Social influence

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

The tendency for a person to change their behaviour and/or beliefs in response to perceived pressure from other people in a group

Question 2

What are the 3 examples of conformity?

Answer 2

Compliance
Identification
Internalisation

Question 3

what does compliance as a type of conformity mean?

Answer 3

When a person publicly agrees with the majority view, but privately disagree with it

Question 4

What does identification as a type of conformity mean?

Answer 4

When you change your public behaviour and private views when in the presence of the group but not permanently

Question 5

What does internalisation as a type of conformity mean?

Answer 5

When a person takes on the expressed view both publicly and privately as they accept it as correct. When they change their beliefs as they see the group behaviour as being ‘correct’

Question 6

Who put forward the two part model to explain why people conform?

Answer 6

Deutsch and Gerard

Question 7

What are the 2 explanations for why people conform put forward by Deutsch and Gerard? and what factors are they based on?

Answer 7

Informational social influence - based on cognitive factors
Normative social influence - based on emotional factors

Question 8

What is informational social influence? What type of conformity does this lead to?

Answer 8

The need to know what’s right.
If a situation is ambiguous or we believe others are experts then we will go along with them, as they have superior knowledge. This leads to internalisation

Question 9

What is normative social influence? What type of conformity does this lead to?

Answer 9

The need to be accepted.
If we conform, we will be rewarded with reinforcement and approval. This leads to compliance

Question 10

What evidence/research is there to support informational social influence?

Answer 10

Participants from Asch’s study said they believed that the others knew better and more than themselves which is why they conformed to them

Question 11

What evidence/research is there to support normative social influence?

Answer 11

Some of Asch’s participants said they didn’t want to be the odd one out and wanted to fit in with the other participants so gave the same answer as them

Question 12

What are three positive evaluation points for the explanations for conformity?

Answer 12

ISI - Research to support it - Lucas et al with the math problems
ISI - Practical applications - Schultz and the hotel bathroom sign
NSI - Research - Asch’s study

Question 13

What happened in Lucas et al’s research?

Answer 13

He gave participants maths problems to solve. They found that more participants conformed to wrong answers when they were difficult opposed to easier ones, this was especially the case with participants who rated themselves as weaker in maths

Question 14

What happened in Schultz’s study?

Answer 14

Placed messages in hotel bathrooms asking customers to think is they needed a clean towel more than once. The message put in the bathrooms suggested that a high percentage of guests were helping save the environment by using their towel more than once

Question 15

What are two weaknesses with the explanations for conformity?

Answer 15

The research is artificial - Asch’s study
Theoretical issues - doesn’t take into account individual differences

Question 16

What was the aim of Asch’s study?

Answer 16

To investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform

Question 17

What was the procedure of Asch’s study?

Answer 17

He studied 50 male college students from the USA who all participated in a ‘line perception test’. The real participant was deceived of the real aim of the study but also believed that the confederates were other real participants. Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line was most like the target line. The real participants sat at the end of the row and gave their answer last. At the start all confederates gave the correct answer but after a few rounds they started to provide unanimously incorrect answers.

Question 18

What were the results of Asch’s study?

Answer 18

Asch measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority view. On average, about one third (32%) of the participants who were placed in this situation went along and conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials. Over the 12 critical trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% of participants never conformed. In the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer

Question 19

What was the conclusion of Asch’s study?

Answer 19

The experiment concluded that people conform for two main reasons: They want to fit in with the group or because they believed the group is more informed than they are so believe they are right

Question 20

What are the three factors affecting conformity?

Answer 20

The difficulty of the task
Size of the majority
Unanimity

Question 21

What does difficulty of the task mean when used in Asch’s study?

Answer 21

The lines were changed, he made some of the lines harder to tell the difference between and some lines could easily be seen as different

Question 22

What affect did changing the difficulty of the task have on the conformity rate of Asch’s study?

Answer 22

The harder the task the increase on conformity as the participants were unsure whether they were correct or not so looked to other for the answer
The easier the task the decrease in conformity as we are sure of our answer and so we are more independent

Question 23

What research study supports the difficulty of task affecting the rate of conformity?

Answer 23

Lucas et al.

Question 24

What does the size of the majority as an affecting factor of conformity mean when used in Asch’s study?

Answer 24

Refers to the number of confederates having a different opinion/answer to the obvious answer

Question 25

How did the size of the majority affect the rate of conformity in Asch's study?

Answer 25

The very small majority group had decreased conformity as it wasn't sufficient enough to influence the participants The large scale group had an increase in conformity till about 15 people when the participants then started to question if they were being set up

Question 26

What research contradicts the size of the majority as an affecting factor of conformity?

Answer 26

Bond - When three or more confederates are present the tendency to conform tends to be stable

Question 27

What is unanimity as an affecting factor of conformity in the Asch study?

Answer 27

Total agreement on response from all the confederates. Unanimous verdict is when all confederates give the same wrong answer. Disturbed unanimity is when a confederate supports the participants answer and choses the correct answers

Question 28

How did unanimous verdict and disturbed unanimity affect the conformity rate in Asch's study?

Answer 28

Unanimous verdict - conformity stayed high when all confeds stuck to the same unanimous wrong response Disturbed unanimity - Decreased conformity because they have an 'ally'

Question 29

What research contradicts unanimity as an affecting factor of conformity?

Answer 29

Moscovici - proved that consistent minority was more successful than an inconsistent minority in changing the views of the majority

Question 30

What are the three strengths of Asch's study?

Answer 30

Reliability - standardised procedures Applications - jurors are now warned about conformity Internal validity - lab experiment

Question 31

What are the three weaknesses of Asch's study?

Answer 31

Generalisability - Done in the 1950's lacks temporal validity, All make participants makes it androcentric, conducted in a college in Pennsylvania making it ethnocentric Ecological validity - artificial lab environment with an artificial task Breaks ethical guidelines - Participants were deceived so cant give informed consent

Question 32

What was the aim of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 32

To investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role playing stimulation of prison life

Question 33

What was the procedure of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 33

Zimbardo gathered 24 male college students through a newspaper advertisement and assigned them a role of either prisoner or guard. The guards were initially welcomed into the prison and helped set up the study environment. They were given khaki uniforms, sunglasses, a whistle, and a billy club. However, the prisoners were humiliated from the very beginning of the study and were even arrested at their homes. They were then put through the booking process whilst being blindfolded. They were then stripped naked and put into smocks with no underwear. They were then given a number that replaced their name dehumanising them

Question 34

What were the findings of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 34

Only 10% of the prisoners' conversations were about their lives outside the prison. The guards rarely exchanged personal information during their breaks - they either talked about trouble prisoners or other prison topics. The participants quickly internalised their roles and the guards began to show extreme and abusive behaviours. This caused the prisoners to become submissive and emotionally stressed. 5 prisoners had to be released from the study early, although the study did come to an end just after 6 days.

Question 35

What was the conclusion of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 35

The study concluded that catergorising humans into good and evil based on their behaviour is irrational. It proved that the mind is impacted by interaction with environmental factors like experiences.

Question 36

What are three strengths of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 36

Reliability - clear standardised procedures Applications - prisoners behaviour could be influenced by the enviornment Mundane realism - Study was as true to life as possible

Question 37

What are three weaknesses of Zimbardo's study?

Answer 37

Generalisability - lacks temporal validity (1973) and only used males (androcentric) Ecological validity - artifical environment Ethical guidelines - Ps weren't protected from physical harm

Question 38

What is obedience?

Answer 38

A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. Compliance to an order, request, the law etc. from a person or persons of authority

Question 39

What is the difference between conformity and obedience?

Answer 39

Obedience involves an authority figure, conformity does not.

Question 40

What are the two social states of obedience?

Answer 40

Agentic state Autonomous state

Question 41

What was the aim of Milgram's study?

Answer 41

The participants thought that the study was about the effects pf punishment on memory. the real aim was to see if people would obey the orders of an authority figure, even when there was fatal consequences

Question 42

What was the procedure of Milgram's study?

Answer 42

Milgram put an advert in a newspaper and direct mailing asking for volunteer male Americans from the New Haven area to participate in a psychology experiment about the effects of punishment on learning. This was about obedience to authority. This was a self-selecting sampling technique. 40 males aged between 20 and 50 were chosen to take part, with a range of occupations and educational backgrounds. They were paid $4.50 for simply showing up and they were told that it was there's to keep no matter the outcome of the study. On arrival the naive Ps were introduced to the experimenter wearing a white lab coat who was the authority figure. Then they were introduced to a friendly co-participant who was really the confederate. The naive P helped strap in the confed to the electric shocking system.

Question 43

What were the results of Milgram's study?

Answer 43

Participants looked uncomfortable under some strain because they were sweaty, had seizures, they showed nervous laughter and they wanted to leave. 100% of participants went up to 300 volts and 65% gave the maximum of 450 volts.

Question 44

What was the conclusion of Milgram's study?

Answer 44

Milgram concluded that participants would obey the order of an authority figure as participants gave electric shocks to a learner when told to do so by the authority figure

Question 45

What are two strengths of Milgram's study?

Answer 45

Reliability - lab experiments are replicable - standardised procedure Applications - we know why soldiers obey to orders

Question 46

What are three weaknesses of Milgram's study?

Answer 46

Generalisability - Used only men from America - limited representativeness Ecological validity - artifical lab experiment Ethical issues - Many Ps suffered from psychological distress

Question 47

What were the 4 variations that were done in the Milgram study?

Answer 47

Loss of uniform Location Proximity Absent experimenter

Question 48

What happened in the variation with a loss of uniform and what was the level of obedience?

Answer 48

The experimenter appeared to be an ordinary member of society without wearing the white coat - 20% obedience

Question 49

What is the theoretical explanation for the impact of loss of uniform for obedience in Milgram's study? What supporting evidence is there?

Answer 49

Uniform can convey power and authority and this impacts obedience. In the original study the experimenter wore a lab coat but in the variation when the experimenter wore normal clothes, obedience dropped - Bickman - 3 males wore either a milkman uniform, a security guard uniform, or ordinary clothes. 76% obeyed the security guard but less people obeyed the milkman and ordinarily dressed confederate

Question 50

What happened in Milgram's variation of location and what was the level of obedience?

Answer 50

Experimenter moved from prestigious YALE university to a rundown office block in nearby Bridgeport - 48% obedience

Question 51

What happened in the proximity and close proximity variation in Milgram's study and what was the two levels of obedience?

Answer 51

Proximity - Learner moved into the same room as the teacher - 40% obedience Close proximity - Experimenter left the room and gave instructions by telephone - 30% obedience

Question 52

What happened in Milgram's variation of an absent experimenter and what was the obedience levels?

Answer 52

The experimenter gave instructions from another room - obedience level 21%

Question 53

What was the supporting and contradicting evidence for Milgram's study variation of an absent experimenter?

Answer 53

Supporting - Rank & Jacobson - The nurses could consult with each other which made it easier to justify their disobedience to the doctors orders from over the phone. Only 2 out of 18 obeyed Contradicting - Hofling - Nurses were told over the phone to administer twice the advised dosage of a made up drug to patients. They weren't supposed to take instructions by pone but 21 out of 22 still obeyed the doctors remote orders

Question 54

What are the three explanations for obedience?

Answer 54

Agentic state Legitimacy of authority Authoritarian personality

Question 55

What is the definition of agentic state?

Answer 55

The proposal that people obey because when they are given a command by an authority figure the 'switch into' a different state in which they no longer feel personally responsible for their actions

Question 56

What is agentic state and autonomous state?

Answer 56

If you are in the agentic state you are on a kind of obedience auto-pilot, surrendering our conscience Autonomous we feel in control, we accept personal responsibility

Question 57

What is moral strain? and how does a person cope with moral strain?

Answer 57

In the agentic state but you don't agree with it. This happened in Milgram's study because the experimenter took responsibility. Individuals cope by reinforcing themselves that it's not their responsibility. Milgram's study showed the Pts starting to sweat, shaking, etc. Also they may repress and deny that it even happened (some nazi soldiers did this after the holocaust)

Question 58

What two parts are there to legitimacy of authority?

Answer 58

Socialisation and Social hierarchy

Question 59

What is socialisation as a part of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 59

From early childhood we are socialised by our parents at home and our teachers at school into obeying those who have authority over us. We obey people with legitimate authority because we trust them or because they have the power to punish us.

Question 60

What is the social hierarchy in terms of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 60

For example, students generally recognise they are lower in the social hierarchy than teachers. As a result, they typically tend to obey as they think a qualified teachers has the right to make a demand.

Question 61

What factors help to identify legitimacy of authority?

Answer 61

What they look like, How they behave, If they are wearing a symbol of authority, If we perceive the authority figure to have power to punish us then we typically obey them

Question 62

What are three strengths for the Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority explanations for obedience?

Answer 62

Agentic state - Research - Milgram's LoA - Research - Bickman Both - Applications - Nazi Germany

Question 63

What are two weaknesses for the Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority explanations for obedience?

Answer 63

Both - Limited psychological explanation, better explanations out there - dispositional explanation of the authoritarian personality Both - Leads to 'obedience alibi'

Question 64

What are the 4 factors that contribute to authoritarian personality?

Answer 64

Might is right Upbringing Personality traits The F scale

Question 65

What is Might is Right as a factor of authoritarian personality?

Answer 65

Someone who you see us having authority figure, you see them as being right

Question 66

What is Upbringing as a factor of authoritarian personality?

Answer 66

Based on Sigmund Freud's idea that the adult personality is determined by childhood experience. Harsh and punitive upbringing: little love with much punishment leads to a fear of parents and excessively respectful of authority figures or leads to hatred of parents which causes hate and anger displaced onto others

Question 67

What is Personality traits as a factor of authoritarian personality?

Answer 67

Some people are more likely to obey others because they have a more obedient personality.

Question 68

What is The F Scale as a factor of authoritarian personality?

Answer 68

Developed by Fromm - A questionnaire that asks respondents a variety of questions about their attitudes towards authority figures. This higher the score on the F-scale the more likely you are to be obedient. Questionnaire's were used in the Milgram's study

Question 69

What are two strengths of authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience?

Answer 69

Research - Elms and Milgram Applications - why certain personality types are more prone to obeying orders

Question 70

What are two weaknesses of authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience?

Answer 70

Alternative explanations - situational explanations - Milgram variations Theoretical issues - problem with cause and effect - Middendrop and Meloen

Question 71

What is resisting social influence?

Answer 71

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majoirty or to obey to authority. This involves the rejection of social influence to behave in accordance with one's own internal attitudes. The ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by situational and dispositional factors

Question 72

What percentage of Pts in Milgram's study showed some social influence and in Asch's study resisted social influence on every trial?

Answer 72

Milgram - 35% Asch - 25%

Question 73

What two factors explain why people resist social influence and give an example for each:

Answer 73

Situational factors - social support Dispositional factors - ILoC

Question 74

What does this mean: " Situations where you have social support from another non-conformist promoting RSI"

Answer 74

When a minority is given an ally who disagrees with the majority they are more likely to resist social influence because they are more confident in expressing their own views and they experience less anxiety

Question 75

What does this mean: " Situations where you have social support from another disobedient person also promotes RSI"

Answer 75

This is because individuals will be more confident about disobeying when they are not alone. For example, because they experience less moral strain and they are more confident, they feel not alone in resisting authority figures

Question 76

What is two strengths for social support as a reason for resisting social influence?

Answer 76

-Research- Rees and Wallace -Applications- avoid situations that could cause negative social influences

Question 77

What is two weaknesses for social support as a reason for resisting social influence?

Answer 77

-Alternative explanations- internal locus of control -Theoretical problems- overlooks individual differences

Question 78

What does internal locus of control mean?

Answer 78

The extent to which we think we have control over our own behauvior as measured by a questionnaire

Question 79

How does ILoC relate to resisting social influence?

Answer 79

Having high ILoC's: active seeker of information that is useful to them, more responsibility for their actions hence they are more likely yo base their decisions on their own beliefs, tend to be more self confident and achievement orientated, they see themselves in more control of a situation

Question 80

What are two strengths for the ILoC?

Answer 80

-Research- Spector investigated locus of control and conformity -Applications- In Asch's study high ILoC would be less likely to conform

Question 81

What are two weaknesses of the ILoC?

Answer 81

-Exaggerated- Rotter pointed that LOC only comes into play in novel situations -Research-Twenge found over 40 years people were becoming more likely to resist social influence but were becoming more external in their LOC

Question 82

What is meant by minority influence?

Answer 82

A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours

Question 83

What three factors are seen as crucial to minority influence?

Answer 83

Consistency Commitment Flexibility

Question 84

In minority influence what two types of consistency are there and what do they mean?

Answer 84

Synchronic consistency- consistency between members of the minority Diachronic consistency- consistency over time

Question 85

What does commitment mean as a factor of minority influence, and what principle is within commitment?

Answer 85

It's more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position, for example, by making personal sacrifices. This is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self-interest Augmentation principle- making sacrifices for the commitment

Question 86

What does flexibility mean as a factor of minority influence?

Answer 86

Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it's seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore, minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise

Question 86

What descriptive word would be used to describe: consistency, commitment, flexibility

Answer 86

consistency- stability commitment- dedication flexibility- compromise

Question 87

What example would be used to show consistency within minority influence?

Answer 87

Women's suffragettes - they all agreed that women deserve the right to vote and the movement lasted decades, but they remained consistent with their beliefs

Question 88

What example would be used to show commitment within minority influence?

Answer 88

Women's suffragettes - Emily Dickinson ran in front of the kings horse and was killed; also many were imprisoned and were force fed when they went on hunger strike

Question 89

What example would be used to show flexibility within minority influence?

Answer 89

Women's suffragettes - during WW1 the women knew the war was a priority so waited till is was over to continue their protest

Question 90

What are two strengths for minority influence?

Answer 90

Research- Moscovici Applications- benefits the lives of many people in society (suffragettes)

Question 91

What are two weaknesses for minority influence?

Answer 91

Alternative- identification depends on the group Low explanatory power- real life minority groups are much different from participants in laboratory experiments

Question 92

What is social change and when does it happen?

Answer 92

Social change refers to the ways in which a society develops over time to replace beliefs, attitudes and behaviour with new norms and expectations. It occurs when a society as a whole adopts new beliefs or behaviours which then become widely accepted as the 'norm'

Question 93

What six processes can trigger social change?

Answer 93

Consistency of the minority Commitment Flexibility Snowball effect Conformity Obedience

Question 94

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does consistency of the minority trigger social change?

Answer 94

They didn't give up and they stuck to the key message of their cause. They fought from 1903 until women were given the vote in 1918. The key aim of the movement was consistent over time and between members of the group

Question 95

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does commitment trigger social change?

Answer 95

A number of women were willing to be imprisoned and put themselves in harms way and/or face social stigma in support of the movement. This showed great commitment to the cause

Question 96

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does flexibility trigger social change?

Answer 96

When the war came in 1914 the women temporarily stopped their campaigning so they could help with the war efforts

Question 97

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does snowball effect trigger social change?

Answer 97

Once change began to happen it accelerated quickly. Gradually the minority view became the majority view. After being successfully persuaded by a minority, people tend to forget where these new views came from

Question 98

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does conformity trigger social change?

Answer 98

This can happen via informational social influence and/or internalisation where the information/values/views/beliefs provided by an individual is genuinely accepted and taken on board both publicly and privately so social change occurs

Question 99

Using the Suffragettes as an example, how does obedience trigger social change?

Answer 99

When a law gets changed we have to follow that law

Question 100

What are three strengths of the processes in social change?

Answer 100

-Research- Moscovicis study -Holistic- accounts for many factors -Applications- real and lasting social change(homosecuality, suffragettes)

Question 101

What is a weakness of the processes in social change?

Answer 101

Methodological issues with research- pt's in lab experiments are rarely 'real groups' also doing an artifical task