Social Influence Flashcards
Define conformity
The tendency to change what we do in response to the influence of real or imagined pressure from others
What is compliance?
Herbert Kelman
The shallowest level of conformity
Going along with others in public but privately not changing opinions
Superficial change
Behaviour stops once group pressure stops
What is identification?
Herbert Kelman
Conforming because there is something about the group value
Publicly change opi/beh to be accepted by group but privately disagree
Tempory
What is internalisation?
Herbert Kelman
Genuinely accepts the group norms
private and public change in beh/opi
Permeant change as attitudes internalised
Change in opi/beh persistent even in the absence of group as a dispositional change
What is informational social influence?
Cognitive motivation through the need to be RIGHT
Occurs in new, ambiguous or crisis situations where decisions have to be made quickly and assume the group is right situations
Leads to permeant change in behaviour (internalisation)
What is Normative social influence?
An emotional process due to the need to be LIKED and not seem foolish, reduces anxiety
Likely occurs with strangers when concerned about rejection, or with people we know as most concerned about social approval with friends
Leads to a temp change in opi/beh (compliance)
What is a strength of NSI? A03
Evidence support from Asch
When right down answers conformity fell to 12.5% as giving answers privately might no normative group pressure
Shows at least some conformity due to a desire of not being rejected by the group for disagreeing with them
What is a strength of ISI?
Lucas found ppts conformed more when given a harder maths problem as when easy the ppts confident but as harder the sit became ambiguous.
Fear of being wrong so relied on the answers they were given
ISI valid explanation as results are what ISI would predict
What is a disadvantage of NSI? (AO3)
Can’t predict conformity in every case
Some greatly concerned with others opi (nAffilators)-they want to relate to people
McGee found nAffliators more likely to conform
Shows NSI underlines conformity for some more then others so individual differences in conformity that cannot be fully explained by one general theory of situational pressure
What is a limitation of ISI?
Unclear which explanation of conformity is at work
Asch found decreased conformity when dissenter, due to NSI feeling social support or ISI as provide alternate source of social info?
Hard to separate as both process probs interact in most real world-conformity settings
