SOCIAL INFLUENCE Flashcards
What is Obedience
A form of social control where someone complies with the demands given from an authority figure.
What are the 2 explanations for obedience
- The agentic state
- Legitimacy of authority
what is a dispositional explanation for obedience
The Authoritarian personality
Who carried out research into obedience
Stanly Milgram
What was the aim of Stanly Milgram’s study
Whether ordinary people would obey an unjust order from a person in authority to inflict pain on another person.
What was the Proceudre into Milgrams study into obedience
- 40 male volunteers each paid $4.50 descieved into thinking they were giving patients eletric shocks
- The voluneteers would then shock them every time the leaner got a question wrong
- thsi continued up to 450v or to the point where the volunteers woudl refuse to go on.
What did stanly milligram find
- All participants went to 300v.
- 65% went to 450v.
- Most participants found experiment stressful and wanted to stop.
What did Millgram conclude from his study
When people feel they have felt they have a subordinate position they begin to lose feeling of empathy and compassion & become blind towards obedience
What is the Agentic state
Where an individual carries out the orders of an authority figure, acting as their agent
What is an Agentic shift
Where people can start off acting in an autonomous way, but then become obedient
What is Legitimacy of authority
Where your More likely to obey a person who has a higher position or status in a social hierarchy
What are the 3 situational variables that can affect Obedience investigated by Milgram
- Proximity
- Location
- Uniform
How did location affect obedience levels
If they were in a seedy office obedience levels began to drop
How did proximity affect obedience levels
- room dropped to 40%
- phone dropped to 21%
- touch proximity dropped to 30%
How did unifrom affect obedience levels in Milgrams study
Fell from 65% to 20% when the wore his own clothes rather than lab coat
What is an authoritarian personality
A person who has extreme respect for authority and is very obedient.
who came up with the Authoritarian Personality
Adorno et al (1950)
What is the F scale
measures responses on several different components of authoritarianism.
What did Adorno find in his research
Individuals who scored highly on the F-scale identified with ‘strong’ people and showed disrespect towards the weak
What is a Strength of the Dispositional explanation for obedience
Supporting research for the authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation, E.g., Milgram found participants who were highly obedience scored significantly higher in F scale= supports link between Ap and obedience
What is a limitation of The Dispositional explanation for obedience
The link between Authoritirian personality and obedience is just a link, E.g., research and conclusions about role of this dispositional factor are only correlational= Cannot establish casuality
What are the 2 reasons of resisting Social Influence
- Social Support (Gamson)
- Locus Of Control (Rotter)
Who studied into social support as a explanation as resistance to social influence
Gamson at al 1982
What was the Aim of Gamsons study
To create a situation in which particpants were encouraged to rebel againt an unjust authority
What was the Procedure of Gamsons study
- tried to get manager of petrol station fired as he spoke out about prices
- confederate steered convo in favour of sacking manager
- not to sack ideas was ignored
- got asked to sign consent form to use in court.
What did Gamson find
- 32/33 rebelled one way or another
- 25/33 the majority refused to sign the contract
- 9/33 even threatened legal actions against MHRC
What did Gamson conclude from his study
- Found it easier to disobey when there was social support
- Due to the boomerang effect
What is the boomerang effect
Where pressuring people too much makes them do the opposite
What is a Limitation of Social Support as an explanation of resistance to social Influence
- Gamson Criticised for sample used= Used sample of 33 USA males. T.S.T wont generalise to other populations or cultures= Lacks population validity.
- Speed of Cyptoamenisa.E.g., encourage social change= change can be bought by minorities not yet fully understood needs more Research.
Give a Strength of Socal Support for explaining Resistance to Social Influence
-Praised for high level of Realism= E.g., other reasearchs participants didnt know they were in a study=Therefore high in Ecological Validity.
What is a Locus of Control
people believe that they have control over the outcome of events
What are the 2 types of LoC
- Internal
- External
What is an internal locus of control
A belief that one can control one’s own life and less likely to conform
What is an external locus of control
Controlled by outside factors which a person can’t influence more likely to confrom
Who are the 4 Researches into LoC
- Elms & Milgram
- Oliner & Oliner
- Williams & Warshal
- Avtgis
What is a Limitation of LoC For an Explanation of Resistance To Social Influence
Research into LoC is only Correlational. E.g., Situational factors could only have an impact= Research connot establish cause and effect and therefore more researcher is needed.
What is a Strength of LoC For an Explanation of Resistance To Social Influence
What is minority influence
small group of people influence a larger group to change behaviour towards an issue
Who studied minority influence
Moscovici (1969)
What was the aim of Moscovivis Study
To investigate the role of a consistent minority against the opinions of the majority
What was the Procedure of Moscivics Study
- 6 groups 2 confederates 4 participants
- Shown 36 slides all varying shades of blue
- Consistent=2 confederates all slides were green
- Inconsistent=2 confederates 2/3 fo the slides were green
What did Moscovici find
- 8.2% agreement with minority in consistent condition 32% agreeing at least once
- 1.25% agreement in the inconsistent condition
Whats a Limitation of Minority influence
Criticised for methods used. E.g., many studies descieve participants didnt know they were in a study
What is a possible Strength of minority influence
Other Research regarding role of consistency in minority influnce
What are the 3 roles within Minority influence
- Commitment
- Flexibility
- Consistent
What is Social Cryptoamnesia
Minority view starts small, gains momentum and gains
