Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
Conformity
A
a change in a person’s behaviour or opinion as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
2
Q
Internalisation
A
- the deepest form of conformity
- when you permanently adopt the beliefs/behaviours of the group
- eg. going to a religious school and becoming religious yourself
3
Q
Compliance
A
- the most shallow type of conformity
- following the group’s ideas to avoid disapproval
- agree in public, disagree in private
3
Q
Identification
A
- temporary/short-term change in beliefs and behaviour when with the group
- eg. acting more professional when you arrive at your office to work
4
Q
Informational Social Influence
A
- conforming with a group because you want to be right - eg. following the direction of a crowd in an emergency even if they don’t know where they are going, as they assume everyone else is going to the right place
5
Q
Normative Social Influence
A
- conforming because you to be liked and part of a group
- eg. starting to smoke after being surrounded by other people that smoke
6
Q
Sherif’s study
A
- lab experiment that aimed to investigate conformity in ambiguous situations
- used the auto-kinetic effect: a small spot of light was projected into a dark room and appeared to move even though it was still (optical illusion)
- put the ppts in groups of 3 and found that in an ambiguous situation, they copied the answers of the others (ISI)
6
Q
Asch’s Study
A
- 123 male American undergraduates were put in groups of 6 (1 ppt + 5 confederates)
- presented with 4 lines and had to state which of the 3 lines was the same length as the stimulus line
- ppt always answered last or second last
- confederates gave the wrong answer in 12/18 trials
- 75% of ppts conformed at least once
7
Q
Variables affecting conformity
A
- Group size
- Unanimity
- Task difficulty
8
Q
Group size
A
- with just 1 confederate, conformity dropped to 3%
- with 3 confederates, conformity was the same as in the original trial which shows that conformity reaches it’s highest level w/ just 3 confederates
9
Q
Unanimity
A
- Asch did a variation of his experiment in which one confederate gave the right answer throughout –> conformity dropped to 5%
- if the real ppt. has an ally, they are more likely to resist group pressure
10
Q
Task difficulty
A
- in Asch’s original experiment, the correct answer was always obvious
- in variations where the task was more difficult (difference between line length was significantly smaller) conformity increased
- likely the result of ISI
11
Q
AO3 Asch - Lab experiment
A
- high internal validity
- easily replicated
- supports psychology as a science
12
Q
AO3 Asch - Ethical issues
A
- ppts. were deceived and couldn’t give informed consent
- potential psychological harm as ppts. could be embarrassed after discovering the study’s true aim
- however, ppts. were debriefed after
13
Q
AO3 Asch - Low ecological validity
A
- the task lacked mundane realism
- cannot be generalised to real life
- lab experiment
14
Q
AO3 Asch - Low population validity
A
- all male American undergraduate students
- subject to both gender and culture bias and cannot be generalised to wider populations
15
Q
Conformity to Social Roles - Zimbardo’s procedure
A
- controlled observation
- 24 American male undergraduate students volunteered to take part and were paid
- either allocated the role of prisoner or prison guard
- guards were given black out glasses, batons, and uniforms
- prisoners were fake-arrested in their homes, deloused, and given uniforms
- guards were empowered to do whatever they want, apart from physical violence
16
Q
Conformity to Social Roles - Zimbardo’s findings
A
- both prisoners and guards adopted their roles very quickly
- the guards tormented the prisoners
- although deemed psychologically healthy before the experiment, some prisoners experienced extreme adverse psychological problems and had to be removed
- had to be cut short
17
Q
AO3 Zimbardo - Ethical issues
A
- prisoner ppts. experienced extreme psychological harm (1 was released on the first day due to uncontrollable crying and screaming, 2 released on the second day)
- lack of informed consent due to the deception
- however, they were debriefed after and the experiment led to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines
18
Q
AO3 Zimbardo - Low population validity
A
- all male American undergraduate students
- both gender and culture bias present
- low generalisability
19
Q
AO3 Zimbardo - Demand characteristics
A
- the ppts. volunteered themselves and were being paid, so could’ve played further into their roles to please Zimbardo
20
Q
AO3 Zimbardo - Real life support
A
- the horrors of Abu Ghraib support Zimbardo’s findings and theories on conformity to social roles
- during the Iraq war, US military personnel raped, tortured, and violently abused the prisoners in the prison
- in the military trials, Zimbardo was called as an expert witness
- however, the BBC also recreated the experiment and found the prisoners didn’t conform to their roles
21
Q
AO3 Zimbardo - Real life application
A
- the research changed the way US prisons are run today, eg. young prisoners are no longer kept with adults to prevent bad behaviour being perpetuated
22
Q
Milgram’s procedure
A
- 40 male volunteers
- ppt. given role as ‘teacher’ and confederate given role of ‘learner’
- the teacher asked the learner a series of questions, to which they answered wrong on person
- the teacher (ppt) was then encouraged by the experimenter (who wore a white lab coat) to give an electric shock the learner
- electric shocks went up 15V at a time, up to 450V (with 330V being lethal)
- if the teacher resisted, the experimenter forcefully prompted him to continue (things like, ‘the experiment requires you to continue’, ‘you must continue’
23
Q
Milgram’s findings
A
- 65% of ppts. went all the way to 450V
- all ppts. went up to 300V
24
Q
Factors affecting obedience
A
- Proximity
- Location
- Uniform
25
Q
Proximity
A
- when the teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience dropped to 40%
- when the teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto the shock plate, obedience dropped to 30%
- when the experimenter gave instructions over the phone, obedience dropped to 21%
26
Q
Location
A
- the original research was conducted in Yale University which is highly prestigious
- when recreated in a run down building in Connecticut, obedience dropped from 65% to 48%
- less credible locations lead to less obedience
27
Q
Uniform
A
- in most of Milgram’s variations the experimenter wore a white lab coat
- in a variation where the experimenter was called away and replaced with a confederate wearing ordinary clothes, obedience fell to 20%
28
Q
Further support for uniform - Bickman (1974)
A
- field experiment with 3 actors dressed as a security guard, milkman, and normal pedestrian
- the actors asked member of the public to pick up a bag, give someone money for parking, and stand at a sign that said ‘no standing’
- security guard obeyed 76%
- milkman obeyed 47%
- pedestrian obeyed 30%
29
Q
AO3 Milgram - Low ecological validity
A
- task lacked mundane realism
- extremely unlikely that the average person would find themself in a situation like this, so isn’t a true measure of obedience
30
Q
AO3 Milgram - Ethical issues
A
- the ppts. were deceived and could’t provide informed consent
- showed signs of distress like sweating trembling, and nervous laughter and still were prompted to continue
- they could’ve felt extreme guilt for inflicting pain on another person
- however, they were debriefed after and follow-ups found that there was no lasting psychological harm (84% of ppts. were glad they took part)
31
Q
AO3 Milgram - Socially sensitive
A
- findings suggested that those who are responsible for killing innocent people can be excused due to the situation they were put it in and difficulty when it comes to disobeying
- this can be problematic, especially in a judiciary sense where individuals are supposed to take moral responsibility for their actions
32
Q
AO3 Milgram - Low population validity
A
- all participants were American males, so the findings cannot be generalised to women or people from different cultures
- however, a replication with women as ppts. found the same obedience levels as men
33
Q
AO3 Milgram - Real life support from My Lai massacre
A
- in 1968 American soldiers killed 800 Vietnamese villagers due to orders from their lieutenant
- in military court, the soldiers argued that they were only following orders from their superior
- supports Milgram’s findings and also helps prevent future events like this as soldiers could be trained to report and refuse orders of such a violent nature
34
Q
Agentic state
A
- a mental state in which a person feels no personal responsibility for their actions because they are acting on behalf of an authority figure
- opposite of autonomous state
35
Q
Legitimacy of authority
A
- we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
- legitimacy is increased by factors like uniform
36
Q
AO3 Agentic state - Blass and Schmidt Research evidence
A
- showed students a film of Milgram’s study and asked them who was to blame for the harm of the learner
- they blamed the experimenter due to his legitimate authority as a scientist
37
Q
Authoritarian personality
A
- dispositional explanation
- makes people more prone to obedience
- measured by Adorno’s F scale
- thought to be caused by a strict upbringing
- people with this personality are typically rigid thinkers and hostile to people they see as inferior to them
38
Q
AO3 F-Scale - Questionnaire
A
- questionnaires are limited as a means of assessment as they use closed questions
- produces only quantitative data
- could lead to social desirability bias as ppts. taking the questionnaire knew their results would be seen by others
39
Q
AO3 AP/F-scale - Research support
A
- Milgram and Elms gave the F-scale to 20 fully obedient and 20 disobedient ppts. of Milgram’s study
- found that obedient ppts. scored higher on the questionnaire
40
Q
AO3 Authoritarian Personality - Low explanatory power
A
- cannot explain obedient behaviour in large masses of people
- eg. in WW2 the Germans had many different personalities (no way all of them had an AP)
- AP explanation is limited because it cannot explain why they all obeyed the Nazi’s
41
Q
Resistance to social influence
A
- a person’s ability to limit the social influence on them
- eg. resisting peer pressure
42
Q
AO3 Authoritarian Personality - Politically biased
A
- cannot explain obedience across the political spectrum as it only accounts for right-wing authoritarianism
-doesn’t account for left-wing authoritarianism like Bolshevism
43
Q
Locus of Control (Rotter 1966)
A
- the extent to which an individual believes they have control over their lives
- internal: caused by their own decisions and efforts
- external: caused by fate/luck
- people with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform
44
Q
AO3 Locus of control - Research support
A
- Atgis (1998) found a link between locus of control and conformity
- a meta-analysis found that those with an external LoC were more likely to conform, supporting the explanation
- however, this is merely correlational
45
Q
AO3 Locus of control - Contradicting evidence
A
- Twenge et Al (2004) found that over time American’s have become more resistant to social influence but also more external in their LoC
- weakens the explanation that having an internal LoC leads to resistance to social influence
46
Q
Minority influence
A
- when a small group/individual influences the behaviour and beliefs of a larger group of people
47
Q
What do minorities need to be to have success?
A
- Consistency
- Commitment (eg. making a sacrifice)
- Flexibility
48
Q
Moscovici’s procedure
A
- 172 female in groups of 6 (4 ppts and 2 confederates) were shown 36 slides of different shades of blue and asked to state the colour of each slide
- in the first part of the experiment, the confederates said all slides were green, and in the second they said 2/3 were green
49
Q
Moscovici’s findings
A
- in the first condition, the consistent minority caused 9% of ppts to state slides were green
- in the second condition, the inconsistent minority caused only 1.25% of ppts to state they were green
50
Q
AO3 Moscovici - Low ecological Validity
A
- lab experiment, task lacked mundane realism
- in real life, minorities like Greenpeace often face much bigger opposition like political climate and the law
- lab experiments cannot properly represent the power dynamic that there is between minorities and majorities in real life
51
Q
AO3 Moscovici - Low population validity
A
- all female sample so cannot generalise findings to males
- females are often considered to be more conformist than males which suggests there may be a gender difference in the way men and women react to minority influence
- the sample was small (4 people in the group) and is not representative of the majorities in real life
52
Q
AO3 Moscovici - Ethical issues
A
- the ppts. were deceived into thinking they were doing a colour-perception test and didn’t give informed consent to take part
- however, this prevented demand characteristics so was necessary for the validity of the results, and the ppts. were fully debriefed after
53
Q
AO3 Minority Influence - Real life evidence
A
- the suffragette movement is a real life experience of a minority influencing a majority
- the campaigned for women’s rights and through being committed, consistent, and flexible they achieved suffrage for women
- they were especially committed, with one suffragette Emily Davidson giving her life to the movement and forcing the majority to pay attention to their demands
54
Q
Social change
A
the ways in which a society develops over time to replace beliefs, attitudes and behaviour with new norms and expectations
