorrect answers on 12/18 trials.
What were the findings of Asch’s Line Study?
32% conformed to incorrect answers on critical trials.
75% conformed at least once.
Evaluate Asch’s study.
Weaknesses:
Low ecological validity (artificial task).
Gender-biased sample (male participants).
Ethical issues: Deception and potential embarrassment.
Strengths:
Supports theories like normative social influence.
How does group size affect conformity?
Conformity increases with group size but plateaus at 3-5 members.
How does group unanimity affect conformity?
Conformity decreases significantly when even one person disagrees with the majority.
How does task difficulty affect conformity?
More difficult tasks increase conformity as individuals seek guidance.
How does private answering affect conformity?
Conformity decreases when answers are given privately, reducing normative pressures.
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment?
To investigate how individuals conform to social roles (guard/prisoner) in a simulated prison environment.
Describe the procedure of Zimbardo’s study.
24 male college students were randomly assigned as guards or prisoners in a mock prison.
Guards were given uniforms and authority; prisoners were dehumanized with uniforms and ID numbers.
The behavior of participants was observed over time.
What were the findings of Zimbardo’s study?
Guards adopted brutal, authoritarian roles, harassing prisoners.
Prisoners became submissive, compliant, and distressed.
Social roles strongly influenced behavior.
Evaluate Zimbardo’s study.
Weaknesses:
Low ecological validity (artificial setting).
Ethical issues: Psychological harm, lack of informed consent, and humiliation of participants.
Demand characteristics: Guards may have acted based on perceived expectations.
Strengths:
Altered U.S. prison policies (e.g., separation of juveniles and adults).
Led to the development of ethical guidelines for psychological research.
What is obedience in the context of social influence?
Obedience is a type of social influence where a person follows an order from another person, typically an authority figure.
What did Milgram aim to study with his obedience experiment?
Milgram aimed to study why people followed harmful orders, particularly in the context of the Holocaust, where people followed orders to kill Jews.
What was the procedure of Milgram’s shock study?
Participants were assigned the role of “teacher” and asked to administer electric shocks to a “learner” (a confederate) every time they gave a wrong answer. The shocks increased from 15 to 450 volts.
What were the key results of Milgram’s obedience study?
65% of participants administered the maximum shock of 450 volts. All participants went to at least 300 volts.
What was the main ethical concern in Milgram’s obedience study?
Ethical issues included deception (participants believed they were administering real shocks), lack of informed consent, and potential psychological harm due to stress.
What is the Agentic State?
The agentic state theory suggests that people obey authority figures because they believe that the authority figure will take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
How does the agentic state relate to Milgram’s experiment?
Milgram found that participants were more likely to obey when the experimenter took responsibility for their actions, as in the agentic state, where participants felt less personally accountable.
What is Legitimacy of Authority in terms of obedience?
People are more likely to obey those they perceive as legitimate authority figures, such as teachers, police officers, or scientists, especially when their authority is supported by societal norms or institutions.
How does the status of location affect obedience?
Obedience is higher in prestigious settings, like a university. In Milgram’s study, obedience dropped when the experiment was moved to a run-down office, suggesting that the status of location influences obedience.
What effect does proximity of the authority figure have on obedience?
Obedience is higher when the authority figure is physically present. For example, in Milgram’s study, obedience dropped when the experimenter gave instructions by phone instead of being in the same room.
What is the Authoritarian Personality?
The authoritarian personality is a dispositional trait where individuals are more likely to obey authority and are hostile toward people of inferior status. It is characterized by respect for authority and an inclination toward prejudice.
What were the findings of Adorno’s study on the authoritarian personality?
Adorno found that individuals with an authoritarian personality were more likely to harbor prejudices and have rigid, conformist attitudes. He used the F-scale to measure these traits.
What is a limitation of the authoritarian personality theory?
A limitation is that it cannot explain widespread obedience, such as that shown by many Germans during the Holocaust, as not everyone with authoritarian traits obeyed orders
What is Social Support in terms of resistance to social influence?
Social support refers to the presence of others who resist pressure, which increases an individual’s confidence to resist conformity or obedience.
How does social support affect obedience in Milgram’s study?
In Milgram’s study, when two confederates refused to obey, obedience dropped to 10%, showing that social support can significantly reduce obedience.
What is Locus of Control?
Locus of control refers to how much control a person feels they have over their own behavior. An internal locus of control means they believe their actions are self-determined, while an external locus of control attributes actions to external factors.
How does Locus of Control affect conformity and obedience?
People with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist conformity and obedience, as they feel responsible for their actions. Those with an external locus of control are more likely to conform or obey.
What is Minority Influence?
Minority influence occurs when a smaller group (the minority) changes the opinions of a larger group (the majority).
What role does consistency play in minority influence?
Consistency is key to minority influence. A consistent minority view is more likely to be taken seriously and influence the majority to reconsider their stance.
What was the procedure and findings of Moscovici’s experiment on minority influence?
In Moscovici’s experiment, two confederates consistently called blue slides “green” in front of a group of participants. When consistent, about 8% of participants conformed, but only 1% did when the minority was inconsistent.
What is Diachronic Consistency?
Diachronic consistency refers to consistency over time, where the minority holds the same view without changing it, making their position more convincing.
What is Synchronic Consistency?
Synchronic consistency refers to when all members of the minority group express the same opinion, strengthening the impact on the majority.
What is Commitment in the context of minority influence?
Commitment refers to when a minority demonstrates self-confidence and dedication to a cause, which makes the majority more likely to assume the minority has a valid point.
How does Flexibility contribute to minority influence?
Flexibility involves the minority appearing willing to compromise, which makes them seem more reasonable and cooperative. This increases the chances of changing majority views.
What is the significance of actual flexibility and compromise, as researched by Nemeth?
Nemeth found that when a consistent minority compromises and moves toward the majority’s position, the majority is more likely to change their views, suggesting that flexibility is crucial for minority influence.
