Social Flashcards
1
Q
What is conformity?
A
A group influencing someone’s behaviour whether it be their looks or views
2
Q
Define a reference group?
A
A group which you belong to and consider yourself a member of
3
Q
What are social norms?
A
Rules regarding the appropriate behaviour for a reference group/situation
4
Q
Define compliance?
A
Where a person’s behaviour changes publicly but they still have their own views
5
Q
Define internalisation?
A
The views go internally and therefore changes the persons views and behaviour
6
Q
What are the 2 explanations of conformity?
A
Normative Social Influence
Informational Social Influence
7
Q
What is NSI?
A
A type of compliance - we change in order to be liked, we go along with things in public but our views are not changed
8
Q
What does NSI lead to?
A
Public conformity and compliance but NOT internalisation
9
Q
What is ISI?
A
A type of internalisation, we change in order to be right (in ambiguous/new situations)
10
Q
What does ISI lead to?
A
Private conformity and internalisation as a result of this private conformity
11
Q
Describe Sherif 1935 Experiment 1?
A
- Ppts judge individually how far a point of light had moved (Auto Kinetic Effect)
- Only a variation between people at this point
- After ppts were put into groups where they had to announce their answers
-Their answers were different until the norm emerged when after this point the answers were all the same
12
Q
Describe Sherif 1935 Experiment 2?
A
-This time the first judgement were made in groups
- Found that the group emerged more quickly
- Ppts in Experiment 1 were asked to estimate on their own after the group judging and the norm was continued
13
Q
Describe Asch 1951?
A
- 1 naive ppt and 7 confeds
- Had to call out in turn the correct line on the cards
- 12 critical trials
- 18 trials in total
- 50 male student ppts in total
- 32% overall conformity rate
- 74% conformed at least once
- 26% never conformed
- 1 confed agreed with ppt = 5% conformed
- Losing a partner and confed joins the others = 28.5% conformed
- Gaining a partner = 8.7% conformed
14
Q
How does Crutchfield support Asch?
A
30% conformed
15
Q
Other points about Asch’s experiment
A
The levels of conformity increase when people thought they were wrong
If the test got harder the compliance increased
It is argued however it is a product of the time - due to red scare people were more likely to conform due to the fear
Pop validity very poor - only students only male
16
Q
Define Obedience?
A
It is complying with the demands of an authority figure, and changing behaviour in response to the other person’s intructions
17
Q
Describe Milgram 1963?
A
- 40 male volunteers took part in what they thought to be a memory experiment at Yale University
- They were told they were the teacher and other the learner (confed)
- They had to administer electric shocks to the learner in another room - when they made a mistake on a work pairing task
- With each mistake an increase of 15V
- First verbal protest at 300V then bang on wall at 315V then no further answers
- It continued until the teacher refused or until 450V
- 100% continued to 300V
- 65% continued to 450V
18
Q
How did the results change when the leaner was silent throughout?
A
100% obeyed
19
Q
How did the results change when the learner was in the same room as the teacher?
A
40% obeyed
20
Q
How did the results change when the experimenter as not present - phone orders?
A
20.5% obeyed
21
Q
How did the results change when 2 other confeds refused to obey?
A
10% obeyed
22
Q
What did Milgram conclude about the signs of distress shown by the ppts?
A
They showed: Sweat Tremble Stutter Digging fingers into flesh Nervous Laughter
Milgram concluded that this was due to the power of the authoritative figure - their behaviour exemplified the psychological concept of obedience
23
Q
Describe Hofling?
A
- 22 nurses in 22 hospitals working on their own during a night shift
- Receive a call from unknown doctor telling them to administer 20mg of an unknown drug to a patient on their ward
- If they did so they would be breaking several rules (excessive dose of unknown meds, instructions from unknown doctor and acting without signed consent)
- 21/22 nurses followed the orders and started to administer meds
- 11/22 said they didn’t realise it was an overdose
- Prior to experiment when nurses were asked 21/22 said they wouldn’t follow the orders
24
Q
Describe Bickman?
A
- Asked passers-by to pick up rubbish on the other side of the bush stop or lend money to stranger
- Half were dressed in street clothes the other half in uniform
-92% complied to lend money when uniform involved
46% in street clothes
25
Describe Bushman?
-Female confed in uniform or smart clothing asked passers-by to give money to motorist at parking meter
- 70% complied when uniformed
- 58% when smart clothing
26
What are the explanations for why people obey?
Legitimate authority
Gradual Commitment
Agentic Shift
Buffers
27
Define legitimate authority?
Feel obliged to follow orders from an authority figure due to a sense of respect and obey them even when immoral
28
Define Gradual Commitment?
Once people comply with trivial or simple things they find it harder to refuse afterwards
29
Define Agentic Shift?
Seeing themselves as an agent of other people and therefore not responsible - autonomous - individual was behaving involuntarily and aware of the consequences
30
Define Buffers?
Protecting people from confronting the consequences of their actions and help reduce the strain
31
What is independent behaviour?
This is where resistance to conformity and resisting obedience is present
32
Why does resistance of conformity occur?
```
Independence
Anti-conformity
Reactance
Ironic Deviance
Status
```
33
What does independence mean?
Movement neither towards or away from social expectancy - doing your own thing
34
What does anti-conformity mean?
Movement away from social expectancy (adopting the behaviours of minority group)
35
What does reactance mean?
Rebellious anger produced by attempts to restrict freedom of choice
36
What does ironic deviance mean?
The belief that if other people behave in certain ways because they have been told to do so, reduces informational influence
37
What does status mean?
Individuals of higher status groups are more likely to resits majority influence - low status are motivated to achieve higher status by conformist behaviour
38
Define dissent?
This is a form of resistance that involved the presence of an individual who publicly disagree and goes against the majority
39
How do you resist obedience?
```
Decrease agentic state
Increase personal responsibility
Modelling
Systematic processing
Morality
Experience
Personality
```
40
How does decreasing agentic state help you resist obedience?
Anything that detracts from an authority figures perceived legitimate authority, decreases the agentic state and increases the autonomous state making obedience less likely
41
How does increasing personal responsibility help you resist obedience?
Anything that makes an individual feel more accountable for their actions also decreases the agentic state and increase autonomous state = obedience less likely
42
How does modelling help you resist obedience?
Resistance to obedience can also occur through modelling where behaviour in others is observed and imitated
43
How does systematic processing help you resist obedience?
Individuals are less likely to obey if they can consider what they have been ordered to do
44
How does morality help you resist obedience?
Individuals whose behaviour is based on moral principles are more resistant to destructive obedience
45
How does experience help you resist obedience?
Individuals who have experience of the consequences of destructive obedience are more likely to disobey
46
How does personality help you resist obedience?
Some personality traits are more associated with resisting obedience
47
What is a locus of control?
An individuals beliefs about the causes of successes and failures
48
What are the 2 types of locus of control?
Internal
| External
49
Define internal LOC?
Outcomes are within your control, determined by your hard work, attributes or decisions
50
Define external LOC?
Outcomes are outside of your control, determined by fate and independent of work or decisions
51
Describe was Avtgis discovered?
Discovered through a MA that people with higher internal locus of control were less likely to conform
52
Describe what Oliner and Oliner found?
From interviewing non-Jewish people who lived through the holocaust - compared 406 people and 126 people who hadn't hidden Jews but the people who did showed characteristics of internal LOC
53
Describe what Elms and Milgram found?
Investigated the background of the disobedient ppts involved in Milgram's shock experiments and found that they had high internal LOC
54
What is social change?
This is the process by which society changes beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms
55
When does social change occur?
When society embraces new behaviours and beliefs and is a gradual, ongoing process as minority viewpoints increase and eventually become majority opinion
56
How does social change occur?
Promotion of group status
Rebellious role models
Reversal of gradual commitment
Exposure to models of Independent behaviour
57
Explain the promotion of group status?
By achieving positive social change, a group can change a -image held by outsiders
An example = West Indian populations who contributed positively to society and promoted their worth helping to create a mainstream positive image within society
58
Explain Rebellious role models?
The use of these such as dissenting confed teachers in Milgram's experiments demonstrates how obedience and conformity levels can be lowered, decreasing the level of -social change which occurs
59
Explain reversal of gradual commitment?
Promoting +social change and gradual commitment steadily drew ppts into becoming increasingly obedient in Milgram's experiment = -consequences
Zimbardo suggests that individuals could equally be encouraged to indulge in positive actions by a reversal of this, encouraging people to do something
60
Explain exposure to models of independent behaviour?
Exposing people to models of IB they are taught to become more independent and thus more resistant to attempt to promote conformity and obedience which could result in negative social change
61
What is minority influence?
This is a type of social influence that motivate individuals to reject established majority group norms
62
What is the gradual process of minority becoming majority opinion called?
Social Crypto Amnesia (Snow Ball Effect)
63
What does Social Crypto Amnesia do?
Initially those who convert to the minority viewpoint are few and slow but as more individuals change their attitude to that of the minority group the pace picks up with the minority gaining status, influence, power and acceptability
64
Describe Moscovici?
- 32 groups of 6 female ppts where 2 were confeds
- Each groups was shown 36 blue slides of different intensities with ppts stating the colours of the slides out loud in front of rest of group
- Condition 1 = 2 confed always said green
- Condition 2 = 2 confeds inconsistent (12 green 24 blue)
- Condition 3 = confeds all green but real ppts gave secret answers
- Condition 1 = 8.42% agreed with minority with 32% agreeing at least once
- Condition 2 = 1.2% agreed
- Condition 3 = greater private agreement with minority than in public
65
Why is consistency important?
If the majority are confronted by consistent minority they will take notice and re think their position - minority views would be seen as right as they have committed themselves
66
What is the conversion theory?
If an individual is exposed to an argument that is opposite to their attitudes = conflict
This theory also states that the person is then motivated to reduce conflict and examine the minority and try to understand why they are conflicting
67
What is the role of conflict?
We sometimes cannot ignore conflict = we try to understand it
Not necessarily resulting in change in attitude but we do begin to think more deeply about different views
68
What is the augmentation principle?
If risks are involved when putting views forwards then people are more likely to take these views more seriously as people have put themselves on the line
