Social approach KC1: Conformity

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

A type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group

Question 2

What are the two explanations for conformity

Answer 2

Normative social influence (NSI), Informational social influence (ISI)

Question 3

Normative social influence (NSI)

Answer 3

We agree with the behaviour of others because we want to be accepted and liked and to avoid rejection

Question 4

Informational social influence (ISI)

Answer 4

We agree with the behaviour of others because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct

Question 5

Asch: Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion judgement

Answer 5

AIM:
To investigate if individuals would agree with answers given by a group one that answers were clearly wrong I.e to see if individuals would conform

PROCEDURE:
Each person in the group was asked to identify which line (A,B OR C). Each with the same length as a given line in a picture. Only one member of the group was a genuine participant and he did not know it was an experiment. The other group members were Confederates who had been instructed to sometimes give the wrong answers on purpose. Out of 16 sets of cards the Confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 of them. The participant was always the 6th person to be asked. The experiment was run a number of times with different participants

FINDINGS:
The participants gave the wrong answer on 37% of the trials, 75% conformed at least once

CONCLUSION:
Suggests many people will conform to the majority, even if they think the answer given is wrong. Most conform to avoid rejection (NSI)

Question 6

Name 1 strength of conformity

Answer 6

Research to support normative social influence

Asch Found that participants agreed with the wrong answers 37% of the time and 75% of the Participants conformed at least once. The participants knew that their answers were wrong (so not ISI)

Question 7

Name 1 limitation of conformity

Answer 7

NSI and ISI are not always separate processes, but overlap. Individuals are less likely to conform if there is someone in the group who disagrees with the group (an ally) this may be because they provide social support so rejection is less likely, so reducing NSI. This means that we cannot always be sure whether NSI or ISI is responsible for conformity - it is likely that both are operating (feelings and thoughts), especially in real life