Social

Question 1

Social Influence

Answer 1

The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours

Question 2

Legitimacy of authority

Answer 2

An explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us due to the position of power but they hold within the social hierarchy

Question 3

3 features of an authoritarian personality

Answer 3

Submissive to superiors
Dismissive of inferiors
Highly prejudiced 

Question 4

What does Milgram‘s study tell us about obedience?

Answer 4

People obey those they consider authority figures
The results suggest that obeying authority is normal behaviour in a hierarchally organised society. We will obey orders that distress us and that even go against all moral code. 

Question 5

Give two situational variables on the impact of these on obedience

Answer 5

Proximity - The physical closeness between the person giving the order and the person receiving it.
Uniform - The outfit that person giving the order as wearing

Question 6

Evaluate milligrams obedience study

Answer 6

-Milgram conducted many experiments researching into a obedience
Original in 1965 + variations conducted later on
-good internal validity, number of controls + standardised procedures, no extraneous variables
(Same 4 prods, same confederate)
-experiment 10 setting changed obedience dropped to 47.5%
(Rundown office building, controls extraneous variables, no credibility)
-Lacks ecological validity, lacks mundane realism + setting is a unnatural
(Electric shocks given, not every day task, people don’t work in rundown offices)
-drawback is ethics aren’t up to BPS guidelines, caused distress, Proof in qualitative data, can’t be replicated BURGER shows could’ve been more ethical
-High validity shows link established, ethics so can’t be replicated, only relevant for his studies however they indicate biological factor in obedience

Question 7

Autonomous state

Answer 7

People direct their own behaviour + take responsibility

Question 8

Agentic state

Answer 8

People allow someone else to direct their behaviour + assume that the responsibility passes onto them. Conscious isn’t in control.
Is an escape from moral strain

Question 9

Latané (1981)

Answer 9

Billy Graham delivered speeches to large + small audiences.
Smaller audiences were more responsive, engaged + more willing to contact later on
(Division of impact)

Question 10

Milgram’s Variation 7

Answer 10

Experimenter gave instructions over the phone
Proximity removes immediacy
Obedience 22.5%

Question 11

Milgram’s variation 10

Answer 11

Run down office building
Less respected than Yale Uni so loses credibility + reputation
Volunteers questioned the experimenter more than at Yale
48.5% obedient

Question 12

Milgram’s variation 13

Answer 12

Ordinary man gives orders
Removes status + some tampered to give allusion they were shocking higher
20% obedient

Question 13

Psychosocial law

Answer 13

Increasing number of sources diminishes effect

Question 14

Division of impact

Answer 14

More targets present, less likely they all are to obey

Question 15

Social force

Answer 15

Strength in status, immediacy (proximity) , number of targets

Question 16

Moral strain

Answer 16

When people become uncomfortable with human behaviour because it goes against their morals + values.

Question 17

Factors affecting obedience: Authoritarian personality

Answer 17

Defined by upbringing (nature/environment) , higher levels of empathy
Strict parenting, military, boarding school, More autonomous
Burger found that higher levels of empathy = more likely to protest but didn’t = lower levels of obedience

Question 18

Factors affecting obedience: Gender

Answer 18

Sheridan + King (1972)
Puppy received electric shocks from college students
All 13 females were more compliant than the men
Blass (1999)
Found that obedience studies + gender were all very consistent + there’s very little difference

Question 19

Factors affecting obedience: Culture

Answer 19

Blass (1999)
Individualistic culture: (America + Britain) behave more independently + resist conformity
Collectivistic culture: (China + Israel) behave as a group on interdependence
Conducted review on obedience + cultural differences. Pps who gave full shock is more to do with procedure than culture.

Question 20

Factors affecting obedience: Momentum of compliance

Answer 20

Staring with small tasks that build up, pp has committed themselves + feel duty bound + are more compliant

Question 21

Factors affecting obedience: status of authority

Answer 21

Milgram stated that obedience could only be established when the authority figure was perceived to be legitimate

Question 22

Factors affecting obedience: personal responsibility

Answer 22

Milgram stated that Pps more obedient on a situation where personal responsibility is removed + placed on authority figure

Question 23

Factors affecting obedience

Answer 23

Gender, culture, Authoritarian personality,
proximity, momentum of compliance
Status of authority, personal responsibility

Question 24

Social identity theory (1979)

Answer 24

Tajfel + Turner used Sherif’s idea of in-group + out-group conflict to investigate prejudice.
Proposed that the mere presence or perception of an out-group can lead to discrimination + prejudice.

Question 25

Personal identity v Social identity

Answer 25

Our own unique qualities, personality + self esteem
The attributes of the group in which we belong
Pi is based off Si. So when Si is favourable, the group members are positive + self esteem is heightened.

Question 26

Demand characteristics

Answer 26

Pps acting in a way they believe to be fit to what they perceive the aim of the study to be

Question 27

Weatherell (1982)

Answer 27

Suggests we shouldn’t conclude that intergroup conflict is inevitable.
She found that in New Zealand pp are more likely to favour the outgroup + show bias to ingroup

Question 28

Social identity theory: CIC

Answer 28

Categorisation - categorising ppl into groups that tells us something an them
Identification - change personal identity to fit group + boost self esteem
Comparison - see ppl as us or them

Question 29

Realistic conflict theory: robbers cave

Answer 29

Introduced competition between groups at a boys summer camp conflict + prejudice took place

Question 30

Superordinate goals

Answer 30

Goals that can only be achieved by cooperation of all group members together to achieve the intended outcome

Question 31

Aranson et al (1978)

Answer 31

Made lots of little groups in a classroom who had to complete tasks against each other (competition) all the tasks contributed towards the whole class.
Was found that this reduced competition.

Question 32

Robbers cave: aim

Answer 32

To investigate relations between groups to see whether strangers brought together into a group with common goals will form a close group, and to see whether two such groups brought into contact and competition will become hostile towards each other

Question 33

Robbers cave: conclusion

Answer 33

Some hostility was observed between the groups as soon as they were aware of each other. Once competition was introduced this became more intense.
This suggests that competition is a factor in leading to discrimination between groups but that some discrimination takes place even without competition.
However, when groups work together on a task that benefit both groups, prejudice and discrimination can be reduced.

Question 34

Robbers cave: procedure

Answer 34

22 12yr old boys white American middle class Protestants. Robbers cave national park in Oklahoma. Lived separately eagles + rattlers
1) In group formation - 5 days of tasks to bond
2) friction phase - 4 days of competition
3) integration - teams work together to reduce friction: watch films, remove blockage, joint-problem solving

Question 35

Factors affecting prejudice: personality

Answer 35

Authoritarian personality - more likely to act hostile towards outgroups
Ethnocentrism - belief that one’s ethnic group is superior
Conservatism - belief in tradition + social order with a dislike for change
Anti-Democratic - views that oppose fake election of government + majority rule

Question 36

Adorno et al + authoritarian personality

Answer 36

Interviewed 40m + 40f covering background, beliefs, feelings, religion, politic ideology.
Created authoritarian personality - submissive to authority + obedient, conventional views + attitudes on wider social groups. Unaffectionate parent + projects aggression

Question 37

Factors affecting prejudice: culture

Answer 37

Culture can be an influence on prejudice if it has existing norms that legitimise prejudice practice, has strict religious regimens or laws that endorse prejudice

Question 38

Individualistic

Answer 38

Cultures emphasise individuals within the group as important

Question 39

Collectivistic

Answer 39

Emphasises the importance of the whole group as a collective

Question 40

Key Q: why did the US soldiers abuse Iraqi soldiers? SIT, personality, situational factors

Answer 40

Social impact theory: soldiers received orders from superiors to ‘break the detainees’ for them to share info. High social force, however not all obeyed due to division of impact. (Latané (1981) speeches)
Personality: those who obeyed had authoritarian personality + higher levels of empathy but more obedience (burger (2009))
Situational factors: high proximity leads to obedience, momentum of compliance, status of authority, personal responsibility (Milgram)

Question 41

Key Q: why did the US soldiers abuse Iraqi soldiers? Culture, Sergeant Frederick + Sabrina Harman

Answer 41

Culture: Us soldiers were a mix of diff cultures but were still prejudiced (ethnocentrism)
Frederick: Us soldier was sentenced to 8 yrs in prison for sexually + physically assaulting detainees was given a reduction in rank, dishonourable discharge + fine. Plead guilty on 8 counts of abuse + humiliation after publication of photos in 2004. Military policeman acknowledged his part and blamed his chain of command.
Sabrina: US soldier abused + humiliated Iraqi soldiers + took pics smiling w dead + abused bodies.

Question 42

Social Practical: aim

Answer 42

To determine if there was a difference in the level of obedience in men and women using year 12 Collegiate students who were approached and asked to do a questionnaire containing a variety of question styles.
The obedience was measured using the mean and standard deviation which allowed us to see the range of results.
An opportunity sample was used.

Question 43

Social Practical: procedure

Answer 43

· Collegiate students in psychology class were approached + sampled during a psychology lesson, half from a different class
· All students knew study + aim as they previously studies it, could lead to demand characteristics
· Were left to read consent from and instructions and complete form on their own
· returned their forms + handed debrief slip so they were aware of the true aim + had right to withdraw
· Then calculated standard deviation , mean median mode range + iq range based on the self rate obedience from scale of 1-10
The results were plotted on bar chart with mean + self reported obedience scale from 1-10

Question 44

Social Practical: results

Answer 44

Female standard deviation (0.76) is smaller than Males (1.30 (difference of 0.54) + therefore female results are more consistent. Males could have skewed results.
Female mean obedience level (6.3) higher than Male mean score (5.8) (difference of 0.5) females were more obedient on average, but not significantly.

Question 45

Social Practical: conclusion

Answer 45

Females = more obedient (supported by Sheridan +King puppy)
Sample size isn’t large enough to be a true representation between gender + obediance

Question 46

Social Practical: reliability

Answer 46

Inter-rated - qualitative analysis of open ended qs thematic analysis
Replicable - standardised procedure + environment
Open + closed qs
Not a lot of qs only 8

Question 47

Social Practical: application

Answer 47

Allows us to see how obedience levels vary in men + women + links to soldiers in Nazi Germany. To understand why ppl follow orders + don’t take responsibility (agentic shift)

Question 48

Social Practical: Validity

Answer 48

Pop - lacks age range, privately educated, same ethnicity
Ecological - valid bc questionnaire conducted in classroom
No Gender bias

Question 49

Social Practical: Ethics

Answer 49

Parental consent was given
Debriefed
Told true aim
Right to withdraw

Question 50

Thematic analysis

Answer 50

Qualitative data analysis that involves reading through a dataset + identifying patterns in the meaning to derive themes p

Question 51

Advantages of thematic analysis

Answer 51

Convert from qualitative to quantitative
Easier to see relationships in data
Reliable as others can repeat
No demand characteristics

Question 52

Disadvantages of thematic analysis

Answer 52

Time-consuming
Subject to increase error
Just attempts to create relationships