social influence Flashcards
describe and evaluate types of conformity AO1
Normative social influence: yielding to group pressure because a person wants to fit in, scared of being rejected by a group, usually involves compliance- accepts views of a group publicly not privately- supported by Asch
Informational social influence: occurs when person lacks knowledge and looks to group for guidance, in an ambiguous situation, usually involves internalisation- person accepts views of groups publicly and privately
describe and evaluate types of conformity AO3 strengths
1) NSI supported by Asch- demonstrates how individuals will conform with the majority on an unambiguous line test to be liked/ not judged- shows NSI is a valid assumption of why ppl conform
2) ISI supported by Sherif- estimates on how far the line moved was impacted by other peoples beliefs- especially when ppts uncertain about the answer themselves- supports ISI that individuals will be influenced by members of the majority who appear more informed than themselves
describe and evaluate types of conformity AO3 limitations
1) research into types of conformity is artificial- lab experiments- lack ecological validity, tasks do not reflect real life- lack mundane realism
2) difficult to distinguish between compliance and internalisation- assumed that a person that publicly agrees with a majority yet disagrees with them in private must be demonstrating compliance not internalisation- but also possible that acceptance of the groups views has occured in public yet dissipates when in private because they have forgotten info given by the group or recieved info that has changed their mind
discuss research into conformity AO1
Asch:
A- investigate extent social pressure from a majority group can affect a persons likeliness to conform
P- line judgement task
naive ppt in room with 7 confederates- all agreed a collective answer before hand
each ppt had to state out loud which comparison line was the most like the target line
done 18x, confed gave wrong answer 12x
F- 1/3 ppts conformed to wrong answer , 75% to wrong answer at least once
C- interviewed after, most said they conformed due to fear of being judged, some believed the group were better informed
discuss research into conformity AO3 (2 strengths and 2 limitations)
(+) lab experiment- replicable to test for similar results, no extraneous variables, establish cause and effect
(+) supporting evidence from sherif- both show ppts will conform to group pressure and change beliefs accordingly, reliability increased
(-) ethical issues- deception- naive ppt- could be addressed using a debrief, after exp- ppts said they conformed due to fear of being ridiculed- questions protection from psychological harm
(-) limited sample- all male, all american- not representative- lacks pop validity- women more conforming than males
discuss variables affecting conformity AO1
Asch
1) group size- w 3 confeds- conformity increased to 30%, group sizes larger than this had little difference
2) unamity of majority- presence of non conforming role model- presence reduced levels of conformity from 33% to 5.5%
3) task dificulty- made line judgment task more dificult by making comparisons more similar- conformity increased- easier tasks led to decreased conformity
discuss variables affecting conformity AO3
(+) the study itself- both studies show participants will conform to group size & pressure and change their beliefs accordingly - Due to the research having supporting evidence, the reliability is increased
(-) Problems with determining the effects of group size - Only limited group sizes were used so we are unable to determine the effect with larger group sizes > questioned by research by Bond
(-) Independent behaviour rather than conformity - In Asch’s study only 1/3 of trials where the majority unanimously gave the same wrong answer produced a conforming response whilst 2/3 of these trials the ppts resolutely stuck to their original judgement
(-) Asch believed that rather than showing human beings to be overly conformist, his study had actually demonstrated accommodable tendency for ppts to stick to what they believed to be the correct judgement = independent behaviour
discuss research into conformity into social roles AO1
Zimbardo
A- investigate the extent to which ppts would conform to social roles
P- mock prison, 24 male american students, volunteer sample, judged before hand to ensure mentally stable, paid $15 per day to ppt, due to last 2 weeks, randomly allocate to role of either prisoner or guard, prisoners- unexpectedly arrested and referred to by number not name, guards given uniform, mirrored sunglasses and baton, 8 hour shifts, prisoners in cells 23 hours a day
F- short time both conformed to social roles, guards adopted aggressive and assertive behaviours, prisoners became very submissive. study aborted after 6 days- prisoners suffered mental breakdowns
C- all ppts conformed to social roles and changed behaviours to what they believed was expected for their social role
discuss research into conformity to social roles AO3
(+) validity of study- zimbardo went to great extremes into making the study as true to life as possible e.g. prisoners arrested
(-) validity of study- study criticised for lacking ecological validity- practical and ethical reasons the prison could not be totally realistic
(-) unrepresentative sample- 24 normal, healthy, male, college students- middle class and white - hard to generalise to others
(-) ethical issues
deception- prisoners arrested unexpectedly
protection from harm
discuss research into obedience AO1
obedience- individual acts in response to direct order from someone who is usually of higher authority
Milgram:
A- investigate how far people would go to obey instruction if involved harming another person
P- ppt introduced to confed, drew straws to determine roles- teacher/learner- confed always learner, also an experimenter in lab coat, ppt observed confed being strapped into chair and attached to electrodes, teachers advised to administer shocks for incorrect answers/unanswered, shocks 15-450 volts, prods used to encourage
F- 2/3 ppts continued to highest level, all ppts continued to 300 volts
C- ordinary ppl likely to follow orders given by authority figure
discuss research into obedience AO3
(+) lab experiment- able to replicate, control EVs, establish cause and effect
(-) lab experiment- artificial, lacks ecological validity, task lacks mundane realism
(-) limited sample- all male, all american, selective age range, lacks pop validity, small sample (only 40 ppts) difficult to generalise to wider
(-) ethical issues- clear evidence of deception, lack of informed consent, inability to protect from psychological harm, unclear right to withdraw (paid and prods being used)
discuss situational variables affecting obedience AO1
1) proximity- how close you are to authrity figure- milgram - experimenter in same room as ppt, when exp instructed and prompted over telephone in diff room- obedience fell to 20.5%,
2) uniform- milgram- exp wore lab coat, when dressed in every day clothes obedience low, uniform gives status
3) location- setting of experiment, milgram- exp at yale (prestigus location)- more likely to obey
moved exp to run down offices- dropped to 47.5%
discuss situational variables affecting obedience AO3 (3 strengths and 1 limitation)
(+) evidence to support- systematically altered each variable one at a time- all other procedures and variables remained constant and research was replicated over and over to ensure reliabilty
(+) bicman- field experiment to support uniform- 3 conditions involving diff uniform, uniform portrays authority
(+) bushman- field exp involving female confed, wearing series of diff clothing- when seen to be wearing uniform levels of obedience increased
(-) when milgram manipulated variables- likely ppts became aware of control and saw the exp as artificial- behaviour may have been affected and internal validity of research can be questioned
discuss 2 explanations of obedience AO1
1) agentic state- mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority
frees us from the demands o our conscience and allows us to obey
2) legitimacy of authority- suggest we are more likely to obey people who we percieve to have authority over us.
this authority is justified by the individuals position within social hierarchy
discuss 2 explanations of obedience AO3 (2 strengths and 2 limitations)
(+) agentic state supported by milgram- interviewed afer exp-‘do you take fully responisbility for that man’
(+) legitimacy of authority- supported by milgrams variables- uniform and location
(-) milgram found that some ppts had sadistic tendencies- legitimacy can serve as basis for justifying the harming of others- no loger fell own moral values relevant to their conduct- may readily engage in unquestioning obedience to authority
(-) doesnt explain permanent/gradual changes
