social influence Flashcards
1
Q
strengths of milgrams original study and variations
A
- methodology used: lab in original and variations meaning high levels of control. e.g each participant had same experience as verbal prompts were scripted and cries of pain were recorded. each pp had same experience so study can be replicated to test reliablilty and cause/effect can be established
- situational variables for obedience supportive research by Bickman. confederate dressed as security guard, jacket/tie or as a milkman asked passer by for a coin for the parking metre. people twice as likely to obey security guard than jacket/tie confederate. demonstrates uniform displays authority
2
Q
weaknesses of milgrams original study and variations
A
- lack internal validity according to orne and holland. pp in uniform variation where researcher replaced by member of the public is so contrived, the pp must have worked it out. unclear if results are due to obedience or demand characteristics
- ethical issues. deception broken as pp made to feel as though they were harming someone. also protection from harm was broken as the pp may have felt emotional and psychological harm due to guilt and 3 pp suffered from seizures
3
Q
strengths of agentic state (social psychological)
A
- support by milgram research as the pp demonstrated moral strain. some had laughing fits and 3 had seizures when deciding whether to obey or not. those who disobeyed did not show moral strain as they were in autonomous state.
- application to real life. actions of nazi war criminals defended in court as they were following orders and felt as though they were not responsible. this demonstrates the danger of ignoring feelings of moral strain.
4
Q
weaknesses of agentic state (social psychological)
A
- describes not explains obedience. does not show how agentic shift takes place and what the processes involved are or how it can be measured. hard to carry out research to test the theory, weakening validity
- alternative explanation is disposition e.g authoritarian personality
5
Q
strengths of legitimate authority as explanation for obedience
A
- bickman, legitimacy of authority through uniform
- Tarnow studied aviation accidents. excessive dependence on captain authority. one officer claimed he noticed the captain taking a risky approach but did not question it as he felt he ‘knew what he was doing’. these errors were found in 19/37 accidents.
6
Q
weaknesses of legitimate authority as explanation for obedience
A
- gradual commitment as alternative explanation e.g foot in the door. easy to obey small trivial order and then difficult to refuse serious orders
- may be used to justify harming others, responsibility can be passed onto authority and they no longer feel their morals are relevant
7
Q
strengths of dispositional explanation for obedience
A
- elms and milgram, 20 obedient and 20 defiant pp from milgrams original study. all completed MMPI scale, F scale and asked open ended questions about childhood and attitudes towards researcher and learner. higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient pp, had less close relations with father and saw researcher as more admirable than learner
- adorno F-scale on 2000 white middle class americans found those who scored highly identified with strong people and were contemptuous of weak people. excessive respect for authority shown and a strong correletion between authoritarianism and prejudice
8
Q
weaknesses of dispositional explanation for obedience
A
- education may determine authoritarianism and obedience. those less well educated were more obedient
- biologically deterministic
- not all pp in elms and milgram study had difficult relationships with their father
9
Q
strengths of locus of control as an explanation for resisting obedience
A
- elms and milgram found disobedient pp had higher internal locus of control than those who obeyed
- atgis meta analysis. those who scored higher for external L of C were more easily persuaded and likely to conform. correlation between L of C and conformity was 0.37 which was statistically sig.
10
Q
weaknesses of locus of control as an explanation for resisting obedience
A
- atgis study measures correlations which do not establish cause and effect, people who conform may develop high external L of C as a result.
- alternative explanation is social support
11
Q
strengths of social support as an explanation for resisting obedience
A
- allen and levine, similar to asch found that is a dissenter wears thick glasses and claims to not see very well, this was enough for the conformity to decrease, as the pp feel free from the pressure of the group
- milgram found that obedience drops from 65% to 10% when the pp is joined by a disobedient confederate
12
Q
weaknesses of social support as an explanation for resisting obedience
A
- asch found SS must be given early on in the process. if dissenter answers at start conformity drops from 32% to 5.5%. if confederate dissents later, conformity only drops to 8.5%. it depends on when the SS is given and how consistent it is
- alternative explanation is L of C
13
Q
strengths of minority influence
A
- moscovinci used lab experiment. consistent confederate= 8% conformity but when confederate called 24 green and 12 blue conformity=1%. high control e.g all pp had good eeysight and saw same amount of slides, cause and effect established, change in DV due to IV. increases internal validity
- real life examples, e.g suffragettes who gained the right for women to vote
14
Q
weaknesses of minority influence
A
- moscovinci lab experiment lacks ecological vaildity, not natural environment, not everyday tas. pp aware they are in an experiment so may have guessed the aims. also lacks population validity as all pp were women with good eyesight from america
- turner believes people move towards those in their in-group. consistency, committment and flexibility may not be only important factors in minority influence.
