Social Influence Flashcards
define social influence
the process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours
define legitimacy of authority
an explanation for obedience which suggest we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us due to the position of power they hold within the social hierarchy
identify three features of an authoritarian personality
submissive to superiors
dismissive to inferiors
highly prejudiced
explain how an authoritarian personality develops
it develops from having harsh parenting style in childhood. this harsh parenting style consists of strict discipline, criticism of failings and impossibly high standards. as the child cannot express their feelings to their parents so they displace these to other they deem weaker which is known as scapegoating
which scale measures the authoritarian personality
the f scale
give some limitations of the f scale
has acquiescence bias- all questions are worded in the same direction
is politically biased- is very right wing, it does not account for left wing authoritarianism
what does milgram’s original study tell us about obedience
Milgram’s study showed us that people obey those they consider to be authority figures. the results suggest that obeying authority is normal behaviour in hierarchically organised society. we will obey orders that distress us and even go against our moral code
outline two situational variable and the impact of these on obedience
proximity- describes the physical closeness between the person giving orders and the person receiving it. it decreases obedience rates. in milgram’s variations study when the learner and teacher were in the same room the obedience level decreases to 40% from 65% in the original study, where they were in different rooms
uniform- describes the outfit the person giving the order is wearing. in the original study the experimenter wore a lab coat so was dresses smartly. the experimenter then switched with someone who was dressed in casual clothes. obedience levels dropped from 60% to 20%
define agentic state
this is when individuals obey an order even if they are aware that it is wrong because they feel that they are acting for an authority figure so feel no responsibility for their actions
what keeps a person in the agentic state
guilt or anxiety about the thought of leaving
not wanting to appear rude or arrogant
unwillingness to break commitment to experimenter
shifting responsibility to victim
denying the impact of their actions
give two explanations why people are able to resist social influence
social support- this is when the presence of people helps other resist the pressures of conforming or obeying
locus of control- describes a person’s perception of their behaviours, successes, failures and events. a person with high internal locus control believes they are responsible for their lives so are more likely to resist
what is the difference between internals and externals
internals believe they are responsible for what happens to them and that they direct their own lives whereas externals believe outside forces direct their live and they do not have contr
what are the two theories that Deutsch and Gerard proposed to explain conformity
normative social influence- when you conform to fit in and to be liked
informative social influence- when you conform due to the need to be right or correct
define identification
when you go along with other because you have accepted their point of view and you identify with them
give a limitation of Asch’s conformity study
it has been criticised for being a child of its time. the 1950s was a conformists time in America so this could have been the reason for the results. Perrin and Spencer found only one conformity response out 396 trials in a replicate study. this provides evidence that Asch’s results are not consistent with time
