Social influence Flashcards
Types of conformity
Define the word conformity
adopting to the behaviours, beliefs etc of others
What is meant by internalisation?
when a person genuinely accepts the norms of a group.
DESCRIBE what kind of change happens to a person (their attitudes/behaviours) due to internalisation
-mention 2 things and why
-The change is permanent as attitudes have now been internalised
-It’s a long term change that remains both publicly and privately
What’s meant by identification?
When a person identifies with the group so they want to be a part of it- usually because there’s something in the group that they value.
DESCRIBE what kind of change happens to a person (their attitudes/behaviours) due to identification
-mention 2 things and elaborate on one of the points
-the change is short term
-the change is only public so that the person can be accepted by the group. Even if they don’t agree with everything the group does.
What is meant by compliance?
when a person simply ‘goes along with the flow’ when with others but doesn’t change their personal views and/or beliefs privately
What was Asch’s (1955) aim? (his study was on variables affecting conformity-not a hint)
To investigate whether people would conform, even when presented with an obvious answer
Describe the procedure of Asch’s (1955) investigation using standard and comparison lines
(there’s four bullet points)
-Lab experiment with 123 male American participants
-Participants were presented with 4 lines; 3 comparison lines and 1 standard line. They were asked to state which of 3 lines was the same length as the standard line
-Confederates gave the wrong answer in 12 out of 18 trials
-Out of a group of 6-8 people, the participant answered last or second to last.
What were the results of Asch’s (1955) study?
(mention two things)
-On average, participants agreed with the others’ incorrect answer 36.8% of the time (they conformed a third of the time)
-25% of the participants never gave the wrong answer/ never conformed.
What can be concluded from Asch’s (1955) study?
(mention two things)
-People will conform to group pressure. Even in situations with an obviously correct or incorrect answer.
-This suggests that people are very sensitive to the view of others.
What is meant by informational social influence (ISI)?
(also state what type of conformity it may also lead to)
An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it’s correct and want to be right as well .
This may lead to internalisation.
What is meant by normative social influence (NSI)?
(also state what type of conformity it may also lead to)
An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval and be liked.
This may lead to compliance.
What were the three variables in Asch’s (1955) study that could affect conformity?
-group size
-unanimity
-task difficulty
How did Asch (1955) investigate group size as a variable that could affect conformity?
-He varied the number of confederates in the group from 1-15.
What did Asch (1955) find when investigating group size as a variable that could affect conformity? (include a percentage)
-He found that conformity increased with group size when there were up to 3 confederates, rising to 31.8% but levelled off after that.
What kind of relationship was created between group size and conformity that Asch (1955) had noticed when investigating group size as a variable that could affect conformity?
a curvilinear relationship.
how did Asch investigate unanimity as a variable that could affect conformity?
Also mention what was done in two (of his own) variations of the study in order to investigate this variable
he introduced a confederate who disagreed with other confederates.
in one variation the confederate said the true answer and in another variation the confederate said an answer that was still wrong but different to the other confederates.
what did Asch find when investigating unanimity as a variable that could affect conformity?
state 3 things
-that the genuine participant conformed less often in the presence of a dissenter. (someone who objects the group opinion)
-the rate of conformity decreased to less than a quarter of the level it was when the majority was unanimous
-the presence of a dissenter appeared to free the genuine participant to behave more independently, even when the dissenter disagreed with the genuine participant.
what could be suggested about conformity by Asch investigating unanimity as a variable affecting conformity?
that its less likely to occur when the majority’s view is not unanimous.
How did Asch (1955) investigate task difficulty as a variable that could affect conformity?
What did this do to the participants?
-he increased the difficulty of the line-judging task by making the stimulus line and the comparison lines more similar to each other in length.
-it made it harder for participants to see the differences between lines.
What did Asch (1955) find when investigating task difficulty as a variable that could affect conformity?
conformity increased
what could be suggested about conformity by Asch investigating task difficulty as a variable affecting conformity?
that conformity increases when the task becomes more difficult bc the answer becomes more unclear to the participants which causes them to look for guidance.
What is one limitation of Asch’s research?
(related to the situation Asch used to study conformity)
one limitation of Asch’s research is that it lacks ecological validity
what evidence suggests that Asch’s research is limited?
(related to the situation Asch used to study conformity)
mention 2 things
-participants were asked to identify line lengths, which is a trivial/unimportant task that didn’t give them reason not to conform
-additionally, they may have been influenced by demand characteristics as they knew that they were in an experiment.
what do Asch’s findings suggest regarding its applicability due to the trivial nature of the research?
that the findings don’t generalise to real-world situations, especially in those where the consequences of conformity might be important.
What is one limitation of Asch’s research?
(related to the background of the participants)
A limitation is that all of his participants were American men.
what evidence suggests that Asch’s research is limited?
(related to the background of the participants)
mention 2 things ( one abt gender and the other abt culture)
-Research suggests that women may be more conformist, possibly bc they’re more concerned abt social relationships and being accepted (Neto 1995)
-America is an individualist culture but similar studies in collectivist culture like China where the group is more important than the individual have found that conformity rates are higher (Bond and Smith 1996)
-explain why findings from asch’s research is limited
(include 2 key terms)
-mention what this means eg “…means that asch’s findings tell us…”
-bc the study took an ethnocentric and androcentric approach which limits its applicability across different cultures and genders.
-meaning that asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in women and people from other cultures
what’s one strength of Asch’s research?
the support from other studies for the effects of task difficulty.
What is one strength of Asch’s study?
a strength is the support from other studies for the effects of task difficulty
explain how evidence can support the strength of Asch’s research on task difficulty
-state who the evidence is from
-what it showed
-what does it confirm and why
-The evidence from Todd Lucas et al. (2006) supports Asch’s research by showing that people are more likely to conform when tasks are harder.
-This confirms Asch’s claim that task difficulty influences conformity, as individuals tend to rely on others’ answers when they feel less confident.
What did Lucas et al.’s study reveal about conformity?
(in regards to maths ability)
that conformity is more complex than Asch suggested; participants with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on hard tasks than those with low confidence.
What ethical issue arose from Asch’s research?
Participants were deceived because they believed confederates were genuine participants, which may raise ethical concerns about informed consent.
What ethical issues arose from Asch’s research?
Participants were deceived because they believed confederates were genuine participants, which may raise ethical concerns about informed consent.
Define social influence
the process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours
Wht was Zimbardo’s aim? (his study was on conformity to social roles-not a hint)
to investigate how easily people would conform to the social roles in a controlled setting
Describe the procedure of Zimbardo’s mock prison study
(there’s 6 bullet points)
-The basement of Stanford University’s psychology building was converted into a mock prison for a study with 24 American male undergrad volunteers who had all completed a test confirming that they were emotionally stable.
-Participants were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners, each having to wear uniforms & prisoners were identified only by numbers.
-Guards were given props (handcuffs, sunglasses) to reinforce their authority and limit eye contact with prisoners.
-Participants were prohibited from leaving the mock prison; guards worked eight-hour shifts while prisoners remained on site.
-Prisoners had restricted movement, allowed only in the hallway (acting as a yard) and to use the toilet, with guards being able to restrict their movement.
-Physical violence was prohibited, in line with ethical guideline. Participants’ behavior was observed throughout the study.
Wht were the findings of Zimbardo’s study?
(there were 5 things that were OBSERVED/found)
-guards became increasingly aggressive and authoritarian towards prisoners. The study had to be stopped after 6 days (it was intended to last 2 weeks) due to the extreme emotional distress experienced by prisoners.
-Guards used tactics to control prisoners such as physical intimidation, deprivation of basic needs and psychological manipulation eg. using solitary confinement
-prisoners were rebellious at first, but then became passive & submissive, losing their sense of identity and autonomy.
-1 prisoner went on a hunger strike,protesting against the conditions, but was force-fed and ultimately removed from the study.
-By the end, guards and prisoners had fully embraced their roles, making their behaviour resemble real-life prison dynamics; as guards. grew increasingly cruel, while prisoners showed significant signs of psychological harm (stress aand depression)
What can be concluded from Zimbardo’s study?
That social roles seem to have a strong influence on individual’s behaviour as the guards behaviour become increasingly brutal and prisoners more submissive.
what’s is a strength of Zimbardo’s study in regards to how the VARIABLES were monitored?
answer using the Point, Evidence & Explain structure
-point: A strength of the study is tht Zimbardo had control over key varibles
-evidence: the selection of participants. they were all emotionally stable and were randomly assigned their roles, meaning that if the roles were given only by chance, then their behaviour must have been due to the role itself rather than due to individual personality differences for example.
-explain: this degree of control over variables increased the internal validity of the study.
what’s a weakness of zimbardo’s study in regards to its applicability to actual situations?
(answer using the Point, Evidence &, Explain structure)
P- it doesn’t have the realism of a true prison
E- for example, one of the guards in an interview said he’d had based his performance the stereotypical guard role portrayed in a film
E- this showed that participants had changed their behaviour as they knew they were in a study and may have changed their behaviour 2 please the experimenter or in response to being observed, causing the study to suffer from demand characteristics and a lack of ecological validity. So, the study’s findings tell us little about conformity in real prison.
what’s a weakness of zimbardo’s study in regards to how he had presented the 2 social roles?
(answer using the Point, Evidence &, Explain structure)
P: Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour.
E: For example, only 1/3 of guards actually behaved brutally. another third tried to apply the rules fairly. the rest actively tried to help & support prisoners. They sympathised, offfered cigarettes and reinstated privileges (2007). most guards were able 2 resist situational pressures to conform tot a brutal role
E: This suggests that zimbardo’s overstated his view that SPE participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors (e.g personality)
define what is meant by the agentic state:
(mention 2 things)
-a mental state where a person doesn’t feel any personal responsibility for their behaviour because they believe that they’re acting for an authority figure, e.g. as their agent.
-this frees them from the demands of their conscience and allows them to obey even a destructive authority figure
define what is meant by ‘legitimacy of authority’
(mention 2 things)
-an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us.
-this authority is justified by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy .
Define what is meant by the term ‘situational factors’
Also, state the three factors
Features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behaviour.
These are factors such as proximity, location and uniform.
Define what is meant by the term ‘proximity’ (as a situational factor)
The physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they’re giving an order to.
Define what is meant by the term ‘location’ (as a situational factor)
Location refers to the place where an order is issued. the status or prestige associated with a location can affect obedience.
Define what is meant by the term ‘uniform’
the outfit that people in positions of authority wear to symbolise their authority. this indicates that they are entitled to expect the obedience of others.
define the term ‘obedience’
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order.the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish disobedient behaviour.
Wht was Milgram’s aim (his study was on variables affecting obedience)
To observe whether people would obey a figure of authority when told to harm another person.
Describe the procedure of Milgram’s baseline study
(there are 6 points to cover)
- 40 male volunteers aged 20 to 50 were recruited through newspaper ads and brought to Yale University for the study.
- Participants drew lots to determine their roles, but the drawing was rigged so that the participant was always assigned the role of “teacher,” while the “learner” was a confederate .
- The teacher used a shock generator with switches labeled from 15 to 450 volts to administer shocks for incorrect answers in a word-pair task.
- As the shocks increased, the learner (not actually receiving shocks) provided pre-recorded responses, including protests and cries for help.
- When the teacher hesitated to continue, the experimenter prompted them with phrases like “Please continue.”
- The experiment recorded how many participants administered shocks up to the maximum voltage.
what were the results of Milgram’s study?
(mention 3 things)
-every participant delivered shocks up to 300 volts with 12.5% stopping at 300 volts (labelled as an ‘intense shock’)
-65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts. In other words, they were fully obedient
-participants showed signs of extreme tension such as sweating, trembling and groaning. 3 ppl experienced full-blown seizures.
What can be concluded from Milgram’s study?
individuals are often highly obedient to authority figures, even when it requires them to act against their personal morals, highlighting the powerful influence of situational factors on behaviour.
How did proximity as a factor affect obedience in Milgram’s study?
(mention 3 things)
-62.5% of participants obeyed when they were in the same room as the experimenter.
-this was reduced to 40% when the experimenter and the participant were in separate rooms
-this was even further reduced to 30% in the touch proximity condition (where the experimenter forcibly placed the participants’s hand on the electric plate
