Social Influence

Question 1

Define conformity

Answer 1

yielding to group pressure

Question 2

Give the three types of conformity and who proposed them

Answer 2

Kelman proposed
- internalisation
- identification
- compliance

Question 3

Define compliance

Answer 3

• a person may publicly agree with a group of people but privately disagree with the group’s viewpoint / behaviour to fit in or avoid disapproval.
• it is a temporary change in views.
• shallowest form of conformity
• LINK TO NSI

Question 4

describe identification

Answer 4

• when someone conforms to the demands of a social role in society, as membership of that group is desirable
• No change in internal beliefs.

Question 5

Describe internalisation

Answer 5

• Publicly changing behaviour to fit in with the group while also agreeing with them privately
• Deepest level of conformity where beliefs of group become part of individual’s own belief system.
• link to ISI

Question 6

Outline the AIM and Procedure of Asch’s Line Study (AO1)

Answer 6

Aim: investigate whether people would conform to majority who gave obviously wrong answers.
Procedure:
- 123 American male students told it was study of visual perception.
- 1 real participant placed in groups of 7-9 confederates.
- In 18 trials, had to say which of 3 comparison lines matched the stimulus line.
- In 12 critical trials, confederates told to give identical wrong answers whilst the real participant would go last / 2nd to last.
- 36 participants were placed in a control group + tested individually in 20 trials to test accuracy of individual judgement.

Question 7

Give the results for Asch line study and the reasons why people conformed.

Answer 7

• In critical trials: 32% conformity rate , 5% conformed to all 12 wrong answers
• 18 trials: 75% conformed at least once
• Control group : error rate of 0.04% showing accuracy of individual judgement
• Distortion of action ⇒ to avoid ridicule despite not conforming privately
• Distortion of judgement ⇒ doubts concerning accuracy of judgement so conform to majority
• Distortion of perception ⇒ valued perception of others more then their own

Question 8

Evaluate Asch’s line study

5

Answer 8

• It was conducted in an artificial lab setting, which doesn’t reflect real-world social interactions. This limits the ability to generalize the findings to everyday situations.
• lacks population validity : gender bias + androcentric as only carried out on men. SO results cannot be applied to females.
• Ethical issues : deception so could not give informed consent.
• Time consuming, 1 tested at a time.
• Asch’s method for studying conformity became paradigm.

• Most conformed publicly but not privately, so motivated by NSI TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE

Question 9

Give the aim and procedure and Jenness Bean Jar Experiment.

Answer 9

Aim: to see if individual’s judgement of no. of jellybeans in jar influenced by group discussions
Procedure: Private estimate of number of jelly beans, group discussion and estimate + second private estimate

Question 10

Give the findings and conclusion of Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment (AO1)

Answer 10

Findings:
- Women conformed more
- Typicality of opinion increased ⇒ Second estimate converged with group estimate
Conclusion:
- Judgement of individual affected by majority opinion , especially in ambiguous situations

Question 11

Evaluate Jenness Jelly Beans

Answer 11

• Artificial task ⇒ Lacks mundane realism as not an everyday event to be asked the number of jellybeans in jar so doesn’t reflect behaviour in real-life situation.
• Deception ⇒ weren’t told aim of study but not severe so more ethically sound than other studies.
• May involve NSI + ISI ⇒ 2nd estimate moved to group estimate due to desire for acceptance + to be correct (ISI)

Question 12

Give the variables which affect conformity.

Answer 12

• Group Size
• Task Difficulty
• Unanimity
• Normative Social Influence
• Informational Social Influence

Question 13

How does grouP size affect conformity. link to Asch line study

Answer 13

• Group Size ⇒ more likely to conform when in a larger group.
• E.G. Asch manipulated the number of confederates in the study and found found conformity increases with each extra person (i.e. confederate) in group. BUT, DOES NOT INCREASE AFTER 4-5 PPL ⇒ this is considered optimal group size.

Question 14

How does Task Difficulty affect conformity. Link to Asch line study.

Answer 14

• as task difficulty increases, so does conformity as motivated by ISI to be correct
• E.G. Asch manipulated task difficulty by making comparison lines more similar in length so the right answer was less obvious - ⇒ CONFORMITY INCREASED to wrong answer as it was harder to judge the correct answer

Question 15

How does Unanimity affect conformity. Link to Aschs study

Answer 15

• when everyone is in agreement, conformity increases
• when there is a dissenter or if group answer is not unanimous , conformity decreases.
• Asch (1951) found that even the presence of just one confederate that goes against the majority choice can reduce conformity as much as 80%.

Question 16

How does Normative Influence affect conformity.

Answer 16

• Normative Influence: motivational force to be liked + accepted by majority
• so agree with majority opinion to fit in

Question 17

How does Informational Social influence affect conformity

Answer 17

• Informational Influence ⇒ motivational force to be correct so look to others for guidance in order to be correct
• Leads to internalisation.
• OCCURS IN UNFAMILIAR SITUATIONS

Question 18

Define conformity to social roles

Answer 18

• Pressure to conform to the expectations of a social role.
• Social roles ⇒ part people play as members of a social group (e.g. student, teacher, policeman etc).
• often called identification.

Question 19

Describe the aim and procedure for the Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment (AO1)

Answer 19

Aim: to investigate how readily people would conform to the social roles
Procedure:
- Converted basement of Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison.
- 21 American male students were chosen in response ad for study of prison life, planned to run for 2 weeks.
- Randomly assigned to play 10 guards + 11 prisoners in a simulated prison environment.
- Prisoners arrested by real local police, fingerprinted, stripped, deloused + further dehumanised with nylon stock capping + were referred by number only.
- Guards wore khaki uniform, issued handcuffs + wore dark glasses, to prevent eye contact. No physical violence was permitted.
- Zimbardo OBSERVED the behaviour of the prisoners + guards (as a researcher), + also acted as prison warden.

Question 20

Describe the findings and conclusions for the Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment (AO1)

Answer 20

→ Quickly settled into social roles with guards becoming more sadistic + taunting + gave meaningless tasks to do & prisoners becoming submissive + unquestioning of guard’s behaviour
→ 4 released as showed fits of rage + crying
→Stopped after 6 days as increasingly harmful nature of guards + extent of harm realised
→ Prisoners adopted prisoner-like behaviour

Question 21

Evaluate the Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment (AO1)

2 strengths and 3 weaknesses

Answer 21

strengths:
- Harmful treatment of participant led to formal recognition of ethical guidelines as studies must now gain ethical approval before they are conducted.
- Zimbardo ensured participants were psychologically screened and randomly assigned roles, increasing the study’s internal validity and supporting the idea that behaviour was due to social roles, not personality.
weaknesses:
- Reicher and Haslam, in a replication of the SPE found that participants resisted behaviours that conflicted with their identities. Sugests social roles have a limited influence, and individuals have agency and moral choice in their actions.
- Zimbardo’s dual role may have caused experimenterbias and demand characteristics. Later reviews suggest guards were influenced by expectations, reducing validity.
- Lack population validity ⇒ US male students so findings cannot be applied to female prisons / those from other countries.

Question 22

define obedience

Answer 22

• type of social influence,
• where one complies with demands of authority figure

Question 23

Give the aim and procedure for Milgram’s Shock study.

Answer 23

Aim:
- To investigate whether people would obey a legitimate authority figure when instructed to harm another person.
Procedure:
- 40 American males (20–50) volunteered for a memory study at Yale.
- Met by experimenter “ Mr Williams” in a lab coat and confederate “Mr Wallace.”
- Real participant always assigned “teacher” role; Mr Wallace was the “learner.”
- Teacher and learner placed in separate rooms.
- Teacher read word pairs; incorrect answers = electric shocks (fake) increasing in 15V steps up to 450V.
- If hesitant, experimenter (Mr Williams) gave a series of prompts:
“Please continue”, “The experiment requires you to continue”, “It is essential you continue”, “You have no other choice but to continue.”

Question 24

Give the results and conclusion of Milgram’s shock study

Answer 24

Results:
-all participants went to 300 volts + 26 went all the way to 450 volts (65%).
- Many showed signs of distress: twitching + sweating. But many fully concentrated on the task at hand.
- Milgram carried out 18 variations of his study where he altered the situation (IV) to see how this affected obedience ( DV)
Conclusion:
- People tend to exhibit high levels of obedience towards authority figures.
- ,which can be seen as normal behavior in a hierarchically organized society.
- This occurs even if it goes against their personal moral code and causes them distress.

Question 25

Evaluate Milgram's Shock Study. Give positives

Answer 25

- Insight into Historical Events: The study provides an understanding of why people under the Nazi regime were willing to follow orders to harm others. - Standardized Procedure: lab experiment, improving the reliability of the study and helping to establish a causal relationship. - Once debriefed and assured the confederate was unharmed, participants' stress levels decreased.. - Milgram interviewed participants a year later to assess the impact of the deception. 84% said they were glad to have participated, and only 1.3% wished they had not.

Question 26

Evaluate Milgram's Shock Study. Give negatives. | 5

Answer 26

- **Ecological Validity:** The study was conducted in a lab under artificial conditions, making it difficult to generalize the findings to real-life settings where people do not usually receive orders to harm others. - **low temporal validity:** The study was done in the 1960s, a time when American culture was more authoritarian and obedient, which may not reflect current obedience levels. - **Cultural Bias:** The study only included American participants, so the results cannot be generalized to other cultures. - **Androcentric**: The study only included male participants, making it difficult to generalize the findings to females, who may be more obedient due to societal gender roles promoting submissiveness. -deception. - **Psychological Harm:** Participants experienced distress such as trembling, sweating, stuttering, nervous laughter, biting lips, and digging fingernails into their palms. Three participants had uncontrollable seizures, and many pleaded to stop the experiment.

Question 27

Describe the aim and procedure of Burger's experiment

Answer 27

**AIM**- to develop a variation of milgram’s procedures for comparison, while protecting the well-being of participants **Procedure**- Changes made: - max shock was 150V *-2 step screening process for participants used to exclude any with history of mental problems* - participants told 3 times they have right to withdraw throughout. - experimenter clinical psychologist who could stop procedure at any sign of excessive stress - 70 male AND females used of all age groups

Question 28

Give the findings and conclusion of Burger's study

Answer 28

Findings -obedience rate 70% -no difference between males and females Conclusion -possible to replicate milgram study without harm -obedience rates did not change drastically -between 50 years- participants may know of his study?? - could lead to demand characteristics

Question 29

Evaluate Burger's study

Answer 29

- 150V ( significantly lower to M): participants never saw the full consequences of their obedience. This may have made it easier to obey since they weren't exposed to the most distressing aspects. felt less personal responsibility, increasing conformity. - females and male sample were used so no gender bias - still a western bias

Question 30

Give the two situational explanations for obedience.

Answer 30

- situational: external/environmental factors affect show a person acts - legitimacy of authority - agentic state

Question 31

Define legitimacy of authority

Answer 31

- an explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us - due to the position of power that they hold within the social hierarchy

Question 32

Define Agency theory

Answer 32

- people will obey an authority as they believe that the authority takes responsibility for the consequences of their actions, - relieving themselves of moral burden / guilt. - act merely as an agent

Question 33

Give the three situational factors which affect obedience.

Answer 33

- uniform - proximity of an authority figure - status of location

Question 34

How does uniform affect obedience. Link to Milgram's Shock Study.

Answer 34

- more likely to obey someone wearing a uniform as it gives them a **higher perceived status** and a greater sense of legitimacy. - Mr. Williams wore a lab coat which signified scientific expertise or intelligence; thus perceived as of higher rank or status. - In the uniform variation, the experimenter was called away for a supposed phone call and was replaced by a confederate dressed in ' normal, everyday clothes'. - Obedience dropped to **20%**, suggesting uniform has a great effect on obedience.

Question 35

Give additional reasearch on the influence of uniform on obedience

Answer 35

- Bickman (1974) conducted a field experiment in the ecologically valid environment of he streets of New York. - An experimenter approached people in either a guard uniform, a milkman's uniform or no uniform and asked them to complete a task. - When asked to pay for a parking meter, the obedience rate was 89% when dressed in the guard uniform and only 33% in no uniform. - supports Milgram's theory that uniforms are a visible symbol of authority, increasing the legitimacy of authority of the person in the uniform.

Question 36

How does status of location affect obedience? Link to Milgram's study.

Answer 36

- A person is more likely to obey someone in a location linked to higher status and legitimacy. - OG study: conducted at Yale, - one of the most prestigious and well-respected unis. Its distinguished reputation and high status **gave the study greater percieved credibility** and respect so they were more likely to obey. - Variation: when Milgram's study was conducted in ' run down' offices , obedience had dropped with only 48% of participants shocking to the maximum 450 volts (65% in the original study). - This is because contrary to the institutionalised setting of Yale University, the run-down offices were not indicative of prestige and wealth and so were deemed as less important to the participants.

Question 37

Describe how proximity of an authority figure affects obedience. Link to Milgram's Shock Study

Answer 37

- A person is more likely to obey when in closer proximity to the authority figure, as they enter the agentic state. ( more pressure - less agency) - In Milgram's original study, the experimenter was in the same room as the participants. This illustrated that when close to an authoritative figure, an individual is more likely to obey as they feel more pressure or an inability to disobey to the figure. - In Milgram's variation study, the experimenter instructed and prompted the participants by telephone; **obedience levels as a result fell to 22.5%**

Question 38

Give additional research on the infleucne of legitimacy fo authority on obedience

Answer 38

- Hofling (1966) Conducted a field experiment in a hospital, 22 real nurses were called by an unfamiliar voice claiming to be Dr Smith; - Dr Smith ordered the nurses to give twice the daily dose of an unfamiliar drug ( was a placebo) to a patient, an obviously dangerous order. - 21 out of the 22 nurses completed this order, suggesting even in a situation with ecological validity and a task with mundane realism, people are highly obedient to thosethey feel have legitimacy of authority.

Question 39

Define a dispositional explanation. Give one for obedience.

Answer 39

- Dispositional explanation = internal explanation i.e personality factors/individual reasons why someone obeys. - authoritarian personality

Question 40

Describe the characteristics of the authoritarian personality and who proposed it

Answer 40

- Adorno et al suggested people with an AP were: - submissive to superiors - dismissive of inferiors/ those with percieived low status - highly prejudiced - morally dogmatic - had fixed sterotypes aboout minorities

Question 41

Explain how an authoritarian personality develops.

Answer 41

- An authoritarian personality develops from having a harsh parenting style in childhood. - This harsh parenting style consists of strict discipline, criticism of failings and impossibly high standards. - As the child cannot express their feelings to their parents so they displace these to others they deem weaker and scapegoat . | link to Freudian ideas

Question 42

How is the authoritarian personality measured?

Answer 42

- The F scale - Fascist Scale

Question 43

Give the limitations of the F-scale

Answer 43

- susceptible to acquiescence bias, which describes the phenomenon of respondents always responding in the same way using the scales provided, regardless of the content shown. - lacks ecological validity because it cannot explain many real-life examples of mass obedience . i.e. the Nazis - has political bias as it measures the likeness of an individual to Fascism , but left-wing authoritarianism is also present and is ignored by the theory

Question 44

Give 2 Explanations of resistance to social influence

Answer 44

1. Locus Of control 2. Social Support

Question 45

define locus of control (LOC) by Rotter (1966)

Answer 45

- extent to which individual feels in control of events in their lives/behaviour.

Question 46

Describe the characteristics of those with an internal and external LOC.

Answer 46

internal: - believe they have more personal control - attribute consequences to their own efforts and decisions - take more responsibility external: - behaviour is caused by luck or fate - attribute outcomes to outsdide forces rather then their own actions - less empowered to resist social pressure

Question 47

How does locus of control impact resistance to social influence? link to research. | external vs internal

Answer 47

- **Atgis (1998):** conducted a meta-analysis of studies considering LOC and conformit. It was found that with an external LOC were more easily persuaded and more likely to conform. - Individuals with an internal LOC are more likely to resist social influence as they believe in their ability to make independent judgments. - Their sense of personal agency and responsibility allows them to stand by their convictions - They are willing to question the orders of an authority figure, ultimately defying commands that conflict with their values or reasoning.

Question 48

How does social support impact resistance to social influence? Link to Research. | research : Asch + Milgram

Answer 48

- SS is the perception of assistance + solidarity available from others - In 1 of Asch’s variation, the presence of a dissident led to a decrease in the conformity levels in true participants – as the presence of a dissident gave the true participant social support + made them feel more confident in their own decision + in rejecting the majority position. - a variation of Milgram’s study, where there were confederates alongside the participant and disobeyed the experimenter, he presence of the other person caused the level of obedience to reduce to 10%. This shows that the social support provided, gave them the confidence to reject the position of authority.

Question 49

Define minority influence

Answer 49

- type of social influence that motivates individuals to reject established majority group norms

Question 50

Outline the process of minority influence.

Answer 50

- New info provided = re-examine their beliefs - some majority converted and pace of conversion increases - minority becomes majority due to the snowball effect where minority viewpoint becomes mainstream due to increasing majority - majority will begin to conform by compliance - Social crypto amnesia occurs

Question 51

How is commitment and consistency shown in minority influence

Answer 51

1. Commitment = sacrificing something ; may lead to sympathy and illustrate dedication to the cause. 2. Consistency = unchanging belief/view seen as more persuasive + confident.

Question 52

How does consistency impact minority influence.

Answer 52

- A consistent minority **disrupts established norms** and creates uncertainty, doubt and conflict. - This can lead to the majority reassessing their views , taking the minority view seriously.

Question 53

Give research which illustrates the significance which consistency has on minority influence.

Answer 53

- Moscovici conducted an experiment in which female participants were shown 36 blue slides of different intensity and asked to report the colors. There were two confederates (the minority) and four participants (the majority). - In the first part of the experiment the two confederates answered green for each of the 36 slides. They were totally consistent in their responses. - In the second part of the experiment they answered green 24 times and blue 12 times. In this case they were inconsistent in their answers. - When consistent about 8% of participants said the slides were green. When inconsistent about 1% of participants said the slides were green. - When the majority is confronted with someone with self-confidence and dedication to take a popular stand and refuses to back own, they may assume that he or she has a point.

Question 54

Give research on flexibility and its impact on minority influence

Answer 54

- Nemeth (1987) asked three real participants and one confederate to act as a mock jury for a ski compensation case. - When a confederate ( minority) was inflexible in arguing for a low level of compensation , 3 particiapnts were less likely to change their amount then when showing flexibility( from $50,000 to $100,000.

Question 55

Evaluate minority influence

Answer 55

- moschovici - Nemeth - lab based studies are highly aritficial and may not be valid when applied to real-workd minority infleunce. MI is usually for important social issues not meaningless tasks like reading slides - Real examples: suffragettes showed commitment: hunger strikes ; civil rights movement - consistent speeches on equality. LGBTQ- flexibility: campaigning for civil partnerships which eventually led to the legalisation of same-sex marriages

Question 56

Define social change

Answer 56

- when a whole society adopts a new belief or behavior which then becomes widely accepted as the ‘norm’.

Question 57

Describe how obedience can lead to social change

Answer 57

- members of the government are a minority group that can enact social change by creating laws. - when laws are created, societies are changed to avoid punishment. - e.g. anti-discrimination laws

Question 58

Describe how conformity can lead to social change

Answer 58

- normative social influence: Behaviours can become the norm within a minority group e.g. vaping/recyling. Those who go against the norm risk rejection. Can spread to wider social groups. - informational social influence: members of a minoirty group can provide info to a majoirity. e.g. effects of climate change. Wider society changes its behaviour as it accepts this new evidence.

Question 59

Define social crypto-amnesia

Answer 59

- descibes how society adopts ideas from a minority group. - once these ideas become mainstream the struggle to achieve that change are forgotten