Social influence

Question 1

What is social influence?

Answer 1

The effect other people have on our opinions and behaviour.

Question 2

What is conformity?

Answer 2

A change in our opinions or behaviour to fit in with social norms or as the result of perceived group pressure.

Question 3

Why do we conform?

Answer 3

• The need to be right
• The need to be liked

Question 4

What is informational social influence?

Answer 4

Changing behaviour or opinions because we think other people have superior knowledge to us.
(Need to be right)

Question 5

What is normative social influence?

Answer 5

Changing behaviour or opinions because we want to fit in and be accepted by others.
(Need to be liked).

Question 6

What is the definition of social factors?

Answer 6

External events which may affect how a person will behave.

Question 7

Which are the social factors that affect conformity

Answer 7

• Group size
• Task difficulty
• Anonymity

Question 8

How does group size affect conformity?

Answer 8

The more people there are in a group, the greater the pressure to conform to their opinion. Both normative and informational influence affects this.

Question 9

Do groups of any size affect conformity?

Answer 9

If the group size was above 5 or 6 people, this did not further affect the levels of conformity.

Question 10

How does anonymity affect conformity?

Answer 10

When anonymity is introduced, the levels of conformity go down as normative social influence can’t actually happen; this is because we can’t face ridicule from others as they don’t know who said it.

Question 11

How does task difficulty affect conformity?

Answer 11

As the task difficulty increases, the answer becomes less obvious and people feel less confident about their answer so they look to others for the right answers. This is because of informational social influence.

Question 12

What are dispositional factors?

Answer 12

Internal personal characteristics which may affect how a person will behave.

Question 13

How does personality affect conformity?

Answer 13

Factors such as IQ or self esteem affect conformity. People with high self-esteem conform less.

Question 14

How does low IQ, low self-esteem and low status in a group affect conformity?

Answer 14

They lead to insecurity in social situations, which makes the individual assume that others have a better understanding of what to say or do. So we look to others for guidance (informational), so that people will like and accept us (normative).

Question 15

How does expertise affect conformity?

Answer 15

Your intelligence increases your confidence in your opinions and knowledge so people with less expertise are less likely to conform to group pressure. One researcher found that if someone felt like they were good at maths = less likely to agree with incorrect answers. Expertise affects conformity due to informational social influence.

Question 16

What is the name of the study for conformity?

Answer 16

Asch’s conformity study

Question 17

What is the aim of Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 17

To investigate if people would conform to the opinions of others to give an answer they knew would be wrong.

Question 18

What was the study design of Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 18

It was a laboratory experiment so there was control of extraneous variables and all procedures were standardised to ensure that the study could be replicated. Participants were male American college students.

Question 19

What was the method of Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 19

Groups of 7-9 people were shown sets of 4 lines; a standard line and three other comparison lines, they were asked to state which comparison line was the same length as the standard line; the answer was always very obvious. There was only one real participant and the rest were confederates who were instructed to give incorrect responses for 12 out of the 18 sets of lines. The participant was always one of the last to say their answer to put him under pressure to conform to the incorrect majority. Asch recorded whether participants gave the correct answer or conformed by giving the same incorrect answers as the rest of the group.

Question 20

What were the results collected in Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 20

Participants conformed to give the incorrect answer of the group 36.8% of the time. 76% of participants conformed to the incorrect majority at least once. 24% of participants resisted the pressure to conform and gave the correct judgement every trial.

Question 21

What was the conclusion drawn from Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 21

The results showed that people conform to fit in with a group, even when they know that they are giving an incorrect judgement.

Question 22

What are the advantages of Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 22

• It demonstrates to the extent to which people will conform in social situations. Asch’s research suggests that people will conform due to normative social influence to fit in and be accepted by a group of people.
• Laboratory experiment = high level of control over variables. So other researchers could alter specific factors to see how they influenced conformity.

Question 23

What are the disadvantages of Asch’s conformity study?

Answer 23

• Low ecological validity in the study due to the fact that it was a laboratory study.
• Matching lengths is a trivial task with little significance to most people. Conformity behaviour is likely to be about decisions that are important to us - like the clothes we were and if we laugh at a joke or not, so the results may not be accurate and may not apple in our day to day lives.
• Asch’s findings can’t be generalised to all cultures as he only conducted research on people from America which is individualistic and the dynamics are different to those of the ones of collectivistic.

Question 24

What is obedience?

Answer 24

Following the orders of an authority figure.

Question 25

What is the study that explores obedience?

Answer 25

Milgram’s agency theory.

Question 26

What does the agency theory say?

Answer 26

The idea that a person will obey an authority figure when they believe this authority figure will take responsibility for whatever the person does.

Question 27

What is agency?

Answer 27

The responsibility we feel for our own actions.

Question 28

What does Milgrams agency theory explain?

Answer 28

Explains obedience in terms of the power of others and social factors.

Question 29

What does Milgrams agency theory say?

Answer 29

That we are more likely to obey others when in an agentic state. He says that we are taught to to enter an agentic state as children because we are taught from a young age to follow the orders of authority figures in society. So this becomes something that we think is normal - we can do it without thinking about it, so it can lead to blind obedience.

Question 30

What is the switch from an autonomous to an agentic state called?

Answer 30

Agentic shift.

Question 31

How does culture and the social hierarchy play a role in Milgram’s agency theory?

Answer 31

Societies have a hierarchy with some people having more authority than others. This hierarchy is agreed on by all members. The culture we like in socialises us to respect the social hierarchy.

Question 32

How does proximity play a role in Milgram’s agency theory?

Answer 32

In Milgrams’ further studies, if the teacher was physically closer to the learner, the teacher was less obedient.

Question 33

What theory was Milgram’s study the basis for?

Answer 33

The Agency theory.

Question 34

What are some advantages of Milgram’s study?

Answer 34

There is research support as Blass and Schmitt showed a film of Milgram’s study to students - the students blames the ‘experimenter’ rather than the ‘teacher’, this solidifies the findings of the study as the students recognised that the authority of the experimenter was the cause of obedience.

Question 35

What are some disadvantages of Milgram’s study?

Answer 35

• Doesn’t explain why there isn’t 100% obedience, 35% of the participants didn’t go up to the maximum shock of 450 volts. Showing that social factors can’t fully explain obedience.
• Gives people and excuse for ‘blind’ obedience, Nazi who were racist and prejudiced were doing more than just following orders making the theory potentially dangerous as it excuses people for their wrongdoings.

Question 36

Which social factors affect obedience?

Answer 36

• Authority
• Culture
• Proximity

Question 37

What is authority?

Answer 37

When a person is perceived to have the right to give orders.

Question 38

What is culture?

Answer 38

A group of people who share similar customs, beliefs and behaviour.

Question 39

What is proximity?

Answer 39

How near or close something is to us.

Question 40

How does authority affect obedience?

Answer 40

Some people are seen to have higher positions of authority than the rest of us in society. We are brought up to obey authority figures (policemen, doctors and teachers) from a very young age causing us to obey without thinking because we believe that they have authority over us. Uniforms are associated with positions of authority and have been shown to increase levels of obedience.

Question 41

How does culture affect obedience?

Answer 41

Some research has found lower levels of obedience in individualistic cultures compared to collectivistic cultures. Collectivistic cultures place greater importance on group values and respecting authority; while individualistic cultures place greater value on independence and individual freedom. Showing that culture may affect obedience levels because it influences how people respond to authority figures.

Question 42

How does proximity affect obedience?

Answer 42

When we are in close proximity to an authority figure, we are more likely to obey them. In Milgram’s theory; more participants followed orders when the experimenters gave instructions from the same room than over the phone. This is also prevalent in how close we are to the consequences of our actions; if we have to fire someone, it is easier to do so by email rather than in person. It is easier to follow orders when we are distanced from the consequences of our actions.

Question 43

Which dispositional factors affect obedience?

Answer 43

People who disobeyed the experimenter did so because they were confident and articulate, so they could explain their decisions to not give shocks. So a persons obedience is sometimes due to a persons disposition, rather than the situation that they are in.

Question 44

What does Adornos theory explain?

Answer 44

Obedience in people’s personality. He also argued that some people form personalities that make them more obedient than other people, due to their early childhood experiences. Students that experienced harsh and critical punishments in the first few years of their life were obedient as adults. the children felt hostility towards their parents but were not allowed to show it as it was not acceptable to do so. This resulted in submissive adults who are very obedient towards authority figures.

Question 45

What are the advantages of Adornos theory?

Answer 45

There is evidence to back it up as he developed the F scale questionnaire, people who score higher on this test are said to have the authoritarian personality and research has found these people to be very obedient.

Question 46

What are the disadvantages of Adornos theory?

Answer 46

• It was based on a flawed questionnaire. The f - scale test was biased as anyone who answered yes ended up having a higher score; so people might try to answer yes to more questions because they might think that its an advantage.
• The evidence is based on correlational data so we cannot claim that an authoritarian personality causes greater authority levels. Therefore, other factors may explain the apparent link between obedience and an authoritarian personality.

Question 47

What is an authoritarian personality?

Answer 47

An obedient personality type, characterised by a belief that authority figures should be obeyed.

Question 48

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 48

Actions that benefit other people or society.

Question 49

What is bystander behaviour?

Answer 49

The way that someone responds when they witness someone else in need of help.

Question 50

What is bystander intervention?

Answer 50

When a person who witnesses a person in need offers help.

Question 51

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 51

Actions that benefit other people or society.

Question 52

What are the social factors that affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 52

• The presence of others
• The cost of helping

Question 53

How does the presence of others affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 53

• We are more likely to help when we are alone rather than when we are in the presence of others. There are two reasons, it is sometimes hard to determine whether or not a situation is an actual emergency, we don’t want to overreact and make ourselves look foolish so we look at what to do by looking at what others are doing. If they are doing nothing; we will most likely conform and assume that there is not a problem.
• If we are alone, we assume that we have full responsibility for helping a person in need as there is no one else that can help. When people are around, the responsibility is shared around with the people we are with.

Question 54

What is diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 54

When the responsibility for helping people is divided or shared between these people. The more people present; the more the responsibility is diffused.

Question 55

How does the cost of helping affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 55

• Sometimes we may come to the conclusion that it is too costly to intervene; possibility of getting hurt, inconvenienced or lose money, or sometimes the cost to us is low. Helping someone who is being beaten up is risky but giving someone directions is not.
• If there are rewards for helping like praise, social recognition, financial reward or alleviating the guilt we might feel if we ignore it, it is more likely that we will help. If the costs outweigh the rewards we are less likely to help others.

Question 56

What are the dispositional factors that affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 56

• Similarity to the victim
• Expertise

Question 57

How does similarity to the victim affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 57

If you are similar to the victim; the more likely you are to help them. By similar we are referring to someones gender, similar age etc. This makes us subconsciously try to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine how they are feeling. When we assist them it makes ourselves feel better because our distress at their situation is reduced.

Question 58

How does expertise affect bystander behaviour?

Answer 58

Bystanders are more likely to help others if they have the skills required to help someone in a specific situation. People without necessary expertise may not offer assistance because they don’t know how do help, and they fear that they might cause more harm than good. The bystanders will more often than not still be stressed but when other people are helping they may believe that they are more capable of helping.

Question 59

What was the aim of Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 59

To investigate whether the appearance of a victim would influence helping behaviour.

Question 60

What was the study design of Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 60

A field experiment with little control of possible extraneous variables, participants’ were male and female passengers in the New York subway and were unaware that they were taking part in a psychological study.

Question 61

What was the method followed in Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 61

An actor pretended to collapse in a carriage. This was done 105 times, and in the study his appearance was altered into two variables. In 38 of the trials he appeared to be drunk and in 65 of the trials he appeared to be sober and carry a walking stick. Observers then recorded how often and how quickly the victim was helped.

Question 62

What were the results found in the Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 62

When the victim carried a walking stick, he received help within 70 seconds 95% of the time. When he appeared to be drunk, he received help within 70 seconds 50% of the time.

Question 63

What was the conclusion drawn from Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 63

A persons’s appearance will affect whether or not they receive help and how quickly this help is given.

Question 64

What are the advantages of Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 64

• It helps us understand why some victims are less likely to receive help than other due to the cost of helping. Drunk = unpredictable, Elderly = Deserving of help and prevent less risk to us.
• High ecological validity as it was carried out in a natural setting, so they didn’t show demand characteristics, so this can be applied to real life situations concerning bystander behaviour.

Question 65

What are the limitations of Piliavins’ subway study?

Answer 65

• Research was conducted in America which is an individualistic culture, where people are expected to sort out their own problems. So the results can’t be generalised to explain bystander behaviour in all cultures.
• Not all people are equally likely to help others, some people have a strong belief that it is their duty to help, or have greater expertise to help others. Piliavins’ research ignored the role of individual characteristics that make bystanders more or less likely to help others.

Question 66

What is antisocial behaviour?

Answer 66

When people do not act in socially acceptable ways or consider the rights of others.

Question 67

What is collective behaviour?

Answer 67

The way in which people act when they are apart of a group.

Question 68

Which social factors affect collective behaviour?

Answer 68

• Social loafing
• Deindividuation
• Culture

Question 69

What is social loafing?

Answer 69

Putting less effort into doing something when you are with others doing the same thing.

Question 70

How does social loafing affect collective behaviour?

Answer 70

• Individuals often put less effort into completing a task as part of a group than when completing the same task alone.
• When a group of people perform a task together, every individual is being helped by a member of the group , so the diffusion of responsibility occurs as individuals do not need to work as hard as they would if they completed the task alone.

Question 71

What factors reduce the likelihood of social loafing?

Answer 71

• In small groups rather than large groups
• Completing an activity they think is important
• in competition with another group

Question 72

How does deindividuation affect collective behaviour?

Answer 72

People have a tendency to become deindividuated when apart of a crowd because they feel anonymous. When apart of a crowd, it is hard to identify individuals especially if they look or behave like the other people in the group; making people lose their inhibitions and sense of responsibility; making people less able to monitor their behaviour and judge whether their actions are right or wrong because they behave as part of a crowd rather than individuals.

Question 73

What is deindividuation?

Answer 73

The state of losing our sense of individuality and becoming less aware of our own responsibility for our actions.

Question 74

How does culture affect collective behaviour?

Answer 74

The social norms within a culture can affect collective behaviour. Social loafing does not occur in collectivistic cultures as often as in individualistic; people are prepared to work just as hard even when apart of a group even when it is deemed to be unnecessary.

Question 75

Which dispositional factors affect collective behaviour?

Answer 75

• Personality
• Morality

Question 76

How does personality affect collective behaviour?

Answer 76

• Some people have an internal locus of control, while others have an external one. ‘Internal’ means that they believe that they are responsible for what happens to them, while ‘external’ blame other factors for what happens to them.
• When you are internal you take greater responsibility for their own behaviour so they are likely to decide how to act based on what they believe is right or wrong, rather than conforming to the behaviours of others around them.
• When you are external you are less likely to act as an individual in collective situations.

Question 77

How does morality affect collective behaviour?

Answer 77

This is someones sense of what is right or wrong.