Social Influence

Question 1

What is meant by the term conformity?

Answer 1

When there is a change in a persons behavior or opinion due to a real or imagined pressure:)

Question 2

What are the three types of conformity?

Answer 2

Internalisation, identification and compliance

Question 3

What are the two explanations of conformity?

Answer 3

Normative social influen and informational social influence

Question 4

NSI

Answer 4

The desire to be liked

Question 5

ISI

Answer 5

Desire to be right

Question 6

Bullet point the procedure of ASch’s line study

Answer 6

-Lab
-Nsi
- -Unambiguous task
- American male undergrads
- groups 7-9, ppt 2nd to last
- 18 trials
- on 12/I8 of these trials, confers all gave same wrong answer

Question 7

Findings of Asch’s line study

Answer 7

-33% conformity rate on average
- 75% at least once
- 25% never conformed

Question 8

Variations affecting conformity

Answer 8

• Group size - 1or2 = 13% → 3or4 = 33%
• social support → 5.5 %
  -task difficulty↑= conformity ↑

Question 9

Line study evaluation

Answer 9

→ high levels of control, extraneous variables reduced, con reduce eco validity, may not be generalisable
→ lacks population validity, male psych undergrads, sample is gender biased, not generalisable
→ unethical - deception I would’ve ruined the experiment due to demand characteristics, observing true conformity

Question 10

Zimbardo’s prison experiment procedure

Answer 10

→ informational social influence
- mock prison
→ 24 malepsychstudents prisoner or guard randomly allocated
-Prisoner→ arrested, smocks, number , 3 to a cell and a cap
- guard → correctional officer , night sticks sunglasses and told to “keep control”

Question 11

Zimbardo’s prison experiment results

Answer 11

→ lasted 6 of the 14 days it was supposed to
→ 1/3 of guards showed sadistic tendencies
-S guards conformed to social roles due to ISI
→ prisoners anxious depressed(experienced deindividuation)
→ conclusion- guards untrained ‘ given ambiguous statement, guards copied eachothers behavior due to ISI

Question 12

Zimbardo prison experiment evaluation

Answer 12

→ high levels of control _ all guards treated same al prisoners treated same however lacks eco validity may not be generalisable
→ real world app - Iraqi war
→ lack population validity, gender biased, not generalisable
→ unethical, no protection from harm

Question 13

Milgram shock experiment procedure

Answer 13

→tried to explain holocaust, how far would people listen to orders by an authority figure
→ 40 male volunteers (20 - 50)
→ introduced to Mr Wallace on arrival, drew straws that were fixed, teacher + learner (mr Wallace)
→ separated, it learner made a mistake they were to be punished’ teacher in room with the experimentor
» 15v-450 v _ at 300 V Mr Wallace pounded on wall, then again at 315V with no response for the rest of the procedure

Question 14

Prods in milgrams shock experiment

Answer 14

Please continue/go on
The experiment requires that you continue
It is absolutely essential that you continue
You have no other choice you must go on

Question 15

Results of milgram shock experiment

Answer 15

→ obedience of 65% (people who went to 450v
→ only 3 people stopped 300V

→ people were debriefed

Question 16

Milgram’s shock experiment evaluation

Answer 16

→ high levels of control, recorded Mr Wallace, same prodslackseco validity
→ lacks population validity - gender biased not generalisable
→ unethical - deception, needed to happen, justified, debriefed

Question 17

Teacher and learner in same room. (Proximity variation)

Answer 17

• 40% obedience

Question 18

Touch proximity variation

Answer 18

30% obedience

Question 19

Proximity to authority figure

Answer 19

21% obedience

Question 20

Location variation ( run down office block )

Answer 20

21% obedience

Question 21

Uniform variation

Answer 21

20% obedience

Question 22

What is the legitimacy of authority?

Answer 22

Authority is seen as legitimate when it is agreed on by society as a collective
Society is seen as a hirearchy with the people at the top normally having a legitimate means of authority
Authority can also be identified through the use of uniform, location and proximity

Question 23

What is the link between the legitimacy of authority and milgram?

Answer 23

The researcher is the legitimate authority figure
→ proximity
→ location
→ uniform

Question 24

Agent state

Answer 24

Milgram proposed that people would obey atrocious orders if they were as an acting agent for someone else - this is where someone else takes responsibility. They know that they are doing the wrong thing but feel powerless so carry on
→ agent state → autonomous shifts to agent (you feel no responsibility so carry out the order) milgram created prods that show this
→ application of my lai massacre - military slaughtered 500 Vietnamese civilians under order of superiors - said they were only doing their duty

Question 25

• Situational explanations evaluation

Answer 25

→ explains real life obedience → my lai , useful
→ Research evidence → milgrams research prods, uniform , proximity, location

Question 26

Dispositional explanations of obedience → authoritarian personality

Answer 26

Bias to authority, stronger need to obey authority -thought to be developed through harsh parenting
Measured through =
- F scale (questionnaire)
- rwa scale (using a scale to answer questions)

Question 27

What is an internal locus of control?

Answer 27

• People who feel they have influence and control over their lives, they are more likely to disobey

Question 28

What is an external locus of control?

Answer 28

Feel they have no influence or control over their lives, more prone to normative social influence

Question 29

What study links to locus of control and conformity?

Answer 29

→ Avtgis
~ meta analysis study
~ people with higher external loc were more persuadable and prone to conform peoples locs link to now they conform

Question 30

What locus of control case study links to obedience ?

Answer 30

→ Oliner found that when interviewing non Jewish people who had lived in the holocaust 406 people had saved Jewish people and protected them as 126 did not the group who rescued the Jews had a higher internal loc

Question 31

3 ways the minority can help change the majority view

Answer 31

→ consistency (synchronic - say same thing, diachronic- same are message over time)
→ commitment - certainty - extreme acts to draw attention
→ flexibility - know when to compromise and negotiate