Social Influence

Question 1

what is normative social influence?

Answer 1

conforming to the majority to avoid outcast/rejection.
driven by desire to be liked/social approval
emotional reasons
(superficial/temporary behaviour)

Question 2

what is informational social influence?

Answer 2

desire to be correct, if a situation is ambiguous, driven by belief others have more knowledge/correct info
cognitive reasons
permanent change in view/behaviour is genuine.

Question 3

what were asch’s line study findings?

Answer 3

75% conformed once
5% conformed everytime
overall rate in critical trials 32%

Question 4

how did group size affect conformity?

Answer 4

1 confederate= 3%
2= 13%
3= 33%
after that conformity stayed steady

Question 5

how did unanimity affect conformity?

Answer 5

conformity dropped to 5%, suggesting presence of dissenter provides social support

Question 6

how did task difficulty affect conformity?

Answer 6

smaller difference (more ambiguous)=confomity increases.
argued due to pp’s being more uncertain about their judgements- more susceptible to ISI

Question 7

asch’s evaluation strength- internal validity

Answer 7

lab experiment so high internal validity, carefully controlled & standardised procedures were followed

Question 8

asch’s evaluation weakness- temporal validity

Answer 8

Perrin & Sprncer argued his work lacks temporal validity, suggesting the high conformity rates were due to cultural conditions in the Cold War 1950’s America

Question 9

asch’s evaluation weakness- mundane realism

Answer 9

lacks mundane realism, task is quite simple & highly controlled. helps minimise extraneous variables and isolate conformity it doesn’t replicate real life social interactions. artifical nature of work not valid measure of conformitys