Social Influence Flashcards
What are situational factors?
External conditions or contexts that influence an individual’s behavior
Situational factors may include social, environmental, or contextual elements.
How do situational factors differ from dispositional factors?
Situational factors are external influences, while dispositional factors are internal traits or characteristics
Dispositional factors refer to personal attributes that influence behavior.
What is an example of a situational factor?
Stressful environments, peer pressure, or social norms
These factors can significantly alter behavior in various contexts.
True or False: Situational factors can lead to changes in behavior regardless of a person’s personality traits.
True
Situational factors can override personal characteristics in influencing behavior.
Fill in the blank: Situational factors can include _______ that impact how individuals act in different contexts.
environmental cues
Environmental cues can include anything from physical surroundings to social interactions.
What role do social norms play as a situational factor?
They dictate acceptable behaviors in specific contexts
Social norms can pressure individuals to conform to certain behaviors.
What effect does group dynamics have as a situational factor?
It can influence individual behavior, often leading to conformity or groupthink
Group dynamics refer to the behavioral and psychological processes that occur within a social group.
How can situational factors lead to behavior changes in stressful situations?
They can trigger fight-or-flight responses or alter decision-making processes
Stressful situations can lead to heightened emotional responses, affecting rational behavior.
What is the significance of situational awareness in understanding behavior?
It helps recognize how context influences decision-making and actions
Situational awareness involves being cognizant of the environment and potential impacts on behavior.
What is majority influence?
The impact of the majority’s opinions or behaviors on an individual’s decisions or actions
Majority influence can lead to conformity, where individuals align their beliefs or actions with the group.
Define conformity.
The act of aligning one’s beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors with those of a group
Conformity can occur due to real or imagined group pressure.
True or False: Majority influence always leads to private acceptance.
False
Majority influence can result in public compliance without private acceptance.
What is public compliance?
The outward expression of agreement with the group while privately disagreeing
This often occurs under majority influence.
Fill in the blank: _______ is the phenomenon where individuals change their beliefs to align with the majority.
Conformity
What factors can increase conformity under majority influence?
- Group size
- Unanimity
- Cohesion
- Status
Larger groups and unanimous opinions increase the likelihood of conformity.
What role does social support play in conformity?
It can reduce conformity by providing individuals with an ally
Having at least one other person agree with an individual can diminish the pressure to conform.
True or False: Individuals are less likely to conform when they are aware of their own beliefs.
True
Self-awareness can empower individuals to resist majority influence.
The effect of crowd and collective behaviour
Individuals looses there sense of self ( deindividuation)
People become less conscious of what they are doing
This can be liberating
Dangerous as people don’t feel personal responsibility for their actions leading to mod violence
The effect of pro-social and anti-social behaviour
Pro- social — In certain cultures e.g china or Japan - people are collectivists - they consider others in their decision making, it’s normal for them to do things which may not suit them but benefits the community
Anti - social — opposite cultures, e.g USA or UK - people are individualistic -They make decisions to benefit themselves rather than others
If we are in a situation with individualistic people send tend to adopt this behaviour
- culture = the ideas and social behaviour/ norms or a particular group
The effect of authoritarian figures
The more authority a peon has the more obedience they can command.
Authority is having power over others and being able to punish people
When someone is superior to us we live in fear of the consequences of not obeying and vice versa if a person has less control
Under the control of someone with authority, people move from an autonomous state to an agentic state
Autonomous state - people feel responsible for their actions
Agentic state - that the authoritarian figure is responsible for their actions
Criticisms
Too deterministic - suggests people are at mercy of their situation and have little control over their actions
Over - generalised- only focuses on situational factors
Ignores individual differences
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What was the aim of the study?
To investigate the degree of social power associated with different types of uniform
This study focuses on how uniforms influence public obedience.
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What was the hypothesis of the study?
The members of the public would obey orders more or less depending on the uniform being worn by the figure giving orders
This suggests that the perception of authority is linked to clothing.
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The study investigates the relationship between social power and _______.
[different types of uniform]
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True or False: The study was based on the assumption that uniform type affects obedience.
True
The hypothesis directly addresses the influence of uniform on obedience.
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What is the method used in Experiment 1?
Field experiment on the streets of NY
This method involves observing behavior in a natural environment.
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What are the independent variables in Experiment 1?
Type of uniform being used
The experiment tests how the uniform influences obedience.
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What is the dependent variable in Experiment 1?
Whether people obeyed or not
This measures the outcome of the experiment based on the independent variable.
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experiment 1
What independent measures were used in the experiment?
Dressing in a guard’s uniform, milkman’s uniform, or civil dress
This variation tests the influence of perceived authority on obedience.
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What was the sample size and demographics in Experiment 1?
153 adults aged between 18-61
The sample was taken from pedestrians, ensuring a range of adult participants.
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Who was used as the confederate in Experiment 1?
A white male aged 18-20
The confederate’s characteristics were consistent across all conditions.
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When was Experiment 1 conducted?
On weekdays, mid-afternoon
The timing was chosen to ensure a consistent flow of pedestrians.
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What three actions were pedestrians asked to do in Experiment 1?
Pick up a paper bag, give a dime, stand on the other side of the road
These tasks varied in difficulty and required different levels of obedience.
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What was the independent variable in Experiment 2?
Guard uniform versus civilian uniform
This variable was manipulated to examine its effect on participants’ behaviour
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What was the sample size in Experiment 2?
48 adults
The estimated average age of participants was 46.
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experiment 2
Who gave orders in the field experiment?
A confederate
The confederate instructed participants to give a dime to a stranger for parking.
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experiment 2
In how many situations did the confederate stand with the participant?
Half of the situations
This setup varied the confederate’s presence to assess its impact.
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Experiment 2
What was the confederate’s action in the other half of the situations?
He walked away
This created a different social context for the participant’s response.
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Fill in the blank: The average age of the participants in Experiment 2 was _______.
46
This is an estimated average age calculated from the sample.
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Experiment 2
True or False: The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting.
False
The experiment was a field study conducted on New York streets.
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Experiment ЗA
method
used a questionaire with 29 different scenarios to do with obedience
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experiment 3a
sample
- 142 college students who were asked if each demand was legitimate depending on whether it was made by young man, milkman or guard.
BICKMAN Experiment 3B
method
questionnaire asked participants what they thought people woud do in one of the scenarios from experiment 1
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Experiment 3B
Sample
= 184 students.
