social influence

Question 1

what is social influence?

Answer 1

process where attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or implied presence of other people

Question 2

what are social norms?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

why did Sherif suggest social norms emerge?

Answer 3

to guide behaviour in conditions of uncertainty

Question 4

how did Sherif investigate norm development?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

what did Asch define conformity as?

Answer 5

rational process- people construct norms from other’s behaviours so they determine what behaviour is appropriate

Question 6

what happened in Asch’s study into conformity?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

who proposed informational and normative social influence?

Answer 7

Deutsch and Gerard

Question 8

what is informational social influence?

Answer 8

happens in ambiguous situations
from the need to be correct
true cognitive change

Question 9

what is normative social influence?

Answer 9

need for social approval and acceptance
avoid dissaproval
surface compliance

Question 10

what type of social influence was Sherif’s study?

Answer 10

informational influence

Question 11

what type of social influence was Asch’s study?

Answer 11

normative influence

Question 12

who proposed minority influence?

Answer 12

Moscovici

Question 13

what is minority influence?

Answer 13

social influence processes where numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority

Question 14

when is minority influence effective?

Answer 14

if the minority is consistent, not rigid, committed

Question 15

what is majority influence?

Answer 15

produces public compliance via social comparison

Question 16

what is minority influence?

Answer 16

produces an indirect, private change in opinion, people actively consider the minorities view

Question 17

what did Milgram investigate?

Answer 17

obedience to authority

Question 18

how did Milgram investigate obedience?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

what factors affected obedience?

Answer 19

gradual change and commitment
location
proximity
uniform

Question 20

how did gradual change and commitment affect obedience?

Answer 20

participants became committed to the course of action

Question 21

how did location affect obedience?

Answer 21

less obedient when experiment occurred in run down bulding rather than Yale Uni

Question 22

how did proximity affect obedience?

Answer 22

reduced obedience when experimenter gave instructions over the phone, or when they had to put the learner’s hand on the shock plate

Question 23

how did uniform affect obedience?

Answer 23

when experimenter was a member of the public rather than wearing a grey lab coat, obedience reduced