Social Influence

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

Yielding to group pressures

Question 2

Internalisation

Answer 2

Publicly changing behaviour to fit in with the group and agreeing with them privately too (internalise the behaviour).
Changed behaviour and views.
Deepest level of conformity.

Question 3

Identification

Answer 3

Conforming to expectations of a social role.
Private views remain the same.

Question 4

Compliance

Answer 4

Publicly changing behaviour to fit in with the group.
Private views disagree with the behaviour of the group.

Question 5

Normative social influence

Answer 5

The person conforms because of a need to be accepted by the group.
Belonging to the group could be rewarding, or not belonging could lead to punishment.
While they publicly conform, they still privately disagree and keep their old attitudes.
Leads to compliance.

Question 6

Informational social influence

Answer 6

This is based on our need to be right.
If we don’t know what to do, this means we look to what others are doing and conform to them because they might know instead.
You both publicly conform and privately agree - this is known as conversion.
Leads to internalisation.

Question 7

Asch’s line study - Aim

Answer 7

To investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.

Question 8

Asch’s line study - Procedure

Answer 8

123 male undergraduate students, USA
The participants were given a false aim that they were taking part in a vision test.

Question 9

Asch’s line study - Method (x4)

Answer 9

There was only one naïve participant in groups of 6-8 confederates.
The group were shown 2 cards, one with a standard line and another with 3 comparison lines.
Participants had to state which line was the matching one.
The naïve participant always answered second to last.

Question 10

Asch’s line study - Findings (x4)

Answer 10

Conformity rate = 36.8%
25% did not conform at all (75% at least once)
In the control group 1% gave the wrong answer.
In post experiment interviews, participants said they knew the answer but did it to avoid social rejection.

Question 11

Asch’s line study - Conclusion

Answer 11

People do conform (even in unambiguous tasks) in order to fit in and not be rejected by the group.

Question 12

Changed variables in Asch’s line study (x3)

Answer 12

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

Question 13

Asch’s line study - Group size

Answer 13

With 3 confederates, conformity rose to 31.8% but after that there was little difference.

Question 14

Asch’s line study - Unanimity

Answer 14

The presence of 1 dissenter reduced conformity to 5.5% compared to when there was a unanimity.

Question 15

Asch’s line study - Task difficulty

Answer 15

When the task was made more difficult, conformity increased.

Question 16

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Aim

Answer 16

To investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.
Dispositional factors vs situational factors.

Question 17

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Procedure (x5)

Answer 17

24 male US college students (paid $15 a day).
Randomly assigned to the role of prisoner or guard.
Both had to wear uniforms.
Guards worked 8 hour shifts.
No physical violence was permitted.

Question 18

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Findings (x4)

Answer 18

Within 2 days the prisoners rebelled - guards punished them and withdrew privileges.
The prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious (one went on a hunger strike).
Zimbardo convinced prisoners to stay if they asked to leave.
The study ended after 6 days.

Question 19

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Conclusions (x3)

Answer 19

People will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play (especially if the roles are strongly stereotyped).
The prison environment was an important factor in creating the guards’ brutal behaviour.
Deindividuation and learned helplessness.

Question 20

Deindividuation - The Stanford Prison Experiment

Answer 20

You become so immersed in the norms of the group that you lose your sense of identity and personal responsibility.
The guards may have been so sadistic because they did not feel what happened was down to them personally. This may also be because of the uniform (lost personal identity).

Question 21

Learned helplessness - The Stanford Prison Experiment

Answer 21

The prisoners learned that whatever they did had little effect on what happened to them.
In the mock prison the unpredictable decisions of the guards led the prisoners to give up responding.

Question 22

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (1963) - Aim

Answer 22

Researching how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person.

Question 23

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (1963) - Procedure (x5)

Answer 23

Lab experiment
40 males aged 20-50
The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake when recalling word pairs (increasing the shock each time).
The learner gave mainly wrong answers on purpose.
When the teacher refused to administer a shock, the experimenter gave a series of orders/prods to ensure they continued.

Question 24

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (1963) - Findings (x2)

Answer 24

2/3 of participants (i.e teachers) continued to the highest level of 450 volts.
All the participants continued to 300 volts.

Question 25

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (1963) - Conclusion (x3)

Answer 25

Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being.
Obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up.
People tend to obey orders from people if they recognise their authority as morally right and/or legally based. This response to authority is learned in a variety of situations (e.g in the family, school and workplace).

Question 26

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (1963) - Altered variables (x5)

Answer 26

Agentic state (someone else administered the shock)
Location and legitimate authority
Proximity to the learner
Proximity to the authority figure
Uniform and legitimate authority

Question 27

Autonomous state

Answer 27

We behave voluntarily and are aware of what will happen as a result of our actions - we feel responsible for our actions.

Question 28

Agentic state

Answer 28

When we act as an agent (representative) of someone in authority. We find it easy to deny personal responsibility for our actions - it’s just doing our job or just following orders.

Question 29

The agentic shift

Answer 29

When we move from an autonomous state to an agentic state. There is normally a moral strain.

Question 30

Binding factors

Answer 30

The reason people stay in their agentic state. These are aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the moral strain they are feeling.

Question 31

Legitimate authority

Answer 31

Milgram suggested that we are more likely to obey a person who has a higher position or status in a social hierarchy. People tend to obey others if they recognise their authority as morally right and / or legally based (i.e legitimate).

Question 32

Destructive authority

Answer 32

Charismatic and powerful leaders can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes.

Question 33

Authoritarian personality (x3)

Answer 33

• People with the authoritarian personality defer to authority.
• They are more likely to obey an authority figure.
• They believe that people below them in the hierarchy should defer to them.

Question 34

Internal locus of control

Answer 34

You have personal control over your own behaviour.

Question 35

External locus of control

Answer 35

You believe that what happens to you is the result of luck or fate, or is determined by people in authority.

Question 36

Social change processes

Answer 36

1. Attention seeking
2. Consistency
3. Augmentation principle
4. Deeper processing of the message
5. Snowball effect
6. Social cryptoamnesia

Question 37

Minority influence (3 features)

Answer 37

• Consistent
• Commitment
• Flexibility

Question 38

Conversion theory - Moscovici (x5)

Answer 38

• Different viewpoint = conflict
• We don’t like conflict
• We take steps to reduce it
• We examine arguments of minority closely and think more deeply about content
• More likely to be swayed on a private level and internalise

Question 39

Conversion theory - Mackie (x3)

Answer 39

• We like to think others share our thoughts (false assumption)
• Result = when a majority disagrees with us we spend longer examining their arguments and weighing up the evidence
• When faced with a minority that disagrees we’re generally not that bothered (we are still in the majority)

Question 40

Social identity theory

Answer 40

You are more likely to be influenced by people who you think are like you.

Question 41

Tajfel social identity

Answer 41

Personal identity (definition of self) —>
Social identity (via) —>
Social categorisation (facilitates) —>
Distinct social groups —>
- In-group (‘we’) —> satisfied social identity
- Out-group (‘they’) —> dissatisfied social identity

Question 42

Moscovici (1969) - Minority influence study (x7)

Answer 42

• To see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer, in a colour perception task.
• Groups of 6 shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue.
• Consistent condition = the 2 confederates said that all 36 slides were green.
• Inconsistent condition = the 2 confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue.
• Consistent condition: real ppts agreed on 8.2% of the trials.
• Inconsistent condition: real ppts agreed on 1.25% of the trials.
• If a minority is consistent in their view then they are also showing commitment to their cause.