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Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

Definition of Conformity

A

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

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2
Q

Definition of Compliance

A

A type of conformity that involves ‘going along with others’, but not privately changing personal opinions/behaviour

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3
Q

Definition of Internalisation

A

A type of conformity that occurs when people genuinely accept group norms, leading to a private and public change of opinion/behaviour

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4
Q

Definition of Identification

A

A type of conformity that involves conforming to the opinions/behaviour of a group because there is something we value about the group

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5
Q

What are the Two Explanations for Conformity?

A

ISI and NSI

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6
Q

Who Proposed the Explanations for Conformity?

A

Deutsch and Gerard

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7
Q

What is ISI?

A

Informational Social Influence - need to be right

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8
Q

What is NSI?

A

Normative Social Influence - need to be liked

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9
Q

Types and Explanations for Conformity A03 - Research Support for ISI - 4 Points

A
  • Lucas et al - asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult
  • There was greater conformity to incorrect answers when they were difficult rather than when they were easier
  • Mostly true for students who rated their mathematical ability as poor
  • Shows that people conform in situations where they feel they don’t know the answer
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10
Q

Types and Explanations for Conformity A03 - Individual Differences in NSI - 4 Points

A
  • Some research shows that NSI does not affect everyone’s behaviour the same way
  • Eg. People who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI than those who care about being liked
  • McGhee and Teevan - found students high in need of affiliation are more likely to conform
  • Shows that the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others
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11
Q

What are nAffiliators?

A

Someone who have a greater needed for affiliation (being in relationship with others)

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12
Q

Types and Explanations for Conformity A03 - ISI and NSI Work Together

A

Behaviour is more likely due to both NSI and ISI than just the one

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13
Q

Types and Explanations for Conformity A03 - Individual Differences in ISI - 3 Points

A
  • ISI doesn’t affect everyone’s behaviour the same way
  • Asch - found that students were less conformist than other participants
  • Perrin and Spencer - conducted a study involving science and engineering students and found very little conformity
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14
Q

Types and Explanations for Conformity A03 - Research Support for NSI - 3 Points

A
  • Asch - found many people simply went with the clear wrong answer just because others did
  • Some said they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval
  • When Asch repeated this study, but asked the participants to write their answers instead of saying them out loud, conformity rates fell to 12.5%
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15
Q

What was Asch’s Baseline Procedure? - 2 Points

A
  • 123 male participants judging line length
  • Confederates gave wrong answers
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16
Q

What were Asch’s Baseline Findings? - 2 Points

A
  • Naive participants conformed on 36.8% of trials
  • 25% never conformed
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17
Q

What were the 3 Variations of Asch’s Baseline Experiment?

A

Group Size
Unanimity
Task Difficulty

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18
Q

Outline the Group Size Variation of Asch’s Baseline? - 2 Points

A
  • Varied group size from 2 confederates to 16
  • Conformity increased when up to 3 confederates were added, then levelled off
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19
Q

Outline the Unanimity Variation of Asch’s Baseline? - 2 Points

A
  • Placed a dissenter in the group who gave a different answer to the rest of the group
  • Conformity rate reduced
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20
Q

Outline the Task Difficulty Variation of Asch’s Baseline? - 2 Points

A
  • Made the line lengths more similar
  • Conformity increased when task was harder
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21
Q

Asch A03 - Lack of Temporal Validity - 5 Points

A
  • Perrin and Spencer - replicated Asch’s study with engineering students in the UK, and found that only one student conformed in a total of 396 trials
  • It may be engineering students felt more confident about measuring lines than the original sample, and were less conformist
  • It is possible that at the time the research was originally conducted in American, it was particularly conformist
  • Society has changed since Asch’s research took place on the 1950s, so society may be less conformist
  • Not consistent across time periods and different situations, so it is not a fundamental feature of human behaviour
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22
Q

Asch A03 - Artificial Situation and Task - 5 Points

A
  • Participants may have been influenced by demand characteristics
  • The task of identifying lines was pretty trivial, so there was no real reason not to conform
  • Though participants were in a group, it is unlike those we are part of in our everyday lives so many not give a genuine picture of true human behaviour
  • Fiske - “Asch’s groups are not very group”
  • Findings may not generalise to everyday situations, especially when the consequences of conformity might be more important.
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22
Q

Asch A03 - Limited Application of Findings - 3 Points

A
  • Asch only tested men, but other research suggests women may be more likely to conform, as they are likely to be more concerned about social relationships and gaining acceptance/approval than men
  • The men in Asch’s research were all American, and some studies conducted in collectivist cultures have higher conformity rates
  • Conformity levels may therefore sometimes be even higher than Asch found - his findings may only apply to American men
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23
Q

Asch A03 - Findings Only Apply in Certain Situations - 3 Points

A
  • Participants had to answer out loud and were with a group go strangers, who they wanted to impress
  • Soon - found conformity to be higher when the majority of the group were friends
  • Conformity may change between situations, but Asch’s findings are limited to one specific situation
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24
Q

Asch A03 - Ethical Issues - 3 Points

A
  • The naive participants were deceived because they believed the other people in the study were also genuine participants too
  • However, sometimes the drawbacks of unethical research can be outweigh by the benefits/knowledge we gain from the findings
  • Asch’s research could have had detrimental effects on the participants, as it violated the BPS’s ethical guidelines
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25
Q

Definition of Social Roles

A

The parts people play in various social groups

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26
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - Aim

A

Wanted to investigate whether the prison guards were behaving brutally because of their disposition or whether the social role and situation they were in created this behaviour

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27
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE- Procedure - 4 Points

A
  • Participants were randomly assigned the role of guard or prisoner
  • Prisoners were assigned an ID number, stripped and hosed down upon arrival
  • Guard were given free-reign on how they could enforce the 16 rules, but they could not use phsyical violence
  • Due to last 14 days
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28
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - How Many Participants were Involved?

A

24 male students

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29
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - How were the Prisoners Punished When They Misbehaved?

A

Verbally insulted them or made them do menial psychical exercise

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30
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What Happened to Prisoner 8612?

A

Had to leave after a day because he was showing signs of severe emotional distress

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31
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - Conclusion - 3 Points

A
  • Situational factors have a larger effect on social conformity
  • People will readily conform to social roles they are expected to play, especially when the role is as heavily stereotyped as a prison guard’s.
  • The prison environment was an important factor in creating guard’s brutal behaviour
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32
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What Fraction of Guards were Brutal?

A

1/3

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33
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What Fraction of Guards were Fair?

A

1/3

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34
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What Fraction of Guards were Kind?

A

1/3

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35
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What % of the Prisoner’s Conversations Show and What Does this Show?

A
  • 90%
  • Shows the prisoners felt it real
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36
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE A03 - High Levels of Control - 2 Points

A
  • By randomly assigning participants role of prisoner or guard, it helped to rule out possibility that findings were due to dispositional differences
  • High control increases internal validity
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37
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE A03 - Lack of Realism - 5 Points

A
  • Banuazzi and Mohave - suggested participants were ‘play acting’ on the basis of stereotypes rather than conforming to their role
  • One guard said he based his behaviour on a character
  • Conversations between participants were mostly about prison about life
  • One participant said they believed it was a real prison, but run by psychologists instead of the state
  • It seemed real to participants
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38
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE A03 - Role of Disposition - 2 Points

A
  • Fromm - suggested Zimbardo over-exaggerated the power of the situation, minimising the role of personality
  • Findings about behaviour directed to prisoners suggested otherwise
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39
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE A03 - Lack of Research Support - 3 Points

A
  • Reicher and Haslam - partially replicated the SPE but had very different results
  • Prisoners eventually took control, subjecting the guards to harassment/disobedience
  • Explained with SIT - guards did not form shared social identity, but prisoners actively identified with one another and did not accept the limits of their assigned role of prisoners
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40
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE A03 - Ethical Issues - 3 Points

A
  • Zimbardo’s dual role was highly unethical
  • One participant wanted to leave
  • Zimbardo conducted the conservation like he was a superintendent rather than a researcher with responsibility
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41
Q

Zimbardo’s SPE - What was Zimbardo’s Dual Role?

A

Superintendent and Head Researcher

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42
Q

Definition of Obedience

A

A form of social influence in which a person follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually an authority figure.

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43
Q

Milgram’s Study - Why Did He Want to Study Obedience?

A

The holocaust

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44
Q

Milgram’s Study - The Participants - 4 Points

A
  • 40 males
  • 20-50 years old
  • Volunteers from a newspaper advert
  • Paid $4.50
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45
Q

Milgram’s Study - What Happened at the Beginning of the Experiment - 4 Points

A
  • Participant and ‘victim’ actor met (participant thought victim was just another participant).
  • Drew names from hat to determine who is teacher/learner (rigged so participant always teacher).
  • Taken to room where learner strapped to electric chair and an electrode was strapped to their wrist.
  • Teacher was given a sample shock of 45 v to prove it was real
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46
Q

Milgram’s Study - Learning Task - 3 Points

A
  • Lesson administered by the teacher
  • Consisted of a word-pair task in which the teacher listed a series of word pairs to the learner and then read the first word of the pair along with four terms
  • Learner was to indicate which of the four terms had originally been paired with the first word by pressing one of four buttons.
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47
Q

Milgram’s Study - The Shock Generator - 3 Points

A
  • 30 switches
  • 15 volt increments
  • 15-450 volts
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48
Q

Milgram’s Study - What was the Teacher Told to Do? - 2 Points

A
  • Teacher instructed to administer shock every time a question was answered wrongly
  • Told to move one level higher on shock generator each time the learner flashed a wrong answer.
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49
Q

Milgram’s Study - What Did the Learner Do at Certain Increments?

A
  • At 300 volts, learner kicked the wall
  • After that, learner gave no answer to next word-pair
  • At 315 volts, learner kicked wall again
  • After that, learner gave no further feedback
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50
Q

Milgram’s Study - Predicted Results - 2 Points

A
  • 14 psychology students at Yale University were provided with a detailed description of the experiment and asked to predict the results.
  • They said only an insignificant minority would go through to the end of the shock series.
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51
Q

Milgram’s Study - Actual Results - 3 Points

A
  • All participants continued past the 300 volt shock level
  • 26/40 obeyed orders all the way to 450 volts.
  • During the experiment, participants did show signs of extreme tension
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52
Q

Milgram’s Study - Conclusion

A

People are extremely likely to obey orders if an authority figure is giving them

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53
Q

Milgram’s Study A03 - Low Internal Validity - 4 Points

A
  • Orne and Holland - suggested participants worked out the shock were fake
  • Supported by Perry - listened to tapes of Milgram’s work and reported that many expressed doubts about how real the shocks were
  • Sheridan and King - conducted a similar study where the subject of real shocks to a puppy
  • 34% men 100% of women delivered a shock that they thought was fatal
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54
Q

Milgram’s Study A03 - Good External Validity - 2 Points

A
  • Relationship between experimenter and participant seems to relatively accurately reflect authority relationships in real life
  • Supported by Hofling’s research - 21/22 of nurses set to obey orders to I’ve double the maximum dosage of a medicine when instructed to do so by a doctor
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55
Q

Milgram’s Study A03 - Supporting Replication - 2 Points

A
  • Experiment replicated on French reality TV in front of studio audience
  • 80% delivered maximum shocks to an apparently unconscious man and their behaviour was similar to that of Milgram’s participants
56
Q

Milgram’s Study A03 - Alternative Explanation - 3 Points

A
  • Participants identified with experiment because they identified with the science of the study
  • When obedience fell, this was because they started to identify more with the victim
  • Haslam and Reicher - found when prods that appealed for help with science were used, participants always quit when they heard the fourth prod, which simply demanded obedience
57
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What were the 3 Situational Variables?

A

Location
Proximity
Uniform

58
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What were the 3 Proximity Variations?

A

Same rooms
Forced hand on plate
Over the phone

59
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the % of Obedience in the ‘Same Room’ Proximity Variation?

A

40%

60
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the % of Obedience in the ‘Forced Hand on Plate’ Proximity Variation?

A

30%

61
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the % of Obedience in the ‘Over the Phone’ Proximity Variation?

A

20.5%

62
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the Location Variation?

A

Study took place in a run down building

63
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the % of Obedience in the Location Variation?

A

47.5%

64
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the Uniform Variation?

A

Experimenter was called away and replaced by a member of the public (confederate) in plain clothes

65
Q

Milgram Situational Variables - What was the % of Obedience in the Uniform Variation?

A

20%

66
Q

Milgram Situational Variables A03 - Research Support - 3 Points

A
  • Bickman - three confederates dressed in either a suit and tie, a milkman’s outfit or a security guard’s uniform
  • Asked passersby to do tasks like pick up litter or give them a coin for the parking meter
  • Twice as likely to obey the security guard than man in suit and tie
67
Q

Milgram Situational Variables A03 - Lack of Internal Validity - 3 Points

A
  • Orne and Holland criticised Milgram as they said the participants worked out the producer was faked (demand characteristics)
  • More likely this happened when there was extra manipulation (e.g situational variables)
  • Milgram recognised that some participants may have worked out the truth
68
Q

Milgram Situational Variables A03 - Cross-Cultural Replications - 2 Points

A
  • Miranda et al - replicated Milgram and found obedience rates of less than 90% among Spanish students
  • Bond and Smith point out most replications taken place in Western developed societies that are not that culturally different from the USA
69
Q

Milgram Situational Variables A03 - Control of Variables - 2 Points

A
  • Milgram systematically altered one variable at a time to see the effect on obedience
  • All other procedures were kept the same as the study was replicated multiple times with 1000 participants in total
70
Q

Milgram Situational Variables A03 - The Obedience Alibi - 3 Points

A
  • Milgram’s findings from his variations support a situational explanation of obedience
  • Mandel criticises this perspective, saying it offers an excuse for evil behaviour
  • He says it is insensitive and offensive to suggest to Holocaust survivors that the Nazis were simply following orders and were victims of situational factors out of their control
71
Q

Definition of Agent State

A

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting of an authority figure

72
Q

What is Moral Strain?

A

High levels of anxiety that agents feel when they realise what they are doing is wrong, but feel powerless to obey

73
Q

Definition of Autonomous State

A

A person deciding on, directing, and taking responsibility for their own actions

74
Q

What is an Agentic Shift?

A

The shift from autonomy to agency

75
Q

When Does an Agentic Shift Happen?

A

When a person sees someone else as an authority figure because they are higher in a social hierarchy

76
Q

What are Binding Factors?

A

Aspects of a situation that allow a person to ignore or minimise the damaging effects of their behaviour, so reduce their moral strainE

77
Q

Legitimacy of Authority - How is Authority Defined as Legitimate?

A

Most agree this social power is necessary because it allows society to function strongly

78
Q

Legitimacy of Authority - How is Society Structured?

A

In a hierarchal way

79
Q

Legitimacy of Authority - How Do We Learn Acceptance of Authority?

A

Through socialisation

80
Q

Social Psychological Explanation of Obedience A03 - Research Support - 3 Points

A
  • Blass and Schmidt - showed students a film of the milligram study and asked them who was responsible for harm to the learner
  • Students blamed the experimenter
  • Also indicated the responsibility was due to legitimate authority and expert authority
81
Q

Social Psychological Explanation of Obedience A03 - Limited Explanation - 3 Points

A
  • AS cannot explain many findings (i.e why some participants did not obey)
  • Cannot explain Hofling’s findings
  • Would predict that the nurses should have shown high levels of anxiety as they understood their role in a destructive process but they did not
82
Q

Social Psychological Explanation of Obedience A03 - Cultural Differences - 5 Points

A
  • LoA is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience as many studies show there are cultural differences in the extent to which people are traditionally obedient to authority
  • Kilham and Mann - replicated Milgram’s procedure in Australia and found only 15% shocked to 450v
  • Mandel - replicated it in Germany and found 85% shocked to 450V
  • In some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to obedience
  • Due to structure of society and how children are raised
83
Q

Social Psychological Explanation of Obedience A03 - Obedience Alibi - 3 Points

A
  • Some behaviour of the Nazis cannot be explained by LoA and AS
  • Mandel - incident with German reserve police where they shot civilians in a small town in Poland despite no direct order to do so
  • Told they could be assigned other duties if they wish
84
Q

What is the Dispositional Explanation of Obedience?

A

An explanation that highlights the importance of an individual’s personality

85
Q

What is an Authoritarian Personality? - 2 Points

A
  • A personality type that Adorno believed to be higher susceptible to obeying authority
  • Assumed to be submissive to those of higher states and dismissive to of their inferiors
86
Q

Adorno’s Study - Procedure - 3 Points

A
  • Investigated the causes of obedience in a study of 2,000 white, middle-class Americans
  • Tested unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups with multiple scales
  • One is the ‘potential for fascism’ scale (F-Scale), which is used to measure AP
87
Q

Adorno’s Study - Findings - 4 Points

A
  • Those who score higher on F-scale, Identified with strong people and tended to be disrespectful to the ‘weak’
  • Status aware
  • No grey area between categories of people
  • Strong positive correlation between AP and prejudice
88
Q

AP Characteristics - 5 Points

A
  • Extreme respect for and submissive to authority
  • Dislike for those with inferior status
  • Controversial attitudes towards sex, race and gender
  • Believe society is being ruined, so believe we need strong, powerful leaders to enforce traditional values - love of country, religion, family
  • Inflexible outlook - things are either right or wrong, and hatred for uncertainty
89
Q

How Does the AP Develop? - 5 Points

A
  • Formed in childhood due to harsh parenting
  • Parenting often uses strict discipline, the expectation of complete loyalty, unachievably high standards, and severe criticism of perceived failing
  • Parents’ love is conditional
  • Adorno says this creates resentment/hostility, but the child can not express this as they fear punishment/retaliation
  • Leads to scapegoating - fear displaced onto those perceived to be weaker
89
Q

Dispositional Explanation A03 - Research Support - 4 Points

A
  • Milgram and Elms - interviewed 20 obedient participants and 20 disobedient participants from Milgram’s study
  • Completed several personality measures, including F-Scale, and asked open-ended questions about their relationships with their parents
  • Obedient participants score higher on F-Scale and were less close to fathers during childhood
  • Only correlations
90
Q

Dispositional Explanation A03 - Limited Explanation - 2 Points

A
  • Any explanation of obedience related to personality will struggle to explain behaviour from the majority of a country
  • A more likely explanation comes from social identify theory
91
Q

Dispositional Explanation A03 - Subject to Political Bias - 3 Points

A
  • F-Scale measures a tendency to an extreme right-wing ideology i.e. Fascism
  • Christie and Jahoda - say this is a politically biased interpretation of the AP as there are extreme left-wing groups i.e. Chinese Maoism
  • Much in common between these two extreme ideologies - both emphasise the importance of complete obedience to legitimate political authority
92
Q

Dispositional Explanation A03 - Methodology Issues - 3 Points

A
  • Greenstein - refers to F-Scale as a “comedy of methodological errors”
  • Every item is worded in the same direction - high score obtainable from ticking the same box for every question
  • Adorno et al - also interviewed their participants about their childhood experiences, but knew their test scores and the hypothesis of the study
93
Q

Dispositional Explanation A03 - Correlational Research - 2 Points

A
  • Adorno et al - measured many variables and found many significant correlations
  • No matter how strong a correlation is, that does not mean one causes the other
94
Q

Definition of Social Support

A

The presence of others who resit pressures to conform or obey who can be role models

95
Q

Social Support and Conformity - 4 Points

A
  • Pressure to conform reduced when there are other non-conformers present
  • E.G Asch’s unanimity variation
  • Non-conformer acts as a role model to which allows the person to follow their own conscience
  • Naive participant quickly returned to conforming when dissenter did
96
Q

Social Support and Obedience - 3 Points

A
  • Pressure to obey can be reduced if there is somebody else seen to disobey
  • In another variation of Milgram’s work, obedience dropped to 10% when the naive participant was joined by a disobedient confederate
  • Disobedient person acts as a model so the participant could copy them and they are free to act from their own conscience
97
Q

Who Proposed the LoC Explanation?

A

Rotter

98
Q

What do Internal LoCs Believe?

A

Things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves

99
Q

What do External LoCs Believe?

A

Things that happen to them are uncontrollable

100
Q

Who is More Likely to Resist Social Influence?

A

Internals

101
Q

2 Explanations for Why Internals Are More Likely to Resist Social Influence

A
  • If a person takes responsibility for their actions/experiences, they are more likely to base their actions on their own beliefs, and therefore resist pressure from others
  • People with a high internal LoC tend to be more self-confident, achievement-oreinted, intelligent, and have less need for social approval -> greater resistant to SI
102
Q

Social Support in Conformity A03 - Research Support - 2 Points

A
  • Allen and Levine - found that conformity decreased when there was 1 dissenter in Asch-type study
  • Occurred even when dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision so was in no position to judge the length of the lines
103
Q

Social Support in Obedience A03 - Research Support - 3 Points

A
  • Gamson et al - set up a situation in which participants were expected to obey what they perceived to be morally unjust demands
  • Participants were in groups so could discuss the situation, giving them the confidence to disobey
  • 29/33 groups rebelled against the demands
104
Q

LoC A03 - Research Support - 3 Points

A
  • Holland - repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether people were internals or externals
  • 37% of internals did not shock to 450V
  • 23% of externals did not shock to 450V
105
Q

LoC A03 - Contradictory Research - 2 Points

A
  • Twenge et al - meta analysis of American obedience studies over a 40 year period (1960 - 2002)
  • Found that people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external
106
Q

LoC A03 - Role of LoC May be Exaggerated - 2 Points

A
  • Rotter points out that LoC is only really likely in new situations
  • Has very little influence on our behaviour in familiar situations, where we are typically guided by our past experiences
107
Q

Definition of Minority Influence

A

A form of social influence where a minority persuade others to adopt their attitudes, beliefs, behaviours

108
Q

Moscovici et al - Aim

A

To see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer

109
Q

Moscovici et al - Method - 5 Points

A
  • 172 female participants
  • Groups of 6 where 2 were confederates
  • Shown 36 slides of block colour, in varying shades of blue, and asked to state the colour they saw aloud
  • In the consistent condition, confederates said the slides were green in 36/36 trials
  • In the inconsistent condition, the condensates said the slides were green in 24/36 trials
110
Q

Moscovici et al - Results - 2 Points

A
  • Consistent condition - real participants gave an incorrect answer on 8.2% of the trials
  • Inconsistent condition - real participants gave an incorrect answer on 1.25% of the trials
111
Q

Moscovici et al - Conclusion

A

A consistent minority and influence a majority

112
Q

What are the 3 Processes of Minority Influence?

A
  • Consistency
  • Commitment
  • Flexibility
113
Q

Definition of Consistency

A

Having the same beliefs over time (diachronic) and between individuals (synchronic)

114
Q

Consistency - 3 Points

A
  • Draws attention to the minority view
  • Makes people rethink their own views
  • Synchronic and Diachronic consistency
115
Q

Definition of Synchronic Consistency

A

Everyone who forms the minority is saying the same thing

116
Q

Definition of Diachronic Consistency

A

The minority are saying the same thing over time

117
Q

Definition of Commitment

A

Minority show dedication to their position

118
Q

Commitment - 2 Points

A
  • Extreme activities that present some risk to the minority
  • Augmentation principle
119
Q

Definition of Augmentation Principle

A

Majority group members pay more attention to the minority due to their commitment

120
Q

Definition of Flexibility

A

Minority are not completely unbending, and they accept reasonable compromise

121
Q

Flexibility - 3 Points

A
  • Nemeth - says consistency is not the only important factor as complete consistency can be seen as rigid and dogmatic
122
Q

Process of Social Change - 3 Points

A
  • Consistency, commitment and flexibility make people think about the topic
  • Hearing new things makes people think about them, particularly when the source are consistent and passionate
  • Deep processing is important in ‘conversion’ to a minority view
123
Q

Definition of the Snowball Effect

A

A quick rate of conversion in which many people covert from the majority to the minority view, which leads to social change

124
Q

Minority Influence A03 - Research to Support Consistency - 2 Points

A
  • Moscovici’s study showed how a consistent minority had a greater effect than an inconsistent minority
  • Wood et al - meta analysis of almost 100 studies showed that the most influential minorities are those that are consistent
125
Q

Minority Influence A03 - Research to Support Depth of Thought - 2 Points

A
  • Martin et al - found participants were more likely to persist with a viewpoint, even after hearing conflicting messages, when it is supported by a majority
  • Shows the minority message has been processed more deeply and had a more enduring effect
126
Q

Minority Influence A03 - Artificial Tasks - 2 Points

A
  • Far removed from how minorities operate in real life, where there can be serious consequences
  • Means there’s a lack of external validity
127
Q

Minority Influence A03 - Research to Support Internalisation - 2 Points

A
  • In a Moscovici variation, participants wrote their answers instead of stating them aloud and private agreement increased
  • Suggests members of majority were genuinely convinced by and internalised the minority’s view but were reluctant to publicly admit it
128
Q

Minority Influence A03 - Limited Real World Application - 2 Points

A
  • Minorities and majorities are often clear cut in research but this is not reflective of real life
  • In real life, majorities often have more power and status and minorities are very often committed to their cause, and need to be close-knit groups
129
Q

Definition of Social Change

A

Social change occurs when whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours

130
Q

6 Steps of Social Change Driven By Minority Influence

A
  • Drawing attention
  • Consistency
  • Deeper processing
  • Augmentation principle
  • Snowball effect
  • Social cryptomnesia
131
Q

Definition of Social Cryptomnesia

A

People have a memory that change occurred but can’t remember how it happened

132
Q

Social Change Driven By Conformity - 2 Points

A
  • Dissent can ultimately lead to social change (Asch variation)
  • Environmental and health campaigns often exploit NSI processes
133
Q

Social Change Driven By Obedience - 2 Points

A
  • Disobedience can ultimately lead to social change (Milgram variation)
  • Zimbardo suggested how obedience can create social change through gradual commitment
134
Q

Social Change A03 - Research for Normative Influences - 4 Points

A
  • Nolan et al - hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego every week for a month
  • Key message was that most residents were trying to reduce their energy consumption
  • As a control, some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy, but made no reference to other people’s behaviour
  • Found significant decreases in energy usage in the first group, showing conformity can lead to social change through NSI
135
Q

Social Change A03 - Minority Influence is Only Indirectly Effective - 5 Points

A
  • Social change happens very slowly when it happens at al
  • Nemeth - argues the effects of minority influence are likely to be mostly indirect and delayed
  • Indirect because the majority is influenced on matters only related to the issue, rather than the social issue itself
  • Delayed because effects are not seen for decades
  • Shows the effects are fragile and its role in central influence is limited
136
Q

Social Change A03 - The Role of Deeper Processing - 5 Points

A
  • Moscovici’s conversion explanation of minority influence suggests there are different cognitive processes involved in minority and majority influences
  • Minority influence causes people to think more deeply about an issues than majority influence
  • Mackie - disagrees and presents evidence that it is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you do not share their views
  • Because we like to think other people share about views and think in the same ways as us, so when we find a majority think something different, we think long and hard abut their arguments and reasoning
  • Challenges a central element of the minority influence, and the validity of Moscovici’s research
137
Q

Social Change A03 - Barriers to Social Change - 2 Points

A
  • Bashir et al - found that participants were less likely to behave in environmentally-friendly ways because they did not want to be associated with stereotypical environmentalists
  • Rate environmental activists and feminists in negative ways, describing them as ‘tree-huggers’ and ‘man-haters’

AQA Psychology (11 decks)

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