Social Influence Flashcards
What are the three types of conformity:
Compliance
Identification
Internalisation
Define compliance:
Going along with others to gain their approval.
Define identification:
Going along with others in order to fit in with a group.
Define internalisation:
Going along with others due to an acceptance in their beliefs.
What are the two explanations of conformity?
Normative social influence
Informative social influence
Define normative social influence:
Going along with something because you want to gain approval and be liked.
What is informative social influence:
Going along with something because we believe the opinion of the majority.
In Asch’s experiment, the participant gave the wrong answer on ___% of critical trials.
37%
In Asch’s experiment, ___% of participants never conformed at all.
25%
In Asch’s experiment, ___% of participants conformed at least once.
75%
What are the three variation in Asch’s experiment?
- Group size
- Task difficulty
- Unanimity
In Asch’s experiment, explain the variation of group size:
- Increased the group size by adding more confederates
- Conformity increased with group size, with the rate of conformity remaining the same with 3+ confederates
- If the number of confederates was too large, the participants became suspicious.
In Asch’s experiment, explain the variation of unanimity:
- Found that if one confederate gave the correct answer, conformity dropped from 37% to 5%.
In Asch’s experiment, explain the variable of task difficulty:
The more difficult the task is the higher the rate of conformity. This is because participants assume the majority to be correct.
Name the four limitations of Asch’s experiment:
- Historical validity
- Artificial task and environment
- Limited application of findings (cross-cultural replications)
- Ethical issues
In Asch’s experiment explain the limitation of historical validity.
- Experiment lack historical validity
- Conducted in the 1950’s when the era was very conformist
- Perrin and Spencer repeated the experiment in the 1980’s and found that only 1/396 conformed
- Shows that experiment lacks historical validity as findings vary depending on how conformist the era is.
In Asch’s experiment explain the limitation of artificial situation and task:
- Lacks external validity as experiment was conducted in a lab = so results are generalised to that environment and will not necessarily be replicated in a real-life environment
-Experiment may have shown demand characteristics = so results are invalid
In Asch’s experiment explain the limitation of limited application of findings:
- Meta- analysis shows us that results cannot be applied to all cultures.
- They are unable to be cross-culturally replicated = collectivist cultures (e.g. japan) have higher rates of conformity compared to individualist cultures (e.g. USA)
- Gender differences - women were not included in the study = differences in conformity rates
In Asch’s experiment explain the limitation of ethical issues:
- Participants were decieved as they believed the confederates wee genuine people.
In Zimbardo’s experiment, what were the findings?
- At the start the guards were gentle and weary with the prisoners.
- Prisoners began to rebel, causing the guards to react harshly
- Guards constantly harassed the prisoners, administering rules and punishment
-After the rebellion stopped, prisoners became depressed and anxious - 2 prisoners left, 1 went on a hunger strike
- Both prisoners and guards identified with their social role at the end of the experiment
Name the two strengths in Zimbardos experiment:
- Control
- Experimental realism
In Zimbardo’s experiment, explain the strength of control:
- The experiment was highly controlled e.g. participants were randomly assigned their roles
In Zimbardo’s experiment explain the strength of experimental realism:
- Externally valid as it occurred in a highly realistic environment
- 90% of the conversations were about prison life
Name the three limitations in Zimbardo’s experiment:
- Personality factors
- Lack of research support
- Ethical issues
In Zimbardo’s experiment explain the limitation of personality factors:
- Zimbardo didn’t take personality into account with his findings
- 1/3 of the guards acted aggressive, 1/3 of the guards acted fairly, 1/3 of the guards acted nicely
In Zimbardo’s experiment explain the limitation of lack of research support:
- Reicher and Haslam (2006) relocated the experiment and found that the opposite had occured- the prisoners took over the prison.
In Milgrams experiment, ___% of participants went up to 300V.
100%
In Milgrams experiment ___% stopped at 300V.
12.5%
In Milgrams experiment ___% went up to 450V.
65%
Name the three limitations that occurred in Milgrams experiment:
- Low internal support
- Alternative application of findings
-Ethical issues
In Milgrams experiment explain the limitation of low internal support:
- Orne and Holland believed that participants were obedient because they did not actually believe they were giving real shocks.
- Milgram argued that 75% of participants believed that the socks were real
In Milgrams experiment explain the limitation of ethical issues:
- Participants were decieved, earning a lack of consent was given.
- the participants were not protected from psychological harm
-Throughout the study the participants were not given the right to withdraw
In Milgrams experiment explain the limitation of alternative interpretation of findings:
Haslam argued that participants had obeyed when the experimenter (authority figure) verbally instructed them to carry on with the experiment.- when the experimenter said “you must carry on, you have no choice” all participants disobeyed
- Social identity theory- participants only obeyed when they identified with the scientific aims of the research
In Milgrams experiment what are the thre variations:
- Uniform
-Proximity
-Location
In Milgrams experiment explain the variation of proximity:
- The closer the experimenter was to the participants, the more likely they were to obey
- Obedience to give the 450V dropped from 65% to 40% when the teacher and learner were in the same room
-Obedience to give the 450V dropped from 65% to 30% when the teacher had to force the learners hand on the electric pedals each time they were required to give a shock.
In Milgrams experiment explain the variation of location:
- Obedience to give the 450V dropped from 65% to 47.5% when the environment changed to a less prestigious location.
- Shows that if the location is of high status we are more likely to obey because of the associated presetige of the location
In Milgrams experiment explain the variation of uniform:
-We are more likely to obey an authority figure if they are in a uniform
-Obedience to give the 450V dropped from 65% to 20% when the experimenter was not wearing a lab coat and instead casual clothes.
In Milgrams experiment, explain the research support strength for the uniform variation:
- Bickman (1974) conducted a study = 1 man in a jacket and tie, 1 in a milkman’s uniform, 1 in a security guards uniform
- All men asked random members of the public to do tasks, e.g. swap the side they were holding their bag
- Found that people are 2x more likely to obey an authority figure when they are wearing uniform (security guard) vs when they are not (jacket and tie)
In Milgrams study, explain the limitation of lack of internal validity:
- Orne and Holland argued that the participants may have guessed the aims of the study and were acting in a way they thought they were wanted to
- E.g. the “member of the public variation” was so obvious that some participants may have worked out the truth
In Milgrams experiment explain the strength/limitation of cross-cultural replication:
- Has been replicated in other cultures, e.g. Miranda et al found that there is a 90% obedience rate amongst Spanish students
-Smith and Bond argued that it has replicated many times in developed Western cultures, and only twice in non-western cultures, e.g. India, Jordan, which have significantly different cultures.
What is social support?
The psychological and material resources provided by others to help individuals cope with stress.
What is locus of control?- give an example
A person’s perception about causes of events in their lives, e.g. believing in fate or destiny.
Define resistance to social influence:
The ability to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
What are the three behaviours that strengthen minority influence?
Consistency, commitment, flexibility
How does consistency strengthen minority influence?
Draws attention to the minority viewpoint as beliefs are repeated.
How does commitment strengthen minority influence?
Making personal sacrifices shows dedication to beliefs, drawing attention to them and reinforcing the message (augmentation principle)
Define minority influence:
When the minority change the attitudes and behaviours of the majority.
Why can’t minority groups influence people by using compliance?
Because compliance works by encouraging individuals to fit in with what most people are doing (the majority), whereas minority influence encourages individuals to stand out.
What is the process called in which the minority influence the majority to change their beliefs and opinions?
Conversion
Minority influence works by causing the majority to _________ the minority’s beliefs.
Internalise
What are the three steps conversion works by?
- Conflict
- Understanding
- Validity
How does conflict cause conversion?
Minority creates conflict by saying and doing things that aren’t considered normal.
How does understanding cause conversion?
Once the minority has the attention of the majority, the majority tries to understand the position of the minority.
How does validity cause conversion?
If the minority’s position seems valid the majority is convinced by the minority and adopts their behaviours and attitudes.
What is social cryptomnesia?
People forgetting how new social norms came about and who they came from.
What was the aim of Moscovici’s experiment?
See if the minority could change the behaviours and attitudes of the majority.
What is the snowball effect?
When the majority converts a small group of people who convert more people, and then they convert more people.
In Moscovici’s experiment, participants in group 1 gave the same incorrect answer on ____% of trials
8.42%
In Moscovici’s experiment, participants in group 3 gave the same incorrect answer on ____% of trials
0.25%
In Moscovici’s experiment, _____% of participants in group 1 gave the same incorrect answer at least once.
32%
Give the three limitations of Moscovici’s experiment:
- Limited application of findings (gender)
- Lack of external validity
- Ethical issues
In Moscovici’s experiment, explain the limitation of limited application of findings:
- Experiment was only done with women
- Results cannot be generalised to men
In Moscovici’s experiment, explain the limitation of lack of external validity:
- Experiment was conducted in a lab
- Same results will not necessarily be replicated in other environments.
In Moscovici’s experiment, explain the limitation of ethical issues:
Participants were deceived.
