Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity?
Conformity is a change in a person’s behviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people.
What is Asch’s (1951) baseline study?
- 123 American male participants, each in a group with other apparent participants.
- Had to match a stimulus line to a different line on another piece of paper.
- On each trial the participants had to say out loud which of the comparison lines where the same length as the stimulus line.
- Each group had 1 participant and the other 5 or 7 were confederates and said the same unscripted answers each time.
What where the results of Asch’s baseline study?
- Participants conformed 37% of the time.
- Nobody conformed in 100% of the trials.
- 75% conformed at least once.
The effect of group size on Asch (1955)
- Varied number of confederates from 1 to 15.
- Conformity increased with group size but only up to a point.
- With three confederates, conformity rose to 32%.
- This suggests people are sensitive to the views of other people because only a few confederates were needed to sway opinion.
The effect of unanimity on Asch (1955)
- One confederate would disagree with the other confederates.
- In one variation he gave a different wrong answer and in another he gave the correct answer.
- The genuine participanty conformed less in the presence of a dissenter.
- This suggests the influence of the majority depends to a large extent on it being unanimous.
The effect of task difficulty on Asch (1955)
- The difficulty of the line-judging was increased by making the stimulus line and the comparison lines more similar- this made it harder for the participant.
- Conformity increased as the situation is more ambiguous.
- This may be because of informational social influence.
Ethical issues with Asch (1951)
Participants were deceived as they did not know the confederates were not other participants.
However, no major psychological harm was caused to the participants.
Limited application of Asch (1951)
Bond and Smith (1996)-
- The USA is an individualist culture where people are more concerned about themselves and so will be less likely to conform.
- Conformity studies in collectivist cultures (China) have found that conformity rates are higher.
- Ethnocentric
Research support for Asch (1951)
Lucas et al (2006)-
- Participants had to solve ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ math problems.
- Participants were given ansers from three other students (not real).
- The participants conformed more when the problems were harder.
HOWEVER
- This study suggests conformity is more complex than Asch suggested as it may vary due to individual factors such as confidence levels.
Artificial situation- Asch (1951)
- Participants knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with that was expected (demand characteristics).
- The task lacked mundane realism as it isn’t a typical everyday task.
- This makes the findings of study hard to generalise.
What three types of conformity did Herbert Kelman (1958) suggest?
- Internalisation.
- Indentification.
- Compliance.
What is internalisation?
A type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. It leads to a far-reaching and permanent change in behaviour even when the group is absent.
What is identification?
A moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way as the group because we value it and want to be part of it. However we don’t necessarily agree with everything the group/majority believes.
What is compliance?
A superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view, but privately disagree with it. The change in our behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us.
What did Deutsch and Gerard (1955) develop?
A two-process theory arguing that there are two main reasons why people conform.
What is information social influence?
ISI is an explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe ot is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well- this may lead to internalisation.
What is normative social influence?
NSI is an explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval and be liked- this may lead to compliance.
Research support for NSI
Asch (1951)-
- He interviewed some of his participants and some said they conformed as they felt self-conscious of giving the correct answer and were scared of disapproval.
- When participants wrote their answers down, conformity dropped to 12.5%.
Research support for ISI
Lucas et al (2006)-
- Found participants conformed more to incorrect answers when the maths problem was difficult as the situation became ambiguous.
- So the participants relied on the answers they were given as they didn’t want to be wrong.
HOWEVER
- It is hard to separate ISI and NSI as both processes probably operate together in most real-life conformity situations.
- Asch (1955) conformity reduced when there was a dissenter this may reduce ISI (social support) and NSI (alternative source of social information).
Individual differences in NSI
- Some people have a strong need for affiliation which means they want to relate to other people.
- These people are more likely to conform.
What is a social role?
The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.
Who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)?
Zimbardo et al (1973)
What was the procedure of the SPE?
- Mock prison in the basement of the psychology department in Stanford University.
- They selected 21 male student volunteers who tested ‘emotionally stable’,
- They were randomly assigned to be prisoner or guard.
- They were encouraged to conform to their social roles through the uniform they wore and also instructions about their behaviour.
Uniform (SPE)
- Prisoners wore loose smock and cap to cover hair and they were identified by numbers.
- Guards had their own uniform reflecting the status of their role, with wooden clubs, handcuffs and mirror shades.
- The uniforms created a loss of personal identity (de-individualisation) meaning they were more liekly to conform to their social role.
Instructions about behaviour (SPE)
- Prisoners were encouraged to indentify with their role by several procedures.
- For example rather than leave the study early, prisoners could ‘apply for parole’.
- The guards were encouraged to play their role by being reminded that they had complete power over the prisoners.
Findings related to social roles (SPE).
- Guards were harsh and prisoners rebelled in the first two days (they ripped their uniform and swore at the guards who retaliated with fire extinguishers).
- Guards created opportunities to enforce the rules and administer punishment.
- After the rebellion was put down, the prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious.
- One was released because he showed signs of psychological disturbance.
- Two more were released on the fourth day.
- One went on a hunger strike (the guards tried to force feed him and then put him in a tiny dark closet).
- Guards indentified more and more closely with their role.
- Zimbardo ended the study after 6 days.
Conclusions related to social roles (SPE)
Social roles appear to have a strong influence on individuals’ behaviour (the guards were brutal and the prisoners were submissive).
Roles were taken on by all participants and even volunteers who came to perform specific roles (e.g. prison chaplain) found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison rather than a study.
Control over the study (SPE).
- Strength as Zimbardo had control over key variables (e.g. choosing the ‘emotionally stable’ individuals which ruled out personality differences).
- If guards and prisoners behaved differently it must be due to the role itself.
- This means there is an increased internal validity making it easier to draw conclusions.
Lack of realism (SPE)
- A limitation is that it didn’t have the realism of a true prison.
- Participants were displaying demand characteristics as they acted how they thought they were supposed to be.
- This may explain why the prisoners rioted.
- However 90% of the prisoners conversations were about prison life and they discussed how it was impossible to leave before the end of their sentences (McDermott 2019)
- Suggests that SPE did replicate the social roles of prisoners and guards in a real prison (high internal validity)
Exaggeration of the power of roles (SPE)
- Limitation as Zimbrado may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour (Fromm 1973).
- Only 1/3 guards behaved in a brutal manner, 1/3 applied the rules fairly and the other 1/3 tried to help the prisoners.
- Most guards were able to resist situational pressures to conform to a brutal role.
- Suggests Zimbardo overstated his view that the participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors.
Orlando (1973)
- Investigate how conformity to social roles can influence people to behave in extreme roles.
- Selected staff at a psychiatric hospital to play the roles of patients on a ward for 1 week.
- After 2 days, several mock patients experienced symptoms of extreme psychological disturbance such as withdrawance, uncontrollable crying and some tried to escape.
- Most participants became more anxious and depressed.
- Study ended early as many participants were losing their sense of self identity.
Abu Ghraib
- From 2003-2004, US Army Military Police personnel committed serious human rights violations against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
- Prisoners were tortured, physically and sexually abused and some were murdered.
- Zimbardo noticed similarities between SPE and Abu Ghraib.
- Zimbardo provided an excuse for the personnel who committed the human right violations however.
What is minority influence?
A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours.
Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours.
What is the augmentation principle?
The idea that we should assign greater weight to a particular cause of behaviour if there are other causes present that normally would produce the opposite outcome.
What are the 5 main factors of minority influence?
- Consistency- For a minority to effect change, it has to be consistent in its message between the people in the group (synchronic consistency) and over time (diachronic consistency).
- Commitment- People who show commitment to a cause through strong actions and personal suffering are more likely to be believed.
- Flexibility- Minorities who are consistent but inflexible are less persuasive. Rigidly sticking to the same arguments is unappealing, and a degree of flexibility is a more successful style.
- Knowledge- Conversion theory suggests that when a minority has informational social influence over the majority by providing new information and challenges to the majority, it can convert the majority into new ideas or beliefs.
- Snowball effect
What was the aim of Moscovici et al?
To examine the effect of a consistent minority on the minority using an unambiguous task.
What was the procedure of Moscovici et al?
Groups of four participants and two confederates were asked to estimate the colour of 36 slides.
All the slides were blue but the brightness was varied by adding filters.
In one condition, the two confederates (the consistent minority) called the slides green on all trials in the hearing of the naive participants.
In another condition, the minority varied the consistency of their results.
The control group was not exposed to the minority.
The independent variable is if the minority are consistent or not and the dependent variable is whether the participants answer blue or green.
What were the results of Moscovici et al?
The naive participants agreed that blue was green on 8.42% of the trials and 32% said the slides were green at least once in the consistent condition.
In the inconsistent condition, only 1.25% gave green responses compared to the control group who gave just two wrong answers (0.25%).
Evaluation of Moscovici et al.
+ In another condition, Moscovici found that getting his participants to write their answers privately after exposure to the minority view maintained the conformity effect even in its absence.
- Men are more likely to be colour blind which could have an affect on the results.
- The study used artificial laboratory experiments so lacks ecological validity and internal validity.
- There is an ethical issue of deceit as they were told it was a visual perception task.
Atkinson et al (1990)
Students read out summaries of a discussion on gay rights.
Four of the summaries focussed on one viewpoint.
One of the summaries focussed on the other viewpoint.
Many favoured the majority view publicly (majority and NSI lead to compliance).
Many favoured the minority view privately (minority lead to internalisation).
Commitment-
Minorities sometimes engage in extreme activities which can demonstrate commitment. The majority pay even more attention- the augmentation principle.
Flexibility and consistency-
Nemeth et al (1974) agree that consistency is important but it is not always enough in itself. They carried out a variation on the procedure which Moscovici conducted but allowed the participants to answer with a combination of colours. This time there were three conditions.
1. The confederates randomly answer green on half of the trials and blue-green on the other half.
2. The confederates answer green to the brighter slides and green-blue to the darker slides.
3. The confederates answer green to every trial.
Assuming Moscovici et al to be correct, the third condition would be the greatest influence on the majority due to consistency. However this was not the case-
1. 1% of the majority changed.
2. 21% of the majority changed.
3. 8% of the minority changed.
Condition number two was consistent and flexible.
Knowledge-
Clark (1990)- Twelve angry men
Participants who were all students were given a summary of a case, including the fact that one juror disagreed.
Group A was not told of his arguments but group B knew the arguments made by the juror.
Group B were more inclined to side with the minority view.
Snowball effect-
In a further condition of Clark (1990) participants were not told that other jurors had begun to change their mind also. They were more likely to switch when they were told others had changed their mind.
Research support for consistency
Wood et al (1994) carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies to Mosocvici and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential.
Research support for deeper processing
Another strngth is evidence showing that a change in the majority’s position does involve deeper processing of the majorities ideas.
Martin et al (2003) presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants’ agreement.
One group then heard a minority group agree with the initial view while the other group heard a majority group agree with it.
Participants were finally exposed to a conflictin g view and attitudes were measured again.
People were less willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority group than if they listened to a majority group.
However this study is limited in what it tells us about minority influence in real-world situations.
What is social influence?
The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours.
Includes conformity, obedience and minority influence.
What is social change?
This occurs when whole societies rather than just indiviudals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things.
Examples include, women’s suffrage and gay rights.
Social change- lessons from minority influence research
- Drawing attention (America 1950s civil rights marches about race)
- Consistency (remained consistent)
- Deeper processing (people who accpeted the status quo began to think deeply about the unjustness of it)
- Augmentation principle (indiviuduals risked their lives numerous times)
- Snowball effect (activists such as Martin Luther King got the attention of governments- 1964 US Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination)
- Social cryptomnesia (people have little memory of the events which led to change)
