Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity?
A change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.
What are the 3 types of conformity?
- Compliance
- Identification
- Internalisation
What is compliance mainly influenced by?
Normative Social Influence
What is internalisation mainly influenced by?
Informational Social Influence
What are the 2 explanations of conformity?
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
What is normative social influence?
An emotionally driven, non-permanent conformity to a group to avoid rejection.
What is informational social influence?
A long-term/permanent internalisation driven by a desire to be correct, occurring in situations of ambiguity where it is believed that the group are correct.
Evaluation of the explanations of conformity?
- Supported by Asch (1951)
- Difficult to separate NSI and ISI, usually a combination of both.
- Alternative dispositional factors and locus of control act as opposing theories.
What year was Asch’s study?
1951
What were the 3 variables changed in Asch (1951)
Group Size
Unanimity
Task Difficulty
What was the procedure of Asch (1951)
8 to 10 American college males as participants. Each was placed in a room with confederates who gave the wrong answer.
The task was to say which line was most similar in length to the one shown beforehand.
What percentage of participants in Asch (1951) conformed at least once?
75%
What percentage of participants in Asch (1951) conformed every time?
5%
What was the overall mean conformity rate in Asch (1951)?
32%
When group size was 1 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?
3%
When group size was 2 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?
13%
When group size was 3 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?
33%
When group size was 16 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?
31%
When 1 confederate dissenter was present in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?
5.5%
When the task difficulty in Asch (1951) was increased, did the conformity rate increase or decrease?
Why was this?
Increased significantly.
- due to ISI
Evaluation of Asch (1951)?
- Lacks temporal validity, the high CR may be due to culture in 1950s Cold War USA.
- Cultural bias, androcentrism
- Standardised procedure, lab based, increasing internal validity
What year was Zimbardo’s study?
1971
What is Zimbardo’s study also known as?
The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
What is a social role?
A socially defined pattern of behaviour expected of persons who occupy a certain social position. Linked to identification
What type of conformity is conformity to social roles linked to?
Identification
What was the procedure of Zimbardo (1971)?
Observational study of 24 US male student volunteers, tested for mental stability, for a 7-14 day study. Randomly assigned prisoner or guard and given according uniforms.
- Guards instructed to be aggressive.
What was Zimbardo’s duel role in his study?
Chief superintendent and lead investigator
After how many days was Zimbardo’s study ended and why?
6 days, due to ethical concerns
What were the findings of Zimbardo (1971)?
Participants quickly lost personal identities.
- Prisoners after attempting resistance became submissive, anxious and some had emotional breakdowns and were released.
- Guards displayed sadistic aggression (1/3). 1/3 also were nice to prisoners.
Evaluation of Zimbardo (1971)?
- Zimbardo’s duel role allowed for experimenter bias and demand characteristics
- Well controlled, random allocation reduces participant variables.
- Applications in training for military and law enforcement.
What are the 3 explanations for obedience?
Legitimacy of authority
Agentic state
Authoritarian personality
What explanations for obedience are situational?
Legitimacy of authority
Agentic state
Which explanation for obedience is dispositional?
Authoritarian personality
What year was Milgram’s study?
1963
Why did Milgram conduct his study?
He wanted to know why ordinary Germans obeyed Nazi orders.
What was the procedure of Milgram (1963)?
40 US male volunteers, with a lab scientist and learner as confederates. 15V to 450V switches, after 300V no reaction heard. 4 prompts to continue experiment (e.g. ‘please continue’).
What were the findings of Milgram (1963)?
100% went to 300V
65% went to 450V
Visible stress
3 people had seizures
Evaluation of Milgram (1963)?
- Standardised procedure, replicable, high level of control.
- Methodological concerns, mundane realism, demand characteristics, androcentrism.
- Highly unethical, right to withdraw? Emotional and physical harm. Deception.
What were the 4 situational variables changed in Milgram’s study?
- Proximity
- Location
- Uniform
- Presence of dissenters
When the authority figure wasn’t in the same room but gave instructions via phone in Milgram’s study, what did obedience drop to?
Why?
65% to 21%
Shift from agentic state to autonomous state
When Milgram’s study was conducted in a run down office block instead of Yale University, what did obedience drop to?
Why?
65% to 47.5%
Decreased legitimacy of authority
When the authority figure in Milgram’s study wore regular clothing instead of a lab coat, what did obedience drop to?
Why?
65% to 20%
Decreased legitimacy of authority
When 2 dissenter teachers resisted obedience in Milgram’s study, what did obedience drop to?
Why?
65% to 10%
Social support: 2 non conformist allies.
