Social influence Flashcards
What is conformity
-yielding to group pressure
- it occurs when an individuals behaviour and / or beliefs are influenced by a larger group of people
- its also known as majority influence
What is compliance as a type of conformity
- occurs when individuals adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of the group to be accepted or avoid disapproval
- its a fairly weak and temporary form of conformity
What is identification as a type of conformity
- when individuals adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of a group, because membership of that group is desirable
- its a stronger form of conformity although it is often temporary
What is internalisation as a type of conformity
- when individuals genuinely adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of that group
- its known as true conformity
Who came up with the two explanations to conformity
Deutsch and Gerard (1955)
What are the two explanations for conformity
- Informational Social Influence (ISI)
- Normative Social Influence (NSI)
Describe Informational Social Influence (ISI)
- when humans have a need of certainty
- when people are unsure about something, they look at the behaviours and opinions of others and shape their thoughts and behaviours around them
Outline the procedure into a study into ISI
- Jenness’ sweet jar study
+PROCEDURE
1. p’s made individual guesses of number of jellybeans in a jar
2. p’s then discussed their guesses throughout the group
3. after discussion, group estimates were created
4. p’s then made a 2nd individual guess
What are the findings into Jenness’ sweet jar study into ISI
FINDINGS
- p’s 2nd guess tended to converge towards the group estimate
- the average change of opinion was greater among women (women conformed more)
Strengths and limitations of Jenness’ sweet jar study into ISI
+ study is more ethically sound because deception was less severe
- it was a lab study so lacks mundane realism
- the study doesn’t tell us much about majority influence
Outline Asch’s study into conformity
PROCEDURE
- 123 male American university students took part
- they were in a room with 7-9 others who were all confederates who would say the wrong answer deliberately
FINDINGS
- out of 12 trials, 32% conformity rate to wrong answers
- 75% conformed to at least one wrong answer
- 5% conformed to all 12 wrong answers
CONCLUSION
- there are big individual differences to how people are affected by majority influence
- they were motivated by NSI in order to gain acceptance by the group
EVALUATION
- time consuming
- situation was unrealistic so lacked mundane realism
- unethical as it involved deceit
+ majority of people aren’t conformist but independant
- Only involved American male university students so doesn’t reflect wider range
What are three situational variables that affect conformity
- size of group
- unanimity
- task difficulty
How can the size of the group affect levels of conformity
- as the group size increases, so does conformity
How can unanimity affect levels of conformity
- conformity rates have been found to decline when majority influence is not unanimous
How can task difficulty affect levels of conformity
as task difficulty increases so does conformity
Describe the findings and evaluation of Zimbardo’s prison experiment
FINDINGS
- there was de-indivduation between prisoners
- after 36hrs a prisoner had to be released as they suffered mentally
- the programme was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14 as there was extreme harm happening
- both guards and prisoners were surprised at the behaviours they showed
EVALUATION
- extreme ethical issues as prisoners suffered physically, mentally and psychologically
- Zimbardo regarded his study as a failure as prison conditions since his study have become worse
Definition of obedience
type of social influence defined as complying with the demands of an authority figure
What are some ethical considerations towards Milgram’s experiment
- there was psychological harm where participants had severe stress when shocking the learner
- there was informed consent
- participants were given the right to withdraw
- participants were paid to take part
What is the agentic state
- Milgram proposed the theory
- individuals are in an autonomous state when individuals have control and act to their wishes. they see themselves personally responsible for their actions
- when an individual obeys an authority figure, they give up some free will so are in an agentic state
External explanations for situational variables affecting obedience
- proximity to a person
- location/ environment the individual is in
-uniform- if a person is wearing a uniform, people are more likely to obey
What is the dispositional explanation
an internal explanation with the idea that certain personality characteristics are associated with higher levels of obedience
Outline the authoritarian personality
- proposed by Fromm in 1941
- it explains those holding right-wing, conservative views and is a personality type characterised by a belief in absolute obedience
definition of resistance to social influence
the ways in which individuals attempt to withstand perceived attempts to threaten freedom of choice
definition of social support
the perception of assistance and solidarity available from others
What does resistance to social influence involve
- disobedience
- non-conformity
Which two ways does non-conformity happen by
- independance- involving a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy
- anti-conformity- involving a consistent movement away from social conformity
What is an example of social support
Variation of Asch’s experiment:
- if there was one dissenter/ disobedient confederate from the start, conformity dropped from 32% to 5.5%
- if the dissenter started later in the study, conformity still dropped to 8.5%
- it suggests social support received earlier is more effective than when its received later
Definition of Locus of Control (LoC)
the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events in their lives
What happens if people have a high internal LoC
they believe that they can affect the outcomes of situations
What happens if people have a high external LoC
they believe things turn out a certain way regardless of their actions
What does internal LoC refer to
that things happen as a result of individuals choices and decisions
What does external LoC refer to
that things happen as a result of luck, fate or other uncontrollable external forces
Which type of LoC does Rotter believe makes individuals more resistant to social pressure
internal LoC because they see themselves as more in control of a situation
What is an example into LoC and resisting conformity
- Spector (1983)
- he gave Rotter’s LoC scale to 157 university students
- he found students with high external LoC conformed more than those with low LoC but only in situations that produced normative social pressure
- both types didn’t conform in situations that produced ISI
What is systematic processing
when people are less likely to obey orders that have negative outcomes if they have time to consider the consequences of what they are being ordered to do
How is morality involved in resistance to obedience
people who make decisions on whether to obey or not are based on moral considerations are generally more resistant
How is personality involved in resistance to obedience
personal characteristics can help resist social influence
- individuals who can empathise with feelings of others are more able to resist orders
Definition of minority influence
a type of social influence that motivates individuals to reject established majority group norms
What is social cryptomnesia
- the snowball effect
- conversion starts off small with a few people but then builds up support
- after a time, more people change views and the minority gains status, power and acceptability
How can consistency help a minority influence
- if a minorities view is persuasive and unchanging, it shows confidence in their believes
How does commitment help a minority influence
if minorities stand up to opposition, people may re-evaluate their own view
How does flexibility help a minority influence
if minorities are able to be moderate, co-operative and reasonable then they will be persuasive
Definition of social change
the process by which society changes beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms
