Social Influence Flashcards
Describe the 3 types of conformity
Identification - conform to opinions/behaviour as something about that group is valued. Can agree publically but disagree privately
Internalisation - genuinely accepts group norms, resulting in a private and public change and the change is likely to be permanent
Compliance - going along with others but privately not changing believes/behaviours. This behaviour stops as soon as group pressure stops.
What are the explanations for conformity
Informational social influence (ISI) - this is the need to be right, it’s a cognitive process that is mostly likely to occur in new or ambiguous situations where a person is considered an expert
Normative social influence (NSI) - this is the need to be right, it’s an emotional process that’s most likely to occur in a situation with strangers when there’s a greater need for social support
Evaluation the explanations for conformity
A strength is that there’s research to support for ISI. Lucas et al conducted a study where students had to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy and more difficult. He found there was greater conformity for the more difficult questions. This was mostly true for students who rated mathematical ability to be poor. This shows that people conform in situations where they feel they don’t know the answer.
A limitation is that there’s individual differences for NSI. Some research shows that NSI doesn’t affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way. People who are less concerned about being liked are less affected by NSI rather than those who care more about being liked. Such people are described as nAffiliators, which are people who have a greater need for affiliation. McGhee and Teevan found students with a high need for affiliation were more likely to conform.
A strength is that there’s research to support NSI. Asch found many of his pts went along with the wrong answers just because other people did. In post-event interview pts said they felt self conscious giving the correct answer as they were cared of disapproval. When Asch asked them to write their answers rather than saying them, conformity rates fell to 12.5%
Describe Asch’s study
123 American male undergraduates and 6-8 confederates, were given a standard line which had to be compared to 3 comparison lines. The pts were asked which one matched the standard line. On the first few trials, confederates gave the correct answer then they started making errors, confederates gave the same wrong answers.
Pts gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time. Overall 25% of pts didn’t conform at all., so 75% conformed at least once. Afterwards most said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI)
Describe Asch’s variations
Group size - wanted to see if group size was more important than group agreement. He found that conformity rose to 31.8% , but the addition of further confederates made a small difference. Suggesting that a small majority isn’t sufficient for influence to be exerted.
Unanimity - wanted to know if presence of another person non-conforming person would affect pts conformity. He introduced confederates to disagree with others, this made conformity levels drop by 25%. The presence of a dissenter encouraged independent behaviour.
Task difficulty - he made the line-judging task more difficult by making comparison and stander and line similar in length. He found that conformity increased in these conditions. This suggests that ISI plays a greater role when the task becomes harder as the situation is more ambiguous, so looking at other people for guidance is more likely.
Evaluate Asch’s research
A limitation is that it’s an artificial task. There could’ve been demand characteristics as the pts knew they were taking part in an experiment so the were just going along with it. The lines was an artificial task so therefore can’t be generalised to everyday situations, reducing the external validity of the study.
Another limitation is that there’s limed application on the findings. Only men were tested in the study , other research suggests women may be more conformists as they could be more concerned about social relationships. The men in asch’s study were American, an individualist culture. When similar research was conducted in collectivist cultures was conducted, there was a higher conformity rates. Asch dint take gender and cultural differences into account
Describe the Stanford prison experiment
Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university. He selected pts who were considered to be emotionally stable where randomly allocated role of prisoner or guard. The prisoner’s were arrested from their homes, stripped, deloused and were given a uniform and a number. Guards had a uniform, key and handcuffs.
Guards behaviour became a threat to prisoners and the study was stopped after 6 days rather than the intended 14 days. The guards also took any opportunity to punish the prisoners by force-feeding them locking them in the dark cupboard. The behaviours became more brutal and aggressive nd some guards seemed to enjoy the power over the prisoners
Zimbardo found that both prisoner and guards conformed to their social roles and were very easily taken on by pts. The found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison rather than a psychological study.
Evaluate the Stanford prison experiment
A strength is that it was highly controlled. It was a lab experiment so thee was control over one of he variables. The most obvious was the selection of pts. Emotionally stable individuals were randomly allocated prisoner or guard, this meant that researchers could rule out individual personalities. This increase sets the internal validity of the observation.
A limitation is that it lacks realism. Researchers argued that pts were nearly play-acting rather than conforming and their performances were based on stereotypes of how prisoners and guards should behave in a prison. However Zimbardo argued that the situation was very real. Quantitative data was collected showing that 90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life. The situation was real to the pts , giving the study high internal validity.
Another limitation is that the study suffers from ethical issues. The prisoners were put under servers physchological distress. And one of the prisoners said they wanted to leave the study however Zimbardo wouldn’t allow it. The prisoners were abused by the guards causing psychological harm.
Describe Milgram’s study on obedience
40 male pts were recruited and between ages 20 and 50 with jobs ranging from unskilled to professional. There was a rigged draw for the role, the confederates always got leaner and experimenter. Learner was strapped to a chair and teacher was required to give an electric shock every time misktake was made. Shock level started at 15 and went to 450V. After 315V, there was no response from the learner, the experimenter said that it needs to be treated as an incorrect response. Prods were used if teacher was unsure about continuing.
No pts stopped below 300V, 12.5% stopped at 300V and 65% continued to 450V. Pts showed signs of tension (sweating, biting nails and lips, digging nails into palms) one pt even ad a seizure. All pts were debriefed and assured all behaviour was normal.
Evaluate Milgram’s study on obedience
A strength of the study is that it has supporting research. Hofling et al conducted a study with nurses injecting a lethal injection to patients. The doctors giving the order had high authority. 21/22 nurse obeyed the doctors orders. This means that the study ca be generalised to other studies, increasing the external validity. I
A limitation of the study is that there was potential demand characteristics. Researchers argued that pts behaved in a particular way as they believe the shocks they were delivering were fake. This means the study lacks internal validity. Perry’s research confirms that many pts expressed their doubts about the shocks in tapes recorded from Milgram’s study.
And other limitations is it suffers from ethical issues. It was very critical in the way Milgram deceived his pts. Firstly, he led them to believe the allocation of roles was random when it was fixed. And he ecieved them into think the electric shocks were also real. Deception is seen as betrayal of trust jeopardising the reputation of psychologists
Describe the situational variables for obedience
Proximity - in the proximity variation, the teacher and the learner were in the same room, obedience rates dropped to 40%. In the touch proximity variation, obedience dropped to 30% and in the remote instruction condition, it reduced further to 20.5%
Location - study was replicated in a run-down building so experimenter had less authority, caused obedience levels to drop to 47.5%
Uniform - baseline study as repeated by an ordinary member of the public’ rather than a someone in a lab coat, obedience dropped to 20%
Evaluate Milgram’s situational variables
A strength is that there’s research to support. Bickman conducted a study where he had confederates dressed in either a jacket and tie, a milkman’s outfit or a security guard. He got them to perform tasks like picking up litter from the street. People were twice s likely to obey he security guard than the one in a jet and tie. This supports Milgram’s conclusions that uniform conveys authority.
Another strength is that there’s cross-cultural replications. Miranda et al found an obedience rate of over 90% amounts Spanish students. This suggests that Milgram’s conclusions aren’t limited to American males and are valid across all cultures and females too. However, Smith and Bond argued that mst replication have taken place in western, developed societies.
A imitation is that it lacks internal validity. Researchers argue that pts worked out the procedure was fake so therefore is unclear that the results are genuinely due to the operation of obedience or because pts saw through the deception and acted accordingly.
Describe the agentic state as a social-psychological factor of obedience
Milgram believed that people act an agents, people experience high anxiety when they realise what they’re doing is wrong, but feel powerless.
The opposite of agentic state is autonomous state. This is where people are free to behave according to their own principles so therefore feel responsibility for their actions.
The shift from on to the other is called the agentic shift and occurs when someone is perceived as a figure of authority, they have greater power due to their position in the social hierarchy.
Milgram believes there’s binding factors, these are aspects of the situation that allow people to ignore the damaging effect and reduce the moral strain they’re feeling.
Describe legitimacy of authority as a social-psychological factor of obedience
Legitimacy of authority can become an issue when people use their power to punish people. This arises when legitimate authority become destructive, leader use their power for destructive purposes. This is shown in Milgram’s study when the experimenter uses prods to order pts to behave in ways against their conscience
Evaluate the agentic state and legitimacy of authority
A limitation is that the agentic state is a limited explanation. It’s doesn’t explain why some of the pts didn’t obey in Milgram’s study. An example is Hofling and the nurses, the agentic shift predicts that as the nurses handed over responsibility to the doctor, they should’ve shown anxiety similar to Milgram’s pts, as they understood their role in destructive process. Suggests that agentic shift can only account for some situations
A strength is that there’s research to support. Researchers showed students a film of Milgram’s study and asked them to identify who was responsible for the harm of the learner. Students blamed the experimenter rather than the teacher, they identified that the responsibility was due to legitimate authority.
Another strength is that it accounts for social differences. Researchers replicated Milgram’s study in Australian and found that only 16% of the ps went to the highest voltage. German pts - 85% went to the highest volts. This shows that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate. This shows ways that different societies are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figures. This increases the ecological validity.
Describe the authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience
Adorno wanted to understand the anti-semitism of the holocaust.
He investigated the causes of obedient personality in 2000 middle-class white American and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups. He used the f-scale to measure authoritarian personality.
He found that people who scored high on the f-scale indemnified with the ‘strong’ and were contemptuous of the ‘weak’. They were conscious of others’ and their own status - showing excessive respect. He found that people with an authoritarian personality had a cognitive mindset and there was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.
They have a tendency to be especially obedient to authority, they show contempt for people they perceive as having inferior social status. They are inflexible in their outlook - everything is either right or wrong and are uncomfortable with uncertainty.
Evaluate the authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience
A limitation is that it’s a limited explanation. In pre-war Germany, millions of individuals displayed obedient behaviour (racist, anti-Semitic), however all must vary in personality. It’s very unlikely that all have an authoritarian personality. It’s limited as it’s clear there’s an alternative explanation - social identity explains obedience.
Another limitation is that it’s politically biased. F-scale measures tendency towards right-wing ideology. Johoda and Christie argued that it’s a politically biased interpretation of authoritarian personality. They point out reality of left-winged authoritarianism. Also the right and left winged ideologies have a lot in common. It’s a limitation as it’s not a comprehensive dispositional explanation.
A limitation is that it’s correlation not causation. Adorno measure a range of variables and found significant correlations. No matter how strong a correlation i doesn’t mean that one causes the other. Adorno can therefore not claim that harsh parenting caused development of an authoritarian personality.
Describe social support and how it effects conformity and obedience
Social support can help to resist conformity, the pressure to conform and be reduced if there’s other’s present. Asch’s research supports this - conforming didn’t have to be the correct answer however, if there’s someone not following the majority, the other person feels free to follow their conscience. The other person acts as a model
Can help people resist obedience, pressure to obey is reduced if another is seen to disobey. Milgram’s study supports this where obedient levels drop from 65% to 10% when a disobedient confederate joined in. The person’s disobedience acts as a model for pts to copy
Explain locus of control as resistance to social influence
Rotter proposed the concept of LOC. If someone has an internal LOC they believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves. If someone has an external LOC they believe that things happen without their control.
It’s on a continuum with high internal LOC at one end and high external LOC on the other end and low internal and external LOC in the middle
Evaluate social support as resistance to social influence
There’s research to support for resistance to conformity. Allen and Levine found that conformity decreased when there was a dissenter in an Asch-type study. This occurred eve if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision. This supports the view that resistance is not just motivate by following what someone does but enables someone to be free from group pressure.
There’s research to support for resistance to obedience. Gamson et al found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram’s. This is probably because Gamson’s were in groups. 29/33 groups (88%) rebelled, showing that peer support is linked to greater resistance
Evaluate LOC as resistance to social influence
A strength is that there’s research to support. Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured if people were internals or externals. He found 37% internals didn’t continue to highest shock whereas 23% of externals didn’t continue. Increased the validity of LOC and that confidence can explain resistance.
A limitation is that there’s contradictory research. Twenge et al analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40-year period. Data showed that over that period people became more resistant to obedience and become more external.
Describe minority influence and now it can had to the majority
Minority influence is where one person or small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people. Moscovici first studied the process in his blue and green slide study.
Consistency is one way minority views can be increased. There’s synchronic consistency (where everyone in a group is saying the same thing) and diachronic consistency (they’ve been saying the same thing for a while) - this makes other people start to rethink their own beliefs.
Commitment is where minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views. The majority pays more attention to their beliefs - this is called the augmentation principle
Flexability is where the minority adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter arguments
The snowball effect is when the minority becomes the majority, this happens overtime and a change has occurred
Evaluate minority influence
A strength is that there’s research support for consistency. Moscivici’s study shows that a consistent minority opinion had greater effect on other people. Wood et al carried out a meta- analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that the minority who were most consistent had the greatest impact
Another strength is that there’s research to support for though depth of thought. Martian et al gave pts a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support. Pts were exposed to a conflicting view and attitudes were measured again. The found that people were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to minority group, suggesting minority message is more deeply processed.
A limitation is that the tasks are artificial. The study lacks external validity and is limited in what it Ian tell us about minority influence and how it works in real life situations.
Describe social change and how it’s achieved
Occurs when whole societies rather than individuals adopt new attitudes.
- Drawing attention - African American civil rights movement situation was addressed by providing social proof of the problem.
- Consistency - many marches and many people taking particular, this displayed the message and intent
- Deeper processing of the issue- people who accepted status quo began to think about the unjustness of it
- Augmentation principle- number of incidents where people risked their lives
- Snowball effect - continue to press for changes that gradually got attention.
- Social cryptomnesia - people have a memory that change has occurred but can’t remember now
