Social Influence Flashcards
Conformity
a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure.
Who suggested the three ways people conform to the opinion of a majority?
Herbert Kelman (1958)
Internalisation
when a person genuinely accepts the group norms because they believe that they are correct.
It is a permanent change in behaviour even when the group is absent.
Private and Public and also long term.
Identification
Moderate type - act with the group because we value it and want to be accepted.
May publicly change opinions / behaviour.
Public maybe Private and lasts as long as the group remain together.
Compliance
Superficial - go along with the majority view even if believed they are not correct.
Public until the group is not around or the pressure stops. Not Private also it is short term.
Who developed the two-process theory.
Deutsch and Gerard (1955)
Two main reasons people conform.
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
The need to be right.
Agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be correct.
May lead to internalisation.
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
The need to be Accepted and liked.
Agree with the majority view because we want to be accepted and gain social approval.
May lead to compliance.
Research support for NSI
Asch (1951) interviewed participants, some stated they conformed because they felt self conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval.
When participants wrote their answers down, conformity fell to 12.5%.
(No group pressure).
This shows that at least some conformity is due to a desire of not being rejected by the group for disagreeing with them.
Research support for ISI
Lucas et al (2006)
Found that participants conformed more often to incorrect answers when given more difficult math problems.
When the problems were easy the participants ‘knew their own minds’ but when the problems were hard, the answers were ambiguous.
This shows ISI is a valid explanation of conformity because the results are what ISI could predict.
Research support for ISI Counterpoint
However, it is unclear whether it is ISI at work in research studies or real life.
Asch (1951) found conformity reduced when there was a dissenting participant.
Individual differences in NSI
NSI doesn’t predict conformity in every case.
some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others. (Called nAffiliators).
McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform.
Is the NSI/ISI distinction useful
Asch’s research clearly demonstrates both NSI and ISI are reasons for conformity.
For instance in terms of group unanimity, a unanimous group is a powerful source for of disapproval.
The possible rejection is a strong reason for conforming
(NSI) .
But also a unanimous group conveys the impression that everyone is ‘in the know’ apart from you. (ISI)
True or False…
Identification leads to a permanent change of opinion or behaviour.
False
True or False…
Informational Social Influence is about the basic human need to be right.
True
