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Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

What is social influence?

A

the process by which our thoughts feelings and behaviours are influenced by other people

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2
Q

What is conformity?

A

the tendency to change what we do, think or say in response to the influence of real or imagined pressure from a majority group

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3
Q

What are the different types of conformity?

A

compliance-going along with a behaviour without agreeing to it ( publicly agree privately disagree)
identification- going along with a behaviour because you identify with the people doing it and only occurs in the presence of the said group
internalisation- going along with a behaviour and changing your views to believe it- permanent

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4
Q

What are the different types of social influence/explanations for conformity?

A

normative- when someone conforms because they want to be liked/ part of the group even if they don’t agree with the behaviour
informative- when someone conforms because they want to be right so they look for the majority to find the right answer as they believe they will be right

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5
Q

explanations for conformity ao3

A

individual differences may play a part in explaining social influence which means the processes do not influence everyone in the same way-
Perin and Spencer- asch type study with engineering students and didnt see as much conformity

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6
Q

Asch

A

123 male students thought they were doing a vision test
had to say which line length matched stimulus line
one naive p was with 6-8 confed
naive would say wrong line length
36.8% conformed
25% never conformed
75% conformed at least one

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7
Q

Why did the ps conform?

A

due to NSI as they wanted to fit in and didnt want to look stupid
ps admitted that they knew the lines were not that length afterwards

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8
Q

Evaluation points of Asch (weaknesses)

A

sample was biased as they were all white american men so lacks pop. validity and cant be generalised
lacks ecological validity as it is an artificial task so is not similar to a real life situation
ethical issues- deception, not protected from harm
child of its time as conformity was high at this time

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9
Q

Evaluation points of Asch (strengths)

A

high internal validity as extraneous variables were controlled- shows cause effect relationship (did without confed before to make sure they could see)
lab exp so variables were controlled and task was standardised
had to deceive ps or they would have shown demand characteristics

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10
Q

What were the variations of Asch?

A

group size- more likely to conform in a larger group
conformity rose by 30% in more than 3 confed
ps are more confident the confed are correct

unanimity- one confed gives real answer
conformity dropped to 5% (ps acted more independently)
more likely to conform when whole group gives same answer (right or wrong)- social support

task difficulty-more likely to conform when task is more difficult look for others for confirmation when the task is difficult (ISI)

anonymity- p would write down answer on piece of paper so NSI was reduced

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11
Q

What is obedience?

A

a type of social influence which causes a person to act in response to an order given by another person- person usually had power of authority

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12
Q

What was Milgram’s research?

A

recruited 40 males from Yale through a newspaper ad
p was ‘teacher’ and had to give shocks if ‘learner’ got questions wrong (15V-450V)
learner was just a CD recording
experimenter would give standardised prods if p asked if they should stop (telling the to carry on)

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13
Q

What were the findings?

A

65% of ps shocked all the way to 450V
100% of ps shocked up until 300V
12.5% stopped at 300V

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14
Q

Evaluation of Milgram (strengths)

A

very reliable as there were controls and procedures were standardised -same tape, same responses
real life applications that can describe why some behaviours happened eg Nazis
Hofling et al- found same results in a hospital when a confed doctor nurses that they need to administer a double dose to a patient
Bickman- found that random pedestrians were most likely to obey the researcher dressed as a guard (80%) than a milk man or civilian (40%) when asked to pick up a bag
Milgram like studies have been down on a number of countries and high obedience rates were found (65-90%) however these were mostly westernised
Sheridan and King puppy exp- 100% of females delivered fatal shock

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15
Q

Evaluation of Milgram (weakness)

A

ethical issues of deception, no right to withdraw, no protection from harm, no informed consent
low internal validity as it may not be testing obedience but fear/ obedience
ps guessed the exp wasn’t real ( Orne and Holland)
lacks pop validity the sample was biased (40 white males) and volunteer sampling
lacks ecological validity as lab exp so cant be generalised

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16
Q

What were the situational variables in later studies?

A

proximity- teacher and learner in same room obedience rate from 65-40%
touch proximity (teacher puts learners hand on shock plate) dropped to 30%
location- changed location to a run down building and levels dropped to 47.5%
uniform- experimenter in grey lab coat was no longer there but replace by a ‘member of the public’ (confed)
levels dropped to 20% lowest

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17
Q

What are explanations for/factors affecting obedience?

A

agentic theory
legitimacy of authority
situational factors
dispositional factors

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18
Q

What is the agentic theory?

A

when we act as an agent (representative) of someone in authority and we find it easy to deny personal responsibility for our actions
agentic shift from autonomous to agentic
Schmidt- showed ps video of milgram and many ps blamed experimenter in Milgram exp so moving responsibility onto authority figure

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19
Q

What is the autonomous state?

A

individuals direct their own behaviour and take responsibility for the consequences

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20
Q

What is the agentic state?

A

individuals allow someone else to direct their behaviour and pass responsibility onto them

21
Q

What is the agentic shift?

A

the shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state - can justify the actions as they are doing it on behalf of their agent even if it causes moral strain
binding factors are factors that minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour
eg in milgram ps shifted the responsibility to the victim and said that they were foolish to volunteer for the task etc

22
Q

What is legitimacy of authority?

A

describes how credible the figure of authority is - position of power in a hierarchy
people are more likely to obey them if they are seen as being credible, knowledgeable or responsible
most authority figures exercise their power in the correct way
we are likely to give up some of our independence to people we trust to exercise their authority correctly
in milgram ps thought the exp was a scientist- lab coat etc- so they obeyed his orders
legitimacy may be used in a negative way (destructive obedience) eg police brutality or hitler

23
Q

What are factors affecting obedience?

A

situational- influences that stem from the environment in which the individual is found (uniform, proximity etc)
dispositional- explanation of behaviour caused by internal characteristics within a personality

24
Q

What did Adorno et al do in 1950?

A

measured 2000 middle class white american males and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
used the f scale (facism) which measured their authoritarian personality
(biased sample)

25
Q

What is the authoritarian personality?

A 
people who score high on the f scale
contemptuous of the weak
blind respect to those in power
black and white views- inflexible
obedient and submissive to authority
26
Q

Why do people have this personality?

A

harsh parenting; strict discipline, high standards

experiences create hostility; feelings are displaced onto the weak

27
Q

What were the aims of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

A

to see if people conform to social norms when placed in a mock prison environment
see if behaviour in prisons was down to dispositional or situational variables

28
Q

How did the experiment work?

A

21 male students volunteered in response to a newspaper advert and were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners
guards wore sunglasses and uniforms, woke prisoners up during night
prisoners had a strict schedule of assignments, were referred to as numbers

29
Q

What happened in the experiment?

A

both conformed quickly to social roles even if it goes against their morals
prisoners showed signs of distress and rioted but were crushed by guards
guards dehumanised prisoners and were very tough
5 prisoners had to leave early due to torment and anxiety
experiment was terminated after 6 day

30
Q

Zinmabrdo evaluation points (strengths)

A

good control over extraneous variables- ps were randomly assigned so internal validity is high

31
Q

Zimbardo evaluation points (weaknesses)

A

ethical issues-no protection from psychological harm, showed distress and weren’t allowed to leave, lack of informed consent
zimbardo was involved in the exp so his behaviour could have affected the outcome of the exp- researcher bias
ps may have shown demand characteristics as they knew what the exp was looking into

32
Q

What are social roles?

A

the part we play as a member of a social group

33
Q

What is resistance to social influence?

A

the ability if people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority

34
Q

What is locus of control?

A

dispositional explanation
proposed by rotter and refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives and how much control we have over our lives

35
Q

What is an internal LOC?

A

people believe that what happens in their life is a result of their own behaviour and they have control over their life

  • are more likely to resist pressure to conform or obey
  • more independent
36
Q

What is an external LOC?

A

people believe what happens to them is controlled by external factors and things are out of their control
-more likely to succumb to pressure to conform

37
Q

Evaluation LOC (strengths)

A 
-Holland repeated Milgram and meausured whether ps were internal or external LOC- 37% of internal didn't continue to highest and 23% external didn't 
supports LOC- internal more resistant
-Oliner and Oliver- interviewed non jewish survivors of WW2 who either protected jews or didnt
406 ps who rescued were more likely to have internal
more independent (against nazis)
-Spector (157 students) found that internal LOC were more likely to resist pressure to conform but only in NSI situations- want to be liked- no real difference when looking at ISI
38
Q

Evaluation LOC (weaknesses)

A

-Rotter et al found that LOC is only important in new situations and it has little influence on familiar situations
-Twenge analysed data from american obedience studies
found people have become more resistant to obedience but more external
doesn’t support link between external LOC and resistance

39
Q

What is social support?

A

situational factor
people are more confident to resist obedience if they can find an ally who will join them
allies act as models that show that resistance to social influence is possible

40
Q

Supporting research for social support?

A

Asch- conformity rates dropped to 5% when confed gave right answer throughout as unanimity of group was broken
Milgram- obedience dropped to 10% when a disobedient confed joined the exp and refused to give shocks
Gamson et al- asked groups of ps to run a smear campaign to help an oil company
29/33 groups rebelled shows peer support is linked to greater resistance
Albrecht- found that on a programme to help stop pregnant teens smoke, teens who had a buddy were sig less likely to smoke compared to those without a buddy (RWA)

41
Q

What is social change?

A

refers to the ways in which society develops over time to replace beliefs, attitudes and behaviour with new norms and expectations with minorities usually being the driving force

42
Q

What is minority influence?

A

when a minority changes the attitudes, behaviour and beliefs of a large group
opposite of majority influence (conformity)
must be consistent, committed and flexible

43
Q

What are minority influence studies? (consistency)

A

Moscovicci- ‘colour perception test’ 172 female ps (groups of 6) were shown 36 slides and asked to state the colour aloud in 3 different conditions
1. 2 confeds who answered green for every slide (consistent)- 8% agreed
2. 2 confeds said green 24 times and blue 12 times (inconsistent) 1.25% agreed
consistent group is more effective

44
Q

Why should the minority be committed?

A

minority groups may engage in risky behaviour to show their commitment
this attracts the attention of the majority which is known as the augmentation principle

45
Q

Why should the minority be flexible?

A

if they seem uncompromising then the majority will be unlikely to change
they need to show that they are open to compromise

46
Q

What did Nemeth study?

A

she wanted to show that flexiblity was the most important part of minority influence
groups of 4 (1 confed) had to decide how much compensation to give ski lift victims (2 conditions)
1. confed was inflexible- low and no change
2. confed was flexible- low but would go higher
found that 2 was more effective with the inflexible p having little effect on the decision

47
Q

What is the snowball effect?

A

when people start thinking more deeply about the minority view and as more people start to convert, the rate of conversion will happen faster

48
Q

What are the steps to social change?

A
  1. drawing attention- majority must be made aware of what needs to change
  2. consistency of position- displaying an unswerving message
  3. deeper processing- people who normally blindly accept things will start thinking more about it and challenging current norms
  4. augmentation principle- minorities take risks to get attention of majority
  5. snowball effect- more and more people start listening as it gets more popular
  6. social crypto-amnesia - people have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remember where the change came from

Psychology (16 decks)

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