Social influence Flashcards
Social influence
the process by which our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by other people
conformity
the process whereby people change their beliefs, attitudes, actions or perceptions to more closely match those held by groups to which they belong or want to belong or by grops whose approval they desire
informational social influence (ISI)
the want to be right about things. this can turn us into us copying other people’s behaviours because you think they know more than you. E.g. when you don’t know which end of the line to queue at you would
normative social influence
the want to be liked and accepted by others. we may change our normal behaviour to fit into a particular group of people.
social factors affecting conformity
task difficulty, group size anonymity
dispositional factors affecting conformity
personality and expertise
personality
the less positive a self esteem and IQ a person has the more likely they are to conform
expertise
the more expertise the less likely we are to conform
locus of control
the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
Asch AIM
To investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority could affect a person to conform
Asch PPT
123 American Male Students
Asch PROCEDURE
There was 1 naive ppt in each group. The rest were confederates. The confeds were told to give incorrect answers in 12/18 trials, namely the critical trials. The question was which line (A,B or C) matched with line X. The naive ppt was always last or close to last to answer, providing him with pressure to conform.
Asch FINDINGS
76% conformed at least once
37% conformed during all critical trials
Asch CONCLUSION
People conform to fit into a group, even when they know they’re right. However, various factors affect conformity and some people are able to resist it
Asch EVALUATION
D: gen, all men and students, not aplicable to gen society
D: low ecological validity, matching lines isn’t normal, not reflect conformity irl
D: validity, tells more about the culture of 1950s america, more conservative
internal locus of control
when people believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them
external locus of control
believe its mainly a matter of luck or outside forces
obedience
type of social influence where someone acts in response to a direct order from a figure with percieved authority
agent
a person who acts on behalf of others
milgrams agency theory
an individual will obey a figure of authority when they believe that the authority will take responsibility of the consequences of their actions
- milgrams ppts believed the experimenter would take responsibility and so did as told
automous state
when you behave according to your own principles and feel responsible for your own actions
agentic state
a mental state where we feel no responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting to an authority figure
agentic shift
change happens after an authority figure has been identified and an individual feels as though they need to follow their commands
fascism
far-right form of government in whihc most of the country’s power is held by one ruler or a small group under a single party.