social influence Flashcards
what is conformity?
when a person changes thier attitude or behaviour due to ‘real’ or ‘imagines’ group pressure
who came up with the three levels of conformity?
Kelman (1958)
what are the 3 levels of conformity?
- compliance
- identification
- internalisation
what are the explanations for conformity?
- normative social influence (NSI)
- informational social influence (ISI)
what is NSI?
conforming to be accepted and belong to a group
why do people conform due to NSI?
- socially rewarding
- avoid punishment
what is ISI?
conforming to gain knowledge and be ‘right’
why do people conform due to ISI?
- to act appropriately
- to avoid standing out
what levels of conformity is NSI?
- compliance
- identification
what level of conformity is ISI?
internalisation
what is compliance?
person changes their public behaviour but not their private beliefs
usually a short term change
what is identification?
person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs
but only while with the group they are identifying with
usually a short term change
what is internalisation?
person changes their public behaviour and public beliefs
usually a long term change
who researched into conformity?
Asch (1951)
what was Asch’s procedure? (of the baseline study)
123 male participants
put in a room with 6 other confederates
asked to select a line which was the same length as the example (one clearly right and others clearly different)
confederates would say the same wrong answer
what was the physical arrangement of the participant’s in Asch’s study?
either last (7th) or 6th around the table
what was the findings of Asch’s baseline study?
the participants agreed with the confederates’ incorrect answers 36.8% of the time
25% of participants never conformed
what variables did Asch investigate?
- group size
- unanimity
- task difficulty
how did Asch investigate group size?
changed the number of confederates
(1, 2, 3, 15)
what was the result when there was 1 confederate in Asch’s line experiment?
3% conformity
what was the result when there was 2 confederates in Asch’s line experiment?
12.8% conformity
what was the result when there was 3 confederates in Asch’s line experiment?
37% conformity (stayed the same as original)
what was the result when there was 15 confederates in Asch’s line experiment?
29% conformity
how did Asch test unanimity?
introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates
what was the result when one confederate gave the correct answer throughout in Asch’s line experiment?
5% conformity
what was the result when one confederate gave a different incorrect answer to the majority in Asch’s line experiment?
9% conformity
how did Asch test task difficulty?
he made the example line and the comparison lines more similar in length
what was the result when there was increased task difficulty in Asch’s line experiment?
increased (from original)
what was the line experiment results when done by Smith + Bond in Fiji?
58% conformity
what was the line experiment results when done by Smith + Bond in Belgium?
15% conformity
what was the line experiment results when done by Perrin + Spencer (1981) in a historical context?
0.25% conformity
what are limitations of Asch’s research?
- artificial task and situation
- were all American men
what is a strength of Asch’s research?
research to support
what is research to support Asch’s study?
Lucas et al (2006)
what was Lucas et al’s research?
asked participants to solve easy and hard maths problems
participants were given answers from 3 other students
participants conformed more often when the problems were harder
support’s Asch that task difficulty affects conformity
what are the ethical issues in Asch’s research?
particpants were deceived (they weren’t aware of the full reasons for the study)
what was the conclusion to Asch’s experiment?
even in unambiguous situations, there is still pressure to conform to the majority
found (from post experiment interviews) that some conformed due to NSI and some due to ISI
what is research support for NSI?
Asch (1951)
what is research support for ISI?
Lucas et al (2006)
who researched conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo (1963)
what was Zimbardo’s research?
the Stanford Prison experiment
what are social roles?
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
what was Zimbardo’s method?
set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university
used 21 male student volunteers who were tested as ‘emotionally stable’
were randomly assigned their roles
each group given uniforms and instructions about their behaviour
what uniforms did the prisoners have in Zimbardo’s experiment?
a loose smock
cap to cover their hair
identified by a number
what uniforms did the guards have in Zimbardo’s experiment?
wooden club
handcuffs
mirror shades
what was the purpose of the uniforms in Zimbardo’s experiment?
created a loss of personal identity (de-individualisation)
meant they were more likely to conform to their social roles
what was the results of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?
there was an instant effect on the behaviour
prisoners became increasingly passive
guards became more verbally hostile
prisoners attempted to fight back by barricading themselves which the guards broke up using fire extinguishers
what was the end result of Zimbardo’s experiment?
was shut down after 6 days (not the intended 2 weeks)
many left with psychological harm
what are the two proposed processes that explains the prisoners’ final submission in Zimbardo’s experiment?
- deindividuation
- learned helplessness
what is deindividuation?
a state where someone becomes so immersed in the norms of the group that you lose your sense of identity and personal responsibility
what is learned helplessness?
when the prisoners learned that whatever they did had little effect on what happened to them
what is a strength of Zimbardo’s experiment?
control over key variables
(selected emotionally stable participants)
had high internal validity
what are limitations of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?
- lack of realism
- may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour
what are ethical issues with Zimbardo’s experiment?
- deception
- psychological harm
- no right to withdraw (not made easy)
what was the argument that Zimbardo’s experiment has a lack of realism?
Banuazizi + Movahedi (1975)
argued that participants were play-acting rather than conforming
performances were based on stereotypes
suggests that the findings tell us little about conformity to social roles
what was the counterpoint that Zimbardo’s experiment has a lack of realism?
McDermott (2019)
argues that the participnats did behave like the prison was real to them
90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life
so suugest that the experiment did replicate the social roles of prisoners and prison guards
what is obedience?
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order
the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish or reward
who investigated obedience?
Milgram (1963)
Hofling et al (1966)
Bickman (1974)
why did Milgrim investigate obedience?
he wanted an answer as to why such a high proportion of German population obeyed Hitlers commands
what was Milgram’s procedure?
40 American male volunteers
had a confederate (posed as another participant) who was the student
the real participant was the teacher
teacher had to give an electric shock every time the student got the wrong answer on a memory task
the shocks increased with 15-volt intervals up to 450 volts
the shocks were fake but seemed real to the participant
experimenter encouraged the participants to administer shocks