Social Influence

Question 1

The three types of conformity

Answer 1

Compliance: publicly but not privately going along with majority influence to gain approval
Internalisation: true conformity, public and private acception through adoption of the majority group’s belief system
Identification: public and private acceptance in order to gain group acceptance, don’t always agree (usually to fulfil a social role)

Question 2

Conformity

Answer 2

Yielding to group pressure

Question 3

Explanations of conformity

Answer 3

ISI- agree with the opinion of the majority because you believe it is correct (cognitive)
NSI- agree with the opinion of the majority because you want to be accepted (emotional)

Question 4

Asch’s Study (1951) findings

Answer 4

Influence due to the social situation a person is in, influenced by dispositions factors. Investigated situational factors through changing: group size, social support, task difficulty. With the introduction of a dissenter conformity drops. With increased difficulty conformity rises through ISI rather than NSI. It is artificial and it includes only men so it isn’t applicable to public. Easy replication and it tells us why they conform. 75% conformed at least once in the original and conformity was 37% of the time. With a dissenter with the right answer conformity dropped to 5.5% and a dissenter with a different wrong answer it dropped to 9%

Question 5

Social roles

Answer 5

The parts people play as members of various social groups. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.

Question 6

Sherif (1935) Method

Answer 6

Used visual illusions called the auto kinetic effect where a stationary spot of light viewed in a dark room appears to move. Participants falsely told that the experimenter would move the light. They had to estimate how far it moved. Initially tested individually, then in threes, then individually again.

Question 7

Sherif (1935) Findings

Answer 7

Initially individuals had highly different results but then results converged when in a group, final results were closer to the group than to the individual initially. Participants influenced by others for their estimates- ISI. It can be replicated, all variables constant. Ethical problem of deception

Question 8

Asch (1951) Method

Answer 8

In groups of 8 participants judged line lengths by saying out loud which comparison line (1, 2, 3) matched the standard line. Each group contained only one real participant with the rest being confederates. Real participants always went last so they can test how they answer after hearing all the confederates answers whom they believe to also be participants. Each participant did 18 trials

Question 9

Zimbardo (1973) Method

Answer 9

Male students were recruited to act as either guards or prisoners in a mock prison. They were ‘arrested’ as they went about their day and taken to ‘prison’. They were assigned random roles of guard or prisoner. Guards wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses while prisoners, uniforms and numbers. Initially guards tried to assert their role but prisoners resisted by sticking together but then they became more passive and obedient while guards invented nastier punishments. The experiment was abandoned early because some prisoners became very distressed.

Question 10

Zimbardo (1973) Findings

Answer 10

Guards and prisoners adopted their social roles quickly- social role can influence our behaviour. Seemingly well-balanced men became unpleasant and aggressive in the role of guard. Good control of variables. Artificial not generalised to real-life situations, bad ethics, observer bias- Zimbardo admitted he became too personally involved, conclusion doesn’t explain why only some conformed to their role

Question 11

Situational and Dispositional behaviour

Answer 11

Dispositional- explanation of individual behaviour caused by internal characteristics that reside with the individual’s personality
Situational- explanations that focus on the influences that stem from the environment in which the individual is found

Question 12

Authoritarian Personality

Answer 12

A collect of traits developed from strict/rigid parenting. A dispositional (personality) explanation of obedience. Suggests children being socialised to obey authority unquestioningly because they learn strict obedience from parents

Question 13

Reicher and Haslam (2006)- BBC prison Method

Answer 13

Controlled observation in a mock prison, filmed for television. 15 male volunteers responding to an advert were participants, randomly assigned into two groups. 5 guards 10 prisoners. Had daily tests to measure depression, compliance, stress. Prisoners knew that at random one of them would become a guard after 3 days. An ethics committee could stop it whenever to protect participants. The guards failed to form a united group to identify with their role, didn’t always exercise their power as they felt uncomfortable with the inequality. The prisoners acted alone in first 3 days but became a strong group since no one else would become a guard. On day 6 prisoners rebelled and pptts decided to live in democracy

Question 14

Reicher and Haslam (2006) -BBC prison Findings

Answer 14

Pptts didn’t fit into their expected social roles, suggesting these roles are flexible. The unequal system collapsed due to the unwillingness of the guards and the strength of the prisoner group. Contrasts Zimbardo’s experiment but these guards were not as empowered as Zimbardo’s who were actively encouraged to maintain order and this one was shown of tv so participants acted differently to avoid criticism. Good ethics due to the ethics committee and pptts weren’t deceived. Can’t be generalised to real life because it’s an artificial situation

Question 15

Obedience

Answer 15

A type of social influence which causes a person to act in response to an order given by another person. The person who gives the order is usually a figure of authority, who has power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forth coming

Question 16

Proximity in Milgram

Answer 16

In the original the teacher and student were in different rooms and there was 65% obedience. The variation is the teacher and student in the same room and obedience dropped to 40% of people who went to maximum voltage. Milgram then used touch proximity and made the teacher force the students hand on the electroshock plate when he refused to answer the question- obedience dropped to 30%. The experimenter then left the room and gave instructions through telephone- remote proximity- and obedience dropped to 20.5%

Question 17

Proximity define

Answer 17

The physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to

Question 18

Location define + use in Milgram

Answer 18

The place where the order is issued.
Original at prestige Yale University setting, 65% obedience but then Milgram moved it to a run-down office and obedience dropped to 47.5%. Influence on obedience is the status associated with location

Question 19

Uniform define + use in Milgram

Answer 19

People in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of that authority. Indicates to the rest of us who is entitled to expect our obedience. Original, experimenter wore a grey lab coat- 65% obedience. Variation,experimenter role carried out by ordinary citizen- 20% obedience.

Question 20

Orlando (1973)

Answer 20

Set up a mock psychiatric ward in a hospital. 29 staff members volunteered to be ‘patients’ and another 22 staff were involved but just asked to carry out normal daily roles. After some time the ‘patients’ started behaving like real patients of the hospital and it became difficult to tell them apart, they seemed to be conforming to the roles assigned to them. Many showed signs of depression and withdrawal and six tried to escape the ward. After the mock patients said they felt as though they had lost their identity

Question 21

Difference between conformity and obedience

Answer 21

Conformity- yielding the group pressure, individual’s choice to conform, avoid ridicule
Obedience- yielding to an authority figure, direct order from authority, avoid consequences

Question 22

Agentic State

Answer 22

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure. This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure. Don’t worry about self-image, no longer their responsibility. Like the Mai Lai Massacre

Question 23

Legitimacy of Authority

Answer 23

An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy

Question 24

Autonomous state

Answer 24

To be independent or free. Free to behave in accordance to their own principles and therefore feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions

Question 25

Blass and Schmitt (2001)

Answer 25

Students, who were shown a video of Milgram’s experiments, blamed the experimenter rather than the teacher. The responsibility is due to legitimate authority. Research supports agentic state

Question 26

Milgram (1963) Conclusions

Answer 26

Ordinary people are astonishingly obedient to authority when asked to behave in an inhuman way. Not necessarily evil people who commit evil crimes but ordinary who are obeying orders. Crimes against humanity may be the outcome of situational rather than dispositional factors

Question 27

Adorno (1950)

Answer 27

Measured 2000 middle class, white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups. Used the F-scale (fascism scale) to measure Authoritarian personalities. Milgram found that people who did high on the F-scale were more willing to administer higher shocks. This means they are conscious of their status and show a ‘blind respect’ to people with power

Question 28

Resistance to social influence

Answer 28

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability is influenced by situational and dispositional factors.

Question 29

Law of Control

Answer 29

The sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them. Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces

Question 30

Social support

Answer 30

Having social support can make people more resistant to conformity. As shown on Asch’s experiment when people conformed less with one dissenter giving the correct answer from 33% to 5%, and again in Milgram’s Study as more participants resisted orders if there were other participants present who refused to obey.

Question 31

Internal locus of control

Answer 31

More likely to resist social influence. They believe they control their own destiny. Tend to be leaders, more likely to blame individuals

Question 32

External locus of control

Answer 32

More likely to conform or obey to an authoritarian figure. Good understanding of social/world issues, a critical mind, better interpersonal skills

Question 33

Minority Influence

Answer 33

A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviour. Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviour

Question 34

Moscovici et al (1969)

Answer 34

In groups of 6, pptts judged the colour of 36 slides, all slides blue but varied brightness. All women with 2 confederates per group. In one condition the feds called all slides ‘green’ and another they called 24 ‘green’ and the rest ‘blue’, also a control group with no feds. In the control group pptts said ‘green’ 0.25% of the time. In consistent condition 8.4% adopted minority and 32% said ‘green’ at least once. In inconsistent condition pptts said ‘green’ only 1.25% of the time

Question 35

Three things for minority influence

Answer 35

Flexibility, Consistency, Commitment

Question 36

Consistency

Answer 36

If consistent people consider it more carefully
-Synchronic consistency: all saying the same thing
-Diachronic consistency: been saying the same for some time

Question 37

Commitment

Answer 37

Becomes difficult to ignore so the majority will start to pay attention causing them to understand the serious nature of the campaign for issue

Question 38

Flexibility

Answer 38

They must negate their position with the majority so you should compromise for them. Consistency can be interpreted negatively so you should balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 39

Social change

Answer 39

When whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things. Drawing attention to an issue which opposes the majority position through social proof is a necessary condition for social change through minority influence

Question 40

Social cryptoamnesia

Answer 40

Public opinion changes gradually over time, until the minority view is accepted as the norm, but people forget where the view originally came from

Question 41

Evaluation of Agency Theory

Answer 41

Lots of experimental evidence to support- Milgram’s participants often claimed they wouldn’t have gone as far alone but just following orders.
Sometimes people resist pressure to obey authority, agency theory doesn’t explain why some people are more likely to exhibit independent behaviour