Social Influence Flashcards
Conformity definition
Influence of larger group over a smaller group/ individual resulting in behavioural change due to pressure of social roles
Asch Experiment
Line experiment- comparison lines
Confederates gave wrong answer
75% confirmed at least once
Strengths of Asch
Good external reliability as can be replicated
Weakness of Asch
Conducted in a lab so has low mundane realism
1956- generally more conformity anyway
Demand characteristics from confederates
Informational social influence
Conforming to be correct / right answer
Normative social influence
Conform to fit it and not be seen as separate from the group
Compliance
Change publicly but not privately
Internalisation
Both public and private views change
Identification
Conforming due to the pressures of a social role either publicly or privately
Factors affecting conformity
Task difficulty
Unanimity
Group size
Conformity to social roles = Stanford Prison experiment
Zimbardo
12 prisoners and 12 guards
Guards abused power and prisoners neeeded earth release
When did the SPE end
after 6 days
Weakness of Zimbardo
Low internal validity due to Zimbardo taking part- researcher bias
Unethical due to abuse and deception
Strengths of Zimbardo
Demonstrated how easy it is to conform to social roles
Control over key variables
Obedience definition
How likely someone is to comply to an order, statement or request
Milgrams Experiment
Everyone shocked to 300V
65% went all the way to fatal 450V
People willing to inflict pain so to strength of obedience
Strengths Of Milgram
Supporting evidence due to nurses 85% obeying doctors on the phone
Weakness of Milgram
Low external validity
Unethical causing psychological harm
Right to withdraw was withdraw as persuaded to carry on
Sample bias of US men
Factors affecting obedience
Proximity - increase w/ closeness
Location- prestigious increases obedience
Uniform- smart increases obedience
Autonomous state
Control of our own behaviour
Agentic State
No responsibility as acting as an agent to the authority figure - likely to obey
Authoritarian personality
Black and white thinking
Always follow rules
Extreme respect for authority
Locus of control
Internal= in control of our own actions
External= due to luck / society influences
Resistance to social influence - Asch
Supporting confederate, conformity drops from 33% to 5%
Resistance to social influence- Milgram
Milgram introduced another teacher who refused to continue to electric shocks - acting as role model 65% to 10%
Factors for minority influence
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
Social Change definition
To change attitudes, conformity, obedience and minority influence
