Social Influence

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

• change in behaviour/ideals/beliefs
• usually to fit in with a group

Question 2

3 types of conformity:

Answer 2

• compliance
• internalisation
• identification

Question 3

What is compliance?

Answer 3

• temporary change in public behaviour
• private views maintained

Question 4

Give an example of compliance:

Answer 4

• being quiet in class then loud when teacher leaves

Question 5

What is internalisation?

Answer 5

• both public behaviour and private views change because of new information

Question 6

Give an example of internalisation:

Answer 6

changing political views to fit in with friends

Question 7

What is identification?

Answer 7

• behaviours and views change to fit in with a group
• temporary or permanent depending on desire to fit in

Question 8

Give an example of identification:

Answer 8

starting smoking because your friends do

Question 9

2 explanations for conformity:

Answer 9

• informational social influence
• normative social influence

Question 10

What is informative social influence?

Answer 10

• agreeing with majority view
• often in unfamiliar situations
• other group perceived to be right

Question 11

Give an example of informative social influence:

Answer 11

not knowing an answer to a question but agreeing with majority answer

Question 12

What type of conformity does informative social influence lead to?

Answer 12

internalisation

Question 13

What is normative social influence?

Answer 13

• agree with majority view to be accepted by group
• often caused by peer pressure

Question 14

Give an example of normative social influence:

Answer 14

smoking due to peer pressure, privately disagreeing with it

Question 15

What type of conformity does normative social influence lead to?

Answer 15

compliance

Question 16

What did Asch’s research focus on?

Answer 16

variables affecting conformity

Question 17

What did Asch find in the increased group size variation of his study?

Answer 17

• up to 3 confederates = conformity rose to 32%
• adding more after this made little difference

Question 18

What did Asch find in the disrupted unanimity variation of his study?

Answer 18

• added confederate who disagreed with others
• resulted in reducing conformity & participant becoming more independent

Question 19

What did Asch find in the increased task difficulty variation of his study?

Answer 19

• standard line and comparison lines are more similar length
• conformity increased (due to ISI as situation is ambiguous)

Question 20

What did Zimbardo’s research investigate?

Answer 20

conformity to social roles

Question 21

What is a social role?

Answer 21

the role people play subconsciously as members of society e.g. parent, child student
- has expectations of appropriate behaviour

Question 23

What did Milgram’s research focus on?

Answer 23

obedience

Question 24

How does uniform affect obedience?

Answer 24

• if dressed as authority figure, authority is perceived = more likely to obey

Question 25

How does proximity affect obedience?

Answer 25

when further away from consequence of actions e.g. you can’t see the person your actions are affecting, more likely to obey as you can’t visualise consequence

Question 26

How does location affect obedience?

Answer 26

when in a more prestigious location e.g. Yale uni, more likely to obey as you think experiment is more realistic

Question 27

What is proactive interference?

Answer 27

old info interferes with new info
new info is forgotten

Question 28

What is agentic state?

Answer 28

person is acting as an agent of someone else
no responsibility for actions

Question 29

What is autonomous state?

Answer 29

aware of consequences & responsibility of actions
independent; acting on own behalf

Question 30

What is agentic shift?

Answer 30

change from autonomous state to agentic state

Question 31

What are binding factors?

Answer 31

aspect of situation that allow person to ignore or minimise damages of behaviour & reduce moral strain

Question 32

What is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 32

where some people have positions of authority due to being entrusted by society with powers e.g. police & punishment

Question 33

Outline research into cultural differences affecting obedience:

Answer 33

Milgram replicated in Australia = 16% went to 450V
Germany = 85% went to 450V

Question 34

What are 2 explanations of resistance to social influence?

Answer 34

social support & locus of control

Question 35

What is social support?

Answer 35

easier to resist social influence if other people present aren’t conforming

Question 36

How can social support reduce conformity? Give a study that supports this:

Answer 36

if someone is present that’s not conforming, less likely to conform
Asch variation - disrupted unanimity - conformity dropped to 55% from 70%

Question 37

How can social support reduce obedience? Give a study to support your answer:

Answer 37

if someone disobeys first, more likely to follow and disobey
Milgram two peers rebel - 3 teachers, 2 confederate teachers refused to continue shocks = obedience of last teacher dropped to 10%

Question 38

What is a locus of control?

Answer 38

individual differences in people’s beliefs & expectations about what controls events in their lives

Question 39

What is an internal locus of control?

Answer 39

• believe what happens to them is consequence of own behaviour
• more likely to resist social influence

Question 40

What is an external locus of control?

Answer 40

• people believe what happens to them is controlled by external factors e.g. luck & fate
• less likely to resist social influence

Question 41

What is minority influence?

Answer 41

where one small group influences a larger group

Question 42

What are 3 processes used in minority influence?

Answer 42

commitment
consistency
flexibility

Question 43

What is commitment?

Answer 43

minority should engage in extreme activities to draw attention to cause

Question 44

What is the augmentation principle?

Answer 44

where minority take part in activities that put them at risk to increase majority interest

Question 45

What is the snowball effect?

Answer 45

where consistency, commitment and flexibility interact and eventually cause majority to convert to minority