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Psychology > SOCIAL INFLUENCE > Flashcards

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
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
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
19
Q

What study investigated conformity to social roles?

A

Haney/Zimbardo et al. (1973)

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
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

22
Q

What are social roles?

A

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

23
Q

What study investigated obedience?

A

Milgram (1963)

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’
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
26
Q

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

A
  • Proximity
  • Location
  • Power of uniform
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)
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)
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 quick | 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

Psychology (16 decks)

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