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Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

What is social psychology

A
  • social psychology looks at the relationship between people and how people affect each other’s behaviour
  • social influence
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2
Q

What is conformity

A
  • form of social influence
  • person changes behaviour/attitudes/beliefs to be in line with the majority
  • occurs from pressure of majority
  • pressure can be real/imagined
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3
Q

What are the types of conformity (3)

A
  • compliance
  • internalisation
  • identification
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4
Q

What is compliance

A
  • individuals adjust their behaviour/attitudes/beliefs that are shown in public to be in line with majority
  • no change to private behaviour/attitudes/beliefs
  • only lasts when group is present
  • superficial and temporary
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5
Q

What is internalisation

A
  • individuals adjust behaviour/beliefs in public and private
  • in line with majority
  • individual examines own behaviour on what others are saying and decides that majority is correct
  • deeper than compliance and more permanent
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6
Q

What is identification

A
  • individual accepts social influence to be associated with a role model or group
  • adopting role model/group’s behaviour to feel connected to them
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7
Q

Who developed a theory to explain why people conform

A
  • Deutsch and Gerrard (1955)
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8
Q

What are the reasons to why people conform (2)

A
  • normative social influence
  • informational social influence
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9
Q

What is normative social influence (NSI)

A
  • people have a need for social approval and acceptance
  • people avoid behaviour which leads to rejection
  • leads to copying others to fit in
  • therefore associated with compliance
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10
Q

What is informational social influence (ISI)

A
  • people have need to be right and have an accurate perception of reality
  • may make objective tests against reality but if not possible they rely on opinions of others
  • likely if situation is ambiguous or if others are experts
  • leads to internalisation
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11
Q

What are positive evaluation points for normative and informational social influence (3)

A
  • Asch (1951)
  • Jenness (1932)
  • Sherif (1935)
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12
Q

How is Asch (1951) a positive evaluation point for normative and informational social influence

A
  • asked participants to say which three test lines was same as standard line
  • participants were in groups with confederates who gave wrong answers
  • 33% of trials led to conformity giving wrong answer
  • conformed due to normative social influence
  • after study claimed they knew answer but did not want to be ridiculed
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13
Q

How is Jenness (1932) a positive evaluation point for normative and informational social influence

A
  • asked participants to estimate number of beans in a jar
  • participants made individual estimate first then another as group
  • found when in a group, estimates would be close, even though initially reported different numbers individually
  • informational social influence as participants uncertain about number so genuinely influenced by group
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14
Q

How is Sherif (1935) a positive evaluation point for normative and informational social influence

A
  • autokinetic effect
  • small spot of light in dark room appears to move but does not
  • participants estimated how far light moved (20cm to 80cm)
  • participants then put into manipulated groups (2 similar, 1 not) and found group came to common estimate
  • informational social influence, ambiguous task
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15
Q

What are negative evaluation points for normative and informational social influence (2)

A
  • McLeod (2007)
  • dispositional factors
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16
Q

How is McLeod (2007) a negative evaluation point for normative and informational social influence

A
  • third explanation for conformity, ingratiational conformity
  • similar to normative social influence, but group influence does not affect conformity
  • instead motivated by need to impress or gain favour instead of fear of rejection
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17
Q

How are dispositional factors a negative evaluation point for normative and informational social influence

A
  • impact whether person conforms
  • people with internal locus of control less likely to conform than external locus of control
  • NIS and ISI cannot explain this
  • person’s locus of control refers to extent which they believe they have control over their own behaviour
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18
Q

What was Asch’s (1951) study

A
  • tested different variables which affected social influence
  • three lines study
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19
Q

How did Asch (1951) carry out his study

A
  • naive participant in group with confederates
  • group asked to look at standard line and decide individually which of the three test lines was same length as standard
  • gave responses one at a time
  • answer was obvious (1% chance of genuine mistake)
  • confederates purposely gave wrong answer on 12 of 18 trials
  • naive participant was last so heard all responses before they gave their own
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20
Q

What were the findings of Asch’s (1951) study

A
  • 1% chance to make a genuine mistake
  • 33% of responses incorrect
  • 75% of participants conformed at least once
  • 5% conformed on all trials
  • 25% did not conform at all
  • when participants interviewed, they knew answer but said wrong answer to avoid disapproval (NSI)
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21
Q

How did Asch (1956) use group sizes to test social influence

A
  • same study as his 1951 three lines test but varied sizes of groups
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22
Q

What were the findings when Asch (1956) altered group sizes

A
  • 3% conformity rate with one confederate
  • 13% conformity rate with two confederates
  • 32% conformity rate with three confederates
  • little change after three confederates
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23
Q

How did Asch (1956) use task difficulty to test social influence

A
  • adjusted task difficulty so test lines were more similar in length
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24
Q

What were the findings when Asch (1956) altered the task difficulty

A
  • conformity increased, due to ISI having an impact
  • when uncertain, people look to others for confirmation
  • the higher the difficulty, the higher the ISI and conformity
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25
Q

How did Asch (1956) use unanimity to test social influence

A
  • when group had been unanimous (all confederates agreed), conformity increased
  • when one confederate gave different answer to other, group was no longer unanimous and conformity dropped
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26
Q

What were the findings when Asch (1956) altered the unanimity

A
  • when confederate gave the right answer, conformity dropped to 5% from 33%
  • when confederate gave a different wrong answer (still going against the group), conformity dropped to 9%
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27
Q

What were the evaluation points for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies (5)

A
  • temporal validity
  • ecological validity
  • sample representation
  • volunteer sample
  • ethical issues
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28
Q

How is temporal validity an evaluation point for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies

A
  • negative, does not have temporal validity
  • study was 80 years ago, people may have been more conformist
  • post war attitudes showing people should work together rather than dissent which may have affected results
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29
Q

How is ecological validity an evaluation point for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies

A
  • negative, lacks ecological validity and mundane realism
  • task is artificial and unlikely to occur in real life
  • conformity takes place in a social context, with people we know and not strangers
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30
Q

How is sample representation an evaluation points for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies

A
  • negative
  • gender bias as only contains males
  • does not represent female behaviour
  • culture bias as only white Americans that do not reflect behaviour of all cultures
  • positive
  • however, study has been repeated with different samples and cultures
  • still proven to be reliable
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31
Q

How is the use of a volunteer sample an evaluation point for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies

A
  • negative
  • used volunteer sample who may not represent behaviour of wider population
  • lacks population validity and cannot be generalised
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32
Q

How are ethical issues evaluation points for Asch’s (1951 and 1956) studies

A
  • negative
  • deception
  • lack of informed consent
  • psychological harm
  • necessary to deceive participants to prevent demand characteristics
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33
Q

What are social roles

A
  • behaviours expected of an individual who has a certain social position or status
  • people conform to social roles assigned to them
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34
Q

What did Zimbardo (1973) investigate

A
  • whether conformity to social roles altered a person’s behaviour or not
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35
Q

How did Zimbardo (1973) carry out his study

A
  • stimulated prison in basement of Stanford University psychology department created
  • 24 emotionally available and psychologically stable young men recruited and randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard
  • prisoners arrested at home, taken to local police to be booked, photographed, and fingerprinted
  • blindfolded and driven down to simulated prison, stripped naked, deloused, given ID numbers
  • guards had control over prisoners who were confined to cells
  • guards told to maintain order (barring physical violence)
  • guards worked in threes for 8 hour shifts
  • prisoners were 3 to a cell
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36
Q

What were the findings of Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • on second day, prisoners tried rebelling by ripping off prison numbers and barricading themselves in cells
  • guards sprayed them with CO2, stripped them naked, took beds and forced ringleaders into solitary confinement
  • guards become increasingly cruel and aggressive
  • prisoners became passive and depressed
  • guards became so aggressive that study had to be ended after only 6 days (planned for 2 weeks) due to psychological health concerns
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37
Q

What were the evaluation points for Zimbardo’s (1973) study (5)

A
  • ethical issues
  • role of Zimbardo
  • sample representation
  • demand characteristics
  • individual differences
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38
Q

How are ethical issues evaluation points for Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • prisoners subjected to psychological harm
  • five prionsers released early due to extreme reaction
  • however Zimbardo did not expect guards to behave in such a way so harm could not have been anticipated
  • negative
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39
Q

How is the role of Zimbardo an evaluation point for Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • took on the role of prison warden
  • became too involved in experiment and lost objectivity
  • had to be told by a colleague to end experiment due to concerns over distress of prisoners
  • validity of findings can be questioned
  • negative
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40
Q

How is sample representation an evaluation point for Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • culture bias, all participants white bar one
  • gender bias, all participants male
  • age bias, all participants young
  • status bias, all participants middle class
  • negative, unrepresentative
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41
Q

How are demand characteristics an evaluation point for Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • guards may have behaved the way they did due to demand characteristics
  • some participants reported afterwards they thought the experimenters wanted them to be aggressive
  • validity can be questioned
  • negative
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42
Q

How are individual differences an evaluation point for Zimbardo’s (1973) study

A
  • some guards did not conform to role given whereas some were abusive
  • suggests individual differences are important in determining extent of conforming to social roles
  • shows there must be other dispositional factors contributing to conformity => LoC?
  • negative
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43
Q

What is obedience

A
  • behaving as instructed to by an authority figure
  • authority figures have status/power over others
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44
Q

How did Milgram (1963) get participants for his study

A
  • placed advert in newspaper asking for males to take part in study on effect of punishment on learning
  • 40 participants invited to psychology department of Yale University and met by experimenter (confederate)
  • introduced to Mr Wallace (confederate), old man with weak heart
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45
Q

How did Milgram (1963) assign roles for his study and what did each role do

A
  • participant and Mr Wallace asked to pick paper from hat to determine role
  • both pieces of paper had teacher written to ensure naive participant was teacher and Mr Wallace was learner
  • teacher had to punish learner if they made a mistake on a memory test through an electric shock
  • electric shock increased in voltage each time mistake was made
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46
Q

How was the learner set up in Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • learner taken to room and hooked to electric shock machine
  • teacher saw this then taken to adjoining room with electric shock controls and experimenter
  • electric shock machine were fake but convincing
  • teacher pressed switches on machine to administer shocks
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47
Q

How was the electric shock machine set up in Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • each switch labelled with voltage rating
  • switches started at 15 volts and rose in increments of 15 to 450 volts
  • each group of four switches was labelled with text (slight shock, moderate shock, danger: severe shock)
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48
Q

What was happening during Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • as shocks became more severe, Mr Wallace demanded to be released from experiment
  • Mr Wallace was screaming, kicking the wall, complaining about his weak heart and refusing to answer questions
  • finally Mr Wallace went silent
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49
Q

Why did the participants not stop shocking Mr Wallace

A
  • experimenter ensured teacher continued with experiment
  • when teacher showed reluctance, experimenter prompted them to continue using one of four statements
  • please continue
  • the experiment requires that you continue
  • it is absolutely essential that you continue
  • you have no choice, you must continue
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50
Q

What were the findings of Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • 100% of participants gave shocks up to 300 volts (when Mr Wallace banged on wall and stopped answering)
  • 65% of participants gave shocks until 450 volts
  • participants felt high levels of stress and showed symptoms including sweating, trembling, and anxious and hysterical laughter
  • most were obedient and willing to inflict lethal shocks to a man with a weak heart
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51
Q

What were the evaluation points for Milgram’s (1963) study (5)

A
  • deception
  • psychological harm
  • right to withdraw
  • sample representation
  • cost-benefit analysis
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52
Q

How is deception an evaluation point for Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • negative
  • participants deceived about true nature of experiment
  • means no informed consent to take part
  • necessary to prevent demand characteristics to prevent a decrease in validity of findings
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53
Q

How is psychological harm an evaluation point for Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • negative
  • participants became extremely distressed
  • some thought they had killed Mr Wallace
  • Milgram did not expect his participants to obey so this psychological harm could not have been anticipated
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54
Q

How is right to withdraw an evaluation point for Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • negative
  • several participants asked to leave experiment but were told they are not allowed
  • violates right to withdraw from experiment
55
Q

How is sample representation an evaluation point for Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • negative
  • all participants were white American males
  • gender and culture bias
  • however study has been replicated with women and obedience rates were not significantly different
56
Q

How is a cost-benefit analysis an evaluation point for Milgram’s (1963) study

A
  • positive
  • weighing harm against knowledge provided means study was worthwhile
  • participants did not suffer from long-term emotional disturbances
  • 84% of participants said they were happy to have taken part and learnt something
57
Q

What was Milgram’s (1974) study

A
  • Milgram (1974) conducted several variations of his original study in 1963
  • wanted to test which situational variables lead to high levels of obedience and which reduced obedience
58
Q

What were the situational variables Milgram (1974) changed to investigate obedience (3)

A
  • proximity
  • location
  • uniform
59
Q

How did Milgram (1974) change proximity to investigate obedience

A
  • three different types of proximity variations
  • proximity variation
  • touch proximity variation
  • absent experimenter variation
60
Q

How did obedience change in Milgram’s (1974) proximity variation

A
  • both teacher and learner were in the same room
  • obedience levels fell to 40%
  • teacher was able to experience Mr Wallace’s anguish directly
61
Q

How did obedience change in Milgram’s (1974) touch proximity variation

A
  • teacher had to actually force learner’s arm down onto metal plate to administer shocks
  • obedience dropped to 30%
62
Q

How did obedience change in Milgram’s (1974) absent experimenter variation

A
  • experimenter left room after giving instructions and gave orders by telephone
  • majority of participants missed out shocks or gave lower voltages than meant to
  • obedience dropped to 20%
63
Q

How did Milgram (1974) change location to investigate obedience

A
  • alternative setting variation
  • experiment carried out in rundown office by experimenter wearing casual clothes
  • other variations carried out at Yale University
  • obedience rate was 48%
  • participants reported location of Yale as having confidence in integrity of experimenter
  • lower status of office changed participant’s perception of legitimacy of authority of experimenter
64
Q

How does uniform affect obedience rates

A
  • uniforms are visible symbol of authority and can show power/status or lack of
  • Bickman (1974) asked confederates to order passerbys to pick litter off street or move from bus stop
  • confederates dressed as either guard, milkman or in smart clothes
  • 80% obeyed guard but 40% obeyed milkman
65
Q

What are the situational explanations for obedience (2)

A
  • agentic state
  • legitimate authority
66
Q

What is the agentic state

A
  • Milgram (1974) argued people obey horrific orders due to the situation they are in and not their own personalities
  • people go from an autonomous state into an agentic state (agentic shift)
  • once in state, people carry out orders and perceive themselves as merely the instruments of authority
  • believe authority figure is responsible for actions (diffusion of responsibility) so do not feel guilty for their own actions
67
Q

Why does the agentic state occur

A
  • those in authority are trustworthy
  • orders first seem reasonable and then becomes aggressive (gradual commitment)
  • people psychologically protected from consequences of their actions (buffers)
  • maintain a positive self-image (not responsible for their own actions)
  • once in state, they stay to not break commitment to authority seeming arrogant and rude
68
Q

How has the agentic state developed

A
  • Milgram (1974) thought it developed during human evolution and is necessary for hierarchies to function in society
  • prevents chaos
  • living in societies where we submit ourselves to authority
  • obedience is essential in society
69
Q

What are the evaluation points for the agentic state (2)

A
  • Milgram (1974)
  • Mandel (1998)
70
Q

How is Milgram’s (1974) study an evaluation point for the agentic state

A
  • positive, supports agentic state
  • participants less likely to shock Mr Wallace when in same room
  • could see consequences of own actions (no buffers)
  • close proximity to Mr Wallace and seeing pain prevents participants going into agentic state
71
Q

How is Mandel’s (1998) research an evaluation point for the agentic state

A
  • negative, disproves agentic state
  • without buffers, people should not go into agentic state and obey order to harm someone in theory
  • case of Major Wilhem Trapp was reported by Mandel
  • Major Trapp given orders to kill a group of Jewish people in 1942
  • members of battalion were given chance to say no, most accepted and massacre occurred
  • this happened despite being in close proximity to victims
72
Q

What is legitimate authority

A
  • claims we recognise our own and other people’s positions in social hierarchy
  • we obey those in a higher position than us
  • we do not obey those in an equal or lower position than us
73
Q

What are features of legitimate authority

A
  • increased by visible symbols of authority
  • dependent on setting, order, system and location, especially if commands are harmful or destructive
74
Q

What are the evaluation points for legitimate authority (3)

A
  • Hofling (1966)
  • Bickman (1974)
  • Milgram (1963)
75
Q

How is Hofling’s (1966) study an evaluation point for legitimate authority

A
  • positive, supports legitimate authority
  • nurses obey dangerous order from doctor due to hospital location
  • nurses receive call from unknown doctor and are asking to administer 20 milligrams of a drug (Astroten) to patients
  • broke hospital rules as it was twice the maximum dose written on the bottle
  • 95% of nurses carried out instructions
76
Q

How is Bickman’s (1974) study an evaluation point for legitimate authority

A
  • positive, supports legitimate authority
  • asked confederates to order passerbys to pick litter off street or move from bus stop
  • confederates dressed as either guard, milkman or in smart clothes
  • 80% obeyed guard but 40% obeyed milkman
77
Q

How is Milgram’s (1963) study an evaluation point for legitimate authority

A
  • negative, disproves legitimate authority
  • 35% of participants disobeyed experimenter even though he had legitimate authority in that situation
  • legitimate authority does not explain why some people are able to resist order of authority figures
78
Q

What dispositional explanation of obedience was proposed

A
  • Adorno (1950)
  • those with authoritarian personalities are more likely to obey authority figures
  • authoritarian personalities have a collection of traits making them more obedient
79
Q

What are dispositional explanations

A
  • claims that individual’s personality characteristics determine their behaviour instead of situational influences in environment
80
Q

What are the traits that authoritarian personalities have (7)

A
  • servile towards people of perceived higher status
  • hostile towards people of lower status
  • preoccupied with power
  • inflexible in their beliefs and values
  • conformist and conventional (rule following)
  • likely to categories people as ‘us’ or ‘them’
  • dogmatic (intolerant of ambiguity)
81
Q

How do people develop authoritarian personalities according to Adorno (1950)

A
  • receiving extremely strict/rigid parenting, usually involving physical punishment
  • creates feelings of hostility which are displaced onto weaker others that cannot fight back and therefore are safe
  • cannot take out anger on parents due to fear
  • repress anger and act submissive to parents
  • submissive behaviour is extended to all authority
82
Q

How can authoritarian personalities be identified

A
  • Adorno (1950) developed questionnaire to measure authoritarian personalities
  • F (fascism) scale
  • participants asked to rate how much they agree with statements
83
Q

What are evaluation points for the dispositional explanation of authoritarian personality for obedience (5)

A
  • Miller (1975)
  • Altemeyer (1981)
  • situational factors (Milgram, 1974)
  • dispositional explanations (Milgram, 1963)
  • Middendorp and Meleon (1990), and Milgram (1974)
84
Q

How is Miller’s (1975) study an evaluation point for authoritarian personality

A
  • positive, supports authoritarian personality
  • found people who scored high on F Scale were more likely to obey order to hold onto electric wiring while working on an arithmetic problem compared to people who scored low on F Scale
85
Q

How is Altemeyer’s (1981) study an evaluation point for authoritarian personality

A
  • positive, supports authoritarian personalities
  • ordered participants to give themselves increasing levels of electric shocks when mistake is made on learning task
  • correlation between those willing to shock themselves and high scores on F Scale
86
Q

How are situational variables such as Milgram’s (1974) study an evaluation point for authoritarian personality

A
  • negative, disproves authoritarian personality
  • situational variables may be more important than dispositional ones
  • Milgram (1974) conducted several variations with vastly different results
  • obedience was 100% when Mr Wallace made no noise
  • obedience rate was 0% when there were two authority figures disagreeing with each other
87
Q

How are dispositional explanations such as Milgram’s (1963) study an evaluation point for authoritarian personality

A
  • dispositional explanations cannot explain obedience in entire societies as authoritarian personalities are not common
  • fewer than 65% of people have authoritarian personalities
  • cannot be the only reason for level of obedience found in original Milgram (1963) study
88
Q

How are Middendorp and Meleon’s (1990) and Milgram’s (1974) studies evaluation points for authoritarian personality

A
  • possible that rather than authoritarian personality causing obedience, lack of education causes authoritarian personalities and obedience
  • Middendorp and Meleon (1990) found less educated people are more likely to have authoritarian personality
  • Milgram (1974) found participants with lower levels of education were more obedient
89
Q

What is resistance to social influence and provide a situational example

A
  • pressure to conform/obey can exert powerful influences over behaviour (Milgram 1963 had 65% obey and Asch 1951 had 75% conform)
  • in both studies, people managed to resist pressure to conform or obey (35% disobeyed Milgram and 25% did not conform to Asch)
  • social support theory
90
Q

What is the social support theory

A
  • situational explanation of resistance to social influence
  • argues when one person refuses to conform/obey, makes it likely for others to also resist social influence
91
Q

How does the social support theory make it likely for people to not conform

A
  • ally who also resists social influence
  • refuses unanimity of group
  • groups are more influential if they are unanimous
  • when unanimity is broken, people think about other ways of responding
  • presence of ally gives them independent assessment of reality, making them more confident in decision and better able to stand up to majority
92
Q

How does the social support theory make it likely for people to not obey

A
  • people more likely to defy authority figure if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey
  • when a person rejects instructions of authority, it challenges authority figure’s legitimate authority
93
Q

What are the evaluation points for the social support theory (3)

A
  • Milgram (1974)
  • Asch (1956)
  • individual differences
94
Q

How is Milgram’s (1974) study an evaluation point for the social support theory

A
  • asked participants to deliver electric shocks to confederate when he answered question wrong
  • shocks not real but participants believed they were and 65% shocked Mr Wallace
  • in another variation when another confederate acted as a disobedient role model and refused to shock Mr Wallace, only 10% obeyed to shock Mr Wallace
  • positive, supports social support theory
95
Q

How is Asch’s (1956) study an evaluation point for the social support theory

A
  • asked participants to say which of three test lines was same as standard
  • participants in group with confederates who purposefully gave wrong answer
  • in 33% of trials, participants conformed
  • conformity dropped to 5% when one confederate acted as an ally to participant and gave right answer
  • positive, supports social support theory
96
Q

How are individual differences an evaluation point for the social support theory

A
  • in both of the original studies (Asch 1951 and Milgram 1963), some participants were obey to resist social influence and not conform/obey even though there was no social support
  • means social support is not a complete explanation of resistance to social influence
  • other factors play a part, such as personality traits
97
Q

What is a dispositional explanation to resistance to social influence

A
  • locus of control
  • Rotter (1966) argued person’s personality determines whether they conform/obey or resist social influence
98
Q

What is locus of control

A
  • extent to which an individual believes they have control over their own behaviour
  • measured on a dimension from internal to external
99
Q

How does a person with an internal locus of control think

A
  • believe what occurs in their life is a result of their own behaviour and actions
  • can alter what happens to them
  • if they do bad on a test, they consider it their own fault for not revising enough
100
Q

How does a person with an external locus of control think

A
  • believes what happens in their lives is outside their control
  • what occurs is determined by chance or other people
  • no ability to alter what happens in their life
  • if they do badly on a test, it’s due to bad luck or inadequate teachers
101
Q

Why are people with a high internal locus of control less likely to conform/obey

A
  • more likely to be leaders rather than followers
  • less concerned with social approval
  • more self confident
  • believe they control their own circumstances
102
Q

What are evaluation points for locus of control (3)

A
  • Oliner and Oliner (1988)
  • Milgram (1974)
  • Williams and Warchal (1981)
103
Q

How is Oliner and Oliner’s (1988) research an evaluation point for locus of control

A
  • interviewed 406 German people who sheltered Jewish people from Nazis during 1930s and 1940s
  • these Germans had internal locus of control allowing them to disobey Nazis
  • positive, supports locus of control
104
Q

How is Milgram’s (1963) study an evaluation point for locus of control

A
  • asked participants to deliver shocks to confederate when he got questions wrong
  • shocks not real but believed to be
  • 65% obeyed and shocked confederate and 35% disobeyed
  • provided questionnaire to participants to measure locus of control
  • found 35% that disobeyed were more likely to have an internal locus of control
  • positive, supports locus of control
105
Q

How is Williams and Warchal’s (1981) research an evaluation point for locus of control

A
  • found conformers less assertive than non-conformers
  • done a Asch style conformity task
  • two groups did not score differently on a test to determine locus of control
  • suggests assertiveness more important than locus of control in determining whether or not someone will refuse to conform/obey
  • negative, disproves locus of control
106
Q

What is minority influence

A
  • small groups or individuals change the way the majority behaves and thinks
  • Moscivici (1985) considered minority influence leads to conversion
107
Q

What is conversion

A
  • when individuals change their private beliefs and views because of minority influence
108
Q

When is minority influence likely to occur (3)

A
  • when the minority stays committed
  • when the minority stays consistent
  • when the minority stays flexible
109
Q

How does staying committed lead to minority influence

A
  • commitment shown when members of minority demonstrates dedication to belief
  • also occurs if minority makes sacrifices (augmentation principle), take risks or are inconvenienced themselves in some way
  • shows minority is not acting out of self interest
110
Q

How does staying consistent lead to minority influence

A
  • occurs when minority repeatedly gives same message over time
  • makes a majority reassess their belief and consider the issue more carefully
111
Q

How does staying flexible lead to minority influence

A
  • flexibility/being non-dogmatic is when a minority shows they are willing to listen to other viewpoints
  • majority will then listen to minority view/take their argument more seriously
112
Q

How does minority influence occur

A
  • initially has a small effect
  • spreads as more people consider the issue being raised and are converted to the minority viewpoint
  • eventually it reaches a tipping point where the minority becomes the majority
  • snowball effect
113
Q

How fast is minority influence

A
  • slow process and may even be unconscious
  • sometimes individual is not even aware of where the near idea originated from (social crypto-amnesia)
114
Q

What are key studies for minority influence and what aspect of minority influence do they investigate (3)

A
  • Moscivici (1969) => consistency
  • Xie et al. (2011) => committed
  • Nemeth and Brilmayer (1987) => flexibility
115
Q

Explain the Moscivici (1969) study into consistency for minority influence

A
  • told 172 female participants they were taking part in a colour perception task
  • participants placed in groups of 6 (2 confederates) and shown 36 slides, showing shades of blue
  • participants stated out loud colour of each slide
  • consistent condition, confederates said green in all trials
  • inconsistent condition, confederates said 24 were green and 12 were blue
  • consistent condition, participants swayed by minority 8.2% of the time
  • inconsistent condition, participants swayed 1.25%
  • shows consistent minority is effective
116
Q

Explain the Xie et al. (2011) study into commitment for minority influence

A
  • discovered a tipping point where the number of people holding a minority position is sufficient to change majority opinion
  • in fact, Xie found that you need about 10% of the minority population to influence the majority
117
Q

Explain the Nemeth and Brilmayer (1987) study into flexibility for minority influence

A
  • participants in groups of 4 had to agree on amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski lift accident
  • one participant was confederate
  • first condition, confederate stayed inflexible with low rate
  • second condition, confederate was flexible with low rate and compromised
  • found in inflexible condition, minority had little or no effect on majority
  • in flexible condition, majority were more likely to compromise and change view
118
Q

What are the evaluation points for minority influence (4)

A
  • Moscivici (1969)
  • sample bias
  • ecological validity
  • ethical issues
119
Q

How is sample bias an evaluation point for minority influence

A
  • gender bias
    => only women
    => cannot conclude males would response to minority influence in the same way
    => research suggests women are more likely to conform than men
  • culture bias
    => all participants were American
    => cannot generalise to other populations or cultures
120
Q

How is Moscovici (1969) an evaluation point for minority influence

A
  • showed a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on changing views than minority with inconsistent views
  • Wood carried out meta analysis of 100 similar studies
  • found minorities who were consistent were more influential
121
Q

How is ecological validity an evaluation point for minority influence

A
  • most studies into minority influence are based on experiments in labs
  • raises question of ecological validity
  • does not reflect real life scenarios
  • participants in lab experiments usually do not know each other
  • negative, disproves minority influence
122
Q

How are ethical issues an evaluation point for minority influence

A
  • studies criticised for deceiving participants
  • Moscovici told participants they were taking part in a colour perception test
  • means no informed consent was received
  • seems unethical but needed to obtain valid results
  • if participants knew of true aim, they may have displayed demand characteristics
123
Q

What is social change

A
  • change that occurs in a society and not at an individual level
  • occurs when minority view challenges majority view and is eventually accepted by the majority
124
Q

What happens when majority accepts minority viewpoint

A
  • once majority accepts minority viewpoint, people may conform to this viewpoint due to normative social influence (compliance) or informational social influence (internalisation)
125
Q

How can governments/lawmakers bring about social change

A
  • through power and obedience
  • for example, changing law to allow gay marriage means people are more accepting of homosexual rights due to changes in law making a behaviour a social norm which others adopt
126
Q

How can dictators bring about social change

A
  • obedience
  • leads to groups of people changing behaviour because of fear of punishment/consequences of not obeying
127
Q

What are the steps in how minority influence creates social change (6)

A
  • drawing attention to the issue
  • consistency of position
  • deeper processing
  • augmentation principle
  • snowball effect
  • social cryptoamnesia
128
Q

Explain the step of drawing attention to the issue in social change

A
  • minorities can bring about social change by drawing the majority’s attention to an issue
129
Q

Explain the step of consistency of position in social change

A
  • minority groups are more influential when they express arguments consistently, over time and with each other
130
Q

Explain the step of deeper processing in social change

A
  • other people not part of the minority start to pay attention to the minority by thinking about what the status quo is and perhaps the unjustness of it
131
Q

Explain the step of the augmentation principle in social change

A
  • if a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and are taken more seriously
132
Q

Explain the step of the snowball effect in social change

A
  • minority influence initially has a relatively small effect
  • spreads more widely as more and more people consider the issue being raised until it reaches a tipping point where the minority becomes the majority
  • this is when conformity occurs through either NSI or ISI
133
Q

Explain the step of social cryptoamnesia in social change

A
  • majority knows a social change has occurred
  • but source of change and message has been disassociated through the process of social cryptoamnesia

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