Social Influence Flashcards
What are the three types of conformity?
Internalisation, identification, compliance
What is compliance in the context of conformity?
Individuals publicly go along with the majority view, but privately disagree with it.
What type of conformity is linked to a need to be accepted?
Compliance
What is identification in conformity?
Individuals adopt the behaviour of the group because they value the group and group membership.
What is internalisation in the context of conformity?
Individuals take on the expressed view publicly and privately as they accept it as correct.
What leads to far-reaching and permanent change in behaviour?
Internalisation
What are the two key explanations for conformity identified by Deutsch and Gerard (1955)?
Informational influence and normative influence
What is informational social influence?
When people change their behaviour to be correct by looking to others who are better informed.
What is normative social influence?
Stems from a desire to avoid punishments and gain rewards, such as behaving to be liked.
What research supports normative social influence (NSI)?
Asch’s study found participants changed their answers to avoid feeling like ‘the odd one out’.
Fill in the blank: Informational social influence leads to ______ changes in behaviour.
Permanent
What did Jenness (1932) find in his research related to informational social influence?
Participants changed their estimates when offered a supposedly better way to count beans.
What is a methodological issue identified in Asch’s study?
Lacks validity as it was conducted among strangers rather than in groups with lasting ties.
What is the overall conformity rate found in Asch’s study?
32%
What happens to conformity rates when the size of the majority increases?
Conformity rates increase.
What effect does introducing a dissenting confederate have on conformity?
It reduces conformity.
What is an external locus of control?
A belief that outcomes are out of one’s control, leading to conformity.
What did Zimbardo aim to investigate in his research?
Whether students would conform to a role they were assigned (guard or prisoner).
What was done to participants in Zimbardo’s study to simulate a prison environment?
They were arrested, stripped, deloused, and given uniforms.
What behavior did guards exhibit in Zimbardo’s study?
They began to harass prisoners and impose punishments.
What is a key finding from Zimbardo’s study regarding roles?
Both guards and prisoners quickly settled into their assigned roles.
Fill in the blank: Normative social influence is likely to be stronger when participants make ______ responses.
Public
What did Lucas (2006) find regarding task difficulty and conformity?
Participants conformed more to incorrect answers when math problems were difficult.
What is the significance of Asch’s study in understanding conformity?
It provides evidence for both informational and normative social influence.
What action did the guards take during the prisoners’ push-ups?
One of the guards stepped on the prisoners’ backs or made other prisoners sit on them
This illustrates the extreme measures taken by guards to assert dominance.
What significant event occurred on the second day of the experiment?
Prisoners removed their stocking caps, ripped off their numbers, and barricaded themselves inside the cells
This act of rebellion signified the prisoners’ resistance against the guards.
What was the reaction of the guards when the prisoners attempted to rebel?
The guards called in reinforcements and placed ringleaders into solitary confinement
This response demonstrated the guards’ commitment to maintaining control.
How did the relationship between guards and prisoners evolve over time?
As prisoners became more dependent, guards became more derisive and aggressive, demanding greater obedience
This cycle of dependency and aggression showcases the dynamics of power and submission.
What led to the termination of the experiment on the sixth day?
Emotional breakdowns of prisoners and excessive aggression of the guards
Christina Maslach raised ethical concerns regarding the treatment of prisoners.
What is deindividuation in the context of the guards’ behavior?
It explains the loss of agency and sense of responsibility due to uniformity among guards
This concept highlights how group dynamics can influence individual behavior.
What concept describes the state where individuals feel they cannot help themselves?
Learned helplessness
This was observed in prisoner #819, who feared being perceived as a bad prisoner.
What was a positive outcome of Zimbardo’s research?
It caused reflection on current practices, though not much changed
The study highlighted the need for ethical considerations in psychological experiments.
What is a criticism regarding the ecological validity of Zimbardo’s study?
It was not conducted in a real prison, making it less generalizable to real-life situations
This raises questions about the applicability of the findings.
What did Zimbardo’s role as the prison superintendent potentially impact?
His biases may have affected the results of the study
This conflicts with the need for impartiality in research.
What did Reicher and Haslam’s BBC study reveal?
Guards failed to form a united front and the system eventually collapsed
This indicates that social roles may be more flexible than previously suggested.
What is the agentic state?
A state where individuals obey commands and do not feel personally responsible for their actions
This concept illustrates how authority figures can influence behavior.
What is moral strain in the context of the agentic state?
Feeling uncomfortable due to going against one’s conscience while obeying authority
This internal conflict can lead to psychological distress.
What are binding factors?
Reasons people give themselves to justify ongoing obedience to authority
These factors make it difficult to disobey or disengage from the situation.
What is an example of a binding factor in workplace bullying?
Fear of losing a job or being seen as a troublemaker
This illustrates the pressures that can inhibit individuals from speaking out.
What was the My Lai Massacre?
A mass killing of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops in 1968
This event serves as a real-life example of the agentic state in action.
What is a limitation of the agentic state explanation?
It fails to explain why some individuals do not obey in similar situations
This highlights the need for a more comprehensive understanding of obedience.
What did Hofling’s study on nurses demonstrate?
95% of nurses obeyed a doctor’s orders despite ethical concerns
This supports the legitimacy of authority theory.
What does the legitimacy of authority explanation suggest?
We are more likely to obey authority figures we perceive as having legitimate power
This perception can be influenced by appearance, behavior, and symbols of authority.
What cultural differences can affect perceptions of authority?
Different societies may view certain traits as more authoritative, impacting obedience rates
Examples include varying obedience rates in Milgram’s replications across countries.
What is the role of socialization in recognizing legitimate authority?
We are taught from childhood to obey those in authority due to trust or fear of punishment
This process is essential for maintaining social order.
What was Bickman’s study focused on?
The impact of uniform on obedience behavior
Results showed that individuals were more likely to obey someone in uniform.
What does the legitimacy of authority explain?
It explains why obedience is so varied across cultures
Varied rates in replications of Milgram’s study illustrate cultural differences in perceived authority.
What is high external validity in the context of the legitimacy of authority?
It suggests that the theory explains obedience across different cultures
This indicates that it is not ethnocentric to one culture or country.
What is the general definition of legitimacy of authority?
The right of people above us in a social hierarchy to make demands
This hierarchy is taught to us from childhood.
What is the authoritarian personality?
A personality type that is more obedient and respects order and hierarchy
Proposed by Adorno, it is measured using the F-scale.
What does the F-scale measure?
It measures attitudes towards authority figures
A higher score indicates a greater likelihood of obedience.
What are key characteristics of individuals with an authoritarian personality?
- Fear of parents
- Excessively respectful of authority figures
- Displaced hate and anger onto others
- Punitive upbringing
Based on Freud’s ideas about childhood experiences shaping adult personality.
What did Elms and Milgram (1966) investigate?
They studied the correlation between obedience and authoritarian personality traits
They compared obedient and disobedient participants using the F-scale.
What is a limitation of the authoritarian personality explanation?
It only shows correlation between strict parenting and obedience, not causation
This lowers the validity of the explanation.
What is the main finding of Milgram’s study?
65% of participants administered the maximum shock of 450 volts
This finding challenged the notion that only Germans were obedient.
What variables did Milgram manipulate in his studies?
- Proximity
- Location
- Uniform
Each variable affected the level of obedience among participants.
How did changing the location of the study affect obedience?
Obedience fell from 65% to 47.5% when moved from Yale to a run-down office block
This suggests the importance of perceived legitimacy of location.
What is the impact of social support on resistance to social influence?
It helps individuals resist pressures to conform or obey by providing models of dissent
Examples include protests where individuals supported each other against authority.
What does locus of control (LOC) refer to?
A dispositional factor that influences an individual’s ability to resist social influence
High LOC individuals feel they have control over their actions.
What is the illusion of unanimity?
The appearance of consensus that authority figures rely on to maintain power
Dissenting voices can disrupt this illusion.
How does disobedience impact perceptions of authority?
It plants seeds of doubt about the authority’s motives and validity
This can lead to a shift in perception regarding compliance.
What happened in the Rosenstrasse Protests?
Non-Jewish wives protested against the arrest of their Jewish husbands and achieved a victory
This is an example of effective social support in resistance.
What was the result of Asch’s studies on conformity?
The presence of an ally decreased conformity rates to 5%
This illustrates the power of social support in resisting conformity.
What was the outcome of Milgram’s variation with dissenting confederates?
The percentage of participants who continued with the shocks decreased significantly
This highlights the effect of social support on obedience.
What was the effect of having an ally on conformity rates in Asch’s study?
Conformity rates dropped to 5% when an ally stated the correct line length.
This highlights the impact of social support on individual decision-making.
In Milgram’s variations, what happened when two confederates withdrew from the experiment?
The percentage of real participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts dropped from 65% to 10%.
This demonstrates how social support can reduce obedience.
What is the main strength of the Social Support explanation in resistance to social influence?
It is backed up by many real-world examples, such as the Rosenstrasse Protests.
These examples provide evidence for the effectiveness of social support.
What is a significant weakness of the Social Support explanation?
It fails to explain the actions of the first dissenter who resists without social support.
This limitation suggests that the theory may lack comprehensive validity.
Define Locus of Control (LOC).
A personality dimension that reflects the extent to which individuals perceive themselves as being in control of their own lives.
Developed by Rotter in 1966.
What are the two types of Locus of Control?
Internal LOC and External LOC.
Internal LOC refers to believing one can affect outcomes, while External LOC refers to believing outcomes are due to luck or fate.
How does having an Internal LOC affect resistance to social influence?
It makes people more resistant to social pressure due to a belief in control over the situation.
This belief often leads to higher self-confidence.
What is the Augmentation Principle in the context of minority influence?
It refers to the idea that a small group of the minority takes extreme actions to raise awareness of their cause.
Such actions are often self-sacrificial.
What is the Snowball Effect in minority influence?
It describes how gradually more people are drawn to a minority message, leading to increased numbers.
Initially, this may occur through internalization, followed by compliance as numbers grow.
What is the difference between Synchronic and Diachronic Consistency?
Synchronic consistency is agreement among group members at the same time, while diachronic consistency is agreement over time.
Both forms of consistency are crucial for minority influence.
According to Moscovici (1969), what is necessary for a minority to influence a majority?
Consistency in their views.
Moscovici’s research showed that a consistent minority could lead to a change in majority opinion.
What was the main finding of Nemeth’s research on flexibility in minority influence?
When the minority was flexible and willing to compromise, the majority was more likely to change their view.
This highlights the importance of flexibility in influencing others.
What role does Normative Social Influence (NSI) play in social change?
NSI inhibits social change by causing individuals to change behavior to fit in and avoid disapproval.
This often results in the maintenance of the status quo.
What role does Informational Social Influence (ISI) play in social change?
ISI creates social change by leading individuals to change behavior based on what they believe is correct.
This often encourages individuals to resist social pressure.
What is the process of conversion in minority influence?
The slow process of the majority gradually changing to adopt a minority view.
This contrasts with the more immediate change seen in majority influence.
What is Social Cryptoamnesia?
The phenomenon where a social group recalls that change has occurred but forgets the steps that led to it.
This can obscure the contributions of minority movements in societal changes.
What does NSI stand for and what is its effect on social change?
NSI stands for Normative Social Influence and it is known to stop, inhibit and halt social change.
NSI occurs when individuals conform to avoid disapproval from the group.
What does ISI stand for and how does it relate to social change?
ISI stands for Informational Social Influence and it creates social change by leading individuals to change their behavior to what they think is correct.
ISI occurs when individuals conform because they believe others are correct in their judgments.
How does belief in a new behavior, such as veganism, affect social pressure?
If you believe that veganism is the moral, right thing to do, you will likely change social behavior and resist the pressure of the majority to stay the same.
This showcases the power of personal conviction in resisting social influence.
What are the three key processes through which minority influence creates social change?
Commitment, flexibility, and consistency.
These processes help a minority group resist pressure and gradually change the views of the majority.
Provide an example of minority influence leading to social change.
The journey of gay rights represents minority influence, where a small group gradually convinced the majority, leading to the legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
This illustrates how persistent advocacy and social change can lead to significant legal reforms.
What happens when a minority reaches a tipping point in size?
Once a minority has gotten big enough, they will want to be represented by the government and start lobbying for rights and protections.
This can lead to changes in laws and societal behavior.
How does obedience relate to social change?
Obedience can create social change through lawmakers, as laws passed by the government encourage individuals to change their behavior.
An example includes the reduction of motorway speed limits to influence driving habits.
What evidence suggests that minority behaviors can lead to social change?
Burgoon (1995) suggests that deviant and unexpected behaviors of minorities lead to deeper analysis and social change through informational social influence.
This indicates that the violation of norms by minorities can stimulate critical thinking.
What did Nemeth (2009) argue about the role of minorities in social change?
Nemeth (2009) argued that the dissent of minorities to established social norms opens individuals’ minds to search for information and consider other options, leading to social change.
This highlights the importance of minority viewpoints in fostering critical thinking and change.
Fill in the blank: Social change refers to the change that occurs in a _______ and not at the individual level.
society.
This emphasizes the collective nature of social change.
List three examples of social issues that have undergone change due to social influence.
- Changing attitudes towards recycling
- The smoking ban
- Changing views on homosexuality
These examples illustrate how social influence processes can lead to significant shifts in societal attitudes and behaviors.
