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AQA A-Level Psychology > Section 1 : Social Influence - Conformity > Flashcards

Section 1 : Social Influence - Conformity Flashcards

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1
Q

What is conformity

A

yielding to group pressure

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2
Q

What are the 3 types of conformity

A

Compliance
Internalisation
Identification

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3
Q

What is compliance

A

-publicly but not privately going along with the majority influence to gain approval/avoid ridicule
-Weak/temporary and only shown in presence of a group

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4
Q

What is internalisation

A

-true conformity
-public and private acceptance of majority influence, through adoption of the majority group’s belief system
-stronger, permanent form of conformity, as it maintained outside of the groups presence

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5
Q

What is identification

A
  • public and private acceptance of majority influence in order to gain group acceptance
  • stronger form of conformity but still temporary, don’t always agree with the group
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6
Q

what is information social influence (ISI)

A

a cognitive process, it is to do with what you think. we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct

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7
Q

why does information social influence happen

A
  • Uncertain
  • agree with the majority and believe that is right
  • want to be right
  • cognitive process
  • public and private agreement
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8
Q

when does ISI happen

A

situations that are new to a person
some ambiguity
in crisis situations
one person in the group is regarded as being more of an expert

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9
Q

what is NSI (normative social influence)

A
  • NSI is an emotional process
  • says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked.
  • the person may publicly change their behaviour/view but will privately disagree
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10
Q

why does NSI happen

A
  • agree with the opinion of majority
  • need for acceptance
  • gain social approval/be liked
  • emotional process
  • public and private views differ -> compliance
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11
Q

when does NSI happen

A

-situations with strangers
-occur with people you know
-pronounced in stressful situations

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12
Q

Who tested the effects of information social influence (ISI)

A

Sherif (1935)

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13
Q

What type of experiment was Sherif (1935) - Conformity and the auto kinetic effect

A

A Laboratory experiment

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14
Q

Did Sherif allow his experiment to be repeated

A

Yes

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15
Q

What is the auto kinetic effect

A

An effect where a stationary spot viewed in a dark room, appears to move

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16
Q

What were participants told before they underwent the experiment

A

They were falsely told that the experimenter would move the light

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17
Q

What happened to the participants after doing the experiment

A

They made their own individual repeated estimates. Then they were put in groups of 3 where they said their estimates with others present. They were then retested.

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18
Q

What were the results of this experiment

A

-Participants made their own stable estimates when they were alone, which varied
-When the participants were in a group, the estimates tended to converge and become more alike
-When participants were retested by themselves their estimates became more alike the group estimates rather than their own estimates

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19
Q

What was the conclusion of this experiment

A

-Participants were influenced by the estimates of other people, group norm developed
-Estimates converged because articulates used information from others to help them
-They were affected ISI

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20
Q

What was the significance of laboratory experiment

A

There was strict control of the variables, meaning results are unlikely to have been affected by a third variable. Possible to establish cause and effect

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21
Q

What did the repeated measure design of the experiment mean

A

Means participant variables that could’ve affected results were kept constant.

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22
Q

Why was the method flawed

A
  • Participants asked to judge the movement of a stationary light - rarely happens in real life
  • Created an artificial situation
    -Lacks ecological validity
    -Results cannot be generalised as all participants were male
    -Participants were deceived - ethical problem
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23
Q

Who tested the effects of Normative Social Influence

A

Asch (1951)

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24
Q

What type of experiment was Asch’s research (1951)

A

Laboratory

25
Q

What specific design element of Asch’s research was very significant

A

The independent groups

26
Q

How big were the groups

A

8 people

27
Q

What did the participants in the groups have to do

A

Judge the length of lines by saying out loud which comparison line matched the standard line

28
Q

How many real participants were in the group

A

1 participant - other 7 participants were confederates

29
Q

When did the real participant say their answer

A

Last or last but one - they heard the others answers before giving theirs

30
Q

How many trials did the participants do

A

18 - 12 of these were critical trials

31
Q

What was meant by critical trials

A

The confederates all gave the same wrong answer

32
Q

Was there a control group

A

Yes

33
Q

What did the control group do

A

Judged the line lengths in isolation

34
Q

What were the results in the control trials

A

Participants gave the wrong answer 0.7% of the time

35
Q

What were the results of the critical trials

A

-Participants conformed to the majority giving the wrong answer 37% of the time.
-75% conformed at least once
-Participants didn’t really believe their answer but didn’t want look different

36
Q

What was the conclusion of Asch’s research

A

-People conformed to the majority due to NSI
-The task was easy to get right and 37% were wrong in the critical trials

37
Q

What was the significance of Asch’s Research being a lab experiment

A

-There was good control of variables - minimises the effects of extraneous variables.
-Can easily repeat the study

38
Q

Does the study have or lack ecological validity, why?

A

No, because they were not in a natural situation. Whether they were right or wrong participants might’ve been less likely to conform if their answer had real life consequences

39
Q

Were there ethical problems with Asch’s research

A

Participants were deceived and might’ve been embarrassed when they found out the nature of the study

40
Q

What does situational factors mean

A

Refers to the social situation someone is in

41
Q

What does dispositional factors mean

A

Refers to the persons internal characteristics

42
Q

What situational factors did Asch investigate

A

-Group Size
-Unanimity/Social Support
-Task Difficulty

43
Q

How did Asch investigate if group size had an affect on the participants

A

He conducted the experiment with different amounts of confederates as the majority

44
Q

What result did changing the group size have on conformity rates in Asch’s research

A

-with 2 confederates, the real participant conformed 14% of the critical trials
-with 3 confederates, conformity rose to 32% - after that there were little changes in conformity rates

45
Q

What can we conclude about whether group size had an affect on conformity

A

Very small majorities are easier to resist than larger ones, but influence doesn’t keep increasing with the size of majority

46
Q

How did Asch investigate whether unanimity/social support had an effect on conformity

A

Rather than the confederates forming unanimous majority, one of the confederates agreed with the real participant

47
Q

What results did the changes of unanimity have on conformity rates

A

Having a fellow dissenter meant unanimity in the group was broken. The rates of conformity fell to 5.5%

48
Q

What can we conclude about whether unanimity affected conformity

A

It made it easier for participants to resist the pressure to conform

49
Q

How did Asch investigate whether task difficulty had an effect on conformity

A

He made the line lengths similar

50
Q

What results did making the task harder mean for conformity rates

A

Conformity increased

51
Q

What can we conclude about whether task difficulty had an effect on conformity

A

People are more likely to conform if they’re less confident that they’re correct.

52
Q

What dispositional factors could’ve affected conformity rates in Asch’s research

A
  • Confidence
  • Gender
53
Q

Did confidence affect conformity rates, why?

A

Yes, if people felt more confident in their judgements, they were more able to resist group pressure

54
Q

What studies support that confidence decreases conformity

A

Wiestenthal (1976) - if people felt competent in a task, they were less likely to conform
Perrin and Spencer - Replicated Asch’s study, Participants were engineering students.Conformity levels were lower, could’ve been to the fact that engineering students have more confidence in their skills in making accurate observations.

55
Q

What was the dominant view about gender and conformity

A

The dominant view was that women are more likely to conform than males.

56
Q

What study changed the dominant view about gender and conformity

A

Eagly and Carli (1981)

57
Q

What was Eagly and carli

A

They did a meta-analysis of conformity research. They analysed a number of data from studies x they found some differences in sex for conformity but they were inconsistent.

58
Q

What did Eagly argue (1987)

A

Men and womens different socials roles explain differences in conformity. Women are more concerned with group harmony, so are more likely to agree with others.

AQA A-Level Psychology (34 decks)

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