SOCIAL INFLUENCE (1) Flashcards
explain the three types of conformity according to Kelman
Compliance
When an individual is conforming to a group publicly, even though they disagree with them privately
E.g. A person may say that they are a vegetarian because all of their friends are, but they still eat meat behind their friends’ back when they have the chance
Identification
When an individual temporarily adopts the behaviour of a role model or group
When individuals conform to the expectation of a social role; such as; police officers, nurses, and teachers
Eg. You begin to dress like your friend as you admire the way they look
Internalisation
When an individual is exposed to the different views of the other members of the group and both accept and internalises them as their own
This leads to acceptance of the groups’ point of view both publicly and privately
Eg. If your friend is vegetarian and you decide to convert to this lifestyle as well, you fully agree with them and you are not tempted to go back to your old diet
EXAM TIP
When discussing conformity, it is important to be clear about which type of conformity you are referring to and how it is evident. Often, when presented with questions about conformity, they will be in the form of a scenario, and you will need to decipher which type or types of conformity are being presented
Use examples wherever possible as these will show the examiner you fully understand the key term. Don’t forget to use the information from the scenario or item in your response as it will be needed for maximum credit
explain informational conformity
Usually occurs when the individual is unsure and lacks knowledge about a situation (which is usually new) and so looks to the group for guidance
It can also occur when there is a crisis situation, a decision needs to be made quickly and we assume the group is more likely to be correct
The individual accepts the group’s behaviour or decision because in the absence of their own knowledge i.e. they want to do what is correct in that situation
This type of conformity usually involves internalisation
outline Normative social influence
occurs when the individual is uncertain about their beliefs and looks to the group, who may be better informed
It also occurs because the individual wants to fit in with the group and not be rejected by them
The individual accepts the group’s behaviour or decision because they want to gain the social approval of the group
This type of conformity usually involves compliance
Research support for informational social influence
Lucas et al (2006):
Findings: Participants conformed more when the maths problems were difficult compared to when maths problems were considered easier due to students being unsure as to the answer and not wanting to appear wrong
Research support for normative social influence
Asch (1951):
Findings: Participants claimed they gave the wrong answer, even when they knew it was wrong as they felt self-conscious and did not want to go against the group and gain disapproval.
12 critical trials.
procedure of Asch experiment
Procedure
Participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8
Each group was presented with a standard line and three comparison lines
Participants had to say aloud which comparison line matched the standard line in length
In each group there was only one genuine (naive) participant the remaining were confederates
The genuine participant was seated second to last and did not know the other participants were fake participants
The fake confederate participants all gave the same incorrect answer
Confederates were told to give the incorrect answer on 12 out of 18 trails
Findings
findings of Ash original study
On average, the genuine participants agreed with the confederates’ incorrect answers 36.8% of the time:
Genuine participants conformed a third of the time
75% of the sample conformed to the majority on at least one trial
25% of participants never gave a wrong answer, which shows there were individual differences
Limitations of Aschs study
lab experiment
population validity
One limitation of Asch’s reach is that it is artificial in both task and situation
Participants may have gone along with what was expected as they knew they were in a research study (Demand Characteristics)
The task was trivial and did not impact the participants in their ‘real life’, which means there was no reason not to conform
Findings do not generalise to real-world situations, especially where there could be important consequences to conformity
Limited application
Another limitation, Asch’s participants were all men from the USA
Other research has suggested that women may be more conformist due to their concern with social relationships
The USA is an individualist culture (where people are concerned with themselves as the individual more so than in collectivist cultures where they are concerned with their social groups)
Findings tell us little about how women or those from other cultures may confirm
strengths of information social influence via research support.
One strength of Asch’s research is it has been supported by other studies
Lucas et al (2006) asked participants to solve easy and hard maths problems and found participants conformed to the wrong answer more often when the problems were hard
This supports Asch’s claim that task difficulty is one variable that effects conformity
However, Lucas et al (2006) also found that conformity is more complex than suggested by Asch
They found individual-level factors can influence conformity and those who were confident in their maths skills were less likely to conform
Asch did not research the roles of individual factors
limitations of explanations for conformity.
ISI and NSI work together, original idea of two step process model argues its either or, but in reality both involved as found by Asch
Belongingness is more powerful then social approval, eg: Duetsch and Gerard, assumed NSI extremely common however research found that 7x greater conformity when within ingroups rather than outgroups (dissimilar interests)
ASCH (1951)
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P
F
C
aim: to investigate the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers.
Procedure: 123 male participants US undergraduate volunteers, took part in what they thought was study of visual perception. 7 people sat looking at display, had to say which answer was correct, A B or C. answers always obvious. 1 naïve participant, he was always second last to answer. Confederates instructed to give wrong answer on 12 critical trials out of 18.
Findings: control group tested individually, 3 mistakes out of 720.
- 37% conformity rate
- 75% conformed atleast once
- 5% conformed to all 12 answers.
conclusion:
- the judgement of individuals affected majority opinions, even when majority obviously wrong
- As most participants conformed publicly, but not privately, motivated by normative social influence.
- study shows a strong tendency to conform to group pressures in situation where answer is clear.
A03 - Evaluation of Asch
Population Validity - Asch’s study used only male undergraduate students from the USA. This means the sample is unrepresentative of the general population. For example, in terms of gender, women may behave differently as studies have suggested they are more concerned about social acceptance and as a result may conform more (Neto 1955). In addition, US students at that time were mostly white and middle class. This means the results cannot realistically be
generalised to other cultural groups who may place a greater or lesser emphasis on belonging to the group.
Methodological issues - A strength of Asch’s study is that it was carried out in a controlled laboratory setting. This means he had control over variables such as the instructions given to participants, the view of the lines shown, the order that the critical trails were presented, the participants’ position in the group. This is a strength as it has allowed Asch to carry out variations of his original study (such as changing group size and task difficulty) to see the impact of such factors on the rate of conformity.
- Artificial situation and task - A problem with Asch’s research is that it was a laboratory experiment and therefore it does not tell us about real life. Also, Asch asked his participants to judge the length of lines, which is a rather insignificant task (not like making a decision on a jury of whether a defendant is guilty or not) and one where they would probably be willing to conform to save face avoid humiliation). On a more important task (stating political opinion) conformity would be expected to drop. Therefore Asch’s research lacks ecological validity.
- Ethical Issues - A further limitation of Asch’s experiment is that there were ethical issues. Asch’s naïve (real) participants didn’t provide fully informed consent, because they were misled about key aspects of the experimental procedures. For example, they thought the other participants involved in the group task were genuine participants like themselves, when in fact they were confederates. As a result, deception was an issue as participants did not know the true nature of the study, although researchers would argue that deception necessary in this experiment to avoid demand characteristics.
Outline Aschs variables into conformity
- Group Size (A01)
Research indicates that conformity rates increase as the size of a majority influence increases, but there comes a point where further increases into the size of the majority doesn’t lead to further increases in conformity.
Asch Variation…
Asch found that with three confederates conformity to the wrong answer was about 31.8% but adding one more confederate increased this to 35%. - Unanimity (A01)
Unanimity means to what degree the group members are in agreement with each other.
Conformity rates have been found to decline when majority influence is not unanimous (if the majority does not agree with each other).
Asch Variation…
Asch found that the presence of a confederate who gave the right answer (an ‘ally’) led to reduced conformity (from 37% to 5.5%). This suggests group influence depends on group being unanimous. - Task Difficulty (A01)
Conformity increases when task difficulty increases, as the right answer becomes less obvious, therefore confidence in our own judgment tends to drop. This means that individuals will look to others more for guidance as to what the correct response is, suggesting that ISI is the dominant force.
Asch Variation…
Asch increased the task difficulty by making the comparison lines more similar in length to each other, so the correct answer was less obvious. He found that when he did this, participants were more likely to conform to the wrong answer, demonstrating the effect of task difficulty on conformity.
Zimbardo AO1:
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P
F
C
aim: to investigate the extent to which people would conform to the social roles of guard and prisoner, in a mock simulation of prison
procedure: mock prison was set up at Stanford university, 24 male participants chosen, two groups, randomly allocated guard or prisoner, prisoners given id badges and guards sunglasses and cap and clubs. Zimbardo played role of prisoner supervisor. 14 days.
Findings - prisoners rebelled within the first day. threat to psychological health. study stopped after 6 days.
conclusion: social roles affect behaviour, loss of identity did the same.
Zimbardo AO3:
HOAX.
P: Sandford prison experiment was a hoax
E: evidence from Le Texier (a french sociologist) found that 11 of the 17 rules that the guards devised came from an undergraduate Zimbardo had hired as a consultant. Zimbardo also asked participants to be extra tough.
E: Zimbardo maintained that the guards had received no orders and had thought up all the rules for punishments and humiliations.
Zimbardo AO3:
contradictory evidence from BBC prison study
two psychologists (Haslam and Reicher) working on behalf of the BBC decided to replicate the study. In this version the psychologists made sure not to interfere with the participants, giving no additional guidance/prompts to the guards as to how to behave to the prisoners (as Zimbardo had claimed to have done). It was found that in
direct contrast to that of Zimbardo’s study, the guards did not try to humiliate the prisoners but instead treated them with respect and courtesy, sharing with them their cigarettes and food. This directly contradicts the findings of the SPE and suggests that people don’t blindly conform to social roles if it means causing harm to another person.
