social influence Flashcards
define conformity
the tendency to change our behaviour and attitudes in response to the influence of others
what are the three types of conformity
compliance, identification, internalisation
what is compliance (a type of conformity)
going along with a crows and changing behaviour in public but personal opinions don’t change
- a superficial change
what is identification (a type of conformity)
changing behaviour when you are part of a group, changing your private and public opinion but only temporarily
- short term change
what is internalisation (a type of conformity)
genuinely changing behaviour and opinions. change beliefs privately and publicly. attitudes are internalised
- long term change
what does the dual process model show
two reasons for why people conform
what are the two correct terms used to explain reasons people conform according to the dual process model
Normative social influence
informational social influence
what is normative social influence, give a brief explanation about why people do it
- the desire to be liked
- people conform to be accepted and belong to a group
- behave a certain way to gain approval
what is informational social influence, give a brief explanation about why people do it
- the desire to be right
- believe the majority viewpoint is correct and if its not at least individual will fit it
- see other people as experts
- lead us to change behaviour and attitudes as we want to be correct
what is the name of the study that demonstrates informational social influence
Jenness study
what occurred in the Jenness study
participants observed a jar of jelly beans and asked to write down how many they thought were in there. the participants could then discuss and change their answer
what is a social role and give an example
patterns of behaviour that is expected of a person who occupies a certain social position
such as a police officer or teacher
what is obedience
a form of social influence that involves performing an action under the orders of an authority figure
what are situational explanations
focus on external factors that affect the likelihood that someone will obey
what are dispositional explanations
focus on internal characteristics that will affect the likelihood that someone will obey
what are the two situational explanations
agency theory of obedience and legitimacy theory of authority
what is the autonomous state
a person believes they are in complete control of their actions and they accept responsibility for what happens
what is the agentic state
people may obey to do something they see as wrong because the individual believes they hand over the responsibility for the outcome of the action to the authority figure
what is moral strain
a state of mental discomfort or anxiety experienced in the agentic state when a persons actions conflict their personal morality
what is the agentic shift
moving between the autonomous state and the agentic state
give a strength of the agency theory (use a pec style paragraph)
- it has research support
- milgram found that teachers would obey easier when the experimenter suggest he would take responsibility for any harm
- this supports becasue the participants obeyed to do something wrong as they handed over the responsibility
give a weakness of the agentic state (using a pec style paragraph)
- it doesn’t take into account individual differences
- in Milgram’s study, 65% of people obeyed to 450 volts, therefore there were some people who didn’t obey to 450 volts.
- this means that not all people obey to the same extent or for the same reasons, meaning the agentic state is reductionist
what is the legitimacy theory of authority
you obey to people you believe to be above you in the social hierarchy
give a strength for the legitimacy theory (use a pec style paragraph)
- there is research to support it
- Bickman carried out a feild study where an experimenter approached a member of the public and asked them to carry out small, inconvenient tasks. he was dressed as a milkman, police officer and in plain clothes. people were twice as likely to obey when dressed as a police officer
- this supports the theory as it states that people are more likely to obey those above them in the social hierarchy
give a weakness for the legitimacy theory (use a pec style paragraph)
- there is an alternative explanation
- the authoritarian personality states that a person with an authoritarian personality is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them, it can be explained by four factors, might is right, upbringing, personality traits, the f scale
- this means that it isn’t a complete explanation for obedience as it doesn’t account for dispositional factors
What are the two dispositional explanations
Authoritarian personality and locus of control
What are the four elements of the authoritarian personality
Might is right, upbringing, personality traits, the f scale
Describe the elements might is right and upbringing as dispositional explanations
Might is right - people with authoritarian personality belive those in position of authority will be correct and more informed so they listen to them
Upbringing- authority has been ingrained in them since they were a child so they have grown up obeying authority - comes from a harsh parenting style
Describe the elements personality traits and f scale as dispositional explanations
Personality traits - those with an authoritarian personality have a low tolerance for people are hostile to those with a different opinion
F scale - those with an authoritarian personality score higher on the f scale
What is the f scale, who created it and what does it measure
A questionnaire to measure facism created by Adorno, those who score higher on the f scale show a higher respect for authority
give a strength for the authoritarian personality (use a pec paragraph)
- it is supported by research of Elms and Milgram
- in elms and Milgram’s research 40 participants ( half who were obedient half who weren’t) were given questionnaires to measure authoritarian personality and interviews to see their relationship with their parents. obedient participants scored higher levels of authoritarian personality
- this supports the theory as it shows that personality can easily be related to obedience, validating that behaviour is dispositional
give a weakness for the authoritarian personality (use a pec paragraph)
- there is an alternate theory, the agency theory
- this theory states that the agentic sate is where people may obey becasue they believe they have handed over the responsibility of the outcome to an authority figure and therefore causing people to obey.
- this means that it isn’t a complete explanation for obedience, it doesn’t account for situational factors
what are the two explanations for the resistance of social influence
social support
locus of control
what is the theory of social support in relation to resisting social influence
people may resist social influence when someone else in the group also resists. this may happen because they feel it is okay to stand out and they feel more confident in their answer as someone else is also different and standing out
give a strength of social support as a explanation for resisting social influence (use a pec style paragraph)
One strength of social support is that there is evidence that can back up this theory. In Ash’s unanimity variation, he broke the unanimity meaning one of the confederates said the correct answer before the participant. This meant that the participant was more likely to say the answer they believed was correct as someone else was standing out from the group and therefore they also believed it was okay. When Ash completed this variation, conformity levels dropped to 9%. This is therefore backing up social support as when another person resisted social influence, others were more likely to as well as they had support from others.
give a weakness of social support as an explanation for resisting social influence (use a pec style paragraph)
a weakness may be that the research that backs up this theory (Ash’s unanimity) is flawed. this is because it was completed in a lab therefore lacking ecological validity. furthermore, the task of choosing a line isn’t something that occurs in real life, meaning it lacks mundane realism. Therefore the study may not explain why we resist social influence in the real world as it can only be used for artificial situations
What is the locus of control theory
People differ in what they believe controls their everyday life, it is a continuum where those with a high internal locus of control belive they can affect their outcome of a situation and those with a high external locus of control belive their behaviour is caused by external influences.
What are the characteristics of someone with an internal locus of control
They have high level of personal control over their lives and behaviour, they take responsibility for it. They are more likely to resist social influence and have low conformity and obedience rates
What are the characteristics of someone with an external locus of control
They belive that their life is determined by the external / environmental factors such as luck. They are less likely to resist social influence and have high obedience and conformity rates
give a strength for the locus of control theory (use a pec paragraph)
there is real life applicated research. Oliner completed an interview with survivors of WW2, half of which resisted social influence and helped jews and half who followed orders. he found that those who resisted social influence, had a higher internal locus of control. this backs up the research as those with a higher internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence.
give a weakness for the locus of control theory (use a pec paragraph)
a study Schurz found no relationship between locus of control and resistance to social influence. Australian participants where asked to give painful skin damaging bursts of ultrasound to a learner. it was found there was no difference between internal and external locus of control.
define minority influence
refers to when a small dissents from the majorities opinions and persuades others to convert their beliefs
what is the conversion theory linking to minority influence
for a conversion of someone’s beliefs to happen the person must internalise opinions and publicly change their behaviour
what are the three factors that are seen in minority influence
- consistent and stable
- commitment
- flexible
what is consistency in relation to minority influence, define the two types of consistency
consistency means that the minority is keeping their views and actions unchanged
- synchronic consistency - everyone in the minority says the same
- diachronic consistency - the minority have been consistent for a long period of time
what is commitment in relation to minority influence
the minority must display commitment to their cause by doing something that puts them at risk, in danger or sacrificing something. shows how far the minority will go for the cause
what is flexible in relation to minority influence
minority must be flexible, they should be open to compromise and accepting reasonable counterarguments to make them seem less ridged, forced and off-putting to majority
give a strength for minority influence (use a pec style paragraph)
- there is research to support it - Moscovici
- had participants in groups of six with two confederates, these two said all the slides shown were green, this caused participants to conform 8% of the time
- this shows that a consistent minority can influence a majority
give a weakness for minority influence (use a pec style paragraph)
- the research to support it may lack external validity
- this is becasue the task of identifying the colour of slides is artificial and not something that will happen in a real life scenario
- this means that the research is unable to tell us how minority influence works in real life situations
define social change and state when it occurs
society changing it’s perspective on a viewpoint or opinion generally caused by a minority influence.
- occurs when a majority change their idea of what is normal and what is deemed as okay
give three real life situations where social change has occurred
women’s rights, climate change, homosexuality, black lives matter
what are the first three steps involved when a minority influence creates social change, briefly explain what they are
drawing attention - minority must gain attention from majority about the problem
consistency - the minority must be consistent, protesting the same message
deeper processing - majority begins to notice the minority, starting to listen to their views
what are the last three steps involved when a minority influence creates social change, briefly explain what they are
argumentation principle - minority must commit to the cause, making a sacrifice
snowball effect - members of majority will begin to move toward the minority
social cryptoamnesia - social change has occurred and become part of everyday life
give a strength for the theory of social change (use a pec style paragraph)
- there is real life application
- the suffragettes and women’s right to vote. they went through the six stages, protesting, sacrificing ( Emily Davison jumped in front of the kings horse), few people think about the past when voting
- shows how minority influenced majority and now it is normal
give a weakness for the theory of social change (use a pec style paragraph)
- minority influence doesn’t always lead to social change
- minorities lack in social power and can be seen as an annoyance to society such as the just stop oil project, causing people to ignore them
- social change can’t be a reliable theory as there are examples where it hasn’t lead to society changing it’s views
