Social Influence 1 & 2

Question 1

Allport (1924) defined conformity as…

Answer 1

Deep seated, private and enduring change in attitudes and behavior due to group pressure.

Question 2

Conformity usually occurs because of…

Answer 2

our frame of reference (Asch, 1952)
majority group pressure
group norms

Question 3

Conformity is linked to the development of ____ _____. (Sherif, 1936)

Answer 3

group norms

Question 4

Compliance is classified as what?

Answer 4

The least coercive form of obedience.

Question 5

What is social influence?

Answer 5

The processes whereby attitudes and behavior are influenced by the real or implied presence of other people

Question 6

What are the different types of social influence and how do they relate to conformity?

Answer 6

a

Question 7

Give a summary of ISI.

Answer 7

Accepting information from another as evidence of reality. This is seeing how other people are behaving and accepting it as an appropriate way of behaving in the situation.

Question 8

When is ISI most likely to occur?

Answer 8

• when the outcome is important (Baron, Vandello & Brunsman (1996)
• uncertainty of situations and the answer is important i.e. trial (Levine, Higgins & Choi (2000)
• common in a crisis or emergency situation
• when we are at risk ourselves
• the behavior of others is highly informative during these times, yet it can be detrimental because of insufficient situation evaluation. (Killian, 1964)

Question 9

Give an example of ISI conformity.

Answer 9

When there is a person on trial for murder and the jury has to give the final decision.

Question 10

Define ISI and give an example.

Answer 10

Conforming with the positive expectations of others to gain social approval i.e. i want them to like me and i do not want to be ostracized.

Question 11

What are the limitations of ISI?

Answer 11

you accept the behavior in the situation instead of looking at the situation and seeing what is most appropriate.

Question 12

What is the difference between NSI and ISI?

Answer 12

a

Question 13

When do people usually conform to NSI?

Answer 13

• When the group size is 3 or more (Campbell & Fairley, 1989)
• when the group is important to us (key to how we see ourselves) (Guimond, 1999)
• when one has no allies in the group i.e. having friends in the group will impact the way we behave in the group (Nemeth & Chiles, 1988)

Question 14

What are the consequences of not conforming to NSI?

Answer 14

• punishment and isolation, caste out from the group we identify

Question 15

RII group membership offers what to us as members of a group?

Answer 15

Group membership is psychologically salient
- the groups we belong to are important to us and is internally represented as social identities
they provide us with a sense of belonging and who we are.

• the info available in the social context is used to determine which attributes are normative for that group.

Question 16

What does RII stand for?

Answer 16

Referent Informational Influence

Question 17

What is the process of RII? Provide a step-by-step process

Answer 17

1. see ourselves in a group and in group terms
2. group becomes internalized i.e. how we think, feel and behave and aligning that to group expectations
3. result of that we fall in line with group norms
4. we exhibit group normative behavior and levels of conformity.

Question 18

What are the differences between RII and ISI/NSI?

Answer 18

Conformity is a result of group membership

Not of need for social approval or validation of physical reality

We do not conform to others, but to NORMS there people merely act as informants about the norm

The ‘norm’ becomes an internalized issue

So we continue to conform even in the absence of surveillance by group members

Question 19

What are some of the other reasons why we obey? Give examples.

Answer 19

we do not take time or there is no time to reflect on our actions

We’re asked to make small adjustments to our actions, not big ones

Social pressures combine in insidious ways to make humane people act in inhumane ways i.e. Rwandan holocaust

Question 20

Compliance occurs as

Answer 20

surface changes to follow some sort of persuasion.

Question 21

Who would usually conform? (Smith & Bond, 1998)

Answer 21

people with low self-esteem, low IQ, insecurity. Situation can be more important than personality factors to determine conforming. Women are found to also conform more than men and people from collectivist societies.

Question 22

When will people conform to ISI?

Answer 22

in an ambiguous situation i.e. Jonestown
in a crisis i.e. My Lai
when other people are experts i.e. war of the worlds

Question 23

How was Jonestown successful?

Answer 23

strong authority figure
vulnerability of members
normative influence made people afraid of the consequences of deviation
common goals
public compliance, even if there weren’t private acceptance
highly cohesive group identity

Question 24

Define NSI and give an example.

Answer 24

The influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked & accepted by them

Question 25

What is the purpose of Normative social influence?

Answer 25

to avoid disapproval from the group
we want to continue being accepted by that group,
to achieve specific goals and continue group power.

Question 26

Limitation of ISI/NSI dual approach?

Answer 26

1. They only provide us with limited explanation of conformity, they suggested ISI/NSI underestimated the role of group belonging/membership.

Question 27

Most immediate frame of reference in RII is reliable _____ _____.

Answer 27

Most immediate frame of reference in RII is reliable in-group others.

Question 28

According to Arendt (1965) Most atrocities are committed not by madmen or psychopaths but …

Answer 28

… by ordinary people subjected to extraordinary social influence.

Question 29

The role of NSI in obedience: how that may look and why we obey.

Answer 29

• difficult to disobey an authority figure, as we internalize the rule of obeying authority figures
• once one person disobeys, more likely others will disobey but doing this is risky
• ambiguous situations make NSI more likely
• crisis situations cause emotional conflict, which results in an inability to think and increases our likeliness to obey.

Question 30

Factors affecting conformity and obedience in Stanford Prison Experiment

Answer 30

• deindividuation (stripping people of their identity)
• dehumanisation
• power of authority
• collective identity
• situational attribution (I wouldn’t act like that outside of this situation)