Social Influence

Question 1

What is a type?

Answer 1

a type is a way in which people conform

Question 2

What is an explanation?

Answer 2

an explanation is a reason why people conform

Question 3

name the 3 types of conformity

Answer 3

compliance,identification,internalisation

Question 4

name the 2 explanations for conformity

Answer 4

normative social influence and informational social influence

Question 5

define compliance

Answer 5

to appear to agree with others whilst disagreeing in private

Question 6

define identification

Answer 6

to want to be perceived to belong, fitting into social standards

Question 7

define internalisation

Answer 7

to agree with others both in private and in public

Question 8

define normative social influence(NSI)

Answer 8

the need to be liked and the need to fit in

Question 9

define informational social influence(NSI)

Answer 9

the need to be correct/right

Question 10

define conformity

Answer 10

conformity is the tendency to change beliefs, attitudes and actions to fit in and get approval

Question 11

Describe Asch’s study on conformity.

Answer 11

-1951, to investigate levels of conformity in group situations.
-lab study, naive pp with 7 confederates, had to state aloud their answers, answer was obvious
-real pp sat at the end of the row and gave answer last to clearly see conformity
-12/18 trials confederates gave wrong answer
-studied NSI

-found 75% conformed at least once, and 32% consistently conformed

Question 12

Describe Asch’s ‘Variables affecting conformity’ studies.

Answer 12

-Group size: added more confederates, 3% with 1C, 13% with 2C and 33% with 3C
-Unanimity: if one C disagrees with majority + gives correct answer conformity falls to 5.5% due to social support
-Task difficulty: made more difficulty by making lines similar in length, conformity increased due to ISI

Question 13

Describe Zimbardo’s study on conformity to social roles.

Answer 13

-1973, Stanford prison basement, aim to investigate whether prison guards were brutal due to their sadistic personalities(disposition) or the situation
-24 males, recruited through ad, pps either guards or prisoners
-pps had to be mentally and physically stable
-prisoners arrested by real police, fingerprinted, stripped ect, given uniform and a number to DEHUMANISE them
-strict rules
-guards had sunglasses to avoid eyecontact, uniforms, handcuffs, clubs ect
-all conformed to roles quickly, 2 days in prisoners revolted against treatment
-6days in experiment was cancelled due to mental health

-found extreme behaviour of previously stable students suggests prison env have the situational power to change behaviour to conform to social roles

Question 14

Describe Milgram’s study on obedience.

Answer 14

-1963, aim to investigate why German soldiers followed Hitler’s orders and killed innocent Jews, he wanted to know if it was normal to obey such awful orders.
-selected pps via newspaper ad, MALE, at Yale uni
-pp(always teacher) paired with ‘learner’ aka Mr Wallace(a confederate)
-Pp met Mr Wallace who stated he had heart problems to make more believable
-had to give shocks to learner if answered incorrectly (15V to 450V) , pps didn’t know these were fake
-at 180V Mr W shouted he couldn’t take the pain, 300V begged to be released, 315V silenced
-pp asked for advice and was given prods from researcher

-found 100% of pps went to 300V and 65% went to 450V

Question 15

Briefly describe Hoffling Et Al’s study.

Answer 15

-1966- obedient nurses
-22 nurses recived call from Dr to administer 20mg of Astrofen(fake drug) labelled 10mg is max.
-field study=more ecologically valid
-no consultation available
-21/22 obeyed

Question 16

Briefly describe the 3 SITUATIONAL variables affecting obedience

Answer 16

Milgram:
-proximity=closeness between person giving and receiving order, decreases obedience rates, learner+teacher in same room rates fell from 65% to 40%
-location=venue moved from uni to seedy offices in another town, obedience decreases, Yale is prestigious and maybe pps don’t feel free but in seedy offices they don’t feel they have to follow rules

Bickman:
-uniform=orders to 153 random pps in NYC, researchers dressed in 1/3 ways, guard, civillian, milk man. Found guard=80%, civillian and milk man= 40%

Question 17

What are the 2 social psychological explanations for obedience? Describe these.

Answer 17

-Legitimacy of Authority = an explanation for obedience which suggests we’re more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us

-Agentic state = when individuals obey an order even if they’re aware its wrong because they feel they’re acting for an authority figure so feel no responsibility for their actions

Question 18

Describe the dispositional/internal explanation for obedience.

Answer 18

The Authoritarian personality = a dispositional explanation proposed by Adorno in 1950, it describes a type of personality that is especially susceptible to obeying authority.

Question 19

Identify some features of the AP.

Answer 19

-submissive to superiors
-dismissive of inferiors
-highly prejudiced

Question 20

Explain how an AP develops.

Answer 20

Having a harsh parenting style in childhood such as strict discipline, criticism of failings and impossibly high standards. The child then can’t express their feelings to parents so they express them to others they see as weaker then themselves.

Question 21

What measures the AP?

Answer 21

The F-scale. in 1950 Adorno measured 2000 middle class white males + their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups using the F-scale.

People with an AP identified with strong people and were contemptuous of the weak.

Question 22

Give some limitations of the F-Scale.

Answer 22

-Has acquiescence bias: all questions are worded in the same direction
-Is politically biased: is very right wing, it doesn’t account for left wing authoritarianism

Question 23

Give 2 explanations why people are able to resist social influence.

Answer 23

-Social Support: this is when the presence of people helps others resist the pressures of conforming or obeying.
-Locus of Control: describes a person’s perception of their control over behaviours, successes, failures, and events. 2 types = Internal (believe they are responsible for what happens to them + that they direct their own lives) and External (believe outside forces direct their lives and they don’t have control over their life).

Question 24

What is minority influence?

Answer 24

Minority influence is a form of social influence in which a minority persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours so the majority moves to the position of the minority.

Question 25

List 3 characteristics of minorities which makes them influential.

Answer 25

Consistency, Commitment and Flexibility

Question 26

List the stages of minority influence.

Answer 26

1. Draw attention to their beliefs
2. Consistency, commitment and flexibility shown
3. Deeper processing of the issue in the majority group
   4.Augmentation principle
   5.The snowball effect
   6.Social Cryptoamnesia

Question 27

Describe Moscovici’s study on minority influence.

Answer 27

-1969, aim to investigate how a consistent minority affects the opinions of a larger group leading them to question their views.
-all female, put in groups of 4pps and 2C, shown 36 slides that were different shades of blue and asked to state colour aloud.
-2 groups, first was consistent and answered green for every slide and second was inconsistent and answered green 24 times and blue 12 times

-found that 32% gave same answer as minority at least once, consistent group = 8.42% agreed with majority, inconsistent group = 1.25% agreed with majority

-Suggests minorities can change the opinion of the majority especially if they are consistent.

Question 28

Define social change.

Answer 28

Social change is when a society adopts a new belief or way of believing that then becomes widely accepted as the norm.

Question 29

Define social cryptoamnesia.

Answer 29

This is part of the process of minority influence which takes place after the snowball effect. It describes how people have a memory that social change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened.