Social influence 1 | Types of conformity Flashcards
AO1: What is internalisation?
Internalisation is a deep form of conformity where an individual genuinely adopts the beliefs and behaviours of the majority. This change is permanent and persists even when the individual is not in the presence of the group.
AO1: What is identification?
Identification is a moderate form of conformity where an individual adopts the behaviours and beliefs of a group because they value membership in that group. However the change may only be temporary and dependent on group presence.
AO1: What is compliance?
Compliance is a superficial form of conformity where an individual publicly agrees with the majority while privately maintaining their own views. The change in behaviour only lasts while under group pressure.
AO1: What is informational social influence (ISI)?
ISI is an explanation for conformity where individuals conform because they believe the majority is correct. It occurs in ambiguous situations where people look to others for guidance.
AO1: What is normative social influence (NSI)?
NSI is an explanation for conformity where individuals conform to fit in and avoid social rejection. It occurs in unambiguous situations where people want to be liked.
AO1: What did Sherif (1935) investigate?
Sherif investigated conformity using the autokinetic effect where participants estimated the movement of a stationary light. When in groups participants’ estimates converged demonstrating ISI.
AO1: What was Asch’s method?
Asch (1951) used a line judgment task where participants were asked to match a standard line to one of three comparison lines. Confederates deliberately gave incorrect answers to test whether participants would conform.
AO1: What were Asch’s results?
Asch found that 75% of participants conformed at least once and the overall conformity rate was 36.8%. However 25% of participants never conformed showing resistance to social pressure.
AO1: How does group size affect conformity?
Asch found that conformity increased with group size up to three confederates but then plateaued suggesting a small majority is sufficient to influence an individual.
With 2 cofederates, the participant conformed 14% of the time, with 3 cofederates the participant conformed 32% of the time. little change after that
AO1: How does unanimity affect conformity?
Asch found that if a confederate dissented from the majority conformity significantly dropped suggesting unanimity strengthens NSI.
AO1: How does task difficulty affect conformity?
Asch found that when the task difficulty increased (e.g. making the lines more similar in length) conformity increased supporting ISI as participants looked to others for guidance.
AO3: What research supports NSI?
Asch (1951) found participants conformed to an obviously incorrect majority response in a line judgment task. Many admitted they conformed to avoid rejection supporting NSI.
AO3: What research supports ISI?
Jenness (1932) found that in an ambiguous task (estimating jellybeans in a jar) participants’ estimates converged after discussion supporting ISI.
AO3: How do individual differences challenge NSI and ISI?
Asch found 25% of participants never conformed showing resistance to social pressure. Perrin and Spencer (1980) found lower conformity in confident individuals highlighting individual differences.
AO3: Why does Asch’s research lack ecological validity?
Asch’s task was artificial and lacked real-world consequences so conformity may not generalise to everyday situations where social pressure is stronger.
AO3: How do Asch’s findings support situational variables affecting conformity?
Asch found that group size unanimity and task difficulty all influenced conformity levels supporting the role of both NSI and ISI.
