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SOCIAL INFLUENCE Flashcards

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1
Q

Define conformity

A
  • A form for social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and leads to compliance with that position
  • Tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group
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2
Q

What are the three types of conformity?

A
  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalisation
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3
Q

Define compliance

A
  • Occurs when an individual accepts influence because they hope to a achieve a favourable reaction from those around them
  • Attitude or behaviour is adopted not because of its content, but because of the rewards associated with its adoption

Most shallow form of conformity. SHORT-TERM

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4
Q

Define identification

A
  • A form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group
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5
Q

Define internalisation

A
  • Occurs when an individual accepts influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour proposed is consistent with their own value system
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6
Q

Give an example of compliance

A
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7
Q

Give an example of identification

A
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8
Q

Give an example of internalisation

A
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9
Q

What are the two explanations for conformity?

A
  • Normative social influence
  • Informational social influence

:( - Iqra: never forget

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10
Q

Define normative social influence

A

A form of influence whereby an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or avoid social disapproval

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11
Q

Define informational social influence

A

A form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right - looking to others as a way of gaining evidence about reality

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12
Q

What study investigated the effects of social influence of conformity?

A

Asch (1956)

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13
Q

Outline the procedure of Asch (1956)

A
  • Asked volunteers to take part in a visual discrimination task - however, all but one of the participants were confederates of the investigator
  • 123 male US undergraduates were tested
  • Participants seated around a table + asked to look at three lines of different lengths - took turns calling out which line was the same length as a ‘standard line’
  • 12/18 trials (critical trials) - confederates instructed to give the same incorrect answer
  • Asch was interested if the real participants would stick to what they believed was right
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14
Q

Outline the findings of Asch (1956)

A
  • On critical trials, conformity rate was 33% (i.e. conformed on 1/3 of trials)
  • 1/4 never conformed on any of the critical trials
  • Half conformed on 6 or more critical trials
  • 1 in 20 conformed on all 12 trials
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15
Q

What were Asch’s variations?

A
  • Group size
  • Unanimity of the majority
  • Difficulty of the task
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16
Q

Explain the role of group size as a variable affecting conformity

A
  • Little conformity when majority consisted of just 1 or 2 confederates
  • Under pressure pressure of a majority of 3 confederates, proportion of conforming responses jumped to 30%
  • Further increases in majority did not increase level of conformity substantially - majority size is important only up to a point
  • Campbell & Fairey (1989) suggest that group size may have a different effect depending on the type of judgement being made
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17
Q

Explain the role of unanimity as a variable affecting conformity

A
  • In original study, confederates unanimously have the same wrong answer
  • When participant was supported by another real participant or confederate, conformity dropped - percent of wrong answers from 33% to 5.5%
  • If lone dissenter gave an answer that was both different from the majority and different from the true answer, conformity dropped to 9%
  • Therefore breaking the group’s unanimous position was a major factor in conformity reduction
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18
Q

Explain the role of task difficulty as a variable affecting conformity

A
  • Asch made the differences in line variation much smaller (correct answer less obvious)
  • Level of conformity increased
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19
Q

What study investigated conformity to social roles?

A

Haney/Zimbardo et al. (1973)

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20
Q

Outline the procedure of Haney/Zimbardo et al. (1973)

A
  • Mock prison set up in basement of psychology department at Stanford University in California
  • Male student volunteers were psychologically and physically screened - 24 most stable of these were randomly assigned to play ‘prisoner’ or ‘guard’
  • ‘Prisoners’ were unexpectedly arrested at home and upon entry to the ‘prison’ they were put through a delousing procedure, given a prison uniform and assigned an ID number
  • Guards only referred to the prisoners by these numbers throughout the study
  • Prisoners were allowed certain rights (e.g. 3 meals + 3 supervised toilet trips a day + 2 visits a week) + given uniforms
  • ‘Guards’ were given uniforms, clubs, whistles + reflective sunglasses (to prevent eye contact)
  • Zimbardo took on the role of Prison Superintendant
  • Planned to last 2 weeks
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21
Q

Outline the findings of Haney/Zimbardo et al. (1973)

A
  • Guards grew increasingly tyrannical + abusive towards prisoners (woke them in the night + forced them to clean toilets with bare hands + made them carry out other degrading activities)
  • Some guards volunteered to do extra hours without pay
  • Participants tended to forget this was only a study + conformed to their role even when unaware of being watched (when one prisoner had enough, they asked for parole rather than to quit the study)
  • 5 prisoners released early because of extreme reactions (e.g. crying, rage + anxiety) which appeared after only 2 days
  • Study was terminated after 6 days, following intervention of postgraduate student Christina Maslach (later became Zimbardo’s wife) who reminded the researchers that this was a study and they were young men

DEMONSTRATED PRISONERS + GUARDS CONFORMED TO SOCIAL ROLES
Guards: increasingly cruel + sadistic
Prisoners: Increasingly passive _ accepting of the situation

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22
Q

What are social roles?

A

Behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a given social position or status

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23
Q

What study investigated obedience?

A

Milgram (1963)

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24
Q

Outline the procedure of Milgram (1963)

A
  • Involved 40 participants over a series of conditions
  • Participants were told it was a study of how punishment affects learning
  • 2 confederates: experimenter + 47-year-old man who was introduced as another volunteer participant
  • Drew lots - rigged sot hat real participant always drew ‘teacher’
  • Teacher was required to test the learner on his ability to remember word pairs | every time learner was wrong, the teacher had to administer increasingly strong electric shocks (15v - 450v in 15v increments)
  • Learner gave mainly wrong answers + received fakes shock in silence until 300v - there, he pounded the wall + gave no response to the next question
    ^— repeated this at 315v and from then on said/did nothing
  • If teacher asked to stop, the experimenter had a series of prods such as ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’ or ‘You have no other choice, you must go on’
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25
Q

Outline the findings of Milgram (1963)

A
  • Before the study, Milgram asked psychiatrists, students & colleagues how long participants would go before refusing to continue - most predicted very few would go beyond 150v + only 1 in 1000 would administer 450v
  • 26/40 (65%) participants actually continued to 450v - despite shock generator being labelled ‘ Danger: severe shock’ at 420v + ‘XXX’ at 450v
  • All participants went to 300v + only 5 stopped there
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26
Q

Give 3 variations of Milgram’s (1963) obedience study

A
  • Proximity
  • Location
  • Power of uniform
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27
Q

Explain the role of proximity as a variable affecting obedience

A
  • In the proximity study, teacher + learner were seated in the same room (obedience fell to 40% as the teacher could see the learner’s anguish)
  • Another variation: teacher required to force the learner’s hand onto a shock plate (obedience dropped to 30%)
  • Proximity of authority figure also affected obedience
  • Experimenter absent study: experimenter gave orders over the telephone (obedience dropped to 21%) + some repeatedly gave weaker shocks, despite telling the experimenter they were following the correct procedure)
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28
Q

Explain the role of location as a variable affecting obedience

A
  • Studies were conducted at Yale University (many participants claimed the study location gave them confidence in the integrity of the people involved
  • Milgram moved study to run-down office in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with no obvious affiliations w/ Yale
  • Obedience dropped slightly (48% obedience)
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29
Q

Explain the role of uniform as a variable affecting obedience

A
  • Uniforms are easily recognisable + convey power & authority
  • Bushman (1988) - female researcher dressed in a ‘police-style’ uniform, business executive or beggar stopped people in the street _ told them to give change to a male researcher for an expired parking meter

Police uniform: 72% obedience
Executive: 48% obedience
Beggar: 52% obedience

30
Q

Define agentic state

A

A person sees themself as an agent for carrying out another person’s wishes

31
Q

Outline the role of the agentic state in obedience

A
  • An obedient individual may not see themselves as responsible for their own actions + attribute responsibility to another (usually a figure of authority) - this is an agentic shift
  • In interviews carried out after Milgram (1963), obedient participants claimed ‘I wouldn’t have done it by myself. I was just doing what I was told’
  • An explanation - due to the need to maintain a positive self-image | Autonomously, delivering the shock may lead to an assessment of the consequences of the action on their self-image + refrain | Agentically, there is no evaluative concern
  • Once in an agentic state, a participant fears that if they break the commitment made with the experimenter, they will appear arrogant and rude - binds the subject into obedience
32
Q

What is legitimate authority?

A

A person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation

33
Q

Outline the role of legitimacy of authority in obedience

A
  • Milgram (1974) believed that there is a shared expectation among people that many situations do ordinarily have a socially controlling figure - powers of a legitimate authority stem from their perceived position in a social situation
  • People tend to accept definitions of a situation that are provided by a legitimate authority
  • Participant themself who performed the action (i.e. shocking the learner) but they allow the authority figure to define this meaning
  • Suffering of the learner should convince them to quit, but the experimenter (legitimate authority) orders them to continue

-

34
Q

Outline the relationship between self-image and the agentic state

A
  • Many people adopt an agentic state due to the need to maintain a positive self-image
  • Participant may assess the consequences of an action (shocking the learner) for their self-image and refrain
    ^— but once moved to an agentic state, evaluative concern is no longer relevant
  • The action is no longer their responsibility, affecting their self image - becomes guilt-free
35
Q

Outline the effects of binding factors on the agentic state

A
  • In all situations, there is social etiquette that plays a part in regulating our behaviour
  • To break off the experiment, the participant must breach the commitment they made to the experimenter
  • Subject fears that if they break off, he will appear arrogant and rude + such behaviour is not taken lightly
  • These emotions help bind the subject into obedience
36
Q

Outline the the effects of the definition of the situation on legitimacy of authority

A
  • People tend to accept definitions of a situation that are provided by a legitimate authority
  • participant performs the action (i.e. shocking the learner) but allows authority figure to define its meaning
  • One hand, suffering of the learner convinces them that they should quit | Other hand, a legitimate authority (experimenter) orders them to continue, reassuring the participant that the learner is fine
37
Q

Outline the effects of a legitimate authority in an institution

A
  • If an authority figure’s commands are potentially harmful or destructive, they must occur within some sort of institutional structure (e.g. university of military) to be perceived as legitimate
    ^— Milgram - clear that this does not have to be particularly reputable or distinguished
  • Moved Milgram (1963) from university to run-down building (unimpressive firm lacking in credentials)
    ^— still obtained relatively high levels of obedience
  • Possibly the category of institution (i.e. scientific laboratory), rather than its status within that category, that causes participants to obey
  • Participants may consider one laboratory to be as competent as another, provided it is a scientific laboratory
38
Q

What is the authoritarian personality?

A

A distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority

39
Q

Define dispositional

A

Explanations of behaviours such as obedience emphasise them being caused by an individual’s own personal characteristics rather than situational influences within the environment

40
Q

What is the F scale?

A

A.k.a. ‘Fascism scale’
Developed in 1947 as a measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies

41
Q

Describe the F scale

A
  • Used by Adorno et al. (1950)
  • Contained statements and responders would give how much they agree with them
  • Agreeing with some indicated an authoritarian personality
42
Q

What is the cause of the authoritarian personality type?

A
  • Tended to be raised by parents with an authoritarian parenting style
    ^— e.g. physical punishment
  • Parents’ love was conditional
  • Parents had impossibly high expectations
  • Children growing up like this may come to see this as the expected norm
  • Child may also have repressed anger or emotions they may not be able to express or take out on parents
43
Q

What is Right-wing Authoritarianism?

A

A cluster of personality variables (conventionalism, authority submission and authoritarian aggression) that are associated with a ‘right wing’ attitude to life

44
Q

Describe Right-wing Authoritarianism

A
  • Altemeyer (1981) identified a cluster of 3 of the original personality variables (RWA) - these people possess all of these traits

Conventionalism - an adherence to conventional normal + values
Authoritarian aggression - aggressive feelings toward people who violate these norms
Authoritarian submission - uncritical submission to legitimate authorities

45
Q

Outline the procedure of Elms & Milgram (1966)

A
  • Used participants who had previously taken part in one of Milgram’s experiments 2 months before
  • 20 obedient participants (continued to 450V) and 20 defiant participants (refused to continue at some point)
  • All completed the MMPI scale and the F scale to measure their levels of authoritarianism
  • Also asked a series of open-ended questions
    ^— included Qs about relationship with parents during childhood and their attitude to the experimenter (authority figure) and the learner during Milgram’s study
46
Q

Outline the findings of Elms & Milgram (1966)

A
  • little difference between obedient and defiant participants on MMPI variables
  • found ^ levels of authoritarianism among obedient participants compared with defiant participants
  • Were also differences between ob + def consistent with authoritarian personality
    ^— e.g. obedient participants reported being less close to their fathers during childhood, and more likely to describe negatively
47
Q

What is social support?

A

The perception that an individual has assistance available from other people, and that they are part of a supportive network

48
Q

Describe social support in resisting conformity

A
  • Asch (1956) found the presence of social support enables an individual to resist conformity pressure from the majority
  • In one of his variations, the introduction of a dissenter caused conformity to drop (conformity from 33% to 5.5%)
  • IMPORTANT - breaks the unanimous position of the majority | raises the possibility that they are other, equally legitimate ways of thinking or responding
49
Q

Describe social support in resisting obedience

A
  • Individuals more confident in their ability to resist the temptation to obey if they can find an ally who is willing to join them in opposing the authority figure
  • Disobedient peers act as role models which the individual can model their own behaviour from
  • Individuals can use defiance of peers to extricate themselves from having to cause further harm as a result of their obedience
    ^— e.g. Milgram’s variations: participant was one of a team of three testing the learner, other two were confederates who refused to continue and withdrew (one after another). Only 10% of participants continued and the others were liberated
50
Q

What is locus of control?

A

People differ in their belief about wether the outcomes of their actions are dependent on what they do (internal locus of control) or on events outside of their personal control (external locus of control)

51
Q

Describe the nature of locus of control

A
  • Measured along a dimension of ‘high internal’ to ‘high external’ - most of us are between the two extremes
  • Internal locus - belief we can control events in our life
    ^— more likely to display independence in thought + behaviour
  • External locus - belief that what happens is determined by external factors (e.g. influence of others or luck - ‘things just happen’ to them)
    ^— more passive + fatalistic (less personal responsibility, less independent display of behaviour, more susceptible to influence of others)
52
Q

Define externality

A

Individuals who tend to believe that their behaviour and experience is caused by events outside their control

53
Q

Define internality

A

Individuals who tend to believe that they are responsible for their behaviour and experience rather than external forces

54
Q

Describe internality and resistance to social influence

A
  • internals have a number of characteristics relevant for resisting social influence of others
  1. High internals are active seekers of info that is useful to them, and so less likely to result on the opinions other others, making them less vulnerable to social influence
  2. High internals more achievement oriented + ^ likely to become leaders rather than follow others | e.g. Spector (1982) found relationship between locus of control + leadership style - internals ^ persuasive
  3. High internals better able to resist coercion from others | e.g., in simulated prisoner-of-war camp situation, internals better able to resist attempts of an interrogator to fain information - ^ intensity of pressure, ^ difference between internal’s performance and that’s of the external’s
55
Q

What is minority influence?

A

Form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours as a result of exposure to a persuasive minority

56
Q

What are the three steps in conversion to minority position?

A
  • Consistency
  • Commitment
  • Flexibility
57
Q

Describe consistency in terms of conversion to the minority position

A
  • During first exposure to minority position, the minority is assumed to be wrong
  • If consistent, others may come to reassess the situation and consider their issue more carefully
58
Q

Describe commitment in terms of conversion to the minority position

A
  • It is difficult to dismiss a minority when it adopts an uncompromising + consistent commitment to its position
  • Commitment suggests certainty, confidence + courage in the face of a hostile majority
  • Joining a minority has greater cost for the individuals that staying with the majority, so degree of commitment shown by minority group members is usually greater
59
Q

Describe flexibility in terms of conversion to the minority position

A
  • Minorities are typically powerless compared to majority, so must negotiate their position with the majority rather than try to enforce it
  • Mugny (1982) distinguished between rigid + flexible negotiating styles, arguing that a rigid minority that refused to compromised risks perceived as dogmatic (i.e. narrow-minded)
    ^— minorities TOO flexible, may been seen as inconsistent

Some degree of flexibility is more effective than none at all

60
Q

Outline the procedure of Moscovici et al. (1969)

A
  • each group comprised 4 naive participants + minority of 2 confederates
  • shown series of blue slides varying in intensity + asked to judge the colour of each slide
  • CONSISTENT CONDITION: 2 confederates repeatedly called blue ‘green’
  • INCONSISTENT CONDITION: confederates called slides green on 2/3 of trials, in remaining 1/3 called slides blue
  • CONTROL CONDITION: 6 naive + 0 confederates, participants called slides blue throughout
61
Q

Outline the findings of Moscovici et al. (1969)

A
  • CONSISTENT: minority influenced naive participants to say green on over 8% of trials
  • INCONSISTENT: very little influence + did not differ significantly from control group
62
Q

Define social change

A

Occurs when a society or section of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm

63
Q

What are the five stages of ‘conversion’ (Moscovici, 1980) in social change?

A
  1. Drawing attention to the issue
  2. Cognitive conflict
  3. Consistency of position
  4. The augmentation principle
  5. The snowball effect
64
Q

Explain ‘drawing attention to an issue’ in conversion/social change

A
  • Minorities can draw the majority’s attention to an issue
  • If views are different to majority, creates a conflict they are motivated to reduce
65
Q

Explain ‘cognitive conflict’ in conversion/social change

A
  • Minorty creates a conflict between what the majority group members currently believe and the positions advocated by the minority
  • Doesn’t necessarily result in more towards minority position, but means that majority group members think more deeply about the issues being challenged
66
Q

Explain ‘consistency of position’ in conversion/social change

A
  • Research in minority influence has established that minorities tend to be more influential in bringing about social change when consistent
67
Q

Explain ‘the augmentation principle’ in conversion/social change

A
  • If minority appears to be willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and so taken more seriously
68
Q

Explain ‘the snowball effect’ in conversion/social change

A
  • Minority influence initially has small effect, but this then spreads more widely as more + more people consider the issues being promoted, until reaching a tipping point + leads to wide-scale change
69
Q

What are social norms interventions?

A

Attempt to correct misperceptions of the normative behaviour of peers in an attempt to change the risky behaviour of a target population

70
Q

Explain social norms interventions

A
  • Gap between perceived and actual norm is a misperception
  • If people perceive something to be the norm, they tend to alter their behaviour to fit that norm, even if it actually isn’t the norm

Psychology (19 decks)

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