social influence Flashcards
State the definition of conformity
An individual is said to be ____________ if they choose a course of action that is favoured by the ________ of the group members.
State the definition of conformity
An individual is said to be conforming if they choose a course of action that is favoured by the majority of the group members.
State and explain the three types of conformity
Compliance - Individuals follow what the group is doing in order to be ________ or to fit in, even if there personal views may _________ to the one they are portraying. This will not change their underlying attitude towards something. (Asch)
Internalisation - This involves both ________ and private attitudes and is where the individual may believe that the groups view, after close inspection, is correct and theirs is wrong. This leads them to changing their public and private view towards something in order to be ________. This is the deepest level of conformity and becomes a ___________ attitude. (Sherif’s Autokinetic)
Identification - The individuals attitudes both private and _________ will change but in this case only for a temporary amount of time and also is in order to fit in and be liked, essentially it is a mix of ________ and internalisation. (Zimbardo)
State and explain the three types of conformity
Compliance - Individuals follow what the group is doing in order to be accepted or to fit in, even if there personal views may differ to the one they are portraying. This will not chance their underlying attitude towards something. (Asch)
Internalisation - This involves both public and private attitudes and is where the individual may believe that the groups view, after close inspection, is correct and theirs is wrong. This leads them to changing their public and private view towards something in order to be correct. This is the deepest level of conformity and becomes a permanent attitude. (Sherif’s Autokinetic)
Identification - The individuals attitudes both private and publicly will change but in this case only for a temporary amount of time and also is in order to fit in and be liked, essentially it is a mix of compliance and internalisation. (Zimbardo)
There are two explanations for conformity, outline and explain them
Normative Social Influence - This is where people go along with a _________ in order to feel that they fit in and not be ____________ for having a different opinion to everyone else.
Informational Social Influence - Occurs when an individual accepts ___________ from the majority as they see them as experts or someone with more understanding of a particular subject. This is done in order to be ___________.
There are two explanations for conformity, outline and explain them
Normative Social Influence - This is where people go along with a majority in order to feel that they fit in and not be ridiculed for having a different opinion to everyone else.
Informational Social Influence - Occurs when an individual accepts information from the majority as they see them as experts or someone with more understanding of a particular subject. This is done in order to be correct.
Outline and evaluate a study into Normative social influence
Asch conducted a lab experiment where 50 male students where individually the participants were put in a room with 7 _____________ and took part in a ‘vision test’. The confederates were told before hand to answer wrongly for every task. They were shown a line and then followed 3 lines on a separate card, named A, B and C. They had to match which from A, B and C matched with the original line they were shown. Asch measure the times that participants conformed with the majority and found that around 1/3rd ____________. Over the 12 critical trials 75% conformed at least once, compared to less than 1% in the control group. When interviewed after and asked why they conformed they stated that they wanted to fit in and not be ridiculed by the group.
:( - Asch used a biased sample of only males, of which all were students, meaning it lacks ______________ validity and in turn the findings into normative social influence cant be easily generalised to the population
:( - Asch used a task where the participants had to judge line lengths but realistically when do we naturally come across a situation like this. This means that the study lacks ecological __________ and cannot be generalised to other situations
Outline and evaluate a study into Normative social influence
Asch conducted a lab experiment where 50 male students where individually the participants were put in a room with 7 confederates and took part in a ‘vision test’. The confederates were told before hand to answer wrongly for every task. They were shown a line and then followed 3 lines on a separate card, named A, B and C. They had to match which from A, B and C matched with the original line they were shown. Asch measure the times that participants conformed with the majority and found that around 1/3rd conformed. Over the 12 critical trials 75% conformed at least once, compared to less than 1% in the control group. When interviewed after and asked why they conformed they stated that they wanted to fit in and not be ridiculed by the group.
:( - Asch used a biased sample of only males, of which all were students, meaning it lacks population validity and in turn the findings into normative social influence cant be easily generalised to the population
:( - Asch used a task where the participants had to judge line lengths but realistically when do we naturally come across a situation like this. This means that the study lacks ecological validity and cannot be generalised to other situations
Evaluate the standford prison experiment
:( - Demand characteristics could explain the extreme behaviour of both the guards and the prisoners, afterwards in interviews the guards simply stated that they were ______. This lowers the value of the findings into conformity to social roles and thus makes it hard to generalise.
:) - There is in fact a lot of evidence that proves that the guards and prisoners were reacting to the _________ as if it were real and not just acting. Zimbardo monitored all conversation that was held and found that 90% of the guards __________ was about the prisoners/other things to do with prison. The guards also rarely ever exchanged their real personal information when on their ‘relaxation breaks’.
:(/:) - There are many ethical guidelines being broken in the such as _________ and at risk of harm. However this can be seen as a benefit because of the fact that this is what ethical guidelines were then based upon and were __________ because of.
Evaluate the standford prison experiment
:( - Demand characteristics could explain the extreme behaviour of both the guards and the prisoners, afterwards in interviews the guards simply stated that they were acting. This lowers the value of the findings into conformity to social roles and thus makes it hard to generalise.
:) - There is in fact a lot of evidence that proves that the guards and prisoners were reacting to the situation as if it were real and not just acting. Zimbardo monitored all conversation that was held and found that 90% of the guards conversation was about the prisoners/other things to do with prison. The guards also rarely ever exchanged their real personal information when on their ‘relaxation breaks’.
:(/:) - There are many ethical guidelines being broken in the such as deception and at risk of harm. However this can be seen as a benefit because of the fact that this is what ethical guidelines were then based upon and were created because of.
Define Obedience
Obedience refers to a type of social influence where someone acts in _________ to a direct order from a figure of authority.
Define Obedience
Obedience refers to a type of social influence where someone acts in response to a direct order from a figure of authority.
Outline Milgram’s Experiment
Milgram had 40 participants at a time over a series of conditions each varying in different ways.
At the beginning of the experiment the participants were introduced to an experimenter in a _______ coat and a confederate who they believed was another participant, the two drew straws to decide who would take the role of the ‘learner’ and who would take the role of the ‘__________’, however this was rigged so that the real _____________ always was the teacher.
They were taken to a room and shown an electric chair that the learner would be strapped to, the teacher was then bought into a room beside this where there was an instrument panel on a table with switches varying 15v - 450v (XXX). The teacher was told by the ___________ to ask the learner a series of paired words to test his memory through a microphone. The confederate/learner was told to get the answers mainly wrong, and when he did the experimenter gave the teacher instructions to increase the _______ each time. The learner was not actually receiving any shocks but through a microphone had to act out screaming in ________ and after 315v stopped saying anything and left it as dead silence. If the teacher wanted to stop the experimenter would say things such as “It is absolutely ___________ that you continue” etc.
Milgram found that _______ of participants went all the way to _______ and 100% of participants went up to 300v.
Outline Milgram’s Experiment
Milgram had 40 participants at a time over a series of conditions each varying in different ways.
At the beginning of the experiment the participants were introduced to an experimenter in a lab coat and a confederate who they believed was another participant, the two drew straws to decide who would take the role of the ‘learner’ and who would take the role of the ‘teacher’, however this was rigged so that the real participant always was the teacher.
They were taken to a room and shown an electric chair that the learner would be strapped to, the teacher was then bought into a room beside this where there was an instrument panel on a table with switches varying 15v - 450v (XXX). The teacher was told by the experimenter to ask the learner a series of paired words to test his memory through a microphone. The confederate/learner was told to get the answers mainly wrong, and when he did the experimenter gave the teacher instructions to increase the voltage each time. The learner was not actually receiving any shocks but through a microphone had to act out screaming in pain and after 315v stopped saying anything and left it as dead silence. If the teacher wanted to stop the experimenter would say things such as “It is absolutely essential that you continue” etc.
Milgram found that 65% of participants went all the way to 450v and 100% of participants went up to 300v.
Evaluate Milgram’s Study
:( - Milgram used a very biased sample where only ______ were used and no females, this makes it difficult to _________ to the whole population as half the population were not actually tested/experimented on.
:( - Participants were __________as to the nature of the study for which they had volunteered, and by making them believe they were administering ______electric shocks. However Milgram could not have found results that truly reflected the way people behave in real situations if he had not deceived his participants, they were all however thoroughly ___________ afterwards.
:( - It was not ____________ valid. It can be argued that Milgram’s work was carried out in an artificial setting and has little relevance to the __________ world. However, less artificial studies have been carried out gaining similar results. For example in Hoffling’s study (1966), nurses were asked to give potentially lethal injections to patients, and ____ out of 22 appeared prepared to do it.
:( - Lack of realism, a man names Perry in 2012 discovered that one of Milgram’s assistants had divided the participants into __________’ and believers’ and found that the doubters were more likely to obey the experimenter.
Evaluate Milgram’s Study
:( - Milgram used a very biased sample where only males were used and no females, this makes it difficult to generalise to the whole population as half the population were not actually tested/experimented on.
:( - Participants were deceived as to the nature of the study for which they had volunteered, and by making them believe they were administering real electric shocks. However Milgram could not have found results that truly reflected the way people behave in real situations if he had not deceived his participants, they were all however thoroughly debriefed afterwards.
:( - It was not ecologically valid. It can be argued that Milgram’s work was carried out in an artificial setting and has little relevance to the real world. However, less artificial studies have been carried out gaining similar results. For example in Hoffling’s study (1966), nurses were asked to give potentially lethal injections to patients, and 21 out of 22 appeared prepared to do it.
:( - Lack of realism, a man names Perry in 2012 discovered that one of Milgram’s assistants had divided the participants into ‘doubters’ and believers’ and found that the doubters were more likely to obey the experimenter.
Outline Milgram’s Variations on his original experiment
Proximity - In this variation the teacher and the learner were sat in the same room, he found that obedience levels fell _____ this was as the teacher was now able to experience the learners pain more directly. In a second variation the teacher was required to push the learners hand onto the plate, here obedience dropped a further 30%. Milgram also changed the _________ of the experimenter (authoritative figure), giving orders over a _________ the cast majority of participants defied the instructions wit only 21% continuing to maximum shock level.
Location - When Milgram conducted his experiment at ______ University several participants remarked that the location gave them a sense that what they were doing was acceptable. Thus Milgram did his experiment again but this time in a run ______ office, obedience rates dropped slightly but not a _____________ amount where this time 48% delivered the full 450v.
Power of Uniform - Bushman conducted an experiment where a women in either a police style uniform, business attire or dressed as a beggar asked people to give a man change for his parking ticket. When in a uniform 72% agreed, 48% as a business women and 52% as a beggar.
Outline Milgram’s Variations on his original experiment
Proximity - In this variation the teacher and the learner were sat in the same room, he found that obedience levels fell 40% this was as the teacher was now able to experience the learners pain more directly. In a second variation the teacher was required to push the learners hand onto the plate, here obedience dropped a further 30%. Milgram also changed the proximity of the experimenter (authoritative figure), giving orders over a telephone the cast majority of participants defied the instructions wit only 21% continuing to maximum shock level.
Location - When Milgram conducted his experiment at Yale University several participants remarked that the location gave them a sense that what they were doing was acceptable. Thus Milgram did his experiment again but this time in a run down office, obedience rates dropped slightly but not a significant amount where this time 48% delivered the full 450v.
Power of Uniform - Bushman conducted an experiment where a women in either a police style uniform, business attire or dressed as a beggar asked people to give a man change for his parking ticket. When in a uniform 72% agreed, 48% as a business women and 52% as a beggar.
outline explanations for obediance
The _________ State - A common way of an individual thinking when carrying out an order is that they are not responsible for their own __________ and are simply carrying out a task from a figure of _________. Milgram referred to this as the agentic shift, where we ______ from an autonomous state where we take responsibility for our actions to an agentic ______ where we see ourselves as simply an ______carrying out a task for an authoritative _________.
Legitimate Authority - A condition needed in order to enter an agentic state as the perception of a __________ authority. Milgram believed that there is a share expectation among people that many situations have a controlling figure and thus people go into a situation expecting there to be a _________ of authority. If an authorities commands seem harmful then for them to be perceived as legitimate then they must occur within some sort of institute.
Authoritarian Personality - The identification of a specific personality type was done by the use of a scale called the ____ Scale, developed by Adorno et al. It contained statements such as ‘respect is the most important outlook for elders’ and other statements similar to this. If a person rated highly on this then they were said to have an _________ personality which is someone who sees the world as very black and white and someone who sees obedience as a very important characteristic.
utline explanations for obediance
The Agentic State - A common way of an individual thinking when carrying out an order is that they are not responsible for their own actions and are simply carrying out a task from a figure of authority. Milgram referred to this as the agentic shift, where we shift from an autonomous state where we take responsibility for our actions to an agentic state where we see ourselves as simply an agent carrying out a task for an authoritative figure.
Legitimate Authority - A condition needed in order to enter an agentic state as the perception of a legitimate authority. Milgram believed that there is a share expectation among people that many situations have a controlling figure and thus people go into a situation expecting there to be a person of authority. If an authorities commands seem harmful then for them to be perceived as legitimate then they must occur within some sort of institute.
Authoritarian Personality - The identification of a specific personality type was done by the use of a scale called the F-Scale, developed by Adorno et al. It contained statements such as ‘respect is the most important outlook for elders’ and other statements similar to this. If a person rated highly on this then they were said to have an authoritarian personality which is someone who sees the world as very black and white and someone who sees obedience as a very important characteristic.
Schultz - Found that _____ guests exposed to the normative message that ‘_______ of guests reuse the towels each day’ reduced their own towel usage by 25%. This study supports thee claim that people shape their behaviour as a result of wanting to fit in with the group.
Wittenbrink and Henley - Found that participants who were exposed to negative information about _______ Americans (which they were told was the view of the majority) later reported more negative beliefs about a black individual when interviewed.
Schultz - Found that hotel guests exposed to the normative message that ‘75% of guests reuse the towels each day’ reduced their own towel usage by 25%. This study supports thee claim that people shape their behaviour as a result of wanting to fit in with the group.
Wittenbrink and Henley - Found that participants who were exposed to negative information about African Americans (which they were told was the view of the majority) later reported more negative beliefs about a black individual when interviewed.
Outline explanations for resisting social influence
Social Support - Asch’s research showed us how difficult it is to go against the crowd as we have an inherent feeling that makes us want to fit in with a majority. Therefore to test this a bit further, Asch decided to do a variation of his experiment with social support involved. He had a confederate give the right answer before the participants turn and this caused a drop of conformity from ______ to 5.5%. The important factor about social support it seems is that it breaks the unanimous position of the __________. Social support is also seen to cause _____________ as well as resisting conformity, in a variation of Milgram’s study he had 2 confederates doing the same job as the participant however they were told to disobey and not continue, this dropped obedience rates to only 10% going all the way to _______.
Locus of Control - The term refers to a persons perception of personal control of the actions they take and their own behaviour. It is measure from high _________ to high external, a strong internal is associated with the belief that we control what happens with our life, they are more likely to show __________ behaviour and rely less on others opinions meaning they can resist social ________ better. Whereas a strong external would believe that what happens to them is determined by ___________ factors such as others or luck.
A number of characteristics that internals have have relevance with resisting social influence, these are:
-High internals are active seekers of information that is useful to them, making them ______ less on others
-They tend to be more achievement oriented making them usually become leaders instead of followers
-They are better able to resist coercion from others. In a simulated prisoner of war camp situation internals were better able to resist the attempts of an interrogator to gain information.
Social Support - Asch’s research showed us how difficult it is to go against the crowd as we have an inherent feeling that makes us want to fit in with a majority. Therefore to test this a bit further, Asch decided to do a variation of his experiment with social support involved. He had a confederate give the right answer before the participants turn and this caused a drop of conformity from 33% to 5.5%. The important factor about social support it seems is that it breaks the unanimous position of the majority. Social support is also seen to cause disobedience as well as resisting conformity, in a variation of Milgram’s study he had 2 confederates doing the same job as the participant however they were told to disobey and not continue, this dropped obedience rates to only 10% going all the way to 450v.
Locus of Control - The term refers to a persons perception of personal control of the actions they take and their own behaviour. It is measure from high internal to high external, a strong internal is associated with the belief that we control what happens with our life, they are more likely to show independent behaviour and rely less on others opinions meaning they can resist social influence better. Whereas a strong external would believe that what happens to them is determined by external factors such as others or luck.
A number of characteristics that internals have have relevance with resisting social influence, these are:
-High internals are active seekers of information that is useful to them, making them rely less on others
-They tend to be more achievement oriented making them usually become leaders instead of followers
-They are better able to resist coercion from others. In a simulated prisoner of war camp situation internals were better able to resist the attempts of an interrogator to gain information.
Outline and Explain Minority Influence
With majority influence many people identify with the majority in order to fit in and not particularly as they accept and understand their views. Minority influence on the other hand creates a conversion process where people scrutinise and try and understand the point of view, this leads to a conversion that is deeper and longer lasting as people have internalised and not just shown compliance. In order for this to happen though the minority influence must hold particular characteristics:
Consistency - When people first hear a minority with a different view they believe that the minority is in error. However if they show consistency with their views others reassess the situation and consider it carefully. A meta-analysis of _____ studies found that minorities who were perceived as consistent were also seen as very ____________.
Commitment - Commitment is important in the influence process because it suggests ________ and __________ in the face of a hostile majority. Because joining a minority has greater cost for the individually than staying with the majority the degree of commitment shown by a minority is typically greater.
Flexibility - A minority must be flexible in their views, f they are constantly rigid and wont budge at all this makes it difficult to ________ their position as they are usually powerless. If they are seen as dogmatic it may put people off the idea of wanting to join a minority. However they must avoid being too __________ as this can be seen as inconsistent.
Outline and Explain Minority Influence
With majority influence many people identify with the majority in order to fit in and not particularly as they accept and understand their views. Minority influence on the other hand creates a conversion process where people scrutinise and try and understand the point of view, this leads to a conversion that is deeper and longer lasting as people have internalised and not just shown compliance. In order for this to happen though the minority influence must hold particular characteristics:
Consistency - When people first hear a minority with a different view they believe that the minority is in error. However if they show consistency with their views others reassess the situation and consider it carefully. A meta-analysis of 97 studies found that minorities who were perceived as consistent were also seen as very influential.
Commitment - Commitment is important in the influence process because it suggests certainty and confidence in the face of a hostile majority. Because joining a minority has greater cost for the individually than staying with the majority the degree of commitment shown by a minority is typically greater.
Flexibility - A minority must be flexible in their views, f they are constantly rigid and wont budge at all this makes it difficult to negotiate their position as they are usually powerless. If they are seen as dogmatic it may put people off the idea of wanting to join a minority. However they must avoid being too flexible as this can be seen as inconsistent.
Outline evidence for the importance of consistence in a minority influence
Moscovici - showed female participants 36 blue slides of varying shades. In groups of 6 individuals had to judge what ___________ each slide was, in these groups two of them were confederates (a minority). In one situation the minority said ________ for every slide and thus were totally ________ in their views. In another variation they said green 24 times and blue 12 times which is seen as ___________.
He found that in the consistent variation 8% said green where as in the inconsistent only 1% agreed and said green as well.
Nemeth & Brilmayer - They studied the role of flexibility in minority influence. A simulated jury situation was setup where they were to decide on the compensation of someone who was involved in a ski lift accident. A confederate on the first variation put forward an alternative view an was very _________ on it and not open to change their opinion. In a second variation the confederate was willing to be slightly flexible. Results showed that when the confederate was flexible it had an impact on the groups overall decision.
Outline evidence for the importance of consistence in a minority influence
Moscovici - showed female participants 36 blue slides of varying shades. In groups of 6 individuals had to judge what colour each slide was, in these groups two of them were confederates (a minority). In one situation the minority said green for every slide and thus were totally consistent in their views. In another variation they said green 24 times and blue 12 times which is seen as inconsistent.
He found that in the consistent variation 8% said green where as in the inconsistent only 1% agreed and said green as well.
Nemeth & Brilmayer - They studied the role of flexibility in minority influence. A simulated jury situation was setup where they were to decide on the compensation of someone who was involved in a ski lift accident. A confederate on the first variation put forward an alternative view an was very rigid on it and not open to change their opinion. In a second variation the confederate was willing to be slightly flexible. Results showed that when the confederate was flexible it had an impact on the groups overall decision.
Outline the process of a minortiy influence on social change
ACCAS!
1) Drawing ___________ to an issue - If a minorities view is different to the majority then their views create a conflict which draw lots of attention to it.
2) Cognitive Conflict - The high amount of attention it has causes the majority to have an __________ conflict of ideas and makes them think more deeply about the minorities views.
3) ____________ of position - Research shows that when a minority is consistent in their views than more people will take them seriously and try to gain a deeper idea of what their view is. The minority must be consistent regardless of peoples views around them.
4) The augmentation principle - If a minority appears to be willing to ________ for their views then they are taken more seriously.
5) The ____________ effect - The minority influence initially has a small ___________ but then this spreads more and more until people consider the issues and understand them, it reaches a tipping point at which it leads to a wide scale social change.
Outline the process of a minortiy influence on social change
ACCAS!
1) Drawing attention to an issue - If a minorities view is different to the majority then their views create a conflict which draw lots of attention to it.
2) Cognitive Conflict - The high amount of attention it has causes the majority to have an internal conflict of ideas and makes them think more deeply about the minorities views.
3) Consistency of position - Research shows that when a minority is consistent in their views than more people will take them seriously and try to gain a deeper idea of what their view is. The minority must be consistent regardless of peoples views around them.
4) The augmentation principle - If a minority appears to be willing to suffer for their views then they are taken more seriously.
5) The snowball effect - The minority influence initially has a small effect but then this spreads more and more until people consider the issues and understand them, it reaches a tipping point at which it leads to a wide scale social change.
