Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity?
Yielding to group pressure, as a result of an indirect order
What are the three types of conformity?
-Compliance
-Identification
-Internalisation
What is compliance?
- Conforming PUBLICLY, but NOT PRIVATELY to avoid ridicule.
- Weak/temporary - only in the presence of group
What is identification?
- conforming PUBLICLY and PRIVATELY to gain group acceptance.
- temporary - not always agree with the group
What is internalisation?
• True conformity - PUBLIC AND PRIVATE acceptance of belief.
- permanent form of conformity
What is the dual dependency model?
An explanation for conformity suggesting we conform for 2 reasons:
- ISI (Informational social influence)
- NSI (Normative social influence)
Who created the “Dual Dependancy Model”?
Deutsch and Gerard
What is Informational social influence (ISI)?
Cognitive process - we agree with opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct.
What is Normative social influence (NSI)?
Emotional process - we agree with the opinion of the majority to be accepted/gain social approval
What is another word for normal?
Neurotypical
What was Asch’s experiment?
- Participant has to choose the longest line, with confederates picking the wrong line.
What were Asch’s findings
• 2 Confederates - 14% conformity
• 3 Confederates - 31% conformity
Group size influences level of conformity
What are negative evaluations for Asch’s experiment?
• Lacks temporal validity - McCarthyism (people felt pressured to conformed in time where communists were persecuted)
- Perrin Spencer repeated experiment with engineering students (only 1 in 396 conformed): lacked temporal validity
- People less conformist today
• Artificial situation
- Task isn’t everyday task, therefore, more likely to conform
- Only men asked - not generalisable
• Cultural differences - individualistic cultures (UK&US) more concerned about self than others
- collectivist cultures (China) concerned by goals with the collective
(Bond and Smith, 1996 found that conformity rates are higher)
What are 3 reasons people conform?
- Distortion of perception
- Distortion of judgement
- Distortion of action
What is distortion of perception?
Come to see the same way as the majority.
What is distortion of judgment?
Feeling doubt about accuracy of your judgement, so side with majority.
What is distortion of action?
Continue to trust their own judgement perception but changed behaviour to avoid disapproval.
Evaluation for Dual Dependancy Model (ISI & NSI)
Positive:
• Research support for ISI
- Luca (2006) people were found to conform more to harder maths questions
• ISI & NSI working together (two process approach)
- Asch suggested - conformity decreases when another dissenting participant is present, as it reduces power of NSI - as they provide social support.
• Extra evaluation:
- Asch repeated experiment and participants had to write down their answers - conformity rates dropped by 12.5%.
- This suggested that people were willing to give a wrong answer in order to be liked - as suggested by NSI
Negative:
• Individual differences
- NSI less likely to influence those who are less concerned about being liked
- Students high in “need for affiliation” are more likely to conform
What was Sherif’s experiment (1935)
Stationary spot of light was said to move. Participants were told to estimate how far it had moved.
- Participants were primarily tested individually
- Participants went out in groups of three and gave estimate with others present
- Participants then repeated experiment individually
What were the results of Sherif’s experiment?
- Participants produced a stable number primarily, although this number varied.
- When in a group, these number converged and become more alike.
- When retested individually, the estimates were closer to the group estimate.
What conclusions can be drawn from Sherif’s experiment?
Participants were by a group, and a group norm was developed.
Positive evaluations for Sherif
Laboratory experiment - strict variables
- results unlikely to be affected by extraneous variables
- replicable
Repeated measures design -
Participants variables, that could’ve affected the results were kept constant
Negative evaluation for Sherif
Artificial situation - not realistic
Only males - cannot be generalised
Deception of participants may have affected the results.
What are social roles?
The parts people play as members of various social groups e.g. parent, child, student
- These are accompanied by expectations of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.
What 3 situational factors influenced Asch’s participants?
- Group size
- Unanimity/Social Support
- Task difficulty
What results were found on similar studies surrounding Asch’s experiment and gender?
Meta-analysis of conformity research found that females conform more than males
What was Zimbardo’s method?
- Male students were recruited to act as either guards or prisoners in mock prison.
- They were randomly assigned the roles of prisoner or guard and their behaviour observed.
- The prisoners were arrested as they went about their day, taken to ‘prison’ and given uniforms and numbers.
- The guards also wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses.
What were Zimbardo’s results?
- Initially, the guards tried to assert their authority and the prisoners resisted by sticking together.
- The prisoners then became more passive and obedient, while the guards invented nastier punishments. The experiment was abandoned early because some prisoners became very distressed.
What are Zimbardo’s conclusions?
Guards and prisoners adopted their social roles quickly. Zimbardo claims this shows that our “social role can influence our behaviour”. Seeming well-balanced men became unpleasant and aggressive in the role of guard.
Evaluation of Zimbardo’s experiment
- Controlled observation so good control variables
- Artificial environment - can’t be generalised
- Ethical issues
- Observer bias - zimbardo ran the prison himself
LACK OF REALISM - “participants were only play-acting, rather than genuinely conforming.
What happened in the mock psychiatric ward?
• 29 staff members of the hospital volunteered to be “patients” and held in a ward.
• Patients started behaving like real patients - conforming to the roles assigned to them.
• Showed depression and withdrawal and tried to escape.
• Afterwards stated they felt frustrated, anxious and loss their identity.
What is obedience?
Obedience is a type of social influence, which means acting in response to a direct order, usually from an authority figure.
What was Milgrim’s experiment?
Participants were told to electric shock people in response to questions to look at different levels of obedience
What is internal validity?
Is the experiment testing what it stated?
Why was Milgrim’s experiment said to have low internal validity?
- Lacks realism - some suggested that participants knew it was a set up, and some suggested doubts about the shocks.
What study proves Milgrim’s experiment has high internal validity?
Participants were asked to shock puppies
- 100% women shocked the puppies
Evaluation for Milgrim
Positive - replication (game of death)
- Good external validity - as nurses had high levels of obedience to unjustified doctors demands
Negative:
- Ethical issues - betrayal of trust
What are the three situation variables in Milgrim’s study?
- Location
- Uniform
- Proximity
What are the findings of different proximities of Milgrim’s study?
Study where participant and learner in the same room - 40%
Study where participant and leaner in adjoining room - 65%
What are the findings of different locations of Milgrim’s study?
Original study - prestigious university setting - Yale. 65%.
Changed location to a run-down office down town - 47.5%
What was Bickman’s experiment?
Requests were given to random pedestrians by people dressed in three different uniforms:
- policeman/guard
- milkman
- civilian
What was the findings of Bickman’s experiment?
- Higher levels of obedience to policeman than milkman
What was Bushman’s experiment?
Woman asked pedestrians to give change for an expired parking meter.
- Woman dressed as police had higher obedience rate than beggar.
What is the obedience alibi?
Suggests that bad acts can be justified as people were “only doing their duty by obeying orders”
What is the agentic state?
Mental state when someone is free of personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure.
What is legitimacy of authority?
Explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey someone who has authority over us.
What is the autonomous state?
Means to be acting freely and behaving to their own principles
What is evidence against agentic state?
German reserve police battalion 101 - no direct orders
What is minority influence?
A form of social influence in which a majority is persuaded to adapt their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.
What are the three conditions needed for minority influence to take place?
Consistency
Flexibility
Commitment
Why does consistency lead to minority influence?
If there is a consistent approach, more likely that people will consider the issue more carefully.
What are two types of consistency?
Synchronic consistency
Diachronic consistency
What is synchronic consistency?
Everyone saying the same thing
What is diachronic consistency?
One person says the same thing consistently
Why does commitment lead to minority influence?
A more committed approach means it is harder to ignore.
Why does flexibility lead to minority influence?
Must negotiate their position with majority
What is the snowball effect?
Minority builds momentum and becomes majority
Evaluation for 3 approaches to minority influence
Support for flexibility - Moscovici’s
- other study - jury - person who offered alternative view showed influence.
Support for consistency - meta analysis (Wood) found consistency is key.
What is social change?
The process by which the individuals and groups change other’s attitudes and behaviours.
Includes:
- conformity
- obedience
- minority influence
How does social change occur?
Deeper processing of the issue
What is the augmentation principle?
If there are risks associated with the point of view, it is likely to be taken more seriously.
What is social cryptomnesia?
- People are aware of social change, but can’t identify how it occurred.
What is terrorism as a tactic of social change?
The aim of terrorism is to bring about social change when direct social force is not possible.
What 3 factors cause social change?
Strength - powerful, knowledge and consistent.
Immediacy - physical, social or psychological closeness of person providing influence.
Numbers - how many people in a group.
What are barriers to social change?
Stereotypes
E.g. “tree huggers” (environmentalists) and “man haters” (feminists)
