social and dispositional factors affecting conformity

Question 1

what are 3 social factors affecting conformity

Answer 1

group size
task difficulty
anonymity

Question 2

explain group size and give a weakness of the explanation

Answer 2

if there are more people there is higher pressure to conform (normative social influence)

group size has different effects based off the task, if the answer is obvious conformity level is higher but when its not eg favorite song there’s a lower conformity level

Question 3

explain task difficulty and give a weakness of the explanation

Answer 3

the more difficult te task the higher the levels of conformity as they become less certain and confident

one weakness is that this may not apply to everyone, people with more expertise are less likely to conform

Question 4

explain anonymity and give a weakness of the explanation

Answer 4

when a task is anonymous conformity decreases, this is because there’s less pressure

one weakness of this is that asch’s study involved strangers, in groups of friends the effect changes. this shows that anonymity can increase conformity

Question 5

what are 2 dispositional factors affecting conformity

Answer 5

personality

expertise

Question 6

explain personality and give a weakness of the explanation

Answer 6

people who are more independent and have a non conformist personality are less likely to conform than someone with low iq and self esteem

one weakness is that levels of conformity may be influenced by locus of control because in familiar situation we rely on our past experiences, this shows that other factors interact with personality

Question 7

explain expertise and give a weakness of the explanation

Answer 7

having more expertise increases your opinion and knowledge on the topic making you more confident and lowers levels of conformity

one weakness of this is focusing on one factor is too simplistic, there are several factors that influence conformity not just expertise, they could still conform to the group

Question 8

what is an internal and external locus of control and which conforms more

Answer 8

having an internal locus of control is when someone believes they control the events in their lives eg failing a test because they didn’t study hard enough

having an external locus is when someone believes they don’t have control over events eg failing a test because of a bad teacher

people with an external locus are more likely to conform