social influence Flashcards
what is social influence?
process where attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or implied presence of other people
what are social norms?
rules/standards understood by members of a group which guide social behaviour without the force of laws
these norms emerge out of interaction with others, may or may not be stated explicitly, sanctions from deviating from them come from social networks not the legal system
why did Sherif suggest social norms emerge?
to guide behaviour in conditions of uncertainty
how did Sherif investigate norm development?
autokinetic effect= point of light appears to move in an illusion
judgements took place alone or in groups of 2/3
use judgements of others as frame of reference
people converged away from individual thoughts to the common group perception
what did Asch define conformity as?
rational process- people construct norms from other’s behaviours so they determine what behaviour is appropriate
what happened in Asch’s study into conformity?
American male volunteer undergrads
looked at 3 lines of similar lengths, one of which was obviously similar to the comparison line
real participant was in a group of 6-8 confederates
took turns to say which line was the same as the comparison line
average conformity was 33%, due to self doubt/feeling self conscious/fear of social disaproval
who proposed informational and normative social influence?
Deutsch and Gerard
what is informational social influence?
happens in ambiguous situations
from the need to be correct
true cognitive change
what is normative social influence?
need for social approval and acceptance
avoid dissaproval
surface compliance
what type of social influence was Sherif’s study?
informational influence
what type of social influence was Asch’s study?
normative influence
who proposed minority influence?
Moscovici
what is minority influence?
social influence processes where numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority
when is minority influence effective?
if the minority is consistent, not rigid, committed
what is majority influence?
produces public compliance via social comparison
what is minority influence?
produces an indirect, private change in opinion, people actively consider the minorities view
what did Milgram investigate?
obedience to authority
how did Milgram investigate obedience?
male American volunteers
introduced to a confederate
fixed so that the participant was always the teacher
had to give an electric shock everytime the learner made a mistake on the memory task
increased up to 450V
were encouraged to continue
all participants continued up to 300V
65% were fully obedient up to 450V
observations showed signs of extreme tension
what factors affected obedience?
gradual change and commitment
location
proximity
uniform
how did gradual change and commitment affect obedience?
participants became committed to the course of action
how did location affect obedience?
less obedient when experiment occurred in run down bulding rather than Yale Uni
how did proximity affect obedience?
reduced obedience when experimenter gave instructions over the phone, or when they had to put the learner’s hand on the shock plate
how did uniform affect obedience?
when experimenter was a member of the public rather than wearing a grey lab coat, obedience reduced
