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
what was Milgrim’s findings?
100% devilivered shocks up to 300 volts
12.5% stopped at 300 V
65% showed full obedience and went up to 450 V
what was the results when someone else administrated the shock in the shock experiment?
92.5% obedience
what was the results when the experiment took place in a rundown office building in the shock experiment?
48% obedience
what was the results when the teacher and the learner were in the same room in the shock experiment?
40% obedience
what was the result when the teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto a shock plate in the shock experiment?
30% obedience
what was the results when the experimenter gave instructions to the teacher over the phone?
20% obedience
what was the results when participants worked in groups to shock the learner in the shock experiment? (two rebelled and refused to go on)
10% obedience
what was a strength of Milgrim’s experiment?
research support
what is research to support Milgrim’s experiment?
Beauvois et a (2012) replicated his findings in a French documentary
the particpants in the ‘gameshow’ were paid to give (fake) electric shocks to other participants in front of a studio audience
80% gave maximum shock of 460 V
what are limitations of Milgram’s research?
- low internal validity
- alternative interpretations of findings
how does Milgram’s experiment have low internal validity?
Milgram reported that 75% of the participanst believed the shocks were genuine
Orne and Holland (1968) belives that the participants were just play-acting and didn’t believe the set up
suggests that participants were responding to demand characteristics
what is a counterpoint that Milgram’s study has low internal validity?
Sheridan + King (1972)
conducted a study where participants gave a real shock to a puppy
54% of males and 100% of females delivered the shock
suggest that the results of Milgram was real since the participants behaved obediently even when the shocks were real
what is an alternative interpretation of finding for Milgram’s experiment?
Haslam et al (2014)
according to social identity theory, participents only obeyed when they identified with the scientific aims of the research (when proded by the experimenter)
what are the ethical issues of Milgram’s experiment?
- deception
- psychological harm
- right to withdraw (not made easy since experimenter prodded if there was refusal)
what situational variables did Milgram change and test in his shock experiment?
- proximity
- location
- uniform
what was the obedience rate when the teacher and learner was in the same room in the shock experiment?
40%
what was the obedience rate when the teacher had to force the learners hand onto the shock plate in the shock experiment?
30%
how did Milgram test proximity rates in his shock experiment?
- teacher and learner in the same room
- teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto the shock plate
- experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the phone
what was the obedience rate when the experimenter gave instructions over the phone?
20.5%
what was the obedience rate when Milgram conducted his study in a run down office block?
47.5%
how did Milgram change the situational variable of uniform?
at the start of the experiment, the ‘experimenter’ was called away for a phone call and the role was taken over by an ‘ordinary member of the public’ (played by confederate)
they wore ordinary clothes rather than a lab coat
what was the obedience rates when uniform of the experimenter was changed in the shock experiment?
20%
which of Milgrim’s variations had the lowest conformity rate?
uniform (at 20%)
what are the strengths of Milgram’s variations?
- research support
- cross cultural variations
- control of variables
what is research to support Milgrim’s variations?
Bickman (1974)
what was Bickman’s (1974) experiment?
field experiment in New York City
had 3 confederates dress in different outfits:
- jacket and tie
- milkman’s outfit
- security guard
had to ask pedestrians to perform tasks like picking up litter, standing other side of bus stop and give them a coin for parking meter
what was Bickman’s (1974) results?
people were twice as likely to obey the security guard than the one dressed in a jacket and tie
who conducted cross cultrual replications of Milgram’s shock experiment?
Miranda et al (1981)
what did Miranda et al (1981) find in a spanish replication of Milgram’s experiment?
an obedience rate of over 90% amongst Spanish students
what are limitations of Milgram’s variations?
- lack of internal validity
- the ‘obedience alibi’
how does Milgrim’s variations have lack of internal validity?
many of the participants worked out that the experiment was faked, especially because of the extra manipulation (variables)
what is the ‘obedience alibi’ as a criticism of Milgram’s study?
Mandel (1998) argues that situational explanations offers an excuse for evil behaviour
what is agentic state?
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
what is autonomous state?
a person in an autonomous state is free to behave according to their own principles and therefore feel a sense of responsibility for their own actions
what is the agentic shift?
this occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority who has a greater power - because of the social hierarchy
what is binding factors?
aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and so reduce the moral strain they are feeling
what is legitimacy of authority?
an explanation for obedience which suggest 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
what is a consequence of legitimacy of authority?
that some people are granted the power to punish others
what is destructive authority?
charismatic and powerful leaders (like Hitler) can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes
what is a strength of agentic state?
research support
what is research support for agentic state?
Blass + Schmitt (2001)
showed a film of Milgrim’s study to students and asked them to identify who was responsible for the harm on the learner
the students blamed the experimenter
what is a limitation of agentic state?
it gives a limited explanation
how does agentic state give a limited explanation?
it doesn’t explain why some of the participants didn’t obey
and doesn’t explain findings from Hofling et al’s study
what is a strength of legitimacy of authority?
cultrual differences - shows that in some cultures authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demnad obedience from individuals
what are situational explanations for obedience?
- agentic state
- legitimacy of authority
what is a dispositional explanation for obedience?
the authoritarian personality
whats the definition of a dispositional explanation of obedience?
any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality
what is an authoritarian personality?
a type of personality that Adorno argues was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority
such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors and view society as weaker than it once was
what was Adorno et al’s (1950) research?
studied more than 2000 middle class, white Americans and their subconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
researchers developed the F-scale to measure authoritarian personality
what was Adorno et al’s (1950) findings?
found a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
people with authoritarian leanings showed traits that are the basis of obedience (like respect and conscious of status)
what is a strength of the authoritarian personality?
research support from Milgrim + Elms (1966)
what was Milgrim + Elms (1966) research to support the authoritarian personality?
interviewed a small sample (20) of people who had participated in Milgrim’s original study and had been fully obedient
thses scored high on the overall F-scale
what are the limitations of the authoritarian personality?
- limited explanation
- political bias
- flawed evidence
how does the authoritarian personality have a limited explanation?
it cannot explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a country’s population
- example: in Germany most of population displayed obedient and anti-Semitic behaviour
social identity theory explains that this is due to that German people identified with the Nazi state
how does the authoritarian personality have political bias?
the F-scale only measures the tendency towards an extreme form of right-wing ideology
means its not a comprehensive explanation across the whole political spectrum
how does authoritarian personality have flawed evidence?
Greenstein (1969) - the F-scale is ‘a comedy of methodological errors’
it is susceptible to response bias and is seriously flawed
what is resistance to social influence?
refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority
this ability is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
what are the explanations of resistance to social influence?
- social support
- locus of control
how does social support explain resistance to conformity?
the fact that someone else is not following the majority
it enables the naive participant to be free to follow their own conscience
it shows that the majority is no longer unanimous
how does social support resist obedience?
another person’s disobedience acts as a ‘model’ of dissent for the participant to copy and this frees them to act from their own conscious
it makes it easier for others to disobey since they have already challenged the legitimacy of the authority figure
what is social support?
the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do the same
these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
what is locus of control?
refers to 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
what is internal locus of control?
people with this believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves
what is external locus of control?
people with this tend to believe the things that happen are outside their control
which locus of control is less likely to conform or obey?
- high internal LOC
since they are more able to resist pressures as they tend to base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the opinion of others
they also tend to be more self confident
what are strengths of social support as resistance to social influence?
- real world research support
what is real world research support for social support as resistance to social influence?
Albrecht et al (2006)
evaluated Teen Fresh Start USA (8 week programme help preganant teens resist perr pressure to smoke)
social support was provided from an older mentor
participants with a mentor were significantly less likely to smoke than those who didn’t
what is a strength of locus of control as resistance to social influence?
research support
what is research support for locus of control as resistance to social influence?
Holland (1967)
repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
found 37% of internals didn’t complete all the shocks
23% of externals didn’t complete all the shocks
shows there is some relationship between resistance and LOC
what is a limitation of locus of control as resistance to social influence?
contradictory research
how does locus of control have contradictory research?
there’s evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance
Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40 year period
the data showed that over time people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
suggests that LOC is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence
what is minority influence?
a form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just 1) persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours
what are the factors that help minority influence?
- consistency
- commitment
- flexibility
how does commitment help minority influence?
minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority
consistency is effective because it draws attention to the minority view
how does commitment help minority influence?
minority is more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position (like making personal sacrifices)
this is effective since it shows the minority is not acting out of self interest
how does flexibility help minority influence?
relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable
so minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise
what are the 2 types of consistency?
- synchronic consistency
- diachronic consistency
what is synchronic consistency?
consistency between the people in the minority group
what is diachronic consistency?
consistency over time
what is the augmentation principle?
when majority group members pay even more attention after minorities engage in quite extreme activities to demonstrate commitment
what is the research support for consistency?
Moscovici et al (1969) slide study
what was Moscovici et al’s (1969) slide study?
group of 6 people was asked to view a set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity
they had to state whether the slides were blue or green
consistent group = there were 2 confederates in each group who always said the slides were green
inconsistent group = said green 24 times and blue 12 times
what was the results of Moscovici et al’s (1969) slide study?
in the consistent group = participants gave the same wrong answer on 8.42% of the trials
in the inconsistent group = participants agreed with the answer green 1.25%
control group = answer was wrong 0.25% of the time
what is a limitation of minority influence research?
low external validity - artificial tasks
what is social change?
this occurs when whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things
what are examples of social change?
- accepting that the earth orbits the sun
- women’s suffrage
- gay rights
- environmental issues
how does minority social influence create social change?
- drawing attention (through social proof)
- consistency
- deeper processing (of the issue)
- augmentation principle
- snowball effect
- social cryptomnesia
what is social cryptomnesia?
when people have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remeber how it happened
what are the strengths of social influence and social change?
- research support for normative influences
- minority influence explains change
what is the research support for normative influences in terms of social influence and social change?
Nolan et al (2008)
there were significant decreases in energy usage in the first group (explains how most resisdents are doing the same) compared to the second (made no reference to other people’s behaviour)
- shows that conformity can lead to social change through the operation of NSI
how does minority influence explain change in terms of social influence and social change?
Nemeth (2009) - claims social change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire since it encourages broader thinking
