social influence Flashcards
types of conformity-
Internalisation
a deep type of conformity.
The person accepts the group’s view
leads to permanent change even when the group is not present
types of conformity-
Identification
A moderate type of conformity.
conform because there is something in the group that we value so we want to be a part of it
Publicly change view but privately keep the same view
types of conformity-
Compliance
A superficial type of conformity.
‘going along with others in public’
no change in personal opinion.
Informational social influence (ISI)
An explanation that states we change our answer/beliefs because we think others are correct. We accept the majority view because we also want to be correct.
May lead to internalisation.
Normative social influence (NSI)
An explanation that states we change to the majority view because we want to be accepted. This may lead to compliance
Research support for ISI
Lucas et al. 2006
greater conformity to more difficult answers than easier.
Individual differences in NSI
some people have a greater need to be liked. nAffiliators have a greater need.
Asch’s research-
procedure
one white card had a standard line and the other had three lines. 123 American male undergraduates 6-8 confederates 18 trials 12 critical trials
Asch’s research-
findings
ppr gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time.
25%-never conformed
75%-at least once
Asch’s variations-
group size
3 confeds- wrong answer 31.8%
little diff further
drops after 7
Asch’s variations-
Unanimity
dissenting confed= conform reduced by a quarter
Asch’s variations-
task difficulty
conformity increased.
ISI
Asch evaluation-
a child of its time
1950s were especially conformist time
Perrin and Spencer (1980) - engineering students in the UK 1 student out of 396 conformed
Asch evaluation-
artificial situation and task
demand characteristics as a result of knowing they were in a research study.
don’t generalise to everyday life
Asch evaluation-
limited application
Androcentric, ethnocentric
individualist/collectivist culture
Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
Procedure
mock prison
volunteer and selected ‘emotionally stable’
randomly assigned roles
‘prisoners’ arrested at home
blindfolded, strip search, deloused, and given numbers.
prisoners had to follow 16 rules
guards wore uniform
Stanford prison experiment (SPE)
Findings
stopped after 6 days not 14 guards became enthusiastic prisoners began to rebel one prisoner released on day 1 conclusions- all conformed to social roles.
SPE evaluation-
control
stable individuals randomly assigned
increased internal validity
SPE evaluation
lack of realism
performances based on stereotypes (Banuazizi and Mohavedi 1975)
However, 90% of convo was about prison life.
SPE evaluation
role of dispositional factors
Fromm 1973- criticised Zimbardo for exaggerating only 1/3 of guards
SPE evaluation
ethical issues
Zimbardo’s dual roles as superintendent and researcher.
Milgram’s obedience study-
procedure
40 male ppts- volunteers in newspaper columns
20-50 years old
confed Mr Wallace always was the learner
experimenter was also confed in white coat
shocked when made a mistake
started at 15 ended at 450 volts
after 315 there was no response from learner
prod 1-please continue
prod 2-experiment requires that you continue
prod 3- absolutely essential you continue
prod 4- you have no choice you must continue
Milgram’s obedience study-
findings
no ppts stopped below 300 volts
12.5% stopped at 300 volts
65% continued to 450 volts showed signs of extreme tension
Milgram evaluation-
low internal validity
Orne and Holland 1968.jk
