social approach- conformity

Question 1

whats conformity ?

Answer 1

The tendency to change our behaviour or attitudes in response to the influence of others or social pressure. This pressure can be real or imagined.

Question 2

what are the two types of conformity

Answer 2

Normative social influence
Informational social influence

Question 3

whats Normative social influence ?
and examples ?

Answer 3

prompts individuals to conform to fit in with the group norm, to gain acceptance and feel good. (don’t want to appear foolish, left out or be rejected by the group)
.Examples= peer pressure, fashion trends

Question 4

whats Informational social influence
and examples ?

Answer 4

leads people to conform due to the belief the group possesses competent and correct information, especially in ambiguous situations or tasks.
Examples= emergency or ambiguous situations, public health crisis.

Question 5

who created the idea there are 2 different ways people conform ?

Answer 5

Morton Deutsh and Harold Gerald (1955)

Question 6

whats the earliest conformity study and explain it ?

Answer 6

Jenness in 1932
Participants asked to guess how many beans in a glass jar (private guess), they were then aloud to discuss with other participants and change their answer if they wished.

. Jennes found that nearly all participants changed their answer when they were provided with another opportunity to estimate the number of beans

Question 7

what study supports the 2 process model

Answer 7

. Solomon Asch conformity study=

Question 8

what was Solomon Asch conformity study ?

Answer 8

Group of 50 male participants were asked to match the length of lines on a card; a task with an obvious answer.

. However, each group only contained one real participant; the rest were confederates who were instructed to give a clearly wrong answer to see if the participant would conform.

Question 9

what were the findings of Asch conformity study ?

Answer 9

75% of participants conformed at least once

. 25% of participants never conformed

.The study showed the people conformed because they wanted to fit in with the group (normative influence) or they believed the group was better informed then they are (informational influence)

Question 10

negative to Asch experiment ?

Answer 10

study used a biased sample- all participants were male students and belonged to the same age group- ( low population validity)

. The study also used an artificial task to measure conformity (low ecological validity)

Question 11

Weakness to the 2- process model ?

Answer 11

.NSI and ISI are less clear in the real world= the two processes are interdependent.

.It is hard to differentiate whether an individual is conforming because of NSI or ISI. It is most likely both are operating; especially in real life situations.

Question 12

what are the 3 types of conformity

Answer 12

complience
identification
internalisation

Question 13

whats identification ?

Answer 13

A person changes their public behaviour (the way they act) and their private beliefs, but only why they are in the presence of the group they are identifying with.

Question 14

whats internalisation ?

Answer 14

An individual changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs

Question 15

whats complience ?

Answer 15

a person changes their behaviour or the way they act but not their private beliefs

Question 16

Key study- types of conformity

Answer 16

Hainey et al (1973)

Question 17

explain the study showing the types of conformity ?

Answer 17

. 24 young men were randomly assigned either prisoner or guard in a simulated prison

Findings=. The guard identified very closely with their roles and quickly became brutal and aggressive. The prisoners also identified very quickly with their role, initially rebelling against the poor treatment but eventually became subdued

Conclusion= guards and prisoners all conformed to their roles within the prison. It showed how situations influence people’s behaviour very powerfully.

Question 18

assumptions of complience ?

Answer 18

Compliance may be more common in collectivist cultures than an individualist one. Going along with the wishes of the group, even when you privately prefer not to, contributes to group cohesion and the happiness of the wider community.

Question 19

give 2 strengths of the different types of conformity?

Answer 19

.Practical applications= we can apply knowledge of conformity types to the workplace some conformity is necessary for society and workplaces to function; however, some forms of conformity are destructive because it can lead to the wrong decisions being made. A group could identify with each other so strongly that outside voices are silenced, or people may conform for the sake of a “quiet life”.

. Research supports= research has been found to support all 3 types of conformity. Such as Hainey et ales simulated prison that showed how situations influence people behaviour.

Question 20

give a weakness of the different types of conformity ?

Answer 20

Oversimplification= one weakness is that our understanding of how conformity works in the real world may be inaccurate. This is because research doesn’t resemble real-world situations.