social influence

Question 1

conformity (A01)

Answer 1

a change in a persons opinion/behaviour as response to real or imagined group pressure

Question 2

type of conformity: internalisation (A01)

Answer 2

deep type of conformity-genuine change of private views to match those of the group

change is usually permanent-attitudes are internalised eg. become part of the way persons think

change in opinions persists even in absence of other group members-eg.conversion of new religion OR lifestyle

Question 3

type of conformity: identification (A01)

Answer 3

moderate type of conformity-involve changing our behaviour/opinions to those of a group-something about the group we value + we want to part of it

we change our behaviour to be part of group-even if we don’t agree w/everything the group stands for

eg. Emily prefers to wear jeans but wears smart trousers at work-wants to look professional in front of her work colleagues

Question 4

type of conformity: compliance (A01)

Answer 4

weak/superficial type of conformity-publicaly going along or conforming to group-whilst privately not changing your own behaviour or opinion

the behaviour or opinion stops as soon as the group pressure stops eg. smiling at someones joke even though you didn’t find it funny because you didn’t want to offend the person

Question 5

explanations for conformity: normative social influence (A01)

Answer 5

explanation about the ‘norms’ or typical behaviour for a social group- people comply to social norms because they want to be liked + gain approval

NSI-likely to occur in situations w/strangers where you may feel concerned about rejection- also occur w/people who you know because we are most concerned about gaining approval of our friends

this produces compliance-where people will agree publicly w/group but privately-do not change their personal opinions

Question 6

explanations for conformity: informational social influence (A01)

Answer 6

we change our behaviour/idea as we want to be right-when we are uncertain-we follow the group

eg. if you don’t know the answer to the question and most of the class gives a certain answer likely to accept it because you feel that they must be right

this occurs in new or ambiguous situations where the correct answer or behaviour is unclear

this produces internalisation as it is a genuine + long lasting change of private + public view

Question 7

explanations for conformity: supporting evidence for ISI (A03) (1)

Answer 7

P: strength of ISI explanation for conformity comes in supporting evidence

E: Lucas et al-asked students to answer maths problems that were either difficult or easy to solve

E: found greater conformity to incorrect answers when the questions were difficult rather than easy-this was particularly true in those students who rated their maths ability as poor

L: this research supports ISI + view that people conform to be right

Question 7

explanations for conformity: supporting evidence for NSI (A03) (2)

Answer 7

P: strength of NSI explanations for conformity-supporting evidence

E: Aschs experiment-majority of the Ps went along at least once w/an answer they could clearly see was incorrect

E: Asch asked why they did this- some said they felt self-conscious of giving the correct answer + they were afraid of disapproval

L: this research supports NSI + view that people conform to fit in

Question 8

explanations for conformity: NSI ignores individual differences (A03) (3)

Answer 8

P: limitation to NSI explanation for conformity-may ignore individual difference

E: NSI appears to affect some people more than others-some people have greater needs to be liked by others- more affected by NSI
other people that are less concerned w/being liked-less affected by NSI

E: supported by McGhee + Teevan who found that students who have a need to be liked are more likely to conform

L: this shows that the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others-therefore individual differences in the way people respond in a group situation

Question 9

explanations for conformity: hard to distinguish between compliance and internalisation (A03) (4)

Answer 9

P: weakness of conformity - hard to distinguish between compliance and internalisation

E: complicated how we measure public compliance and public internalisation

E: assumed people who publicly agree, private have not complied - agreement fades in private - forgotten info or received new info

L: lacks internal validity - as it is not clear if it is private or public being measured

Question 10

Aschs study: aim (A01)

Answer 10

see if Ps would yield to majority social influence + give incorrect answers in situation where correct answer is always obvious

Question 11

Aschs study: procedure (A01)

Answer 11

Asch misinformed Ps to true aim of the aim of study-they were taking part in a study on the perception of line length

sample consisted of 123 American males students (androcentric-all males) who had volunteered to take part

Ps in groups of 6 OR 7-seated about the table + asked to look at 3 lines at different lengths-they took turns to call 3 lines they thought were the same lengths as the ‘standard line’

only 1 of the Ps were genuine-the others were confederates of the experimenter-they were acting in line w/wishes of experimenter

the real always answered 2nd to last-confederates gave unanimous wrong answer on 12/18 trials-critical trials

Question 12

Aschs study: findings (A01)

Answer 12

12 critical trials-mean average conformity rate was 33%
75% conformed at least once
confirm the tasks was indeed unambiguous- Asch conducted control group w/x distraction of confederates giving wrong answers
he found that Ps made mistakes about 1% of the time-task did have a clear + obvious answer

Question 13

Aschs study: conclusion (A01)

Answer 13

majority can influence in an unambiguous situation in which the answer is obvious- demonstrating NSI

Question 14

variables affecting conformity: group size (A01)

Answer 14

condition 1: 1 real participant w/1 confederate= 3%
condition 2: 1 real participant w/2 confederates= 13%
condition 3: 1 real participant w/3 confederates= 32%
further increases of the group size-didnt lead to any further increases in conformity suggesting size of the majority-important up to a point

Question 15

variables affecting conformity: unanimity of the majority (A01)

Answer 15

Aschs original study- all the confederates gave unanimous answer-Asch broke up the unanimity of the group by introducing a confederate who gave the right answers

original experiment 33% of Ps conformed on critical trials-conformity dropped to 5%

Asch then wanted to find out what would happen if the confederate gave both an answer that was different from majority + different from true answer-conformity dropped to 9%

Question 16

variables affecting conformity: difficulty of the task (A01)

Answer 16

Asch made the differences between the line length much smaller-under these circumstances level of conformity increased-suggests when the situation is ambiguous (unclear)-so more likely to conform due ISI

Question 17

Aschs study: Aschs Research is a ‘child of its time’ (A03) (1)

Answer 17

P: Asch findings are unique-research took place in a particular period of US history when conformity was high

E: eg.Perrin + Spencer repeated Aschs study in the UK- 1980s using engineering students-found only 1 conforming response out of a total of 396 trials

E: Perrin + Spencer suggested that Aschs research is a ‘child of its time’-argue that cultural change has taken place regarding importance of conformity since Aschs research was conducted

L: limitation of Aschs research-means that his research lacks temporal or historical validity-not consistent across time

Question 18

Aschs study: methodological issues (A03) (2)

Answer 18

P: demand characteristics-cues in environment-may cause participant to change their behaviour

E: Ps were aware they were taking part in a study-behave unnaturally

E: eg. they may have tried to please Asch by behaving in a way they thought they were intended to by conforming

L: problem lower the study internal validity

additionally-line length tasks lack mundane realism-the task identifying lines is trivial so there was no real reason not to conform-the groups didn’t resemble groups that occur in real life
artificially of the situation + task limitation of Aschs research-suggests that finding can’t be generalised to everyday situations of conformity

Question 19

Aschs study: limited application of findings (A03) (3)

Answer 19

P: Asch used all male samples

E: other research suggests that women might be more conformists-possibly because they are more concerned about social relationship w/men

E: another issue is that men in Aschs study were all from the US-comformity studies conducted in China-where social group is very important found higher conformity rates

L: this suggest that Aschs finding may only apply to American men-he did not take gender + cultural differences into account

Question 20

Aschs study: high control variables (A03) (4)

Answer 20

P: use of laboratory experiment in his methodology

E: lab settings are highly controlled meaning that extraneous variables can be controlled for

E: eg. Asch was able to control the lines used in study-where real naive Ps were sitting

L: strength as the study measured what it intended to measure (conformity)- giving findings high internal validity

Question 21

what type of study was Zimbardos prison experiment? (A01)

Answer 21

controlled
participant
observation

Question 22

zimbardos study: procedure (A01)

Answer 22

zimbardo set up a mock prison at Stanford uni
they advertised for students to volunteer-selected based on whether they were emotionally stable

students were randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners-they were arrested at their homes by police + taken to the prison
they were strip-searched, blindfolded, doused and issued w/uniform + number

social roles of prisoners + guards were strictly divided-prisoners daily routines were heavily regulated-16 rules to follow-enforced by the guards who worked in shifts

Question 23

zimbardos study: findings (A01)

Answer 23

guards took up their role w/enthusiasm-behaviour grew increasingly tyrannical + abusive towards prisoner w/some of them appearing to enjoy the power they had over the prisoners-they also forced them to clean toilets w/their bare hands

guards highlighted differences in social roles by enforcing rules + reinforcing rules + punishing even the smallest misdemeanour

within 2 days prisoners rebelled by ripping their uniforms + swearing at guards

guards put down rebellion using fire extinguisher after prisoners became subdued, depressed + anxious

study terminated after 6 days-intervention of postgraduate student who reminded researchers that it was a psychological study + didn’t justify abuse that the prisoners received

Question 24

zimbardos study: conclusion (A01)

Answer 24

simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence peoples behaviour-guards + prisoners conformed to their social roles-taken on very quickly

Question 25

zimbardos study: procedure has ethical issues (A03) (1)

Answer 25

P: zimbardos procedure broke several ethical issues

E + E: right to withdraw: one occasion student spoke to zimbardo-he wanted to leave the study-however, zimbardo responded to him as superintendent + persuaded him to remain

protection from harm: 5 prisoners left experiment early because of adverse reactions to physical + mental torment-some of the guards also reported feelings of anxiety + guilt as result of their actions during the study

L: weakness as even though zimbardo followed ethical guidelines of Stanford uni + debriefed his Ps after-he acknowledged the study should have stopped early

Question 26

zimbardos study: procedure affected by demand characteristics (A03) (2)

Answer 26

P: procedure affected by demand characteristics

E: Banuazizi + Movahedi argued that Ps were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role-their behaviour was a response to powerful demand characteristics in the experimental situation itself

E: In order to back up this claim, Banuazizi + Movahedi presented details of the SPE to a group of students who had never heard of the SPE- vast majority of these students correctly predicted that the guards would act in hostile way + that the prisoners would react in a passive way

L: suggests that Zimbardo’s study may not be measuring conformity to social roles accurately + lacks internal validity

Question 27

milgrams obedience study: conclusion (A01)

Answer 27

under certain circumstances people will unwillingly go against their moral judgements + will instead obey demands of perceived authority figure

Question 27

zimbardos study: finding lacks reliability (A03) (3)

Answer 27

P: Reicher and Haslam conducted a modern-day replication of the original study in the UK

E + E: findings were very different to those of Zimbardo- in this replication prisoners took control of mock prison and subjected guards to a campaign of harassment + disobedience

L: issue as it demonstrates that findings are not consistent + that people may not conform to social roles in modern society

Question 28

milgrams obedience study: aim (A01)

Answer 28

Milgram wanted to find out whether ordinary Americans would obey an unjust order from person in authority

Question 28

zimbardos study: findings have application to modern day events (A03) (4)

Answer 28

P: findings have application to modern day event

E: Zimbardo argues that same conformity to social role effect was evident in the study was also evident in Abu Ghraib-a military prison in Iraq notorious for the torture + abuse of Iraq prisoners by US soldiers in 2003 + 2004

E: Zimbardo believed that guards who committed the abuses were victims of situation factors that made abuse more likely

L: strength of Zimbardo’s research as it can give us insight into conformity of social roles in modern day events

Question 29

milgrams obedience study: procedure (A01)

Answer 29

40 male volunteers were recruited by newspaper advertisement-paid $4.50 + deceived to believe they were giving electric shocks

Ps were told the study was a test of the role of punishment + learning-genuine participant always had the teacher’s role + confederate played part of the learner whose task was to memorise word pairs

teacher’s role was to administer shock every time learner made mistake

teacher watched learner being strapped to chair in adjoining room w/electrodes attached to his arms-teacher also received a practice shock

begin w/accomplice answered correctly + then began to make mistakes-every time he made an error-he was given shock administered by the participant-the shocks started at 15 volts + increased in 15 volt increments to 450 volts

experiment continued either until teacher refused to continue or until 450 volts were reached + given four times
Ps was then debriefed + taken to meet the learner

Question 30

milgrams obedience study: findings (A01)

Answer 30

All Ps went to at least 300 volts on shock generator
65% of Ps went up to max 450 volts which was marked as XXX

Question 31

milgrams obedience study: demand characteristics (A03) (1)

Answer 31

P: Orne and Holland (1968) argued that Ps in Milgram’s study gave very high electrical shocks because they had guessed that shocks aren’t real

E: point of view is supported by Perry (2012) who discovered that many of Milgram’s participants had been sceptical at time about whether shocks were real

E: One of Milgram’s research assistants divided Ps into what he called ‘doubters’ + ‘believers’. He found that ‘believers’ were more likely to disobey + give only low intensity shocks

L: problem w/Milgram’s research as it supports view that study lacked internal validity

Question 32

milgrams obedience study: supporting replication (A03) (2)

Answer 32

P: supporting replication

E: Blass carried out statistical analysis of all of Milgram’s obedience experiments + studies conducted by other researchers between 1961 + 1985-later studies found no more or less obedience than ones conducted earlier

E: More recently- Burger found levels of obedience almost identical to those found by Milgram 46 years earlier

L: strength as evidence suggests that Milgram’s findings still appear to apply as much today as they did back in early 1960s

Question 33

milgrams obedience study: unrepresentative sample (A03) (3)

Answer 33

P: only male participants from America took part in Milgram’s study

E + E: means that study only gives us an insight into obedience in limited sample that suffers from culture + gender bias + findings to obedience may differ when carried out w/females or other cultures

L: issue as it may be difficult to generalise findings about obedience to other populations

However, Blass studied nine other replications of Milgram’s study-which also had male + female Ps + found no evidence of any gender differences in obedience suggesting findings may be generalisable after all

Question 34

explanation for obedience: situational variables-proximity (A01)

Answer 34

Proximity of victim-teacher + learner in same room-obedience fell when Ps were forced to see + hear distress caused by their actions=40%

Touch Proximity of victim-teacher had to force learner’s hand onto an electrified plate to receive shock-obedience fell further when Ps were required to use physical force to personally administer shock=30%

Proximity of the authority figure-experimenter left room + gave instructions over phone-obedience fell considerably when experimenter supervised participants less closely=20.5%

Question 34

explanation for obedience: situational variables-location (A01)

Answer 34

Original experiment=65%
Location-venue moved from Yale University to seedy offices-obedience fell when experiment was in less respectable + prestigious surroundings=47.5%

Question 35

explanation for obedience: situational variables-uniform (A01)

Answer 35

In baseline study-experimenter wore grey lab coat as symbol of this authority-this variation experimenter was replaced w/ordinary member of public in everyday clothes rather than lab coat-obediences rates fell to lowest level of these variations=20%

Question 36

situational variables: alternative explanation (A03) (1)

Answer 36

P: situational variables explanation ignores effect of INTERNAL factors-eg. disposition or personality on obedience

E: eg. research has shown that people w/ authoritarian personality are more likely to show blind obedience to those whom they perceive to be higher in status than themselves

E: supported by research conducted by Elms + Milgram (1966) who found that those w/ authoritarian personality traits were more likely to administer bigger shocks in Milgram’s experiment

L: reduces the validity of this explanation- because obedience could be due to internal dispositional effects-rather than external situational factors

Question 37

situational variables: obedience alibi (A03) (2)

Answer 37

P: Milgram’s variations support view that situation a person finds themselves is mainly responsible for their obedience

E + E: but this explanation has been criticised as psychologists argue that it offers an excuse or ‘alibi’ for evil behaviour

L: criticism of situational explanation of obedience as it is offensive to survivors of Holocaust to suggest that the Nazis were simply obeying orders + were victims themselves of situational factors beyond their control

Question 38

explanations for obedience: legitimacy of authority (A01)

Answer 38

We are socialised to recognise authority of people like parents, police officers, doctors, teachers-these kinds of people are legitimate authority figures-we are willing to give up some of our independence + to hand control of our behaviour to these legitimate authority figures

Certain factors eg. presence of a uniform can increase legitimacy of authority figure eg. you are more likely to obey policeman when they are wearing a uniform than when they are plain clothed

legitimate authority figure has power to punish-eg. policeman has legitimate authority to issue a ticket if you exceed speed limit whilst driving

Question 38

explanations for obedience: agentic state (A01)

Answer 38

mental state where you are more likely to obey an order because you see yourself as having no personal responsibility for your behaviour as you are acting for authority figure

opposite of being in an agentic state is being in an autonomous state-shift from autonomy to ‘agent’ is called the agentic shift

Milgram suggested that this occurs when person perceives someone else is an authority figure- Once in an agentic state person starts to believe that they are no longer responsible for their own actions-instead they feel responsible to higher authority + are mainly concerned that they should ‘do the job right’

Question 39

agentic state + legitimacy of authority: supporting research of agentic state (A03) (1)

Answer 39

P: support for ‘agentic state’ explanation comes from Milgram

E + E : variation to his original study- researcher was placed in different room to real participant (teacher)- rather than giving orders face to face Ps were instructed to administer the electric shocks via telephone link-resulted in dramatic fall in obedience (from 65% to
20.5%)
Without presence of authority figure, participants had shifted to an autonomous state-they now saw themselves as responsible for their actions resulting in large fall in obedience

L: supports view that obedience increases when in an agentic state + falls when in an autonomous study

Question 40

agentic state + legitimacy of authority: agentic state or just plain cruel (A03) (2)

Answer 40

P: research evidence to show obedience is not always due to being in an agentic shift

E: Mandel described one incident where Nazi soldiers were ordered to shoot civilians in a small town in Poland-despite fact that they did not have direct orders to do so

E: suggests that dispositional factors may also play a role in explaining obedience-although Milgram believed that agentic state best explained his findings-he did concede that some individuals are just plain cruel + will use situation to satisfy their sadistic impulses

L: problem as explanation may be limited + cannot account for why only some people ‘shift’ to the agentic state whilst others do not

Question 41

agentic state + legitimacy of authority: supporting evidence for legitimate authority (A03) (3)

Answer 41

P: strength of ‘legitimate authority’ explanation comes from variations of Milgram’s obedience research

E: He found that Ps were more likely to obey researcher when research took place in prestigious setting of Yale University compared to everyday setting of a run-down office

E: suggests we do obey because we perceive that authority figure has greater legitimate authority + social power

Bickman found that when he asked passers-by in New York to lend money to a stranger for a parking meter-they would obey 49% of the time when he was dressed in street clothes but this increased to 92% when he was dressed in security guard’s uniform

L: supports explanation because it shows that we will follow orders provided person giving them is seen to have legitimate authority

Question 42

research to authoritarian personality: conclusion (A01)

Answer 42

People with an authoritarian personality tend to be very obedient to authority because they have enormous respect for authority figures- also show contempt for people they perceive as having inferior social status- believe that we need strong + powerful leaders to enforce traditional values.

Question 42

authoritarian personality: supporting evidence (A03) (1)

Answer 42

P: supporting evidence for authoritarian personality

E: Elms + Milgram found that when 20 obedient participants from Milgram’s original obedience research were questioned using F-Scale obedient Ps scored higher on authoritarianism

E: obedient Ps also reported viewing experimenter as more admirable + learner as less so

L: supports the findings of Adorno et al that authoritarian personality makes us more likely to obey

Question 42

explanation for obedience: authoritarian personality (A01)

Answer 42

Adorno’s explanation is dispositional explanation

Authoritarian Personality: personality type especially susceptible to obeying people in authority-people w/this personality type:
1. extremely respectful and submissive to those in authority
2. believe that strong + powerful leaders are needed to enforce traditional values eg. love of country + family
3. hostile to people of inferior social status- there are no ‘grey’ areas-everything is either black or white-people who belong to other ethnic groups eg. responsible for problems of society

According to Adorno et al, an authoritarian personality type is
formed in childhood-mostly because of harsh parenting- parenting style features extremely strict discipline-impossibly high standards + severe criticism of perceived failings

Adorno argued that these childhood experiences create resentment and hostility in child However child unable to express their feelings to their parents because they fear punishment- child displaces their fears onto others who they perceive to be weaker process known as scapegoating

Question 43

authoritarian personality: ignores external causes of obedience (A03) (2)

Answer 43

P: evidence by Milgram shows that situational variables have greater effect on obedience than disposition

E + E: eg.levels of obedience dropped considerably when researcher gave orders over phone rather than in person- also research by Bickman showed that wearing uniform, rather than ordinary clothes, doubles obedience levels

L: limitation because it appears that personality has a limited effect on obedience- it appears that external factors are more important than dispositional ones

Question 43

research to authoritarian personality: findings (A01)

Answer 43

Those with an authoritarian personality (who scored high on the F-scale) were:
1. Contemptuous of those thought to be ‘weak’.
2. Conscious of other peoples’ status.
3. Had fixed stereotypes about other people.

A strong positive correlation was found between those with an authoritarian personality and prejudice

Question 43

research to authoritarian personality: procedure (A01)

Answer 43

Attitudes toward racial minorities were measured in 2000 middle class, white Americans.
F-scale (Fascism scale) was also used to measure the different components that make up an authoritarian personality

Question 44

authoritarian personality: can’t explain group obedience (A03) (3)

Answer 44

P: weakness of the theory is that it cannot easily account for obedience of an entire group or society

E + E: unlikely that high levels of obedience-racism + anti-Semitic behaviour seen in Germany during WWII could be due to dispositional factors-eg. it seems extremely unlikely that whole population possessed an authoritarian personality

L: weakness as it appears that alternative explanations must influence obedience much more than authoritarian personality

Question 45

authoritarian personality: methodological weakness (A03) (4)

Answer 45

P: comparison to Milgram who carried out lab study- Adorno measured people’s attitudes using an attitude scale

E + E: Rating scales are criticised as they are subject to social desirability as participants may not tell truth about their attitudes to look desirable to researcher

L: weakness as questionnaires may not be valid measure of personality which reduces validity of dispositional explanation of obedience

Question 46

ethical issues in research into social influence: deception (A03) (1)

Answer 46

P: social psychological research is criticised due to use of deception

E + E:Asch misinformed his participants to the true aim of the study-he said they were taking part in study on perception of line length

Milgram told participants that study was a test of role of punishment and learning-he also misleads participants to believing that someone was being deliberately shocked

Zimbardo did not inform Ps of some aspects of his experiment for example that they would be arrested at home + strip searched at prison

L: weakness because Ps were misled about true aim of research, they also were unable to give FULLY INFORMED CONSENT

Question 47

ethical issues in research into social influence: protection from harm (A03) (2)

Answer 47

P: their where no signs to protect the Ps from being harmed

E+E: Ps in Asch’s study could have been embarrassed by fact that they had conformed to an unambiguous task

Ps in Milgram’s study showed signs of distress such as nervous twitches + some had panic attacks

Zimbardo acknowledges that study should have been stopped earlier as some of Ps were experiencing severe emotional distress + some argue that this harm should have been anticipated

L: problem of research into social influence because by misleading participants + causing harm it can damage the reputation of Psychologists and their researchers and deter people from being involved in further research

Question 48

explanation of resistance to social influence (A01)

Answer 48

Resistance to social influence refers to ability of people to withstand social pressure to conform to majority or obey authority-most people may conform or obey there are always those who refuse to do so-in Milgram’s study, 35% disobeyed researcher at certain point

Question 49

explanation of resistance to social influence: social support (A01)

Answer 49

Pressure to conform is at its most powerful when a group is ‘unanimous’ -likewise pressure to obey is at its most powerful when everyone obeys figure of authority

if at least 1 person in group resists the pressure to conform or obey ‘dissenter’- this can help others to do the same-people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible by demonstrating how to resist as well as demonstrating consequences of resisting

eg. if someone rebels + disobeys an authority figure but avoids punishment- this may reduce fear of disobeying in others- social support provided by allies ‘frees’ others up to act according to their own conscience

Question 50

social support: research support (A03) (1)

Answer 50

P: there is supporting evidence

E: Asch found in his line judgement task that when one of group of confederates became dissenter + gave a different answer to other confederates conformity rate dropped sharply from 33% to on average 5%

E: strength was true even when dissenter gave different incorrect answer to majority

L: finding support view that social support helps people to resist social influence

Question 51

social support: further support for explanation comes from Milgram (A03) (2)

Answer 51

P: 1 of Milgram’s variations the P was one of team of three testing learner

E +E: other two were actually confederates who 1 after another refused to administer the shocks. Milgram found that confederates defiance resulted in dramatic drop in obedience from 65% to just 10%. It appears that the confederations had ‘freed up’ Ps to disobey

L: positive as it supports view that we are more likely to resist pressures to obey if we have social support

Question 52

social support: Allen and Levine conducted an Asch-type study to support social influence explanation (A03) (3)

Answer 52

P: Allen and Levine conducted an Asch-type study to support social influence explanation

E + E: found that not only did conformity rate decrease when dissenters were present-but this occurred even when dissenter wore thick glasses + said he had difficulty with his vision

L: supports view that resistance is not just motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of pressure from group

Question 53

locus of control (A01)

Answer 53

extent to which people feel that they have control over events that influence their lives

Question 54

explanation of resistance to social influence: internal locus of control (A01)

Answer 54

can control the events in their life
what happens to them is consequence of their own ability and effort eg. if they fail an exam, they will blame their lack of hard work or effort
more likely to rely less on the opinion of others
MORE LIKELY TO RESIST SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Question 55

locus of control: correlational evidence (A03) (3)

Answer 55

P: problems when investigating link between LOC + resistance to social influence is that it relies on correlational evidence

E: Correlational evidence fails to establish cause + effect eg. that having an internal LOC causes person to defy authority or not conform

E: there could also be another unknown variable apart from type of locus of control that is causing the defiance, such as individual personality

L: issue because LOC explanation for resisting social influence may lack validity

Question 55

locus of control: research support (A03) (1)

Answer 55

P: there is supporting evidence

E: Crowne et al completed an Asch-type experiment + then measured whether Ps had an internal or external LOC- found that internals conformed less than externals

E: Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study + found that internals were more likely to disobey + refuse to go to highest shock level than externals

L: strength as both of these studies clearly demonstrate a link between LOC + resistance to social influence

Question 56

locus of control: contidictary evidence (A03) (2)

Answer 56

P: not all evidence supports link between + internal LOC + resistance to social influence

E + E: Twenge et al analysed findings from obedience studies over a 40-year period (from 1960-2002) + found that despite people becoming more resistant to social influence-they increasingly believed that their fate was determined more by luck rather than their own actions suggestive of an EXTERNAL LOC

L: problem as it goes against the LOC explanation because if resistance were linked to an internal locus of control- we would have expected people to have become more internal

Question 56

explanation of resistance to social influence: external locus of control (A01)

Answer 56

have a sense that things ‘just happen to them’ + are largely out of their control
happens to them is determined by external factors, such as friends, parents or luck eg. if they failed an exam, they might blame the teacher or fact they had bad luck w/ questions.
Take less personal responsibility for their actions.
LESS LIKELY TO RESIST SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Question 57

minority influence (A01)

Answer 57

form of social influence in which minority of people persuade others in the majority to adopt their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours- different from conformity where majority is doing influencing

W/ majority influence, people identify with the majority view to ‘fit in’ w/ norms of society-w/ minority influence a conversion process occurs whereby people scrutinise minority viewpoint in order to understand why they hold this position

As a result, minority influence is more likely to lead to internalisation in which both public + privation views are changed

Question 58

factors involved in minority influence: consistency (A01)

Answer 58

minority to be successful + win over majority- minority must be consistent-involves keeping to + frequently repeating same beliefs/message

There are two types of consistency:
Synchronic consistency- when members of minority are all saying the same thing eg. all suffragettes want women to have vote

Diachronic consistency- they have been saying same thing for some time now eg. suffragettes have been asking for vote for many years

consistency draws attention to the minorities’ point of view, causing the majority to rethink their own views: ‘Maybe they’ve got a point if they all think this way’ or ‘Maybe they’ve got a point if they have kept saying it’- consistency leads majority to doubt themselves which can lead to behaviour change

Question 59

consistency Moscovici et al: procedure (A01)

Answer 59

groups of 6 Ps were asked to view set of blue-coloured slides that varied in brightness + then state whether slides were blue or green
2 of the 6 Ps were confederates

Consistent condition: 2 confederates consistently called blue slides green on all trials

Inconsistent condition: 2 confederates called slides green 24 times + blue 12 times

control group also judged colour of slides w/x any confederates present

Question 60

consistency Moscovici et al: findings (A01)

Answer 60

Consistent condition: Ps called slides green in 8.42% of trials + 32% of these Ps called slide green at least once

Inconsistent condition: Ps called slides green on only 1.25% of trials

strength as consistency in views and behaviour of minority was most important factor in determining degree of minority influence upon social change

Question 61

consistency: further support for consistency (A03) (1)

Answer 61

P: importance of consistency in minority influence is further supported Wood et al

E +E: carried out a meta-analysis of 97 studies of minority influence + found that consistent minorities were most influential

L: VALIDATES importance of consistency in influencing + converting majority

Question 62

factors involved in minority influence: commitment (A01)

Answer 62

minority need to be thoroughly dedicated to the cause to win over the majority-commitment is demonstrated by taking part in extreme activities that help to draw attention to their views

important that these extreme activities are at some risk to minority because this demonstrates greater commitment-majority group members then pay even more attention

greater commitment may persuade majority group members to take them seriously or even, convert to the minority position- known as augmentation principle- principle states that if there are risks involved in putting forward particular point of view or others take those who express those views more seriously

eg. many suffragettes took part in extreme activities such as hunger strikes, force feeding + imprisonment in order to draw public’s attention to issue

Question 62

commitment: evidence support role of commitment (A03) (1)

Answer 62

P: evidence support role of commitment

E + E: Xie et al found that when Ps communicated on social network with people who were committed to an alternative point of view to their own this had most significant influence on them adopting this new point of view

L: supports the importance of commitment in minority influence

Question 63

consistency: being overly consistent can backfire (A03) (2)

Answer 63

If minority consistency adheres to their message without any attempts to modify it- they could be viewed as being inflexible + rigid- may cause majority to ‘switch off’ + ignore minority view

Question 64

flexibility Nemeth + Brilmayer: procedure (A01)

Answer 64

tested mock jury situation where group members discussed amount of compensation to be paid to someone involved in a ski-lift accident

found that when confederate put forward an alternative point of view + refused to change his position, this had no influence on group but when they showed flexibility + compromised- they did have an influence on the group

positive as it suggests flexibility might play an important role in minority influence

Question 64

commitment: seen as deviant (A03) (2)

Answer 64

P: extreme activities that are used to demonstrate commitment could lead to minority being viewed as ‘deviants’ + ‘troublemakers’

E + E: members of majority may avoid aligning themselves w/ minority position because they do not want to be seen as deviants themselves

L: weakness of role of commitment in minority influence

Question 65

factors involved in minority influence: flexibility (A01)

Answer 65

important to be consistent in your viewpoint repeating same old arguments and behaviours again + again can be off-putting-also being rigid + unbending can give the impression that you are narrow minded + uncooperative. Instead members of minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view + accept reasonable and valid counterarguments-there needs to be strike balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 66

commitment, consistency, flexibility: importance of identification is ignored (A03)

Answer 66

P: research indicates that if majority identifies w/minority they are more likely to change their own views in line w/ minority

E + E: eg. 1 study showed that straight majority were influenced more by minority arguing for gay rights if minority were straight rather than gay- because straight majority identified w/straight minority-whereas they tended to see gay minority as different from themselves + self-interested

L: study illustrates that despite behavioural style used-unless majority can identify in some way with the minority change is unlikely to occur

Question 66

social change (A01)

Answer 66

Whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs + ways of doing things

eg. SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT for women’s rights, CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN AMERICA, movement for GAY RIGHTS + various environmental issues such as RECYCLING

Question 67

social change through minority influence: drawing attention to the issue (A01)

Answer 67

Minorities can bring about social change by drawing majority’s attention to an issue- 1950’s in America, black separation applied to all parts of America-southern states of America, places such as schools and restaurants were exclusive to whites
civil rights marches of this period drew attention to this situation

Question 68

social change through minority influence: consistency of position (A01)

Answer 68

Moscovici et al minorities tend to be more influential in bringing about social change when they express their arguments consistently- civil rights movement held marches + demonstrations over many years

Even though they were a minority in American population- civil rights activists displayed consistency in their message.

Question 69

social change through minority influence: commitment (A01)

Answer 69

minority appears willing to suffer for their views-they are seen as more committed + are taken more seriously by others
eg. civil rights movement ‘freedom fighters’ were mixed racial groups who got on buses in south to challenge the fact that black people still had to sit separately on buses many freedom riders were beaten + there were incidents of mob violence

Question 70

social change through minority influence: snowball effect (A01)

Answer 70

few members of majority start to move towards minority position, then influence of minority begins to gather momentum-more people gradually pay attention to the minority view until it reaches ‘tipping point,’ at which point it leads to wide scale social change

1964 US Civil Rights Act was passed which prohibited discrimination

This represented change from minority to majority support for civil rights

Question 70

social change through majority influence (A01)

Answer 70

research has also shown that ‘conformity’ can play a role in social change-because many of attitudes + behaviours of individuals in society are shaped by what they perceive to be ‘social norms’

NSI suggests we will often change our behaviour out of a desire to be liked + accepted by majority and to gain social approval-individuals in society are led to believe that majority are behaving differently to the way they behave they may change their behaviour to avoid being seen as socially deviant

Question 71

social change through majority influence: lessons from conformity research (A01)

Answer 71

people conform to social change because they dont want to be left out-environmental campaigners use psychological tactics such as printing normative messages on litter bins in order to bring about social change

Question 72

social change through majority influence: lesson from obedience research (A01)

Answer 72

Milgram’s research demonstrates how social change may be more likely if the changes start small + gradually increase eg.once small instruction is obeyed it becomes much more difficult to resist bigger one-people essentially ‘drift’ into new kind of behaviour

Question 73

role of social influence process in social change: research support NSI (A03) (1)

Answer 73

P: Nolan investigated whether social influence processes led reduction in energy consumption in community

E + E: hung messages on front doors of houses in California every week for one month- key message was that most residents were trying to reduce energy usage control, some residents had different message that just asked to save energy
Nolan found significant decreases in energy usage in first group

L: strength because it shows that conformity can lead to social change through operation of normative social change

Question 74

role of social influence process in social change: being perceived as ‘deviant’ limits influence of minorities (A03) (2)

Answer 74

P: potential for minorities to influence social change is often limited because they are seen as ‘deviant’ in eyes of majority

E+ E: members of majority may avoid aligning themselves w/ minority position because they do not want to be seen as deviants themselves

L: issue for minorities trying to bring about social change as minorities face double challenge of avoiding being portrayed as deviants + also making people directly embrace their position

Question 75

Social cryptomnesia (A01)

Answer 75

way in which minority attitudes, behaviours + beliefs become majority held views takes form w/x conscious understanding of its origins