Social Influence Flashcards

Question

When is ISI most likely to occur?

Answer 1

- New situations --> unclear of the correct way to behave - Crisis situations --> decisions need to be quick and right - When one person is regarded as more of an expert

Answer 2

Good - Research support for NSI - Asch's research shows conformity due to NSI - In a follow-up interview, participants said they conformed to be liked, and because they felt self conscious giving the correct answer - When he repeated the experiment and participants wrote their answers down, conformity fell as there was no normative group pressure Good - Research support for ISI - Lucas et al - Repeated Asch's line test with maths problems - The maths problems went from easy to difficult - He found there were higher rates of conformity when the problems were more difficult, as participants did not want to be wrong in the ambiguous situation (BAD - Low mundane realism) Bad - There could be external factors or individual differences for NSI - Some people have a stronger desire to be liked by others - nAffiliators are people with a stronger need for 'affiliation', which is relatability to others - These nAffiliators have been shown to be more likely to conform - This suggests individual differences can't be fully explained by general theories

Answer 3

The tendency to change what we do, think, or say in response to the influence of real or imagined pressure off others.

Answer 4

He tested the extent to which people will conform to the opinions of others in an unambiguous situation (when the answer is clear)

Answer 5

- 123 male American undergraduate students - He individually tested the participants, and had them in groups of 6-8 confederates - The naive participants were unaware of the confederates - The task was to compare 2 cards with lines on, and match the length of the first one to one of 3 on the second one (A, B, or C) - The matching line length was always obvious (unambiguous) - The confederates initially answered correctly, but they started making errors until they all gave the same wrong answer - The naive participant was always asked last

Answer 6

The naive participants conformed to the same wrong answer 36.8% of the time 25% did not conform at all 75% conformed at least once

Answer 7

Most participants said they conformed to avoid rejection (to be liked, or to avoid feeling self conscious giving the wrong answer)

Answer 8

He manipulated 3 variables to test their effects on conformity

Answer 9

Group Size Task Difficulty Unanimity

Answer 10

He varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15

Answer 11

With 3 confederates, conformity rose to 31.8%, and more confederates did not make a difference This showed a curvilinear relationship (it rose to a certain point) This suggests 3 is the optimal group size for conformity?

Answer 12

The results rise to a certain point, but then they stop

Answer 13

Someone who knows the aims and objectives of a study, and is 'acting' or 'going along with it'

Answer 14

He introduced a Dissenter to see if the presence of a non-conforming confederate would affect conformity

Answer 15

Someone who disobeys and provides someone with social support to do the same

Answer 16

Conformity reduced by 1/4 with the presence of a dissenter - This shows dissenters allowed the participants to behave independently, and suggests majority influence depends on unanimity

Answer 17

He increased the difficulty of the task by making the stimulus line more similar to the comparison lines

Answer 18

When task difficulty increased, conformity increased - This suggests in a more ambiguous situation, ISI plays a greater role as we look to others for guidance and assume they are right and we are wrong

Answer 19

Bad - Artificial tasks - lack mundane realism - has low ecological validity so shouldn't be generalised Bad - Androcentric - male only sample - more recent research was conducted on females and it found them to be more conformist than males - suggests we shouldn't generalise his findings Bad - Lacks temporal validity Perrin and Spencer - repeated Asch's research 30 years later with UK engineering students - found less conformity (Could also mention may be cultural differences --> American only sample) Bad - Ethical issues - Deception and lack of informed consent Could say: Good - Research support for task difficulty Lucas et al - used maths problems - more difficult --> more conformity Good - Highly controlled lab study

Answer 20

The Stanford Prison Study on Conformity to Social Roles

Answer 21

123 Male American Undergraduates

Answer 22

21 Volunteer Male University Students - They tested as 'emotionally stable'

Answer 23

- Used a 21 volunteer male students - Set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University - Randomly assigned students to the social role of a prisoner or prison guard Prisoners were: - Arrested at home by local police and delivered to the mock prison - Strip-searched, deloused, given a uniform and a number for de-individuation Guards were: - Given a uniform with a wooden club, handcuffs, keys, and mirrored sunglasses - Told they had complete control over the prisoners

Answer 24

De-Individuation - They created a loss of personal identity, which meant they were more likely to conform to their social roles

Answer 25

- Prisoners had to apply for parole instead of leaving the study (Zimbardo was the Superintendent that decided and spoke to them) - Within 2 days, the prisoners rebelled by ripping their uniforms, shouting and swearing at guards - The guards retaliated to the prisoners with fire extinguishers - The guards created opportunities to enforce the rules and punish the prisoners, highlighting their difference in social roles - 1 prisoner was released on the first day due to psychological disturbance - 2 were released on the 4th day due to psychological disturbance - Prisoners showed depression and anxiety - One prisoner went on hunger strike and guards attempted to force-feed him and put him in a small, dark closet - The guards became more aggressive and brutal each day, and they appeared to enjoy their power

Answer 26

It was ended after 6 days instead of 14

Answer 27

- Social roles have a strong influence on behaviour - Everyone easily conformed to their roles inside the prison and acted as if they were in a real prison

Answer 28

Good - High control - He used emotionally stable individuals for clear cause and effect - He used random allocation to reduce bias - This suggests there was high internal validity, and that his findings measure what he set out to measure Bad - Lack of realism - It is argued that the participants were merely play acting according to stereotypes from movies - This would explain their prison riots and extreme behaviour in little time - This suggests that the SPE tells us little about conformity to social roles in everyday life Bad - Extreme ethical issues - Some prisoners were removed due to anxiety, depression or severe psychological distress In Addition Bad - Researcher Bias - Zimbardo was the Superintendent and he refused prisoners' applications for parole - This is bad because he should not have been involved in his own study, and also because he removed the participants' right to withdraw, causing them psychological harm Bad - May have over exaggerated findings - It is thought that only 1/3 of the guards were brutal - Lots of guards were recorded to sympathise with the prisoners, reinstate privileges and offer cigarettes - This suggests Zimbardo overstated his view that SPE participants were conforming to social roles, and he minimised the influence of dispositional factors

Answer 29

Personality influences

Answer 30

Following an authority figure despite your own opinions and beliefs

Answer 31

To assess obedience levels To act as a control group to compare the variations

Answer 32

Facts about sample: - 40 American Male Participants - Volunteer sample who applied through a newspaper advert that said it was looking for people to take part in a memory study - $4.50 was given to each participant beforehand - Ages of participants were from 20-50 - Jobs of participants varied from unskilled to skilled Facts about procedure: - There was a rigged draw for the role of teacher and learner so the naive participant was always the teacher and a confederate was the learner - A confederate in a grey lab coat acted as an 'experimenter' - Participants were told they could leave the study at any time

Answer 33

- Rigged draw so naive participant was always the teacher - Learners (confederates) were strapped into a chair in another room and were wired with electrodes - Electric shocks were demonstrated to the Naive Participant (Teacher), but were faked thereafter - The teacher was told by the experimenter to give electric shocks to the learner after each incorrect answer on a learning task - The electric shocks increased by 15 volts each time - The electric shocks reached 450 volts, which was labelled "Danger - Severe Shock" - After 300 volts, the learner pounded on the wall and did not answer the next question - After 315 volts, the learner pounded again and then was unresponsive for the rest of the study - The experimenter told the teacher to treat no answer as a wrong answer - If the teacher felt unsure about continuing, the experimenter used 1 of 4 'prods'

Answer 34

The learner pounded on the wall and did not answer the next question

Answer 35

The learner pounded on the wall and was unresponsive for the rest of the study

Answer 36

The experimenter used 1 of 4 prods

Answer 37

40 American Male Volunteers

Answer 38

He put an advert in the newspaper for volunteers for a memory study

Answer 39

$4.50 - before the experiment

Answer 40

Between 20 and 50

Answer 41

Please continue The experiment requires you to continue It is absolutely essential that you continue You have no other choice, you must go on

Answer 42

- No one stopped below 300 volts - 65% went to 450 volts when only 3% was predicted to - Participants showed extreme signs of distress?

Answer 43

The participants were debriefed and assured their behaviour was normal

Answer 44

84% felt glad to have participated

Answer 45

Good - Research support - A similar study was conducted disguised as a French game show - Contestants were told by the host to deliver these (fake) shocks to contestants who got an answer wrong in front of a live audience - 80% went up to the full 460volts and gave the maximum shock to an "unconscious" contestant - This supports Milgram's study and findings, and also suggests that obedience does not change depending on setting Bad - May be confounding variables - Participants were paid beforehand, so they might have just tried to please the experimenter so they could just earn their money and go - demand characteristics - It was reported that only 75% of participants believed in the set up, so there may have been demand characteristics due to them guessing the aim of the study and playing along - Participants may have only obeyed because of the unreasonably harsh prompts, and they may have feared ruining the experiment if they did not continue (The experiment requires you to continue) - This could mean there is low internal validity Bad - Ethical issues - Deception - Confederates --> lack of informed consent - Abused right to withdraw with prompts - Psychological damage - all showed signs of anxiety through nail biting and nervous laughter HOWEVER - Cost - Benefit analogy: - The signs of harm were temporary as the follow-up interview said 84% were glad to have taken part, this could suggest the temporary harm was worth finding out about obedience

Answer 46

Milgram's variations: Proximity Location Uniform

Answer 47

Agentic State Legitimacy of Authority

Answer 48

The Authoritarian Personality Adorno - F Scale

Answer 49

Proximity Uniform Location

Answer 50

He manipulated the Independent Variables of his baseline study

Answer 51

How close the learner was to the experimenter

Answer 52

3 variations: 1) Put teacher and learner in the same room 2) Touch proximity variation - the teacher had to physically place the learner's hand onto an electroshock plate, and they had to force it if they refused 3) Remote instruction variation - the experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the telephone

Answer 53

1) Teacher and learner in same room: Obedience dropped from 65% --> 40% 2) Touch Proximity: Obedience dropped to 30% 3) Remote Instructions: Obedience dropped to 20.5% Participants often pretended to give shocks

Answer 54

The higher the proximity the lower the obedience Low proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions In the baseline they were less aware of the harm they were causing

Answer 55

He changed location from the prestigious Yale University campus to a run-down office block

Answer 56

Obedience dropped to 47.5%

Answer 57

The prestigious University environment created a legitimacy of authority Participants believed obedience was expected in that environment

Answer 58

- In the baseline study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat as a uniform - In this manipulation, Milgram called this experimenter away and replaced them with a different confederate wearing everyday clothes to look like an ordinary member of the public

Answer 59

Obedience dropped to 20% - the lowest of all studies

Answer 60

Uniform encourages obedience as it is a widely recognised symbol of authority We see people with uniforms to have legitimacy of authority, and we think they expect obedience

Answer 61

20% - the lowest of all experiments

Answer 62

Good - There is research support for the situational variable uniform Bickman et al - Used 3 confederates in different clothing - 1 wore a milkman uniform, 1 wore a security officer uniform, and 1 wore a jacket and a tie - They all asked members of the public to perform tasks like pick up rubbish that wasn't theirs - They found people were twice more likely to obey the person wearing a Security Officer uniform than the person wearing the jacket and tie - This supports Milgram's suggestion uniform creates legitimate authority Bad - Low Internal Validity - The participants might have been aware it was a fake experiment when the experimenter was replaced by a supposed member of the public (a non-worker who did not wear a uniform) - This could have made the whole study unbelievable, and they could have succumbed to demand characteristics Bad - Could lead to the obedience alibi - It may excuse evil behaviour and remove personal blame - It may be socially sensitive to the likes of Holocaust survivors by excusing some Nazis from their evil actions on account of their superiors wearing a uniform - Milgram's study ignores any dispositional factors, and so it suggests that this despicable behaviour was only due to the uniform (also the likes of ethical issues and control just for milgram's study)

Answer 63

Situational Explanations Dispositional Explanations

Answer 64

Agentic State Legitimacy of Authority

Answer 65

A mental state in which one feels no responsibility for their actions, as they believe themselves to be acting as an agent for an authority figure

Answer 66

A mental state in which one is free to behave according to their own principles, and feels responsibility for their actions

Answer 67

The Agentic Shift moves them from an autonomous state to an agentic state

Answer 68

If they perceive someone as having authority over them due to their higher position in the social hierarchy, they might feel as if they are acting as an agent for that person

Answer 69

Factors that may keep someone in an Agentic State They are aspects of the situation which allow people to ignore or minimise their damage to reduce moral strain

Answer 70

Feeling powerless against authority Blaming the victim Denial of their actions

Answer 71

Agentic State Autonomous State Agentic Shift Binding Factors

Answer 72

Situational Explanation of Obedience

Answer 73

A Situational Explanation of Obedience that suggests we are more likely to obey those we perceive to have authority over us due to their higher position in the social hierarchy

Answer 74

They have the power to punish others This means we are willing to give up some independence and control as we trust them to exercise their authority properly

Answer 75

Police The Courts Teachers Parents

Answer 76

Sometimes people with Legitimacy of Authority become destructive and abuse their power e.g. Hitler, Stalin, Milgram - his experimenter used unethical prods

Answer 77

Legitimacy of Authority Social Hierarchy Destructive Authority

Answer 78

Situational Explanation of Obedience

Answer 79

Good - Research Support Milgram - For some of the reluctant participants, the experimenter told them that he had full responsibility for the actions of the participants - These participants did not hesitate to shock the learner after this, demonstrating an agentic shift - This supports agentic state as an explanation of obedience Bad - Other research contradicts both LOA and AS - In a nurse study, the nurses were told (over the phone) to administrate an excessive dosage to a patient - 16 out of the 18 disobeyed - This suggests that most nurses remained in an autonomous state despite the doctor having more responsibility than them - This also suggests that Legitimacy of Authority can be ignored, as the nurses directly went against someone higher than them on the hospital hierarchy - This suggests situational explanations might only explain some situations of disobedience Bad - Obedience Alibi - Socially sensitive as it excuses evil behaviour - The Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority could be used to excuse despicable actions - For example, in WWII, German soldiers were told by a commander they had to either shoot a town of innocent Polish Civilians, or ask for other orders - The soldiers chose to shoot the Polish Civilians, despite the option - This suggests that some evil behaviour should not be excused under the pretence that they were in an agentic state, and they should be accountable for their autonomous actions - This could mean the agentic state should only be used in some situations

Answer 80

The Authoritarian Personality

Answer 81

Adorno et al

Answer 82

Adorno suggested the high levels of obedience during the Holocaust were a psychological disorder in the individuals' personality, rather than the situation

Answer 83

Extreme respect for authority - submissive to those above them in social hierarchy Views society as weaker than it once was - believe we need powerful leaders to enforce a love of country and family Dismissive of inferiors - show contempt to those below them in the social hierarchy Inflexible outlook - everything is right or wrong - no grey areas - uncomfortable with uncertainty Other people are responsible for the ills of society - e.g. Ethnic groups/minorities

Answer 84

Harsh parenting in childhood including: - Criticism - Conditional love - "I'll love you if..." - High standards - Alsolute loyalty It creates resentment and hostility

Answer 85

Scapegoating

Answer 86

A child cannot express their feelings against their parents as they fear punishments This means they displace their feelings onto those who appear weaker

Answer 87

The Authoritarian Personality

Answer 88

The F-Scale (Potential for Fascism Scale)

Answer 89

Potential for Fascism Scale

Answer 90

It was a self-report questionnaire It gave statements such as "Obedience and respect for authority are the most important values for children to learn" Questions used a Likert scale from 1-6 (1 disagree, 6 agree), and participants recorded how much they agreed or disagreed with the statements Their overall score determined how much of an Authoritarian Personality they had

Answer 91

Over 2,000 middle class, white Americans

Answer 92

He studied the unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups of 2,000 middle class, white Americans He measured them using the F-Scale Afterwards, he identified those who showed signs of the Authoritarian Personality

Answer 93

People who scored high on the F scale were identified as having the Authoritarian Personality These people identified with 'strong' people and were contemptuous of the 'weak' They were conscious of status of themselves and others They showed extreme deference and respect to those of higher status They had black and white (absolutist) thinking They had fixed and distinctive stereotypes about other groups There was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Answer 94

Good - Research Support from Milgram - Milgram asked 20 of his obedient participants from the original study to complete the F-Scale, as well as 20 of his disobedient participants - The 20 obedient participants scored a lot higher on the F-Scale - This suggests the obedient people show similar characteristics to those with the Authoritarian Personality, and this supports Adorno's theory Bad - There is possibly flawed methodology - Adorno himself created the F-Scale, and it was not tested by any other researchers before he used it - Milgram suggested it suffers from response bias and possibly social desirability - It is still being used today, and people might not want to appear racist or unfair to ethnic groups - This might mean it is a flawed methodology, and possibly suggests that Adorno's study lacks validity Bad - Psychic Determinism - Adorno suggested that the Authoritarian Personality develops in childhood due to experiences of harsh parenting, and unconscious defence mechanisms such as displacement - This eliminates the factor of free will Bad - Obedience Alibi - Adorno's original suggestion of the Authoritarian Personality came from the actions of the Nazis in the Holocaust - Adorno's approach is reductionist, and reduces their evil actions down to a psychological disorder - This provides an excuse for their despicable actions and could be socially sensitive to those affected by the Holocaust

Answer 95

A negative of it leading to an Obedience Alibi to excuse evil behaviour Situational Explanations --> Nazis were said to have agentic state Dispositional Explanations --> They had authoritarian personality which is a psychological disorder

Answer 96

Locus of Control - Rotter Social Support - Asch, Milgram

Answer 97

The presence of a dissenter who resists the pressure to conform or obey, enabling others to do the same by acting as a model to show it is possible

Answer 98

The pressure to conform can be resisted if there are others not conforming In Asch's research, he tested the variable of unanimity by having a confederate who did not conform (dissenter) They did not give the same wrong answer as the other confederates Conformity decreased This is because someone else who did not follow the majority provided social support by enabling the naive participant to be free and follow their own conscience They were given the support to resist

Answer 99

The pressure to obey can be resisted if another person is seen to disobey In Milgram's research, the rate of obedience dropped to 10% when the naive participant was joined by a disobedient confederate (dissenter) The confederate's disobedience acted as a model of dissent to allow the participant to copy and be freed from their own conscience The disobedient model challenged the legitimacy of the authority figure and reduced the fear of punishment, so it was easier to disobey

Answer 100

They provided the social support for the naive participant to be free and follow their own conscience

Answer 101

They acted as a model of dissent to allow the participants to copy and be freed of their own conscience They challenged the legitimacy of the authority figure and reduced the fear of punishment

Answer 102

A continuum of the extent to which people believe they have control over their lives - Individuals vary in their position on it - High External LOC is one end - High Internal LOC is at the opposing end

Answer 103

He hypothesised the Locus of Control and the characteristics associated with internal and external LOC

Answer 104

They have internal control - They believe what happens in their life and to them is controlled by themselves - They believe things happen as a result of their own behaviour - They are more likely to resist social influence as they believe they are in control

Answer 105

Internal Locus of Control - they believe they are in control

Answer 106

If someone does well in an exam, they believe it is because they worked hard

Answer 107

They have external control - They believe what happens to them and in their life is outside of their control - They believe things happen as a result of external forces such as luck or fate

Answer 108

If they do well in an exam, they believe it is because of luck, or that they used a good textbook

Answer 109

- Self Confident - Achievement Orientated - High Intelligence - Less need for Social Approval

Answer 110

Social Support: Good - Real world research support - Researchers evaluated an 8 week programme to help pregnant 14-19 year olds resist the peer pressure to smoke - 1 group had social support through older buddies who did the programme with them - The group who had a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than the control group with no buddy - This suggests social support can help real world interventions Bad - Social support does not always help - An Asch-type experiment was completed using dissenters - When the dissenter was someone with apparently good eyesight, 64% resisted conformity compared to the 3% in the group with no dissenter - When the dissenter was someone with thick glasses and obviously poor eyesight, only 36% resisted - This could suggest social support depends on the situation Locus of Control: Good - Research support - A Milgram-type experiment was completed where participants were also tested for their Locus of Control type - He found more people with Internal Locus of Control resisted obedience by not going to the full 450Volts than people with External Locus of Control - This increases the validity of Locus of Control as resistance to social influence Bad - Contradictory findings - Researchers analysed American Locus of Control studies over the previous 40 years - They found that resistance had increased over time, but people had also become more External over time - This is unexpected, as we would expect higher resistance to mean higher internal LOC - This questions the validity of Locus of Control

Answer 111

Where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviours of others

Answer 112

Commitment + Consistency + Flexibility make people think about change Over time, deeper processing occurs, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minority position and become converted Their behaviour becomes internalised as both public and private beliefs are changed The more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion, leading to the Snowball Effect Gradually, the minority becomes the majority and social change has occurred

Answer 113

The Snowball Effect Internalisation Commitment Consistency - synchronic/diachronic Flexibility Moscovici et al Nemeth

Answer 114

Moscovici et al - demonstrates minority influence Nemeth - demonstrates the importance of flexibility

Answer 115

The more internalisation happens, the faster the rate of conversion

Answer 116

Demonstrated Minority Influence

Answer 117

He had 3 groups: 1) Consistent Minority 2) Inconsistent Minority 3) No Minority (control group) - Asked 6 women to view 36 blue-coloured slides, varying in intensity - The participants had to state if the slides were blue or green - There were 2 confederates per experimental groups and their role varied - There were no confederates in the control group

Answer 118

6 women viewed 36 slides varying in intensity and they had to state if they were green or blue... - 2 confederates consistently answered 'green' to every slide

Answer 119

6 women viewed 36 slides varying in intensity and they had to state if they were green or blue... - 2 confederates answered 'green' 24 times and 'blue' 12 times

Answer 120

6 women viewed 36 slides varying in intensity and they had to state if they were green or blue... - No confederates

Answer 121

Naive participants gave the same wrong answer of 'green' 8.42% of the time

Answer 122

Naive participants agreed with the wrong answer 1.25% of the time

Answer 123

Naive participants gave the wrong answer 0.25% of the time

Answer 124

Minority influence is valid and support Consistency within a minority is important for minority influence

Answer 125

Synchronic Consistency Diachronic Consistency

Answer 126

Where the whole of the minority say the same thing at the same time

Answer 127

Where the whole of the minority say the same thing at the same time over an extended period of time

Answer 128

Commitment Consistency Flexibility

Answer 129

When the minority say the same thing at the same time (over an extended period of time)

Answer 130

- Over time, consistency increases the amount of interest off others - A consistent minority draws the attention of the majority and makes people rethink their views - Minority influence is more likely if the minority shares the same views and retains them over time

Answer 131

When the minority shows dedication to their cause and draws attention to it

Answer 132

- Minority influence is more likely if the minority shows dedication - Minorities draw attention to their cause so it is more likely to be noticed by the majority

Answer 133

Drawing the majority's attention by showing dedication

Answer 134

By showing personal sacrifice By engaging in extreme activities to show their commitment and belief in what they are saying

Answer 135

When the minority show a willingness to compromise so they don't appear dogmatic or unreasonable

Answer 136

- Minorities should adapt their views to accept reasonable and valid counterarguments so they do not appear unreasonable - Showing flexibility allows the majority to know they are not dogmatic, and could be willing to adapt some ideas so they agree too

Answer 137

Flexibility as a key process in minority influence

Answer 138

He set up a Mock Jury for a Ski Accident - There were 3 naive participants and 1 confederate who was the minority - They had to decide on the compensation of a ski lift victim - The confederate offered an unrealistically low offer - After a period of debate, the confederate offered a slightly higher offer although it was still unusually low

Answer 139

- When the confederate would not initially change from their low offer, the majority stayed fixed in that they wanted a higher amount - When the confederate changed to a slightly higher offer, the majority agreed, despite it still being unusually low - This shows minorities should balance consistency with flexibility

Answer 140

Good - sufficient research support Nemeth and Moscovici both support key concepts Bad - Both research uses artificial tasks - There could be low mundane realism - This could mean there is low ecological validity and the processes should not be applied to real life - Some commitments from minorities leads to death, and this could mean research gives unrealistic ideas of what minority influence includes About research: Bad - Gynocentric - Moscovici Bad - Ethical Issues/demand characteristics - could have been obvious

Answer 141

When societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs, and ways of doing things

Answer 142

Drawing Attention Consistency Deeper Processing The Augmentation Principle The Snowball Effect Social Cryptoamnesia

Answer 143

Dogs - Draw Attention Can - Consistency Dig - Deeper Processing Through - The Augmentation Principle Tough - The Snowball Effect Sand - Social Cryptoamnesia

Answer 144

Highlighting the issue

Answer 145

Displaying an unswerving message and intent

Answer 146

When the majority think further and rethink their own beliefs

Answer 147

The majority pays more attention when minorities reinforce their message

Answer 148

When more and more of the majority convert to the minority

Answer 149

When people know change has happened but don't know or remember exactly what led to that change

Answer 150

Asch highlighted the importance of a dissenter (minority) as it encouraged resistance to conformity NSI can be used as a dissenter to prevent conformity by giving information about what others do: - Bin it - others do This could encourage social change by using the concept of NSI to make the majority want to do what others are doing so they don't feel left out

Answer 151

Milgram used disobedient role models (minority) and this made the rate of obedience fall Zimbardo suggested gradual commitment in obedience can create social change - when a small instruction is obeyed it is more difficult to disobey or resist a bigger one - this means people drift into a new kind of behaviour

Answer 152

Good - Research support for the effects of NSI on social change - Researchers aimed to see if they could change energy use habits of people in California - They hung messages on houses in California every week for 1 month saying most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage - A control group only had messages saying they should save energy - The experimental group had significant decreases in energy usage compared to the control group - This suggests social change can happen, and NSI can be used for it Bad - Social change might not happen due to stereotypes surrounding the minority - Research into environmental change showed participants were less likely to behave in an environmentally-friendly way due to the associations to minority 'environmentalists' who have negative connotations such as 'tree huggers' - This suggests there are also other factors that influence social change Bad - Social change can take a long time - The social change in the stigma towards homosexuality is still happening - The process for Gay rights took 30 years, and there is still stigma towards them in some places in the world - This suggests that Social Change may depend on the scale of the concept