Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity?
A type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real or imagined social pressure
What is Normative Social Influence?
When people confirm due to a need to be accepted and be liked. It’s an emotional process.
What is Informational social Influence?
And explanation for conformity where we agree with the majority as we believe they are correct or that they are more knowledgeable. Occurs mainly in situations that are new to us.
What are the three types of conformity?
Compliance, identification and internalisation
What is compliance?
Going along with others but not changing internal thoughts or beliefs
What is identification?
A person changes external behaviour and internal beliefs when in the presence of a certain group
What is internalisation?
When a person genuinely accepts the groups norms in both public and private
What are two strengths of the ‘two process theory’ (NSI and ISI)?
S- supporting evidence- Lucas et al (2006) proved there was greater conformity when students were presented with a harder maths problem than an easy one
S- supporting evidence- Asch (1951) found that students admitted to sometimes conforming and giving the wrong answer instead of the right one they knew was correct
What are two limitations of the two-process theory?
L- doesn’t take into account people’s thoughts- NSI doesn’t effect people who don’t care about being liked as much as ‘naffiliators’
L- both processes work together- theory only says they work separately which is incorrect
What were the findings of Asch’s research?
-a wrong answer was given 36.8% of the time by the naive participant
- 75% of participants confirmed at least once
-most said they confirmed to avoid social rejection
What two things did Asch find increased conformity
Group size, task difficulty
What did Asch find that decreased conformity
Unanimity- one confederate would say the right answer
What are two strengths of Asch’s study?
S- supporting evidence- Lucas et al (2006) showed students confirmed more when faced with a harder maths problem
S- real world application- helps us to understand conformity so can limit the effect of mindless destructive conformity.
What are two limitations of Asch's study of conformity?
L- not generalisable- Asch only tested on middle class white males from the USA, Neto (1995) suggested woman may be more conformist.
L-contradictory evidence- Perrin and Spender (1980) showed 1 in 396 British engineering students conformed. Which shows differences across professions and cultures.
What is a social role?
The ‘part’ we play as a member of a social group
What are two strengths of zimbardo’s prison experiment?
S-high internal validity- Z selected physically and mentally sound participants and assigned them randomly
S-high mundane realism- 90% of the conversations recorded in the study were about Prison life, prisoner 416 said ‘the prison was a real one run by psychologists rather than the government’
What are two limitations of Zimabrdo’s study?
L- ethical issues- highly stressful for participants and had to be called off after 5 days and one participant went on hunger strike. This was due to Zimabrdos ‘dual role’ part.
L- can be argued that participants were okay acting- one officer admitted to basing his role off a character from ‘Cool hand Luke’
What were the findings of Milgrim’s study?
65% of people went all the way to 450v
Teacher more likely to continue when told they weren’t responsible
No participant stopped before 300v
12.5% stopped at 300 labelled ‘intense shock’ in red
3 participants had seizures
What are two strengths of Milgrim’s study?
S- supporting evidence- Sheridan and King (1972) did the same experiment with puppies and 54% of men and 100% of woman delivered the maximum shock.
S- highly controlled- lab study so very controlled but no demand characteristics as the fact it was in a lab was key to finding (authority)
What are two limitations of Milgrim’s study?
L-ethical issues- milgrim deceived participants and caused severe distress. 3 had seizures.
L- lacks internal validity- some participants guessed shock was fake (Orne and Holland 1968)
What is the agentic state?
When people see someone as having higher authority than them so they act as an ‘agent’ for them despite moral strain as we feel we are simply following orders and are powerless as we are in a lower social position in the hierarchy
What are two examples of the agentic state?
Nazis and Abu Ghraib prison
What are two strengths if the agentic state?
S-supporting evidence- Blass and Schmidt found that people thought the experimenter was at fault in the participants in Milgrim’s study
S-can be seen in the real world- explains the holocaust and the my Lai massacre etc
What is the authoritarian personality?
When a person adheres strictly to rules and follows conventional values and complete obedience
What is used to measure facism?
The f scale
What were the findings from Adorno’s f-scale?
Done by 2000 white middle-class Americans.
Those who scored more highly were more obedient and showed submissiveness and respect, they believe society needs strong leadership.
they also identified with those who were 'strong' and showed contempt for the weak- link to prejudice and conventional attitudes towards gender sex race etc
see society as deteriorating
Where does an authoritarian personality come from?
Harsh parenting and conditional love
Child builds up resentment but cannot unleash it on parents so displaces it onto others who they see as weaker 'scapegoating'
What is a strength of the authoritarian personality?
Milgram interviewed 40 of his past participants and the ones who complied scored much higher on the f scale than those who didn’t
What are two limitations of the authoritarian personality?
L- the f scale doesn’t show right wing tendencies- it shows RW and LW ideaologies as they both believe in strong leadership.
L- contradictory evidence- millions of people supported Hitler but they can’t have all been authoritarian
What is meant by resistance to social influence?
The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey the authority. Resistance is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
What are the two types of resistance to social influence
Social support
Locus of control
What is social support
Asch found that the presence of another non-confirmed dropped conformity to 5%
What is locus of control?
Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
What do internals believe (locus of control)
That they are responsible for what happens to them
What do externals believe (locus of control)
That it’s luck and external factors that effect their lives
Who are more likely to conform? Externals or internals?
Externals
What are two strengths of social support as an explanation of resistance
Albrecht (2006) started a program to stop adolescent mothers smoking and gave some a ‘buddy’ and some didn’t. T he ones with buddies were less likely to smoke
Conformity dropped to 5% when Asch provided a non conformist confederate
What is a strength for locus of control
Holland 1967 showed 37% of internals didn’t continue to the highest voltage in Milgrim’s study whereas 23% of externals did not continue
What is a limitation of locus of control?
Twenge (2004) analysed data from 1960-2002 which showed over time people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external
What is minority influence?
Refers to a situation where one person or a small group of people influece the behaviour and beliefs of the majority
What three things did Moscovici say a minority influece group needed to be more successful
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
What is consistency
Diachronic- consistency over time- the group doesn’t change its views
Synchronic- all minority group members agree and back each other
What is commitment
Doing extreme things, this is called the augmentation principle
What is flexibity
The minority groups come to a compromise to get their views across
What are two strengths of minority influence
S- Wood (1994) analysed over 100 studies similar to the one done by moscovici and found that consistency was a major factor in minority influence
S- Martin (2003) found that people were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to a minority group agree before faced with a contradictory view compared to a majority group
What is a limitation of minority influence
L- artificial stimuli- eg identifying the colour of a slide. Shows a lack of mundane realism and external validity so it doesn’t tell us how MI works in the real world
Outline Moscovici’s experiment
-participants given eye tests to make sure they weren’t colourblind
-two groups of 6: 4 participants and 2 confederate
-were shown 36 blue slides
-one group the confederates said all 36 slides were green
-other group said 24/36 slides were green
-more consistent group got 8.42% of the majority to conform
-less consistent group got 1.25% of the majority to conform
What are the 6 steps that occur when a minority makes social change
1) drawing attention- campaigns marches etc
2)consistency - consistent message
3)deeper processing- majority start to think about message
4)the augmentation principle- do extreme things
5)the snowball effect- more people join the movement
6)social cryptomnesia- people accept the message but forget where it came from
What is minority influence based on?
ISI
Internalisation
What are two strengths of MI and social change
S- supporting evidence- Nolan (2008) found group 1 who were told that everyone else in their neighbourhood were trying to reduce their energy, reduced their energy usage more than those in group 2 who were simply asked to reduce energy.
S- supporting evidence- Bashir (2013) found people would resist social change even when they agreed as the didn’t was a label such as ‘tree hugger’ or ‘man hater’ showing that social cryptomnesia is necessary
What are two limitations of MI and social change
L- Nemeth (1968) argues the effect of MI on social change is indirect and delayed. For example took ages to change attitudes towards drink-driving and smoking.
L- Moscovici showed that he thought MI groups made people think more deeply than majority groups. Mackie (1987) disagrees and says it’s the other may around
how did group size effect conformity in Asch's experiment
when group became 3 or larger conformity was at 31.8%
the optimal amount of people for conformity was 7 and then after that it decreased
how did unanimity effect conformity in Asch's experiment
when there was one confederate who said the right answer conformity dropped to 5%
how did task difficulty effect Asch's research into conformity
increased- ISI
what is dispositional hypothesis in regards to prisons
guards and prisoners were 'bad seeds'- bad conditions was due to bad nature of people in prisons
what is situational hypothesis in regards to prison
brutality is due to the environment the prisoners are in
outline Zimbardo's prison experiment
set up mock prison in basement of Stanford
volunteer sample for students, did psychological testing to ensure all were 'emotionally stable'
participants who were selected randomly allocated to be guards or prisoners
prisoners were given a smock and cap to cover their hair- guards were given uniform, handcuffs, wooden bat and mirrored sunglasses. prisoners were always called by a number not name- these factors created deindividuation
guards given complete power
if prisoners wanted to leave they had to apply for parole with superintendent Zimabrdo
what were the findings of Zimbardo's experiment
guards took to roles with enthusiasm
abandoned after 6 days
guards often tormented and abused prisoners- headcount in middle of night, reminding them they had control etc
rebellion after 2 days by prisoners- guards suppressed it with fire extinguishers
after rebellion prisoners were subdued and anxious
one prisoner released on first day after showing psychological disturbance
prisoner 819 went on hunger strike and was force fed put in the hole and shunned by other prisoners
two more prisoners left on fourth day
what are real world example that supports zimbardo's findings
Abu Ghraib prison- US officials tortured harassed and killed prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003- when in court said they had been told to do it
what is obedience
when an individual acts in response to a direct order usually from an authority figure. assumed that without this order the person would not have acted in this way
what was the procedure of Milgram's experiment
40 males aged from 20-50
naive participant was teacher and had to ask student questions and if they got it wrong would shock them
shock would go up 15v at a time
at 180v the student would shout
at 300v the student screamed and said his heart was bothering him
at 315v the student would refuse to continue and not say anything
the 450v button had a label saying 'danger- severe shock- xxx
researcher would use standardised prods like 'please continue' or 'you have no other choice, please go on'
what effect did moving location to seedy offices have on Milgram's study
obedience dropped to 47.5%
what effect did making the teacher and learner be in the same room (proximity) have on Milgram's study
obedience dropped to 40%
what effect did making the teacher have to force the learners hand onto shock plate (touch proximity) have on Milgram's study
obedience dropped to 30%
what effect did having the researcher give instructions to teacher by phone have on Milgram's study
obedience decreased to 20.5%
what effect did having the reasearcher get called away for a phone call and a member of the public taking over in everyday clothes (uniform) have on Milgram's study
obedience decreased to 20%
what is the autonomous state
when we are independent and have free will
what is an agent shift
when an authority figure comes along and we move from autonomous to agentic state
why do people stay in an agent state even when they don't want to
binding factors- these reduce moral strain and make it seem like what they do is okay.
what are two limitations of the agentic state
contradictory evidence- Mandel described German reserve police battalion as shooting and killing civilians in a small town in Poland despite not receiving orders to do so
contradictory evidence- the nurses in Holfing's study should have shown moral strain as seen in Milgram's experiment but they did not
over simplified- does not show why some people do not conform to hierarchy-
what was Holfing's study
got doctors to get nurses to administer a possibly fatal dose of a drug to patients
21/22 nurses obeyed
what is a dispositional explanation of obedience
some humans are more likely to be obedient than others
what is an example of a dispositional theory for obedience
authoritarian personality
how does social support affect conformity
Asch found that it significantly decreased it
how does social support affect obedience
individuals can become more confident in their ability to resist when they have a 'disobedient role model'
Milgram found that obedience dropped from 65-10% when the teacher was joined by another disobedient confederate
what are characteristics of an internal locus of control
high level of responsibility and control over their lives
what are characteristics of an external locus of control
believe their life is determined by external factors they cannot change
how does an internal locus of control relate to social influence
high internals likely to seek out information about their own lives themselves and will not conform with others
how does an external locus of control relate to social influence
more likely to be influenced by others as they don't believe they have control over their lives
what is diachronic consistency
consistency over time- the minority group doesn't change its views
what is synchronic consistency
consistency between members- all minority group members agree and back each other
What are strengths of Milgram's situational variables
supporting evidence- Bickman had three people dressed in a milkmans uniform, a security guards uniform and a suit to tell passers by in NY to do tasks such as pick up litter- found people twice as likely to listen to security guard than suit, shows importance of uniform
highly controlled- Only altered one variable at a time and kept all other variables the same and repeated with over 1000 participants. shows procedure is standardised and therefore easily replicated and also has high internal validity
what are two limitations of Milgram's situational variables
lack internal validity- Orne and Holland said that Milgram's research was easily discovered to be fake by participants. This can especially be seen in uniform change as researcher replaced by regular person, Milgram agreed the situation was highly contrived. demand characteristics more of a problem so results may not be genuine
culture bias- Milgram's study replicated in showed 90% obedience in Spain, shows doesn't just apply to America. however all follow up research done in west so may apply to only western individualistic cultures. only two studies done outside of west from 1968-85 (Jordan and India)
what research shows Asch's experiment was over-simplified (AO3)
Lucas et al found those more confident in maths ability conformed less- shows Asch was oversimplified as didn't look at the individual factors
why can zimbardos study be seen to lack realism (AO3)
Banuazizi and Movahedi say that participants were over- acting
one guard based personality off cool hand Luke
what real situation shows support for zimbardo's experiment (AO3)
Abu Ghraib
what are examples of supporting evidence for milligram's study (AO3)
Le jeu de la mort- 80% obedience
Sheridan and king- 54% and 100% obedience with real shocks
what evidence shows milligrams study lacked realism (AO3)
Perry listened back to recordings of experiment and concluded 50% of participants knew it was fake
what is a contrary theory as to why people obeyed in milligrams experiment (AO3)
Social identity theory- people only reacted to prods about experiment which they identified with but didbnt obey prods about blindly following authority
what cognitive style do this with the authoritarian personality have
black and white
what is contradictory view to authoritarian personality (AO3)
Social identity theory- people identify with a state not an individual- nazi Germany and anti-semitism as an example
what shows the poor internal validity of the f scale (AO3)
Greenstein- 'a comedy of methodological errors"
who suggested the three types of conformity
Herbert Kelman
what are the three types of conformity
internalisation
identification
compliance
what is internalisation
when a person genuinely accepts the norms of the group publicly and privately. attitudes change permanently because the views become a part of their thought processes. attitudes same when not in the presence of group members
what is identification
conforming because there is something in the group you value. change public but not private beliefs.
what is compliance
superficial change- 'going along with others' in public but not changing private beliefs.
who put forward the two process model for conformity (ISI, NSI)
Deutch and Gerard
what did Deutsch and Gerard say the two human needs were
to be right
to be liked
describe ISI
conforming with the majority as you assume they are more knowledgable
cognitive process
happens more in ambiguous situations or situations of crisis
leads to internalisation
describe NSI
about the 'norms' of a group
about gaining social approval
emotional process
leads to temporary change in beliefs (compliance)
more likely to occur around strangers and in stressful situations
what is the strengths of NSI
supporting evidence- Asch interviewed participants most said they conformed as they felt self conscious and were afraid of disapproval. conformity dropped to 12.5% when answers were written down
what are the limitations of NSI
overly simplistic- NSI does not effect everyone in the same ways. nAffiliators are more concerned with being liked. Mcghee and Teevan found that students who were nAffiliators were more likelynto conform.
what are the strengths of ISI
supporting evidence- Lucas et al
what is the limitation for ISI
hard to see difference in ISI and NSI- conformity dropped when unanimity introduced. could be reducing ISI or NSI
describe legitimacy of authority
when a person is widely viewed by society as having authority which makes it legitimate.
people give up their independence to hand control to a figure who will use authority appropriately
this is learnt from parents teachers etc in childhood.
what is a strength of the agentic state.
supporting evidence- in milligrams study participants often asked questions or resisted shocks. one question was 'who is responsible if mr Wallace is harmed' when researcher said himself he continued
what is a imitation of the agentic state
contradictory evidence - Rank and Cardell found 16 of 18 nurses refused to administer lethal dose of drug when told to by doctor.
what is a strength of the legitimacy of authority
explains cultural differences- Milgram replications- 16% in Australia, 85% in Germany.
what is a limitation of legitimacy of authority
contrasting evidence- Rank and Jacobson nurses, some didn't go on in milgrams
what are the strengths of social support
RWA- Albrecht smoking buddy study
supporting evidence- milligram variation- obedience at 10% when dissenting peer with teacher
supporting evidence- Gamson found when told students to find evidence to help oil company run smear campaign 29 of 33 groups resisted, this would be because they were in groups
what is the LOC continuum
scale to measure LOC
high internal at one end high external at the other
what characteristics do high internals have (LOC)
more self confident
more achievement orientated
higher intelligence
what is a strength of LOC
holland did milligram experiment and measured LOC. found 37% internals didn't continue compared to 23% of externals.
what is a limitation of LOC
twinge looked at LOC studies over 40 years and found over time people became more e3xternal but more obedient
what are the strengths of minority influence
supporting evidence- Wood did meta analysis on 100 moscovici type studies and found the more consistent the more effective
supporting evidence- Martin supported deeper processing as found people were less likely to change their opinion on something which has been told to them by a minority group compared to a majority group.
what are the weaknesses of minority influence
low munbdance realism- slides
what was the results of moscovicis experiment
8% when consistent (24/24)
1.25% when not (12/24)
what are the strengths of social change
supporting evidence- Nolan found that in San Diego people were more likely to reduce energy usage if posters in their neighbourhood that most people were trying to reduce energy usage compared to posters that just told them to reduce energy usage.
explains change- nemeth argues that minorities inspire divergent thinking which is a broad type of thinking where more options are weighed up and this leads to better decisions and more creative ideas. shows the value of minority in opening the minds of people.
what are the weaknesses of minority influence
contrasting evidence- fox croft reviewed 70 studies using NSI to decrease student drinking. there was no change in frequency and only a small change in quantity.
what role does NSI play in social change
when groups provide info on what others are doing in their campaign
for example 'stop smoking- others are'
what did zimbardo suggest helped social change
gradual commitment
