Social Influence Flashcards
what are the three types of conformity?
- internalisation
- identification
- compliance
what is conformity?
- a change in a persons behaviour or opinions
- as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
what is internalisation?
- A deep type of conformity
- we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct.
- It leads to a permanent change in behaviour, even when the group is absent.
what is identification?
- A moderate type of conformity
- we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be part of it.
- But we don’t necessarily agree with everything the majority believes.
what is compliance?
- A temporary type of conformity
- go along with the majority view, but privately disagree with it.
- The change in our behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us.
what are the two main reasons people conform?
two central human needs:
- need to be liked (NSI) normative
- need to be right (ISI) informational
what is informational social influence?
- An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct.
- we accept it because we want to be correct as well
- may lead to internalisation
what is normative social influence?
- an explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked.
- this may lead to compliance
when is ISI and NSI most likely to occur?
ISI - in situations with ambiguity or your new to a person, crisis situations, one person is regarded to be more of an expert
NSI- situations with strangers as you fear rejection, or with friends as you care ab their approval most, stressful situations as we need more social support
what was the procedure in Ash’s research?
- he tested conformity by showing participants two large white cards at a time, one card being the standard line and the other card had three comparison lines (one being matched to the standard) and they were asked which line it was that matched?
what was the sample group of Ashs research?
123 American male undergraduates, each (naïve ppt) one tested with a group of six to eight confederates (the naive not aware they were confederates)
how did Ash use confederates to test the naives conformity?
on the first few trials the confederates gave the right a seres but then started to make errors, instructed to have the same wrong answer!!!
- each ppt took part in 18 trials and 12 critical trials the confed gave the wrong answer
what were the findings of Aschs research?
- the naive ppt gave the wrong answer 36% of the time
- overall 25% of the ppts did not conform on any trials and 75% did at least once
- the Asch effect = the extent to which participants conform when when the situation is unambiguous
- when interviewed after most said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI)
what were the variations of Asch’s research into conformity?
- Group size
- Unamity
- Task difficulty
why did Asch use group size as a variation for his conformity research?
- Group size
• whether the size of the group would be more important than the agreement of the group
• Asch found that with three confederates conformity to the wrong answer rose to 31.8% BUT the addition of further confederates made little difference. This suggests that a small majority is not sufficient for influence to be exerted but, at the other extreme, there is no need for a majority of more than three.
why did Asch use unanimity as a variation for his research?
if the presence of another, non-conforming, person would affect the naive participant’s conformity.
• To test this, he introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others - sometimes the new confederate gave the correct answer and sometimes he gave the wrong one.
The presence of a dissenting confederate meant that conformity was reduced by a quarter from the level it was when the majority was unanimous. The presence of a dissenter enabled the naive participant to behave more independently. This suggests that the influence of the majority depends to some extent on the group being unanimous.
why did Asch use task difficulty as a variation for his conformity research?
Asch made the line-judging task more difficult by making the stimulus line and the comparison lines more similar in length. He found that conformity increased under these conditions.
This suggests that informational social influence plays a greater role when the task becomes harder. This is because the situation is more ambiguous, so we are more likely to look to other people for guidance and to assume that they are right and we are wrong.
what was the question/ aim Philip Zimbardo wanted to find out from the Stanford Prison Experiment?
Following reports of brutality by guards in prisons across America in the late 1960s -
do prison guards behave brutall because they have sadistic personalities, or is it the situation that creates such behaviour?
what was the procedure for the stanford prison experiment SPE?
Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University. They advertised for students willing to volunteer!!!
and selected those who were deemed ‘emotionally stable” after extensive psychological testing. The students were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners. To heighten the realism of the study, the ‘prisoners’ were arrested in their homes by the loca police and were then delivered to the ‘prison’. They were blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused and issued a uniform and number.
The social roles of the prisoners and the guards were strictly divided. The prisoners dailv routines were heavily regulated. There were 16 rules they had to follow, which were enforced by the guards who worked in shifts, three at a time. The prisoners’ names were never used, only their numbers.
The guards, to underline their role, had their own uniform, complete with wooden club, handcuffs, keys and mirror shades. They were told they had complete power over the prisoners, for instance even deciding when they could go to the toilet.
define social roles
The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. Everyday examples include parent, child, student, passenger and so on. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role, for example caring, obedient, industrious, etc.
findings of the SPE?
After a slow start to the simulation, the guards took up their roles with enthusiasm. The behaviour became a threat to the prisoners’ psychological and physical health, and the study was stopped after six days instead of the intended 14.
Within two days, the prisoners rebelled against their harsh treatment by the guards.
They ripped their uniforms, and shouted and swore at the guards, who retaliated with fire extinguishers. The guards employed ‘divide-and-rule’ tactics by playing the prisoners off against each other. They harassed the prisoners constantly, to remind them they were being monitored all the time. For example, they conducted frequent headcounts, sometimes in the middle of the night, when the prisoners would stand in line and call ou their numbers. The guards highlighted the differences in social roles by creating plenty of opportunities to enforce the rules and punish even the smallest misdemeanour.
After their rebellion was put down, the prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious. One prisoner was released on the first day because he showed symptoms of psychological disturbance. Two more were released on the fourth day. One prisoner wen on a hunger strike. The guards attempted to force-feed him and then punished him by putting him in ‘the hole’, a tiny dark closet. Instead of being considered a hero, he was shunned by the other prisoners. The guards identified more and more closely with their role. Their behaviour became more brutal and aggressive, with some of them appearing to enjoy the power they had over the prisoners.
conclusion of the SPE?
The simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence people’s behaviour.
Guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles within the prison. These roles were very easily taken on by the participants - even volunteers who came in to perform certain functions (such as the ‘prison chaplain) found themselves behaving as it they were in a prison rather than in a psychological study.
what real life situation can the SPE be applied to?
Abu Ghraib
whats obedience?
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
what question did milgram want to find out?
if germans were more obedient and thats why they followed hitlers orders
whats the procedure of Milgrams original study?
- recruited 40 male ppts via newspaper ages 20-50
- said he was doing a study on “memory”
- confederate was the “learner” and true ppt was “teacher” and actor played “experimenter”
- The learner was strapped in a chair in
Experimenter
another room and wired with electrodes. The teacher was required to give the learner an
Student
increasingly severe electric shock each time the learner made a mistake on a learning task (the task involved learning word pairs). The shocks were demonstrated to the teacher. Thereafter the shocks were not real.
Teacher
The shock level started at 15 (labelled ‘slight shock’ on the shock machine) and rose through 30 levels to 450 volts (labelled ‘danger - severe shock’). When the teacher got to 300 volts (‘intense shock’) the learner pounded on the wall and then gave no response to the next question. After the 315-volt shock the learner
pounded on the wall again but after that there was no further response from the learner.
When the teacher turned to the experimenter for guidance, the experimenter gave a standar instruction: ‘An absence of response should be treated as a wrong answer’. If the teacher felt unsure about continuing, the experimenter used a sequence of four standard ‘prods’, which wer repeated if necessary:
Prod 1 - ‘Please continue’ or ‘Please go on.’
Prod 2 - ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’ Prod 3 - ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue.” Prod 4 - ‘You have no other choice, you must go on.’
what are the findings of Milgrams original study?
No participants stopped below 300 volts, 12.5% (five participants) stopped at 300 volts (‘intense shock’), 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts. Qualitative data were also collected, such as observations that the participants showed signs of extreme tension; many of them were seen to sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their hands
Three even had “full-blown uncontrollable seizures”
Prior to the study Milgram asked 14 psychology students to predict the participants” behaviou
The students estimated that no more than 3% of the participants would continue to 450 volts.
This shows that the findings were not expected.
All participants were debriefed, and assured that their behaviour was entirely normal. They were also sent a follow-up questionnaire; 84% reported that they felt glad to have participated.
define situational variables?
- In his research Milgram identified several factors that he believed influenced the level of obedience shown by participants. They are all related to the external circumstances rather than to the personalities of the people involved, and include:
proximity, location, uniform
explain milgrams variation testing proximity?
In Milgram’s original study, the teacher and learner were in adjoining rooms so the teacher could hear the learner but not see him. In the proximity variation, they were in the same room. In this condition, the obedience rate dropped from the baseline 65% to 40% (see graph below)
In an even more dramatic variation, the teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto an ‘electroshock plate’ when he refused to answer a question. In this touch proximity condition, the obedience rate dropped further to 30%.
In a third proximity variation, the experimenter left the room and gave instructions to the teacher by telephone. In this remote instruction conditio time proximity was reduced. The outcome was a further reduction in obedience to 20.5%. The participants also frequently pretended to give shocks or gave weaker ones than they were ordered to.
explain milgrams variation testing location?
Location
In another kind of variation Milgram changed the location of the obedience study. He conducted a variation of the study in a run-down building rather than the prestigious university setting where it was originally conducted (Vat University). In such a situation the experimenter had less authority. Obedie fell to 47.5%. This is still quite a high level of obedience but it is less than original 65% in the original baseline study.
explain milgrams variation of his study testing uniform?
In the original baseline study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of his authority (a kind of uniform). Milgram carried out a variation in which the experimenter was called away because of an inconvenient telephone call right at the start of the procedure. The role of the experimen was taken over by an ordinary member of the public’ (played by a confederate) in everyday clothes rather than a lab coat. The obedience fate dropped to 20%, the lowest of these variations.
what are the two socio psychological factors of obedience?
- agentic state
- legitimacy of authority
define agentic state?
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure, i.e. as their agent. This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure.
define legitimacy of authority?
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy.
explain milgrams initial thoughts and aims into agentic state?
- sparked by the trial of adolf eichmann trial into nazi war crines and how his defence was he was obeying orders
- milgram then proposed that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take responsibility as they believe they are acting for someone else (an agent)
- they feel high anxiety when they realise what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey
whats the opposite to an agentic state and explain it?
The opposite of being in an agentic state is being in an autonomous state. etonomy’ means to be independent or free. So a person in, an autonomous sale is free to behave according to their own principles and therefore feels a sense oa responsibility for their own actions.
The shift from autonomy to ‘agency’ is called the agentic shift. Milgram (1974 suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority. This other person has greater power because of their position in a social hierarchy. In most social groups when one person is in charge, others defer to this person and shift from autonomy to agency.
why do people remain in agentic state?
Milaram then raised the question of why the individual remains in this agentic state
Milgram had observed that many of his participants spoke as if they wanted to quitt. seemed unable to do so. The answer is binding factors - aspects of the situation tha allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and the reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling. Milgram proposed a number of strategies the the individual uses, such as shifting the responsibility to the victim (he was foolish to volunteer’) or denying the damage they were doing to the victims.
explain legitimacy of authority?
Most societies are structured in a hierarchical way. This means that people in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us. For example, parents, teachers, police officers, nightclub bouncers, all have some kind of authority over us at times. The authority they wield is.legitimate in the sense that it is agreed by society. Most of us accept that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power over others because this allows society to function smoothly.
One of the consequences of this legitimacy of authority is that some people are granted the power to punish others. Most of us accept that the police and courts have the power to punish wrongdoers. So we are willing to give up some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour over to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately. We learn acceptance of legitimate authority from childhood, of course, from parents initially and then teachers and adults generally.
what is destructive authority?
This makes perfect sense; however, problems arise when lecitimate authority becomes destructive. History has too often shown that charismatic and powerful leaders (such as Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot) can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes, ordering people to behave in ways that are callous, cruel, stupid and dangerous. Destructive authority was very clearly on show in Milaram’s study, when the experimenter used prods to order participants to behave in ways that went against the consciences
what is the dispositional explanation to obedience?
the authoritarian personality
define a dispositional explanation?
- Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality (i.e. their disposition). Such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
define authoritarian personality?
- A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.
why did Adorno look into and believe the authoritian personality explanation for obedience?
wanted to understand the anti sematism of the holicaust
- they believed a high level of obedience was basically a psychological disorder and tried to locate the cause of it in the personality of an individual
whats the procedure for authoritarian personality?
Adorno et al. (1950) investigated the causes of the obedient personality in a study of more than 2000 middle-class, white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups. They developed several scales to investigate this, includin the potential for fascism scale (F-scale) which is still used to measure authoritarian
personality.
Two examples of items from the F-scale are: ‘Obedience and respect for authority a the most important virtues children should learn’, and “There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel a great love, gratitude and respect for his parents Other examples are given on the facing page
