Social Influence Flashcards
What are the 3 types of conformity ?
Compliance, identification, internalisation
What is compliance ?
The shallowest level of conformity in which the individual changes their behaviour to fit in with the group/avoid rejection
They don’t agree privately but agree publicly
Compliance is normally due to normative social influence
What is identification?
The intermediate level of conformity the Individual adopts the behaviour or beleifs of a group
They accept the groups norms out of a desire for a relationship or association with the group rather than a genuine internal agreement with everything the group stands for
What is internalisation?
The deepest level of conformity the individual accepts the behaviours of the group publicly and privately
Permanent form of conformity
Most likely due to informational social influence
Define conformity ?
The change in behaviour of beleif as a result of real or imagined group pressure
What are the explanations for conformity ?
Informational social influence
Normative social influence
What is normative social influence?
Conforming to the majority to avoid rejection or being seen as an outcast this is driven by a desire to be liked and gain social approval the change in view is temporary
NSI leads to compliance where individuals publicly agree with the group but maintain their private beliefs
What is informational social influence ?
Conforming to the majority because of a desire to be correct in situations where the right action of belief is uncertain
The change is permanent
ISI leads to internalisation
What were the procedures of ASCH experiment?
The study involved groups of 8-10 male college students where only 1 was the actual ppts and all the others were confederates the task was a line judgement experiment
Ppts were shown a standard line with 3 comparison lines they were asked to publicly identify which of the 3 lines matched the standard line in length the real ppts was seated so they would always answer near the end of the
6 control trails were confederates gave the correct answer
12 real trails were they unanimously gave the wrong answer
What were aschs findings?
The measure of conformity was how often the real ppts conformed to the majority incorrect answer despite it evidently being wrong
75%of ppts conformed at least once
5% conformed every time
32% overall conformity rate
What did asch research suggest?
Suggest that people will conform due to normative social influence they conform for social approval avoiding rejection or being seen as an outcast
What were the 3 variables affecting asch conformity study?
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
What is group size as a variable ?
Asch varied the n.o of confederates from 1 to 16 with only 1 confederate the conformity rate was 3% with 2 confederates conformity was 13% conformity jumped to 33% with 3 confederates then it remained steady suggesting the presence of a small unanimous group has a strong social pressure but beyond a certain point the group size doesn’t increase pressure
What is unanimity as a variable ?
A confederate broke the groups unanimity by responding correctly the conformity rate dropped to 5.5% this suggests the presence of a dissenter provides social support
What is task difficulty as a variable ?
Asch repeated the experiment with smaller differences between the line lengths making the task more ambiguous the conformity rate increased
Asch argues this was due to ppts being more uncertain about their judgements making it more susceptiabel to Informative social influence
Does ASch study have high internal validity and if so why?
High internal validity as it was carefully controlled and standardised procedures were followed giving each ppts the same experiment
What did Perrin and Spencer argue about aschs work?
Argues his work lacks temporal validity suggesting the high conformity rates were due to the cultural conditions in Cold War 1950s America
What is the issue of using an entirely American sample?
Criticised for being culturally biased however many have replicated this study where they found conformity was much higher in colllectivist cultures
Why does asch study lack mundane realism?
Matching the lengths of a line is quite a simple task which minimises extraneous variables and doesn’t replicate real life social interactions therefore it isn’t a valid measure of real life conformity
What concept does asch research support ? N
Supports normative social influence as 75% ppts conformed to the incorrect majority at least once despite the correct answer being unambiguous
What other concept does asch study support i?
Informative social influence as when the task difficulty was increased the ppts was more unsure of the answer which increased conformity
How can personality affect asch findinags and what is this called?
Dispositional factors that suggest that conformity is solely determined by situational factors
E.g. if individuals are more sensitive to social rejection they’re more likely to conform
What are social roles?
Socially defined pattern of behaviour that is expected of persons who occupy a certain social position or belong to a particular social category
What is identification as social roles ?
The process of individuals adopting the behaviour of a group that they value and want to belong to these roles provide a social identity
What was the aim of the Stanford prison experiment?
Aimed to understand the psychological impact of situational forces by observing how typical, healthy inidividuals would conform to assigned social roles of guards and prisoners
What were the procedures of zimbardos SPE?
An observational study of 24 male students from the USA who volunteered to ppts in a 7-14 day study recieving 15 dollars a day they were then randomly assigned to be either a prisoner or guard
Prisoners- experiences unexpected arrests at home were given uniformed and id numbers.
Guards-given uniforms, clubs, glasses to establish authorit and were instructed to manage the prison without harming the prisoners
Zimbardo oversaw the experiment
What were the findings of zimbardos spe?
Ppts quickly lost their persona indemnities and adapted to assigned roles
Prisoners- showed signs of stress and anxiety some were released early after emotional breakdowns
Guards-empowered by their uniforms displayed sadistic aggression and domineering behaviour the study was stopped after 6 days due to ethical concerns
What does zimbardos research suggest?
Suggests situational factors rather than individual personality traits (disposisitonal) can drive behaviour as people who were considered normal before the experiment engaged in abusive or submissive behaviours as a results of their assigned social roles
How was the spe well controlled and how does this benefit?
Conducted psychological. Screening to ensure patients were healthy
The roles were randomly allocated
Which makes it sure that the behaviours come from the social roles not individual dispositions
What practical applications does the spe have?
Gave insight into how social roles can influence behaviour and help incidents of cruelty and abuse in institutional settings
What is the problem with zimbardos dual role?
Involvement may have led to experimenter bias and demand characteristics are likely to affect the study as they what to fit his expectations
What are the ethical issues with spe?
Ppts experienced psychological harm and Zimbardo decided to continue the experiment despite the psychological harm caused a lot of damage
What were the procedures of milgrams study?
Milgram advertised his obedience experiment as a memory study to avoid bias results ppts were greeted by individuals they assumed were a scientists in a lab coat and a ppt however these were confederates
Roles of teacher and learner were assigned with the setup fixed so that the real ppt was always the teacher the learner was then strapped into a chair and connected to electrodes
The real ppts was led to another room containing shock machine from 15 volts to 450 slight shock to danger severe shock the teacher was giving the learner questions and if they answered wrong they’d shock them as shocks increased they’d hear screaming
If they refused they’d command then to keep going
What were the findings of milgrams study?
100% of ppts shock went up to 300 volts
65% went up to 450 and it showed that the ppts were visibly stressed
What did milgrams research suggest?
The majority of people will follow orders of an authority figure even if that order will lead to harm
What are the explanations for obedience?
Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority
What is the agentic state?
A mental state in which the individual sees themselves as acting as the agent( on behalf ) of an authority figure
During the state the individual doesn’t feel guilt or responsibility for their behaviour as they believe responsibility for their action lies with the authority figire
What is the autonomous state and the agentic shift ?
Occurs when individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions its the opposite of the agentic state
An agentic shift is the movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state happens in the presence of an authority figure
What is legitimacy of authority ?
Through socialisation people learn their position within the social hierarchy individuals understand their position relative to those peoples who are above and below them
Legitimacy of authority is communicated through visible symbols such as uniforms and settings
What are the three situational variables affecting obedience investigated by Milgram?
Proximity, location and uniform
How was proximity investigated by Milgram?
Milgram increased the distance between the ppts and the authority figure by having the instructions be given by phone instead if the same room
Obedience rates dropped from 65% to 21% Milgram argues that due to the increased distance ppts were less likely to remain in an agentic state and more likely to return to an autonomous state
How did milgram investaige location?
Instead of having the experiment in a uni he replicated it at a run down office block the obedience rates dropped to 47.5%
How did milgram investigate uniform?
Milgrams original experimenter wore a grey lab coat in the next one he made the confederate wear regular clothes which reduce obedience rates to 20%
Whta support is there for milgrams study?
His variable studies prove his theory giving validity to the findings
What methodological flaws r in milligrams study ?
Lacks mundane realism no one would be shocked in everyday life
Lacks ecological validity as uni wasn’t the normal environment for ppts
How does using standardised procedures help milgrams findings?
Allow high level of control ensuring each ppt had. The same experience
Enable replication
How is milgrams research unethical?
Ppts suffered emotional distress during the study as it was difficult for the to withdraw and they were decieved about the type of study
What is hofflings experiment and how does it support milgrams study?
Conducted a field experiment in a hospital 22 real nurses were called by an unfamiliar voice claiming to be dr smith and he ordered them to give twice the daily dose of an unfamiliar drug to patients
21 out of 22 nurses completed this order suggesting even in a mundane realism situation people are highly obedient to those with legitimacy of authority
What was bickmans study and how does it support milgrams findings?
Conducted a field experiment in the ecologically valid environment of the streets of New York an experimenter approached passerby in either a guard uniform, milkman uniform or no uniform and asked them to complete a task
When asked to pay for a parking meter the obedience rate was 89% when dressed in the guard uniform only 33% in no uniform
Supports milgrams
What is the authoritarian personality?
High respect for people with higher social status
Hostile to people they see having low status
Fixed stereotypes about groups of people
Conformists with conventional beleifs and behaviours
Views on morality are very clear about right and wrong
How did Adorno study authoritarian personality ?
With a questionnaire called the fscale
People who scored highly had fixed steryotypes identified with strong people disliked weak people and were inflexible with ideas of right and wrong
Not all ppts conformed to the authority figure how does Adorno explain that?
Adorno can be used to support why not everyone conformed as he acknowledged that willingness to obey an authority figure can vary from person to person
What’s was elms and milgram study of two ppts given highest shock?
They gave the highest shock and were given the f scale which showed that they scored highly meaning they had authoritarian personalities
What is the problem with how the f scale was written?
Written in a way that agreeing to all the questions would artificially inflate their score on the authoritarian scale leading to inaccurate measurement leading to acquiescence bias
How is the authoritarian personality oversimplified?
The theory can lead to stereotyping where complex historical events such as the horrors of ww2 are overly simplified into personality flaws of the poepl involved
What evidence is there that the social support explanation of resisting social influence is true?
Milgram conducted a variation of his experiment where he gave the ppts social support in the form of 2 confederates and obedience dropped to 10%
What is rotters locus of control?
Refers to a personality trait system regarding what people consider to be the cause of their experiences and the factors that influence their successes or failures
What is internal locus of control?
Believe that they have personal control over their lives and the outcomes of their actions
They’re more likely to take responsibility of their actions and more proactive in seeking info
What is external locus of control?
Believe that external factors such as fate or luck control their lives they tend to attirbute their outcomes to outside forces rather than their own actions
How can locus of control affect resisting to conformity?
Individuals with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist conforming to group pressure because they believe in their ability to make independent judgements
Why is it possible for loc not be the only answer?
There is only a correlation and there are other related factors that have been suggested as being involved in resistance to social influence.
Define minority influence
When members of a majority group are converted to the views of a minority
What are the 3 things that the effectiveness of a minority can affect?
Consistency, commitment, flexibility
How does consistency affect minority effectiveness?
If members of the minority repeat the same message over time(diachronic consistency) and all group members give the same message (synchronic consistency) members of the majority group are more likely to consider the minority position and reconsider their own
How does commitment affect the effectiveness of a minority ?
If the members of a minority are willing to suffer for their views but still hold them members of the majority will take the minority and their ideas seriously
What is the argumentation principle ?
Suggest that if someone performs an action despite costs and risks the underlying motive or attribute driving that action is considered particularly strong
How does flexibility affect the effectiveness of a minority ?
They need to consider other valid arguments and show they are reasonable this flexibility encourages majority members to move closer to the minority position
What is the snowball effect?
Minorities changing majority opinions starts as a slow process as each person only converts a few members but this then speeds up and more people are converted
What was nemeth ski study to support minority influence?
Asked 3 real ppts and one confederate to act as a mock jury decide on the level of compensation for the victim of an serious ski lift accident
When the confederate was inflexible arguing for a low level of compensation and not chaining his position during negotiations they were less able to convince members of the majority to lower their offers
What real life examples support minority influence?
Civil rights movement showed consistency
Suffragettes commitment on hunger trike
What is social change?
When a view is held by a minority group challenges the majority view and it’s eventually accepted by the majority
What is social crypto amnesia ?
Describes how society adopts ideas from a minority group however once the mainstream accepts these ideas and they become the norm the sacrifices made by the minority group in initiating these positive social changes aren’t acknowledged but forgotten overtime
What practical application does social influence research have?
Helping governments understand how to change peoples behaviour
Why cant lab experiments not replicate real life social chang?
Social change often occurs over extended periods deals with highly sensitive topics
A lab experiment cant replicate the cause and effect relationship
