Social influence

Question 1

What are the types of conformity?

Answer 1

• compliance
  -obedience
  -acceptance

Question 2

What is compliance as one of the types of conformity?

Answer 2

• Ashers study
• people do as they are asked and required by formal regulations
• changing behaviour but not beliefs

Question 3

What is obedience as one of the types of conformity?

Answer 3

• Milgrams study and zimbardo
• people doing as they are told by authority figures

Question 4

What is acceptance as one of the types of conformity?

Answer 4

• changing behaviour and beliefs

Question 5

Who defined normative and informational influence in why people conform?

Answer 5

• Deutsch and Gerard 1955

Question 6

What is normative influence in why people conform?

Answer 6

• going along with the crowd
• gain approval or avoid disapproval
• people suppress their disagreement
• wanting to be liked and avoid being disliked

Question 7

What is informational influence in why people conform?

Answer 7

• leads people to acceptance/conversion
• when a task is ambiguous, others can be a useful source of information
• desire to be correct
• people rate the judgements of others better than their own judgments

Question 8

Why do people conform in cases of minimal normative and informational influence?

Answer 8

• social identity theory
• normative and influential influence do not consider group belonging
• we adhere to group norms because we believe the group is part of who we are
• the group norm is internalised and becomes an appropriate way to act for members of that group

Question 9

Who was behind the social identity theory?-

Answer 9

• Tajfel and Turner 1979

Question 10

What is majority social influence?

Answer 10

• social pressure exerted by the greater part of the group onto individuals within the group
  -often achieved through pushing conformity

Question 11

What is minority social influence?

Answer 11

• when a group changes the attitude of a majority group
• also called ‘innovation’

Question 12

Can a minority in a group bring about changes in the opinions of a majority?

Answer 12

• Moscovicis conversion theory 1980
• minorities stand out and can make them stand out temporarily- distinctiveness
• people re-evaluate their opinions and go through a process of validation in which they try to determine whether their own view is correct
• main advantage is their distinctiveness

Question 13

Who proposed the conversion theory?

Answer 13

• Moscovici 1980

Question 14

What is Moscovicis conversion theory 1980?

Answer 14

• demonstrated majorities are at an advantage, since the power of social norms and confomirty
• majorities often have power to coerce their audience to pay attention to their arguments and, at least outwardly, agree with them

Question 15

What are the two characteristics should a minority have to produce an effect?

Answer 15

• diachronic consistency
• synchronic consistency

Question 16

What is diachronic consistency as one of the two characteristics should a minority have to produce an effect?

Answer 16

• they must display intraindividual consistency ( each individual must not waver in their opinion)and therefore show stability over time

Question 17

What is synchronic consistency as one of the two characteristics should a minority have to produce an effect?

Answer 17

• they must display interindividual consistency (individuals within the minority should show the same opinion) and therefore show stability across the group

Question 18

What is important for a minority to produce an effect?

Answer 18

• if they disagree or change their minds, they are likely to lose their distinctive position and someone in the crowd thinking systematically will see this
• but if minorities remain consistent, audience attempts to understand why they hold their position, creating systematic thinking

Question 19

Do minorities exert their influence through the same mechanisms as majorities?

Answer 19

• Nemeth 1989, 1995
  -minority groups tend to win acceptance without compliance - but majority enjoys compliance without necessarily achieving acceptance- Moscovicis conversion theory basis

Question 20

What did Nemeth 1986,1996 argue in do minorities exert their influence through the same mechanisms as majorities?

Answer 20

• argued minority (but not majority) influence allows divergent thinking and innovation
• the stress that is induced when people realize that they disagree with the majority restricts divergent thinking, compared to realization that one agrees with the minority

Question 21

What is the role of perceptions in influence?

Answer 21

• consensus across majority groups is evident
  -perceptions of consensus are important for minority groups - Erb et al 2006- expectations of consensus
• features of minorities and the way it is perceived are important

Question 22

What are disadvantages of majority groups?

Answer 22

• people desire to feel unique and autonomous
• Imhoff and Erb 2009- exactly average personality test outcome

Question 23

Who is the key research in disadvantages of majority groups?

Answer 23

• Imhoff and Erb 2009