social influence Flashcards
what is normative social influence
normative social influence is the desire to bbe liked .when we conform to fit in a group because we dont want to appear as foolish and left out . a condition for ni is that an indiviual must believe that they are under survailance by the other group.people tend to conform in public but not in private
what is informational social influence
informational social influence is when we conform because we are unaware of the situation so we look to others who we believe may have more information than us this is likely to occur when when there are experts present .as a result an indvidual dosent just comply they also change their behaviour and views to be in line with group this involves both public and private changes of attitudes . the behaviour will be present even if the group isnt
what is compliance
compliance involves simply going along with others to gain their approval. this results in a public change but not a change of views. and the behaviour stops as soon as the group pressure stops
what is internalisation
internalisatiom refers to instances where a person behaves or agrees with a group of people because they have actually accepted the groups pov . this results in the change of a persons public and private beliefs. they are no longer dependent on the presence of the group
what is identification
identification is when we conform to the opinions and behaviours of others as there is something about the group we value . we identify with the group as we want to be part of it .this means we publicly change our views even if we dont privately agree with it an exmaple of this could be starting to smoke because we want to be part of the cool kids
what are the three types of conformity
internalisation
compliance
identification
outlines sherifs(1935) study on confomity
sheriff used autokinetic effects (this is where a small spot of ligt will appear to move in a dark room .the participants were falselytold that the experimentor will move the light.participants then had to estimate how far the dot has moved .in the first phase individuals partcipants made repeated estimates .they were then put in groups of three where they had to make their estimates with the others present finally they were retested individually
what were the results of sherrifs study
when alone participants developed their own stable estimates which varied widely between participants .when the participants were in a group the estimates tended to become more a like . when the participants were then retested on their own the estimates were more like the group estimates than their original guesses
what did sherrifs study also show according to sherrif
people always tend to conform rather than make individual judgements they tend to come to a group agreement
whats explanation or conformity does this study refer to
inormational social influence-as the results showed that in ambigious situatios a person will look to others for guidance .they want to do the right thing but may lack appropriate inormation. observing other can rovide thisinormation
ouline asch study 1956
asch asked student volunteers to take part in a visual discrimination task.unknown to the volunteers all but one of the participants were confederates(fake) the real purpose was to investigate how the lone real participant would react to the behaviour of the confederates
what was the aim of aschs research
solomon asch conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could effect a person to conform
what procedures too place in aschs study
123 male us undergarduates were tested. the participants were seated around a table and asked to look at three lines of differnt lengths . they took turns to call out which of the three lines they thought were the same length as the standard line with the real participants always answeing second to last although the answer was very obvious . on 12 of the 18 trials the confederates were asked to give the same incorrect answers . asch wanted to see whether the real participants would stick to what they believed was right or go along with the answers of the majority
what was the outcome of aschs study
on the 12 cricical trails , the average conformity rate was 33%. ie the participants agreed with the incorrect answers given by the other group members,on average on one third of the trials asch also discovred individual differences in conformity rates . one quarter of the participants never conformed on any of the critical trials ,half conformed on six or more trials and one in 20 conformed on all 12 trials
what did asch do to confirm that the stimulus lines were unambigious
ash conducted a control condition without the distarction of confederates giving wrong answers . in this condition he found that participants made mistakes 1% of the time , although this could not explain the relatively high levels of conformity in the main study
what was a conclusion made from the experiment
when the participants were interviewed after the experiment most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers but had gone along with the group for fear of being rediculed. a few of them said they really did believe that the groups answer was correct
outline zombardos prison experiment
a mock prison was set up. 75 participants responded to an advert in the paper they were psychologically screened and the 24 most stable of those were randomly asigned to either play the role of a prisoner or a guard
the prisoners were uexpectedly arrested at their homes and on entry to the prison they were put through a delousing proceedure , given a prison uniform and assigned an id number. the guards referred to the prisoners only by these numbers throughout the study. prisoners were only allowed certain priviledges including three meals a day , three supervised toilet trips and two visits per week
participants allocated the role of the guard were given uniforms ,clubs ,whistles and wore reflective sunglases (to prevent eye contact)
what did zimbardo find
over a few days the guards grew increasingly agressive and sadistic towards the prisoners .they woke prisoners in the night and forced them to clean toilets with their bare hands and carry out other degrading activities .some gurds were so enthusiastuc in their role they volunteered to do extra hours without pay . some prisoners had to be released early because of their extreme rage crying and anxiety . the stud was termiated after only 6 days due to the abuse suffered by the participants
what factors influnce conformity
what were the three variables asch investigated
unanimity
group size
task difficulty
how did asch investigate the imapct of group size on conformity
asch wanted to know whether the group size would be more important than the agreement of the group. the test varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15. asch found that a curvilinear relationship between group size and confortmity
what did asch find when he investigated the effect of group size on conformity
conformity increased with the group size but only up to a point . with three confederates, the conformity rate increased by 31.8 % but the presence of the confederates made little difference . this suggests that people are very sensitive to the view of others. because just one or two confederates were enough to sway the opinions of the others
research support
what is a strength of aschs baseline study
research support from other studies for effects of task dificulty
lucas et all (2006)- easy and hard questions
participants given answers by 3 confederates- particpants confomed more often when the problem was hard
asch correct in concluding that tast difficulty is a variable which afffects conformity
limitation of aschs study(artificial )
—» task and situation artificial
—»participants knew the were in a research study (demand characteristics )
_» the task of identifying lines was trivial - ( no reason not to conform)
-»according to fiske 2014) said that aschs group wasn’t very groupy
» the groups don’t resemble groups taht we experience in everyday life
»> findhjnsb cannot be generalised to real world situations
»> especially those were the consequences of conformity is important
limitation of aschs study(artificial )
—» task and situation artificial
—»participants knew the were in a research study (demand characteristics )
_» the task of identifying lines was trivial - ( no reason not to conform)
-»according to fiske 2014) said that aschs group wasn’t very groupy
» the groups don’t resemble groups taht we experience in everyday life
»> findhjnsb cannot be generalised to real world situations
»> especially those were the consequences of conformity is important
limitation of aschs study 2(white american men)
participants were american men
-research suggest that women maybe more conformist because they are more concerned about social relationships being accepted
- the usa is an invidualist culture ( ppl are more concerned about themselves ) rather than a social group
»> similar conformity studies conducted in collectivist culture sucha s china have found that conformity rate is higher ( bonds and smith 1996)
> > > this means that findings tell us little about conformity in women and ppl from other countries.
evaluation of NSI
research support it as an explanation for conformity - when asch interviewed his ptp some said they conformed because they were afraid of disapproval .
»> when ptp wrote their answers down conformity fell to 12.5% because giving masses privately meant no normative group pressure
evaluation of isi
research support - study by todd lucas et al (2006)
_»> lucas found that ptp conformed to incorrect answer when the maths problem was difficult
» when the problems were easy the ptp knew their own minds but when it wa shard the situation became ambiguous the ptp didn’t want to be wrong
evaluation of isi and nsi ( counterpoint)
it is unclear to whether nsi and isi work in research studies . ie asch 1955 found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant . the dissenter may reduce power of nsi ( cus they provide social support ) or isi ( provide alternative source of information ) .
> > > the fore it is hard to seperate isi and nsi and both processes probably operate in most real world conformity situations
evaluation of zimbardos study strength
( control )
zimbardo and his colleagues had control over key variables
> > > selected emotionally stable individuals , were randomly assigned to the roles of guard and prisoner
this was one way in which the researchers ruled out individual personality differences as an explanation for findings
if the guards and prisoners behaved differently but where in those roles only by chance then their behaviour must have been due to the roles itself
this degree of control over variables increase internal validity of the study
limitation of zimbardos study 1( lack or realism )
it didn’t have the realism of a real prison . ali banuazizi and movahedi argued that the ptp were merely play acting rather than conforming to a role .
ptp performance was based on stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave for example one of the guards claimed that he has based his role on a brutal character from a film. this would explain why the prisoner rioted as they thought it was what real prisoners did . this suggest that the findings of standford prison experiment tells us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisoners
counter point for lack of realism ( zimbardos spe evaluation)
mark mcdermott argues that the ptp did behave as if the prison was real for example 90% of the prisoners conversations were about prison life . amongst themrdlrvr they discussed how it was impossible to leave spr before their “sentences “ were over . prisoner 416 later explained how how he believed the prison was a real one but run by psychologist rather than the government . this suggests that the spe did replicate the social roles of prisoner and guards in a real prison giving the study high internal validity
what is obedience
obdience is a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order . the perosn issuing the order is usually of a figure of authority . who has power to punish when obedient behaviour isn’t fourth coming
outline milgrams base line study
40 american men volunteered to take part in a study at yale university in the usa . they drew lots to see who would be the teacher who would be the learner . the draw wa a fixed so that the participant was always the teacher and an experimenter was also involved ( he was a confederate dressed in a lab coat )
the teacher couldn’t see the learner but could hear him . the teacher has to give the learner an electric shock everytime the learner made a mistake on a memory task. the shocks increased with each mistake in 15 volts step up to 450v . the shocks were fake but labelled to suggest that they were dangerous
what did milgram find in his baseline study
every participants delivered shocks up to 300 volts 12.5% stopped at 300 volts and 65% continued to the highest level of 450volts ir they were fully obedient
the participants showed signs of extreme tension many of them were seen to sweat tremble stutter bite their lips groan etc.
what is a strength of milgrams baseline study
his findings were replicated in a french documentary that was made about reality tv
this documentary focused on a fake show made especially for the programme. the ptp in the game believed they were contestants in a pilot episode for a new show . they were paid to give fake electric shoved in front of the studio audience .80% of the ptp delivered 460 volts to an apparently unconscious man . their behaviour was almost identical to that of milgrams ptp . this supports milgrams original findings about obedience or authority
what is a weakness of milgrams baseline study ( ethical issues)
the participants in this study were deceived for example the ptp though that the allocation of the roles was random but infact it was fixed . they also thought the shocks were real . milgram dealt with this by debriefing the ptp
what are situational variables
feautures of the immediate physical and social environment that can influence a persons behaviour
what are the three situational variables
proximity
location
uniform
what is proximity
proximity is the physical closeness of an authority figure to the person they are giving orders to
what is location in term of situational variables
the place where the order is issued
what is uniform in term of situational variables
specific outfit people in position of authority wear
how did milgram investigate proximity
obedience was high in milgrams study when the experimenter was in the same room as the ptp(65%)
but it reduced to 20.5% when milgram asked the experimenter to give instructions via phone in a different room . this shows taht decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.
explain the location variable
location can enhance the legitimacy of the authority figure and thus increase the level of obedience such as prestigious setting
- location could also be appropriate and inappropriate for the authority figure to give orders in
- the more appropriate ghe location the more likely you are to obey
how did milgram investigate the location. variable
milgrams conducted a varaitaion is a run down office block rather than prestigious yale university setting of the baseline study
hence in this location the obedience levels fell to 48% in comparison to 65% in the initial experiment at yale university’s
the legitimacy of the university increased the legitimacy of the authority of the experimenter as well as the amount of trust the ptp felt in them leading to higher obedience rates
explain the uniform variable
this refers to the clothing the authority figure wears and how it affects the perception of them which would influence the level of obedience
ie official looking uniform like police enhances a person legitimacy of authority leading to more obediene
also if uniform is appropriate for the setting it leads to more obedience as you are more likely to obey some one dressed in a lab coat in a science lab
what is a strength of the situational variables
there is research support which have demonstrated the influence of situational variables in obedience . . in a field experiment in new your city . bickman 1974 has three confederate dress in different outfits - jacket and a tire , a milk man’s and a security guard uniform . the confederates .individually stood on the street and asked passers - by to perform tasks such as picking up litter or handing over a coins for the parking meter , people were twic as likely to obey the assistant dressed as a security guard than the one dressed in a jacket and tie . this supports the view that a situational variable such a s uniform does have a powerful eve h on obedience
what is a weakness of situational variables
ptp may have been aware that the procedure is fake . martin orne r and charles holland (1968) made this criticism of milgrams baseline study . they point out that it is even more likely in his variations because of the extra manipulation of variables . a good example is the variation where the experimenter is replaced by a member of the public . even milgram recognised that this situation was so contrieved that some participant may well have worked out the truth . therefore in all milgrams study it is unclear whether the findings are genuinely due to the operation of obedience or because the ptp saw through the deception and just play acted ( responded to demand characteristics)
what are the two situational explanations for obedience
agency authority
legitimacy of authority
what is the agentic state
- mental state where we feel no persons responsibility for our actions because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure
-person acts as an “agent” of an authority figure putting putting the person in an agentic state
what state a people usually in
autonomous state
what is legitimacy of authority
more likely to obey ppl we believe have authority over us
- this is justified by the individuals position of power withn the social heircahy
- agreed upon society
increase by visual symbol or authority - ie uniform
how do people feel in the agen tic state
people feel high moral strain when they realise that what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey
what is the autonomous state
the autonomous state is the opposite if the agentuv state . it means to be independent or free . a perosn ina the autonomous state behave according to their own principles and feel a sense of responsibility for their actions
what are binding factors - situational explanation
binding factors are aspects of the situation tahg allows a person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour thus reduce the moral strain they are feeling
what is a strength of the agentic state as an explanation for obedience
research support -in milgrams base like study most ppt hesitated before giving a shock at some point asking what would happen if the learner was harmed
after the ptp were assured that the ptp would be responsible they continued with little complaint .
this showed that when ptp no longer felt responsible for their actions they obeyed orders more readily
what is a limitation of the agentic state for explanation for obedience
it offers a limited explanation most research findings about obedience
rank and jacobson (1977) conducted an obedience study in a hospital in which nurses would get a phone call from a ‘doctor” telling them to administer a lethal dosage of medicine .
16 out of 18 nurses disobeyed despite the doctor being a clear authority figure
this suggests that the agentic state my only account for some situations of obedience
what is one strength of legitimacy of authority as an explanation for obedience
useful account of gender and cultural differences in obedience rates
lil ham and mann found that only 16% of the female australian pps went all the way up to 450volts in a milgram style study . however david man fell foujd very different figure for german ptp -85% this shows that in some cultures authority so more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals . this reflect the ways tah differ societies are structured and how child’ren are raised to perceive authority figure
