social influence Flashcards
define conformity & majority influence
conformity = changing our beliefs / behaviours to fit in with everyone else
- majority influence = behaviour of a large group affect the behaviour of a smaller group
what are the 2 types of conformity ?
Informational & normative
what is collective behaviour?
- actions of a group of people who have come together for a particular reason
what is crowd behaviour
- unplanned activity which could lead to people acting in a way they wouldn’t normally do.
what is pro social behaviour
actions that work in favour of society
what is anti - social behaviour
actions that work against society
examples of pro & anti social behaviour
pro = donating a charity
anti = mob rioting at a football match
define obedience
- following the orders of an authority figure - individual behaves in a certain way because they feel there will be severe consequences if they do not do so.
examples of situational factors
- majority influence
- presence of an authority figure
- deindividuation
- culture
describe the role of situational factors to explain conformity.
- effect of majority influence on conformity
- suggests that the more people who are applying pressure to you , the more likely you are to conform
describe the effect of crowd & collective behaviour (situational)
- you act differently in a crowd because you experience deindividuation -> you lose your sense of identity & act as the crowd does
what is the effect of culture on pro + anti social behaviour (situational )
- some cultures are collectivist -> members more community minded -> do things that benefit society instead of them -> pro social behaviour
- some cultures are individualistic -> focus on themselves. -> anti social behaviour
aim of Bickman’s study
investigate degree of social power associated with different types of uniform
research design for bickman
field experiment - real life setting
what was bickmans sample
153 pedestrians 18-61
how was bickmans study standardised
- confederate giving orders were always a white male aged 18 & 20.
- all had same features
procedure of Bickman’s research
- pedestrians were approached by one of 3 outfits (civillian , milkman & guard) & asked to do one of 3 things :
- pick up litter
- pay for parking
- stand on the other side of the bus stop
results of Bickman’s research
- no significant difference in obedience rates between milkman & civillian - however for the guard , rates of obedience were significantly higher.
2 criticisms for Bickman.
- Due to the nature of the experiment - no informed consent was gained from the participants - & they had no right to withdraw. - makes the study unethical.
- culturally biased -> people living in America may obey less than people in rural settings. -> findings do not represent other countries
examples of dispositional factors
- self esteem
- authoritarian personality
- locus of control
- morality
describe the role of authoritarian personality on obedience (dispositional )
- this is a personality type that is brought about through a strict + rigid upbringing - leading individuals to fear authority figures
- people with this personality are much more likely to obey authority figures.
- as they’re unable to challenge authority figures , they are instead hostile & discriminatory to those they consider of a lower status
describe the role of self esteem on conformity
- a person can gave low self esteem (have a negative opinion on themselves - lacks confidence) or a high self esteem (positive view of themselves , feeling confident)
- if someone with low self esteem lacks confidence - more likely to conform to a majority group
- whereas those with high self esteem are more likely to maintain independent views.
describe the role of morality on pro & anti social behaviour
- 3 stages ->
describe the role of locus of control on collective & crowd behaviour
- internal locus of control = believe they are responsible for the outcomes in their own lives & success + failure are due to their own choices - less likely to engage in crowd behaviour
- external locus of control = believe they have no control over their life & tend to be passive & accept what fate has in store for them. - More likely to engage in crowd behaviour
criticism of dispositional factors
-focus too much on how individual traits may make somebody more likely to obey / conform - limited as it cannot be generalised to all situations - as there can be other factors that may prevent the person from being influenced.
aim of Natcen study
- to investigate what triggered the riots - with an involvement of young people
natcen study - sample
36 participants evenly split over & under 18 - range of ethnic groups
procedure for natcen
- took place 5 weeks after riots
- participants interviewed individually or in groups of 2 / 4.
how did they maintain ethics in Natcen’s study
- researchers gained full informed consent form participants & confidentiality
what were the results of Natcen’s study (who was involved)
- watchers -> observed but didn’t take part - bystanders. + curious
- rioters - involved in violent disturbance / vandalism
- looters - involved in breaking into shops & stealing goods
- non involved - didn’t take part
results for natcen ( why where they involved )
- nudge factors encouraged them to get involved
- tug factors discouraged involvement
What is normative conformity
- when a person conforms to be accepted / belong to a group
- changes public beliefs but still hold the same private beliefs
what is infromational conformity
- when a person conforms because they want to be perceived as correct & so follow the lead of others
what is the effect of authority figures on obedience (situational)
the more power someone has , the more likely people will be to obey them. People are in an agentic state when they are given an order
criticism of situational factor
-> deterministic -> assumption people will behave in similar ways when put in a certain situation. -> ignores individual differences
