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AQA A-Level Psychology > Social Influence > Flashcards

Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three types of conformity?

A

Compliance, Identification, Internalisation

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2
Q

What is compliance?

A

Conforming when with the group, but disagreeing when alone

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3
Q

What is identification?

A

When you temporarily adopt the behaviours of the group

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4
Q

What is internalisation?

A

When you accept and internalise the groups ideas as your own

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5
Q

What are the two explanations for conformity?

A

Informative social influence (ISI) and Normative social influence (NSI)

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6
Q

What is informative social influence?

A

When and individual is unsure about a situation and looks to the group for guidance

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7
Q

What is normative social influence?

A

When the individual is uncertain about their beliefs and looks to the group. They may accept the groups behaviour so as not to be rejected.

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8
Q

What is the research support for ISI?

A

Lucas et al. (2006) found that participants conformed more when the maths problems were harder because they were unsure of the answer and didn’t want to appear wrong

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9
Q

What is the research support for NSI?

A

Asch (1951) found participants always claimed they gave the wrong answer as they felt self conscious and didn’t want to go against the group and gain disapproval

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10
Q

What are some limitations against the explanations of conformity?

A
  • It is difficult to see the difference between ISI and NSI in studies and real life
  • NSI doesn’t predict conformity in every case and doesn’t take into account individual differences
  • It can’t explain why some people refuse to conform
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11
Q

Outline Asch’s baseline study.

A

123 American men, groups of 6-8, given a card with a line labelled ‘X’ and a card with lines labelled ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, participants had to say which line matched ‘X’, only one genuine participant, always placed next to last or last, all confederates gave the wrong answer.

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12
Q

What were the findings of Asch’s baseline study?

A

1/3 of participants conformed

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13
Q

What were the 3 variables investigated in Asch’s study?

A

Group size, Unaminity, Task difficulty

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14
Q

How did group size affect conformity in Asch’s study?

A

Conformity increased when group size increased

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15
Q

How did unanimity affect conformity in Asch’s study?

A

When a dissenter was placed in the group, the participant conformed less often. Conformity dropped by 1/4.

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16
Q

How did task difficulty affect conformity in Asch’s study?

A

Asch made the A, B, and C lines harder to tell which one was the same as ‘X’. Conformity rates increased as when the participant was unsure of the answer they agreed with the majority (demonstrating ISI)

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17
Q

What is a strength of Asch’s study?

A

Lucas- participants were given easy and hard maths problems, conformity rose for the harder questions. This supports Asch’s findings in the task difficulty variable.

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18
Q

What is a limitation of Asch’s study? (artificial situation)

A

The participants knew that the task was artificial and for a research study. They may have displayed demand characteristics.

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19
Q

What is a limitation of Asch’s study? (limited real-world application)

A

All of the participants were American males, women tend to conform more, and America is an individualist culture; collectivist cultures tend to conform more. Conformity is more complex, confidence in our own ability plays a role.

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20
Q

What is an ethical issue within Asch’s study? (limitation)

A

Participants were deceived

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21
Q

Which psychologist carried out the Stanford Prison Experiment?

A

Zimbardo

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22
Q

What type of sampling was used to select participants for the Stanford Prison Experiment?

A

Volunteer sampling.

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23
Q

How did the ‘prisoners’ get to the facility?

A

They were arrested outside of their homes and delivered to the ‘prison’ in the basement of Stanford University.

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24
Q

What happened to the prisoners once they had been ‘arrested’?

A

They were blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused and assigned a number.

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25
Q

How much power did the guards have over the prisoners?

A

Guards carried a baton, handcuffs, and mirrored shades. They decided when the prisoners ate and toileted.

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26
Q

How long was Zimbardo’s study supposed to last?

A

14 days

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27
Q

After how many days was Zimbardo’s study shut down?

A

6

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28
Q

Why did Zimbardo’s study have to be shut down early?

A

The guards became a threat to prisoner’s physical and psychological health

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29
Q

How did the prisoners act near the end of Zimbardo’s study?

A

They were subdued, depressed and anxious, and they rioted

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30
Q

What was Zimbardo’s conclusion of the study?

A

Guards and prisoners conformed to their roles, which were easily taken on.

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31
Q

What is a strength of the Stanford Prison Experiment? (control)

A

Zimbardo had some control over the variables of the study, i.e. they only selected participants that had passed a psychological screening, and the participants were randomly assigned as prisoners or guards (this was to rule out individual personality differences as an explanation of the findings). The amount of control in this study increases the internal validity of it and we can be confident about concluding the influence of roles on behaviour.

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32
Q

What is a limitation of the Stanford Prison Experiment? (lack of realism)

A

Mohavedi- argued that the participants were ‘play acting’ and not genuinely conforming. He said that the participants were basing their performances on stereotypes, and one guard admitted to basing his performance on a film. This explains why the prisoners rioted as they thought that’s what real prisoners do.

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33
Q

What is the counterpoint for the lack of realism limitation for the Stanford Prison Experiment?

A

Zimbardo argued that the prison setting was very real to the participants. Quantitative data from the study showed that 90% of prisoner conversations were about ‘prison life’ and how they couldn’t leave until their ‘sentence’ was up.

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34
Q

What is a limitation of the Stanford Prison Experiment? (exaggeration of power roles)

A

Fromm- said Zimbardo exaggerated the power of the situation. Only 1/3 of the guards acted brutally, 1/3 were keen on applying the rules fairly, and the rest tried to help the prisoners by giving them cigarettes and privileges. This suggests that Zimbardo’s conclusion may be overstated.

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35
Q

What ethical issues arose in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

A

Prisoners were not protected from harm- some participants left early due to physical and mental torment.

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36
Q

What is obedience?

A

A form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order.

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37
Q

What type of sampling was used for Milgram’s study?

A

Volunteer sampling

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38
Q

What was the aim of Milgram’s study?

A

Wanted to investigate why the German population followed Hitler’s orders

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39
Q

Outline the procedure of Milgram’s study.

A

Roles were rigged, ‘Mr Wallace’ was always the learner and the participant was always the teacher. Participants were told they could leave at any time. The participant was led into a room where he couldn’t see the learner, the participant was required to shock the learner each time they made a mistake. Shocks went from 15 volts to 450 volts (lethal). At 315 volts, the learner stopped responding. The participant had to ask 4 times before the experimenter allowed them to stop.

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40
Q

What were the findings of Milgram’s study?

A

No participant stopped before 300 volts,
12% stopped at 300 volts
65% went to the highest level of 450 volts
Qualitative data showed that participants showed signs of tension and 3 participants had seizures.
All participants were debriefed and told their behaviour was normal.

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41
Q

What is the research that supports Milgram’s study? (strength)

A

Milgram’s findings were replicated in a fake French TV show. The participants were paid to deliver shocks to other participants (actors) in front of a studio audience. 80% of participants delivered the maximum shock (460 volts) to an ‘unconscious’ man. Their behaviour was almost identical to that of Milgram’s participants. This supports Milgram’s original findings about obedience to authority.

42
Q

What is a limitation of Milgram’s study? (low internal validity)

A

Milgram said that 75% of participants believed that the shocks were real.
Holland- argued that participants behaved as they did because they didn’t believe the set-up, so they were responding to demand characteristics. This suggests that Milgram’s finding may not be legit.

43
Q

What ethical issues arose in Milgram’s study?

A

Deception- participants believed that their role was selected at random (it wasn’t, it was rigged).
Protection from harm- 3 participants had seizures

44
Q

What are situational variables?

A

Features of the immediate physical + social environment that can influence a person’s behaviour.

45
Q

What 3 situational variables were tested in the variations of Milgram’s study?

A

Proximity, Location, Uniform

46
Q

How was proximity tested in the variations of Milgram’s study?

A

The participant and the learner were placed in the same room (obedience dropped to 40%), in another proximity variation, the experimenter gave the instructions over the phone (obedience dropped to 20%).

47
Q

How was location tested in the variations of Milgram’s study?

A

The study was conducted in a run-down office building rather than a prestigious university. Obedience dropped to 47%.

48
Q

How was uniform tested in the variations of Milgram’s study?

A

Lab coat worn in original study. In the variation, the experimenter was called away and replaced by a member of the public in normal clothes. Obedience dropped to 20%.

49
Q

What is the research support for situational variables? (strength)

A

Other studies have demonstrated the same effect.
Bickman- 3 confederates dressed in 3 different outfits (suit, milkman, police officer), confederate stood in street and asked passers-by for a quarter or to pick up a piece of rubbish. People were 2x as likely to obey the police officer than the suit guy. This supports Milgram’s conclusion that uniform conveys authority.

50
Q

What is a strength of situational variables? (cross-cultural replication)

A

Milgram’s findings have been replicated in other cultures. In a Dutch study, 90% of participants obeyed when told to say something rude in an interview. They also replicated the proximity variation, and the obedience dropped drastically. This suggests that Milgram’s findings aren’t just limited to Americans or men, but are also valid across cultures and genders.

51
Q

What is a limitation of situational variations? (western societies)

A

Most replications of Milgram’s study have taken place in Western, developed societies which aren’t that different from America. This suggests that the findings may not be as universal as they seem.

52
Q

What is the Agentic state?

A

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure.

53
Q

What is an autonomous state?

A

We are free to behave according to our principles and feel responsible for our actions (the opposite of the agentic state).

54
Q

What is the Agentic shift?

A

When someone switches from autonomy to ‘agency’

55
Q

What are ‘binding factors’ (agentic state)

A

Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and so reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling.

56
Q

What is the research support for the agentic state? (strength)

A

Milgram’s studies support the role of the magnetic state in obedience. Most of the participants in Milgram’sexperiment asked who was responsible if the learner was harmed and when they were told it wasn’t them, they continued without any objection. This suggests that once participants were no longer responsible for their behaviour, they acted more easily as the experimenter’s agent.

57
Q

What is a limitation of the agentic state? (limited explanation)

A

The agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings about obedience.
E.G. doesn’t explain the findings of Rank & Jacobson’s study. They found that 16/18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to give an excessive drug dose to a patient (they didn’t give the drug). The doctor was an obvious authority figure, but almost all of the nurses remained autonomous as did Milgram’s participants.
This suggests that the Agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience

58
Q

What is legitimacy of authority?

A

We are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by their position of power in a social hierarchy.

59
Q

What is a consequence of legitimacy of authority?

A

Some people are granted the power of authority to punish others.

60
Q

What is destructive authority?

A

When an authority figure uses their legitimate powers for destructive purposes.

61
Q

Which obedience study demonstrated destructive authority?

A

Milgram’s study- when the experimenter used prods to order the participants to behave in ways that went against their consciences.

62
Q

How does legitimacy of authority explain cultural differences? (strength)

A

Many studies show that countries differ in how obedient people are.
E.G. In a Milgram-style study in Australia, only 16% of people went to 450 volts.
In a German Milgram-style study, 85% of people went to 450 volts.
This suggests that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals.

63
Q

What is a limitation of legitimacy of authority? (cannot explain all disobedience)

A

Legitimacy can’t explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted.
E.G. the Rank & Jacobson study (nurses) most of them were disobedient despite working in a strictly hierarchal authority structure.
This suggests that some people may just be more or less obedient than others.

64
Q

Who looked at Authoritarian Personality?

A

Adorno.

65
Q

What scale did Adorno come up with to measure Authoritarian Personality?

A

F-scale (fascism scale)

66
Q

What are some of the characteristics displayed by people with an Authoritarian Personality?

A

Obedience to authority,
Everything is either right or wrong (no grey areas),
Disrespect for those with a lower social status

67
Q

What is the cause of the Authoritarian Personality?

A

Harsh parenting in childhood. (e.g. strict discipline, impossibly high standards, criticism of failure)

68
Q

How does harsh parenting explain an Authoritarian Personality?

A

Parents love is conditional which creates resentment and hostility in the child, they can’t express this to their parents due to fear, so the fear is displaced onto others who are ‘weaker’.

69
Q

What is a strength of Authoritarian Personality? (Research support)

A

Milgram interviewed fully obedient participants, all scored highly on the F-scale. There may be a link between obedience and authoritarian personality.

70
Q

What is a limitation of the Authoritarian Personality? (limited explanation)

A

any explanation of obedience using personality will not be able to explain obedience in the majority of a population.
E.G. in pre-war Germany, millions displayed obedient and racist behaviour, it is very unlikely that they all had an authoritarian personality.

71
Q

What are the two explanations for resistance to social influence?

A

Social support and Locus of control

72
Q

What is social support?

A

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey.

73
Q

How does social support help people to resist conformity?

A

Less pressure to conform if there are others who are not conforming.

74
Q

What is an example of social support helping to resist conformity?

A

Asch’s study. When the dissenter (non-conformer) entered, the naive participant stopped conforming to the majority.

75
Q

What happens if the non-conformer starts conforming? (social support)

A

The naive participant also starts to conform, which means the effect of social support is not long-lasting.

76
Q

How does social support help people resist obedience?

A

The pressure to obey is lessened if someone who is not obeying is present.

77
Q

What is an example of social support helping to resist obedience?

A

In one of Milgram’s variations- obedience dropped significantly when a genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate.

78
Q

What is a strength of social support? (research support-conformity)

A

Allen & Levine found conformity decreased when there was one dissenter. This occurred even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and made it aware he had trouble with his vision. Shows that resistance is not just motivated by following what someone else says, it enables them to be free of the pressure of the group.

79
Q

What is a strength of social support? (research support-obedience)

A

Gamson found higher levels of resistance than Milgram. This is likely die to his participants being in groups (29/33 groups rebelled). This shows that peer support if linked to greater resistance.

80
Q

What are the two types of locus of control?

A

Internal and External

81
Q

What does a person with an internal locus of control believe?

A

What happens to them is controlled by themselves.

82
Q

What does a person with an external locus of control believe?

A

What happens to them is out of their control.

83
Q

People with what type of LOC are more likely to resist pressure to conform/obey?

A

Internal

84
Q

What is a strength of LOC and resistance? (research support)

A

Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study, measuring whether participants had internal/external LOC. 37% if internals didn’t go to the highest shock level (showed resistance). 23% of externals didn’t continue. Internals showed greater resistance to authority which increases the validity of LOC.

85
Q

What is a limitation of LOC and resistance? (contradictory research)

A

Twenge analysed data from American LOC studies (1960-2002). Data shows that people have become more resistant to obedience and more external. We would expect them to be more internal. This challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistant behaviour.

86
Q

What is minority influence?

A

Where a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours.

87
Q

What are the 3 main processes in minority influence?

A

Consistency, Commitment, Flexibility

88
Q

What is consistency in minority influence?

A

Where the minority keeps the same beliefs for a long time. Draws attention to the minority view.

89
Q

What is commitment in minority influence?

A

Where the minority demonstrates dedication to their position (e.g. making personal sacrifices)

90
Q

What is flexibility in minority influence?

A

Where the minority accept the possibility of compromise so that they aren’t seen as unbending and unreasonable.

91
Q

What is the snowball effect in minority influence?

A

Where increasing numbers of people ‘convert’ from the majority to the minority. Gradually, the minority becomes the majority and change has occurred.

92
Q

What is a strength of consistency in minority influence? (research support)

A

Moscovici’s study shows that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect than an inconsistent one. Wood conducted a meta-analysis of 100 similar studies and found the same thing. Suggests that consistency is a major factor in minority influence.

93
Q

What is a limitation of minority influence? (artificial task-moscovici)

A

The task of identifying the colour of the slide is artificial. the research is far from how minorities attempt to change behaviour in real life, as jury decisions and political campaigns are more important. This means studies like Moscovici’s lack external validity and are limited in what they can tell us about minority influence

94
Q

How many steps are there to social change?

A

6

95
Q

What is the 1st step of social change?

A

Drawing attention

96
Q

What is the 2nd step of social change?

A

Consistency

97
Q

What is the 3rd step of social change?

A

Deeper processing of the issue

98
Q

What is the 4th step of social change?

A

The Augmentation Principle (risking their lives)

99
Q

What is the 5th step of social change?

A

The Snowball Effect (more and more people start to back the minority)

100
Q

What is the 6th step of social change?

A

Social Cryptomnesia (knowing that change has occurred but not remembering how)

101
Q
A

AQA A-Level Psychology (8 decks)

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