social influence

Question 1

what is conformity

Answer 1

a persons behaviour changing due to pressures from a group

Question 2

ash’s study of conformity

Answer 2

aim = to investigate how people respond to group pressure
method = 1 naive participant was placed in a room of 6 - 8 confederates, the men were shown 4 lines, 1 was a standard black line and 3 comparison lines. in order, the men were asked which of the 3 comparison lines were the same length of the standard line with the naive participant going last. the confederates said the same wrong answer for 12/18 trials to see how the naive participant behaved.
results = participants conformed at least once 75% of the time and 25% didnt conform once

Question 3

evaluation of aschs conformity study –

Answer 3

P - artificial task
E - does not reflect everyday examples of conformity and rather reflects trivial task
T - low external

P - low generalisability
E - more reflective of individualist cultures as participants are all white, american men
T - low external

Question 4

3 social factors for conformity

Answer 4

group size = the larger the group, the more likely you are to conform because of added group pressure
anonymity = if identity is anonymous, there is no risk of embarrassment if you are incorrect, lowering the likelihood of conformity
task difficulty = if you are confident in the task you are doing, you are less likely to conform as you are more confident in your abilities

Question 5

2 dispositional explanations of conformity

Answer 5

personality = people with high locus of control are more likely to agree or others opinions, or conform, and those with low locus of control
expertise = great knowledge on a topic increases confidence in your knowledge, lowing the rate of conformity

Question 6

what is a locus of control

Answer 6

the sense of what directs evens in our lives
high locus of control = they are responsible for live events
low locus of control = life events happen because of luck or faith

Question 7

milgrams agency theory of obedience

Answer 7

• individuals perform extreme tasks as they believe they are acting as an ‘agent’ for an authority figure, in the agentic state
• autonomous state = default state, a person believes they are responsible for their actions
• agentic shift = when an authority figure tells you to do something, you shift from the autonomous state to agentic state
• agentic state = you feel the responsibility for your actions are on the authority figure instructing you to do so

Question 8

evaluation of milgrams agency theory +-

Answer 8

P - supporting evidence
E - theory basis to explain the actions of nazi officers as they are acting under the agentic state
T - high internal

P - doesnt explain all findings
E - research found only 75% obeyed fully, when the research concludes it should be 100% meaning there are other explanations too
T - low internal

Question 9

3 social explanations of obedience ( milgrams theory)

Answer 9

authority = the higher ranking a person is, the more likely we will obey to them
culture = specific cultures have higher expectations of obeying your social superiors like parents
proximity = obedience increases the closer you are to the authority figure, as there is a stronger moral pressure

Question 10

adornos theory of the authoritarian personality ( dispositional factors for obedience )

Answer 10

• people with an authoritarian personality have a higher chance of obeying
• authoritarian personality = people have an exaggerated respect for authority and are more likely to look down on social inferiors
• people raised on a strong exert of discipline are more likely to have an authoritarian personality

Question 11

evaluation of the theory of authoritarian personality –

Answer 11

P - lack of support
E - the idea is based off a flawed questionnaire called the f-scale which has been criticised by many
T - low internal

P- results are correlational
E - a third factor may be involved for obedience and authoritarian personality like a low level education
T - low internal

Question 12

pivilian’s subway study

Answer 12

aim = to investigate bystander behaviour in a natural setting
method = there were 102 trials of 4 people on a packed new york subway carriages, after 70 seconds one of them fell over on the train. on 38 of the trials, the victim smelled of alcohol, carrying a bottle and on 65 of them, the victim was carrying a black cane appearing blind
results = the blind person was helped 95% of the time but the drunk person only 50%

Question 13

evaluation of pivilians subway study =-

Answer 13

P - high realism
E - the participants were unaware they were being studied and reflects day to day bystander behaviour
T - high internal

P - unequal trials
E - there were more trials of the blind test than the drunk test, giving it a higher percentage due to added trials
T - low internal

Question 14

2 social factors of prosocial behaviour

Answer 14

presence of others = in crowded environments, people are less likely to help as they assume someone else will
cost of helping = in a dangerous situation, the consequences of helping the victim may have greater risk than the risk of not helping

Question 15

what is prosocial behaviour

Answer 15

actions that help people around you more than yourself

Question 16

2 dispositional factors of prosocial behaviour

Answer 16

similarity to victim = if you recognise characteristics in the victim in yourself, you are more likely to empathise and help them e.g. a young woman helping a young woman
expertise = if a bystander has expert knowledge in what is needed to help, they are more likely to assist e.g. a doctor is more likely to help a collapsed person

Question 17

what is deindividuation

Answer 17

when in a crowd, a person adopts the persona of the group over their own personal morals as they feel responsibility is on the shared collective

Question 18

what is antisocial behaviour

Answer 18

behaviour which is harmful to others

Question 19

2 social factors of crowd and collective behaviour

Answer 19

social loafing = when in a group environment, people individually put in less effort as they believe others can do it for them, so in a group they put in less effort as no one knows individual contribution
culture = in individualist cultures like UK and USA they are more focused on their own needs ,but in collectivist cultures like china or korea they are more focused on the needs of the group, british people are more likely to social loaf and koreans are more likely to put in the same amount of effort

Question 20

2 dispositional factors of crowd and collective behaviour

Answer 20

personality = people will internal locus of control are more likely to follow their personal norms rather than the ones created around you
morality = people with high moral strength are less likely to be influenced by social norms