Social Influence

Question 1

What is obedience? Who usually is the person issuing the order?

Answer 1

A form of social influence in which an individual follow a direct order.

The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.

Question 2

Describe the procedure and aims of Milgram’s study of obedience.

Answer 2

Aim: To investigate obedience levels to destructive authority in order to test the hypothesis that Germans are ‘different’.

Procedure: 40 American men (age 20-50) volunteered to take part in a ‘memory’ study at Yale Uni. Volunteers introduced to confederate (thinking they were also a participant) and drew fixed lots to select roles. The naïve participant was selected as Teacher while the confederate was Learner.
Learner was strapped into an electric chair in another room. Teacher then instructed by an experimenter dressed in a lab coat to administer electric shocks of increasing voltage (by 15v up to 450v) for each question the Learner made a mistake on a memory task. The experimenter game ‘prods’ to the participant to urge them to continue. Learners fell silent at 330v.

Question 3

What were the findings and conclusions of Milgram’s study?

Answer 3

Findings:
- 100% delivered shocks up to 300v
- 65% continued to 450v
- P’s showed signs of extreme tension - sweating, shaking, nail-biting… 3 had full-blown seizures.

Conclusion:
Germans are not ‘different’. American participants were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person.

Question 4

Evaluate Milgram’s study.

Answer 4

+ Lab setting - controlled environment - reducing extraneous variables. However low ecological validity.

• Ethical issues - Failure to protect from harm - immense stress exposure and seizures. However only 1 person regretted being involved. 1 year later all participants took psychological tests and were fine.
• Ethical issues - lack of informed consent - unaware of involvement of electric shocks. However debriefing and was necessary to prevent demand characteristics.

Question 5

What were names of two alternative studies of obedience?

Answer 5

Hofling (1966) - to see whether nurses would obey orders from an unknown doctor over the phone to give a lethal dose of a drug.

Burger (2010) - to see if people would still obey authority in a replication of the Milgram paradigm.

Question 6

Describe Hofling’s study and evaluate. Conclusion?

Answer 6

Hofling (1966) - to see whether nurses would obey orders from an unknown doctor over the phone to give a lethal dose of a drug. Can Milgram’s study be applied to real life?

21/22 nurses obeyed (despite a control group saying they wouldn’t). Shows power of doctors authority in a real life study and that people act differently to how they think they would. Did not show moral strain.

Conclusion: Milgram’s lack of ecological validity is not significant as high obedience was still found in a real life setting so Milgram’s study can be applied to real life

+ no demand characteristics
+ high ecological validity
- ethical issues - lack of informed consent
- low temporal validity

Question 7

Describe Burger’s study and evaluate. Conclusion?

Answer 7

Burger (2010) - to see if people would still obey authority in a replication of the Milgram paradigm.

Followed Milgram’s procedure with some changes - max shock was 150v, screened participants, told 3 times they could withdraw at any time, experimenter trained to spot excessive stress).

Findings: Obedience rate to 150v was 70% - no difference between male and female.

Conclusion: It is possible to use the Milgram paradigm in modern times and shows people are still as obedient 50 years later.

+ supports Milgram - obedience still occurs in modern times - shows temporal validity
- however difficult to form a comparison to Milgram with changes in procedure - would P’s continue past 150v?

Question 8

What were the variations tried of Milgram’s experiment? what happened to obedience levels

Answer 8

• Learner in same room as teacher
• Teacher physically forced learners hands onto shock plates when they refused voluntarily
• Experimenter with ordinary clothes takes over
• Experimenter in different room - orders over the phone
• In a rundown office building

All of the above decreased obedience.

• Women - > same obedience levels

Question 9

What percentage went to 450v when the learner was put in the same room as the teacher?

Answer 9

40%

Question 11

What percentage went to 450v when the experimenter was replaced with someone wearing ordinary clothes?

Answer 11

20%

Question 12

What percentage went to 450v when the experimenter was giving orders from a different room?

Answer 12

20.5%

Question 13

What percentage went to 450v when the study took place in a rundown office building rather than a university?

Answer 13

47.5%

Question 14

What percentage went to 450v when women were tested on the same procedure?

Answer 14

65% (the same)

Question 15

What are the 3 situational factors affecting obedience?

Answer 15

Location - where the experiment is carried out and the prestige of this location. More prestigious = more legitimate authority.

Proximity - the distance between authority figures, person obeying the orders and person affected by the actions of the learner.

Uniform - the dress that an authority figure is wearing. uniform makes an authority figure seem more legitimate.

NOTE: Use evidence from Milgram’s variations to support the effect of each of these on obedience.

Question 16

Name the two situational explanations of obedience

Answer 16

Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority

Question 17

Describe the Agentic State explanation of obedience

Answer 17

People obey because they do not see themselves as responsible for their behaviour - they have transferred responsibility onto an authorty figure.

When this happens we are in an ‘agentic state’ as we are acting as an ‘agent’ for that person.

The ‘agent’ realises their behaviour is morally wrong and feels powerless to disobey orders and so show moral strain.

Question 18

What is the opposite to Agentic state?

Answer 18

Autonomous state - where we are personally responsible and making our own decisions.

Question 19

What did Milgram call the variables which trap people in an agentic state? Give some examples.

Answer 19

Binding factors - e.g. awkwardness to withdraw or denying damage to victim

Question 20

In Milgram’s study, the experimenter exercised control over the participant’s behaviour. The participant’s distress at the situation indicated ______ strain - a sign of being in an _______ _______.

However this cannot explain why some people _________ as the situation was the _____ for all participants.

Answer 20

Moral
Agentic State

disobeyed
same

Question 21

Why does Hofling’s Nurse study contradict the idea of Agentic State?

Answer 21

The nurses showed no signs of anxiety, despite causing harm to a patient.

If the nurses where in an agentic state then you would have expected them to show moral strain over the order, implying agentic state cannot fully explain obedience.

Question 22

Describe the Legitimacy of Authority explanation of obedience.

Answer 22

Legitimacy of Authority = how much power the authority has.

We obey authority because we trust them or because of fear that they may punish us.

Authority can be shown through uniform, location ect - only 20% went to 450v when the experimenter wore casual clothes.

Question 23

What are two pieces of research to support Legitimacy of Authority explanation? (includes how legitimacy of authority can explain cultural differences)

Answer 23

+ SUPPORTING RESEARCH
Bickman - 90% obeyed an order to give strangers money for a parking meter when the request was from a security guard, compared to 50% with a man dressed normally.

Shows people are more likely to obey authority they see as legitimate (e.g. through uniform)

+ CAN EXPLAIN CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Kilham and Mann - replicated MIlgram’s observation in Australia. Only 16% participants obeyed compared to a replication in Germany where 85% obeyed to 450v.

In certain cultures authority is more accepted as legitimate.

Question 24

What does dispositional mean?

Answer 24

Relating to personality

Question 25

What is the dispositional explanation of obedience?

Answer 25

The Authoritarian personality - people obey because their personality characteristics make them a highly obedient person.

Question 26

What are the 3 main things the Authaoritarian Personality (APT) is characterised by?

Answer 26

1) Hostility to people believed to be of lower status
2) Blind respect towards people perceived to be of higher status
3) A preoccupation with power and toughness

… therefore highly obedient to authority

Question 27

What is the Authoriatian Personality (APT) caused by?

Answer 27

Overly harsh/strict parenting.

Recently people have argued that it is motivated by a desire to reduce anxieties that social change bring.

Question 28

How is the APT assessed?

Answer 28

Through an F-scale (F stands for fascist) by using a questionaire - Adorno.

Question 29

How does APT explain the results of the Milgram study?

Answer 29

Milgram’s P’s obeyed because they were of the APT. This could also explain why some disobeyed as they were less authoritarian than those who obeyed at the end of the experiment.

Question 30

What is a supporting point to evaluate the APT?

Answer 30

There is a link between obedience and APT.

Milgram interviewed obedient participants a few years later. P’s completed the F-scale and a correlation was found between obedience and APT.

Question 31

What are the limitations when evaluating the APT?

Answer 31

• Limitations of assessing APT - Social desirability bias of the F-scale questionnaire. Decreasing validity.
• Authoritarian individuals often don’t score highly on all F scale components. e.g. 16 Nazi war criminals only scored highly on 3/9 F-dimensions. Therefore cannot explain why they obeyed.

Question 32

What is conformity?

Answer 32

A change in a person’s behaviour or opinion as a result of real/imagined pressure from a person or group of people.

Question 33

What is deviating?

Answer 33

Chosing to behave in a way that is not socially acceptable or that the majority of group members do not appear to favour.

Question 34

What are the 3 levels of conformity from weakest to strongest?

Answer 34

Compliance - when a person goes along with someone publicly while privately disagreeing with them.

Identification - when a person changes their private views as well as their public behaviour to fit in with a group however it is only temporary.

Internalisation - The beliefs of a group are taken on and become a permanent part of that person’s view (also known as ‘conversion’)

Question 35

Name the 2 explanations of conformity.

Answer 35

Normative Social Influence and Informational Social Influence.

Question 36

Describe Normative Social Influence.

Answer 36

Occurs when we wish to be liked by the majority and so we go along with them even though we may not agree with them (compliance) IN ORDER TO FIT IN and be liked by the group - to avoid rejection.

Question 37

Describe Informational Social Influence.

Answer 37

Occurs because we want to be right, so look to the majority for information as we are unsure about the way in which to behave (when the situation is AMBIGUOUS). It is a cognitive process leading to Internalisation.

Question 38

What research supports NSI and ISI?

Answer 38

+ Jenness had students individually guess the number of JELLY BEANS in a jar. They then discussed their estimates and gave a group estimate before another individual estimate. Individual estimates tended to be a lot closer to the group norm.

+ Asch study - asked participants why they conformed. Some said because they believed the other p’s must be right and others said they felt self-conscious saying different to the group.

Question 39

What are limitations of NSI and ISI.

Answer 39

There are individual differences:

NSI e.g. students high in need of affiliation (to be liked/in relationship with others) were more likely to conform.

ISI e.g. only one student conformed in a total of 396 trials when replicating the Asch study in 1980 with Engineering students.

Question 40

What is the aim and procedures of the Asch study?

Answer 40

Aim: To research coformity into group pressure and whether it is more important to be right or fit in.

Procedures: 5-9 male students invited to take part in a visual judgement experiment actually investigating conformity. Only one participant is actually ‘naive’ (sat second to last) while the others are confederates. The group are asked to compare a standard line to 3 comparison lines and choose the line of equal length. Reporting their answer one by one 18 times. The confederates give obviously wrong answers on 12 of the 18 trials (‘critical’ trials). 123 participants took part in total.

Question 41

What were the findings and conclusions of the Asch Study?

Answer 41

FINDINGS

People conformed on 37% of all the critical trials.

75% of participants conformed on at least one critical trial. So 25% did not conform on any.

5% conformed on every single critical trial.

Control group with no confederates had an error rate of 0.04% showing how obvious the correct answer was.

CONCLUSIONS

Most participants after the experiment said they did not really believe their conforming answers but had gone along for fear of being ridiculed - compliance. Few said they genuinly believed the group’s answers to be right.

People want to conform for two main reasons: NSI (to fit in) and ISI (to be right as they believed the group was better informed than they were).

Question 42

What were the named reasons for conforming in The Asch study?

Answer 42

DISTORTION OF ACTION - where participants conformed publicly but not privately to avoid ridicule (form of compliance).

DISTORTION OF PERCEPTION - where participnts believed their perception must be wrong.

Question 43

Evaluate the Asch Study.

Answer 43

+ Lab experiment - Controlled observation, standardised procedures - replicable and reducing extraneous variables.

• Low ecological validity/mundane realism.
• Demand Characteristics
• Low population validity
• Low temporal validity - 1980 replication with UK engineering students found only one conformed in 396 trials.
• Ethical issues

Question 44

What are the factors affecting conformity?

Answer 44

• Difficulty
• Group Size
• Unaminity
• (gender)

Question 45

How does task difficulty affect conformity? Use the Asch study variations to support your anwer.

Answer 45

Increasing difficulty increases conformity.

Asch tried a variation where he made the comparison lines more similar in length to the standard line and conformity increased.

Suggests when the answer is less clear (situation more ambiguous) we are less confident in our own judgement so more likely to conform - ISI.

Question 46

How does group size affect conformity? Use the Asch study variations to support your anwer.

Answer 46

Increasing the size of the majority increases conformity rates but only up to a certain size.

Asch tried variations where the size of the majority was varied from 1 to 15 confederates.

1 confederate - conformity was 3%.
2 confederates - conformity was 13%
3 confederates - conformity was 32%

Adding extra confederates above this made little difference.

Question 47

How does unaminity of the group affect conformity? Use the Asch study variations to support your anwer.

Answer 47

Breaking the unaminity of the group reduces conformity because the group’s power is seen to reduce with each dissenter (even if they don’t agree with the naive participant).

Asch tried variations where he added confederates that also disagreed with the majority (dissenters).

Adding a correct dissenter: conformity = 5.5%
Adding an incorrect dissenter: conformity = 9%

Question 48

How does gender affect conformity? Use the Asch study variations to support your anwer.

Answer 48

There are gender differences in conformity. Possibly because females care more about social roles.

Female participants were tested in other studies. It was found that female participants were more conforming than males.

Females conformed 30% of the time wheras males conformed 5% of the time.

Question 49

What were the aims and procedures of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment?

Answer 49

Aims: To attempt to explain the violent and brutal conditions often found in prisons.
Was it due to the guards and prisoners being ‘bad seeds’ (dispositional hypothesis) or was it due to the enviornment in which they were in (situational hypothesis)?

Procedures:
- Basement of psychology department at Stanford Uni turned into a mock prison.
- Male volunteer participants being paid $15 a day for 1-2 weeks - 24 most physically and mentally stable selected and randomly assigned to prisoner or guard.
- Prisoners arrested by real police, blindfolded, fingerprinted, stripped and deloused.
- Dehumanisation of prisoners increased by prisoners wearing numbers and a nylan stocking cap.
- Guards wore khaki uniforms and sunglasses and were given handcuffs and truncheons to represent authority. They were told to maintain a reasonal degree of order but no physical violence was to be used.

Question 50

What were the results of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment?

Answer 50

RESULTS
Guards began to humiliate and punish prisoners, giving them meaningless tasks - becoming increasingly aggressive. There were big differences in how guards acted - 1/3 ‘good’, 1/3 ‘bad’ and 1/3 fair guards. Some even volunteered to work extra shifts.

Initially prisoners rioted but this was dealt with by the gaurds. They began to show signs of mental and emotional distress. 1 had to be released after 36 hours. 3 more were released over the next couple of days. Prisoners showed deindividuation - the loss of self-awareness in groups - by referring to themselves as numbers.

Study stopped after 5 days due to the harm it was causing.

In later interviews both prisoners and guards were surprised by their uncharacteristic behaviour.

Question 51

What were the conclusions of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment?

Answer 51

Supports the situational hypothesis because the environment of the prison led to uncharacteristic behaviour of the ‘normal/stable’ participants.
However there were individual differences found - supporting dispositional hypothesis.

Identification conformity as referred to themselves by numbers and identified with roles publically and privately.

Individuals will conform readily to roles given to them - even when the roles override their moral beliefs abouts their behaviour.

Question 52

Evaluate Zimbardo’s study. (2+ 2-)

Answer 52

+ Good ecological validity. However demand characteristics.
+ Control of variables - all p’s checked to be mentally and physically stable, lowering partcipant variables to establish a cause and effect relatonship.

• Ethical issues - lack of informed consent (arrested, blindfolded, stripped). However extensive group and individual debreifings.
  Failure to protect from harm - however study approved by Office of Naval Research
• Low temporal validity - 2002 remake with 9 prisoners and 6 guards - prisoners took over the prison and the guards were unwilling to impose authority.
  However most prisoners were a lot tougher and streetwise and they all wore micriphones so were more aware they were being filmed.

Question 53

What is minority influence? Why does it occur (type of conformity)? Is this usually due to ISI or NSI?

Answer 53

A form of social influence where a small group of people manage to persuade a large group of people.

Occurs due to conversion - where the majority is gradually won over by a minority viewpoint. Also internalisation.

Usually caused by informational social influence.

Question 54

What are the 3 factors that affect minority influence?

Answer 54

Minorities are more persuasive when they are>
- flexible
- consistent
- committed

Question 55

How does flexibility affect minority influence? What is some research to support this?

Answer 55

Minorities who are uncompromising (dogmatic) are less persuasive than those who compromise. However too much flexibility makes them inconsistent.

+Nemeth - Group of 3 had to decide how much compensation to pay a victim of an accident. When the minority confederate was inflexible he had no effect. If he compromised a little, the majority agreed.

Question 56

How does consistency and commitment affect minority influence? What was the name of the study to support this?

Answer 56

Minorities are more persuasive if they are unchanging in their view and keep repeating their stance (consistency).
Commitment can be shown by taking actions in support of minorities’ cause.

These create enough doubt about established norms to get majority group individuals to re-examine their current beliefs.

+ Moscovici study

Question 57

What was the aim, procedures, results and conclusions from the Moscovici study?

Answer 57

Aim: to investigate whether consistency increases conformity to a minority group.

Procedure:
- P’s told study was about perception.
- 6 people - 4 naive p’s and 2 confederates
- 36 blue slides shown with filters varying the intensity of colour
- Consistent condition: confederates answered wrongly that all slides were green.
- Inconsistent condition: confederates said that 24 slides were green and 12 were blue.

RESULTS
- Agreement for consistent condition was 8%
- Agreement for inconsistent condition was 1.25%

Conclusions:
The more consistent a minority group is, the greater influence they will have on a majority

Question 58

Evaluate Moscovici’s study (- 1+, 1-) - simple points

Answer 58

+ Other research generally found the same - high reliability
- Low population validity - only used female p’s

Question 59

What is social change?

Answer 59

The process of changing society’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms.

Minority influence is a crucial part of bringing about social change.

Question 60

What is the process of minority influence on social change? (6 steps)

Answer 60

1) Drawing attention to the issue
2) Conistency of belief
3) Cognitive conflict - minority creates a conflict between what majority believe and what minority advocate.
4) Augmentation principle - if a minority is willing to suffer it amplified (augments) their position - showing commitment to the cause.
5) The Snowball effect - once a few majority people are won over, a gradual increase in pace of people moving viewpoint occurs.
6) Social Cryptoamnesia - acceptance of the view of minority followed by a forgtetting of the role the minority played.

Question 61

What is the difference between majority and minority influence in social change?

Answer 61

MAJORITY INFLUENCE - maintaining social order - immediate and unthinking process - sometimes broken down over time by minority influene

MINORITY INFLUENCE - fundamental changes in beliefs - new ideas adopted into maintream practices - conversion

Question 62

How does conformity play a role in social change?

Answer 62

Once a minority view is accepted by the majority, compliance consolidates and maintain the belief.

Question 63

How does obedience play a role in social change?

Answer 63

Maintains the new belief (e.g. by creation of new laws)

Question 64

State the external situational factor and internal dispositional factor which leads to resisting social influence.

Answer 64

External situational factor: Social support

Internal dispositional factor: Locus of control

Question 65

How does social support increase resistance? Give evidence to support.

Answer 65

Adding dissenters reduces pressure to conform/obey as their behaviour stands out less and makes disobedience more acceptable.

Asch - adding dissenters reduced conformity from 37% to 5.5% and 9% even when they gave an incorrect answer.

Question 66

What is locus of control? What scale is it measured on?

Answer 66

A person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour - measured on a scale of high internal to high external.

Question 67

What is high external locus of control? How does this affect conformity?

Answer 67

Belief that life is determined by external factors such as luck.

High externals are more likely to conform and be influence by others as they exercise less personal control over their lives.

Question 68

What is high internal locus of control? How does this affect conformity?

Answer 68

When a person has high levels of personal control over their life and behaviour - taking personal responsibility for it.

High internals actively seek out information which will help them personally and are less likely to rely on others and conform. They are more achievement orientated.

Question 69

What is a piece of research to support locus of control? What is a limitation?

Answer 69

+ Milgram - P’s that were disobedient in original study had a higher score of internal LOC.

• Locus of control assessed using the standard Rotter Questionnaire assessment - social desirability bias - lowers internal validity. However easily replicable - analyse and compare.