Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
What is conformity?
A
A type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes, beliefs or behaviour in order to adhere to exsiting social norms form a particular social group
2
Q
What is a more simple way of explaining conformity?
A
When an individuals private or public attitude is influence by the majority
3
Q
What do social norms reflect?
A
A majority view, the accepted or expected behaviour within a particular group
4
Q
What are the consequences of not adhereing?
A
Not adhering to social norms are potentially ridicule or loss of approval
5
Q
Who did the jelly bean study?
A
Jenness
6
Q
What was Jenness aim?
A
To investigate how group discussion affects the accuracy of people judgement
7
Q
What did he do in the study?
A
- Asked ppts to make an estimate individually on how many jelly beans were in the jar
- Then he put the ppts into groups to discuss their estimates
- He then asked the ppts again individually again
8
Q
What did Jenness find?
A
That ppts second estimates were changed to converge to their group norm
9
Q
What is one argument of Jenness study?
A
that ppts conformed because they genuinely believed other’s estimates
10
Q
What type of social influence is the study conveying?
A
Informational social influence
11
Q
What was the aim of Asch’s line judgement test?
A
To investigate whether people will conform with a majority, when the majority are wrong
12
Q
What was the method of Asch’s line study?
A
He asked ppts in the experiment group to judge line lengths in the presence of confederates who gave the wrong answers
13
Q
How did Asch check the questions were easy?
A
He has a control group who just had to give their answers individually = they only had an error rate of 0.4%
14
Q
What were the findings of Asch’s study?
A
Ppts did conform and give the wrong answer, 75% conformed at least once, and the overall conformity rate was 36.8%
15
Q
What was concluded from the line study and what type of influence?
A
Even though the ppts most likely knew an answer as the task was easy - the control group had a 0.4% error rate, they wanted to conform to be liked - normative social influence
16
Q
What type of conformity did the ppts display in line study?
A
Compliance - ppts conformed to fit in with the majority
17
Q
Why was the ppts behaviour explained by normative social influence?
A
Ppts conformed even when the situation was unambiguous - to avoid rejection
18
Q
What are the 3 variables that affect conformity?
A
Group size, unanimity and task difficulty
19
Q
What happens to conformity in group size?
A
- When the size of the majority group is bigger, the size of the influenced is bigger, people are more likely to conform
- When the size of the majority group is smaller, the size of the influenced is smaller, people are less likely to conform
20
Q
What does unanimity do to conformity?
A
- As the unanimity in a group increases the conformity increases
- As the unanimity in a group decreases the conformity decreases
21
Q
What does task difficulty do to conformtiy?
A
- When a task is more difficult or the solution to something is less obvious, people are more likely to conform
- When a task is easier people are less likely to conform as they are more certain with themselves
22
Q
How did Asch test unanimity in conformity?
A
Asch introduces a confederate who disagreed with the majority and gave the correct answer. (dissenter) If a dissenter was present conformity rate dropped from 36.8% to 5.5%
23
Q
How did Asch test group size in conformity?
A
Asch changed the number of confederates in his experiment, starting with just one confederate and one participant. He then added one confederate at a time. He found that when there was only one confederate, conformity was low. However, when there were two confederates, conformity increased, and it rose again with three confederates. After that, adding more confederates didn’t increase conformity any further. Asch concluded that a larger majority increases conformity, but the effect of group size has its limits.
24
Q
How did Asch test task difficulty in conformity?
A
When Asch made the lines in his experiment more similar in length, participants were more likely to conform, especially when the task was harder. Increasing the difficulty likely made participants feel more uncertain, so they might have assumed the majority knew better. This could have led them to conform because of informational social influence—relying on others for guidance when unsure.
25
What is the first evaluation of Asch's study?
Lack ecological validity as it was conducted in a lab study
26
What is the second evaluation of Asch's study?
the counter point that when it is conducted in a lab - cause and effect relationship can be established
27
What is the third evaluation of Asch's study?
Demand characteristics from the ppts
28
What is the fourth evaluation of Asch's study?
Cultural differences, the conformity levels found by Asch may only apply to American men because he didn't consider cultural differences
29
What is compliance?
Adjusting opinions/behaviour publicly but not privately in order to be accepted by a group and avoid social rejection.
This is a weak and temporary form of conformity and only persist in the presence of the group.
30
What is identification?
Adjusting opinions/behaviour to those of a group due to a desire to be a member of the group, to gain group acceptance.
Public and private acceptance but is usually temporary and will not persist in the absence of the group.
31
Why do people identify?
People want to conform to imitate a role model they admire or to imitate a social role they admire
32
What is internalisation?
A private and public change in opinon/behaviour where a person genuinely accepts the group belief system, it changes the way the person thinks.
The change is permanent and will persist even in the absence of the other group members
33
What is the reason for compliance conformity?
fear of rejection
34
What is the reason for identification conformity?
desire to imitate a role model
35
What is the reason for internalisation conformity?
persuaded that attitude is correct
36
What are the two explanation for conformity?
Normative social influence and informational social influence
37
Normative social influence, people conform to be...
liked
38
Informational social influence, people conform to be...
right
39
What is normative social influence?
Agreeing with other people in a group to be accepted, even though they don't necessarily believe the attitudes and behaviours they adopt are correct
40
What is informational social influence?
When we are unsure about the answer and uncertain, we may look to others for the answers and follow their response
41
When would informational social influence occur?
ambiguous situations
42
What type of conformity would normative social influence be in?
compliance
43
What type of conformity would informational social influence be in?
internalisation
44
What is my first evaluation paragraph for explanations for conformity?
Normative social influence explains conformity as individuals conform to be liked or accepted by others.
45
What is my second evaluation paragraph for explanations for conformity?
A limitation of the explanation of conformity is that it is often unclear whether normative social influence (NSI) or informational social influence (ISI) is the primary cause of conformity in studies.
46
What is my third evaluation paragraph for explanations for conformity?
A limitation of normative social influence (NSI) is that it does not predict conformity in every case, as individual differences play a significant role in how people respond to social pressures.
47
What are social roles?
The parts people play as member of social groups (such as parent, teacher etc) which are accompanied by expectations of appropriate behaviour in each role
48
What was the aim of Zimbardo's study?
To investigate if prison brutality happens because of the personality of guards and prisoners or because they are conforming to social roles
49
Where did Zimbardo's study take place?
laboratory experiment by converting a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison.
50
How many people took part in the study?
21 male students
51
What was the allocating method used by Zimbardo
Participants were randomly divided into the role of either prisoner or guard
52
How did Zimbardo heighten the realism in the study
Prisoners: were arrested, finger printed and stripped of their own clothes and made to dress like prisoners
Guards: dressed in uniforms, given handcuffs, dark glasses and bats
53
What was the method Zimbardo used in his study?
Zimbardo observed the behaviour in a controlled of the guards and prisoners, the participants knew they were being observed so he conducted a controlled, overt obseration
54
What happened during Zimbardo's study?
The prisoners tried to rebel, by pushing their beds against their cell doors, the guards got bad and crushed the rebellion and forced them away from the door, they broke into the cell and stripped the prisoners of their clothes, from here they became brutal and gave them harsh tasks and consequences
55
What was concluded in Zimbardo's study?
The normal men changed completely when their situation and social role was dramtically changed. He concluded that prisoners, guards and researchers all conformed to their roles within the 'orison' behaving as if they were in prison rather than a research study. This shows that prison violence is caused by people conforming to social roles of prisoners and guards, because violence is seen when normal people are put in prisons.
56
What is my first evaluation paragraph for explanations for Zimbardos study of conformity?
A strength of Zimbardo’s study is the high level of control he had over variables, particularly the selection of participants.
57
What is my second evaluation paragraph for explanations for Zimbardos study of conformity?
A limitation of Zimbardo’s study is that it lacked ecological validity of a true prison environment.
58
What is my third evaluation paragraph for explanations for Zimbardos study of conformity?
A significant limitation of Zimbardo’s study is the ethical concerns it raised, particularly regarding the lack of fully informed consent and the psychological harm experienced by participants.
59
What is a situational variable?
Changes in the environment that affect how a person behaves
60
What are the 4 situational variables affecting obedience?
Proximity of authority figure
Proximity of victim
Location
Uniform
61
What is a social group?
Groups of 2 or more people, who interact together, share things in common and share a common identity.
62
What is a social hierarchy?
When the power structure is unequal in a social group ,meaning one person has higher authority that others
63
What happens in hierarchical societies?
People are afforded authority and the sense that society agrees to their authority
64
Who can up with the explanation of obedience: legitimacy of authority?
Milgram
65
Why do we obey people who are higher up in the hierarchy?
Because we see people who are higher up, with respect and see the authority as legitimate
66
What does legitimacy of authority grant?
It grants some people to punish others: such as the police or the courts
67
The legitimacy of authority explanation of obedience says…
Because we grow up in social hierarchies, we learn from a young age to obey people who are higher up in the social hierarchy.
68
How is legitimacy of authority seen in Milgram obedience study?
In Milgram study the perceived level of authority of the experimenter could be increased due to the fact that the experimenter wore a grey lab coat. When the ‘teacher’ was dressed in everyday clothes, obedience dropped to 20%
69
What was Milgram second explanation of obedience?
Agency theory
70
What is moral strain?
- When someone feels they need to obey the authority figure on the other hand they dont want to be responsible for the horrible consequences
- An agent may feel aware that what they’re are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey
71
When will someone obey destructive orders?
In the agentic state because they do not take responsibility for their own behaviour
72
What are binding factors?
A person minimises or ignores the damaging effect of their behaviour to reduce the moral strain using stratergies such as shifting responsibility to the victim or denying the damage done
73
How was the agentic state evident in Milgram study?
Participants were told that the experimenter was responsible for learners welfare
74
Are you more or less likely to obey in an agentic state?
More likely to obey
75
How does a person feel in an autonomous state?
A person feels responsible for their actions and free to act on their own principles
76
How is the autonomous state seen in Milgrams study?
The ‘teacher’ was in the presence of two other participants (actually confederates) who refused to administer shocks, the level of obedience fell from 65% to 10%
Disobedience shows that it is not compulsory to obey and that there us choice
77
How is the autonomous state seen in Milgrams study?
The ‘teacher’ was in the presence of two other participants (actually confederates) who refused to administer shocks, the level of obedience fell from 65% to 10%
Disobedience shows that it is not compulsory to obey and that there us choice
78
In an autonomous state are you less or more likely to obey?
Less likely
79
What is the agentic shift?
When a person percieved someone else as a figure of authority die to their position of power in social hierarchy.
The change from autonomy to agency
80
What variables does agency theory ignore?
Individual variables, a persons personality can make someone more likely to obey
81
What is an authoritarian personality?
A person who believes in strict adherences to social rules, absolute obedience to people with more power and looks down on people with less power
82
What are some authoritarian personality characteristics?
- hostility to those perceived to be lower status
- Respect for those percieved to be higher in status
- Preoccupation with power band blind respect for authority
- Fixed ideas of right an wrong
- High conventional attitudes towards sex, race and gender
83
Who can up with he authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience?
Aldorno
84
What is the expiation of obedience: authoritarian personality?
Some people are more likely to obey due to their authoritarian personality, this means they have strict discipline which is said to have developed from strict parents
85
How does an authoritarian personality develop?
Through strict parents, high levels of obedience as a psychological disorder shaped by early childhood
86
What was the personality questionnaire made by Aldorno?
The F - Scale, measured the degree of authoritarian personality
87
What was the F Scale?
A authoritarian questionnaire, which used 30 questions to assess nine personality dimensions.
88
What did the F Scale show him about authoritarian personalities?
People had fixed stereotypes about other groups and a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
89
Did Milgrams study give evidence for authoritarian personality?
Yes, participants with strong authoritarian personality characteristics gave the highest shock levels in Milgrams research
90
What type of explanation is Aldorno authoritarian personality for obedience?
A dispositional explanation
91
Why did Milgram study obedience?
To understand why Adoplh Eichmann’s defence in the Nazi war trials was that he was ‘just obeying order’ from a higher ranker authority.
92
What were Milgrams aims?
To test if any individual could be made to go against their moral code and obey and to test if there was something different about Germans that made them obey
93
How did Milgram recruiting participants for the study?
He sent out an advert in the newspaper, recruiting adult male participants for a study about learning and memory, however the participants were unaware the study was actually about obedience
94
What did Milgrams study test for?
How far people would go to obey an authorities figure, even if it meant causing harm to others
95
What was the method of Milgrams study of obedience?
Participants done the study individually, alongside Mr Wallace who they thought was another participant but was actually a confederate
They got assigned roles, participants played the role of ‘teacher’ and Mr Wallace ‘learner’ - the pots were told the roles were assigned randomly, however they were pre chosen.
The participants were told Mr Wallace would undertake a memory task in a room next door, as a teacher the participants would have to monitor Mr Wallaces performance and give him electric shocks every time her got an answer wrong.
In the ppts room, there switches marked with volts and a description if the shock ‘mild shock’… , the shocks went up to 450v with a description of XXX.
Participants were told to give shocks of increasing strength every time Mr Wallace got an answer wrong, however in reality Mr Wallace was not being shocked and his answers to the question were pre recorded.
Every time the ppts pressed the lever a recording would play and it would sound like Mr Wallace had been shocked, as the shocked level increased Mr Wallace would react more strong
At 150 Volts he asked to be released, at 300 Volts Mr Wallace refused to answer questions, 330 it stopped making any noise at all
The experimenter in the lab coat, would tell the participants to keep shocking Mr Wallace ‘Please continue”
96
What were the findings of Milgrams study of obedience?
65% of participants obeyed up to the maximum shock level of 450 volts
All participants went to at least 300 volts
Lost of participants showed signs of distress, sweats and even seizures
Majority of people still obey
97
Did Milgrams experiment support the idea that Germans are different?
Milgrams study did not support the idea that Germans are different. His study showed that anyone could be capable of destructive obedience
98
What was Hoflings study of obedience?
Holding used a naturalistic field experiment when Dr Smith (A stooge) phones night nurses at hospital (on 22 seperate occasions) and instructed them to administer 20mg of the drug Astroten to a patient. In a hurry. Dr Smith said he would sign the authorisation form later. If the nurse administered the drug, this broke three hospital rules
1. They are not allowed to accept instructions over the phone
2. The dose was double the maximum limit stated
3. The medicine itself was not authorised for use on the ward
99
How much and what drug was used in Holfings study?
20mg of Astroten
100
What were the findings of Hoflings study?
21/22 nurses tested, administered the drug. When a control group of 22 nurses were asked what they would do in a similar situation; 21 stated that they would not obey
101
How did Milgram test proximity of victims in his additional experiments and how much did obedience drop by?
He changed the experiment so that the participants could see the ‘learner’ react in distress, obedience dropped from 65% to 40%
102
Where did Milgram change his location from and too in his additional study and how much did obedience drop by?
From prestigious Yale university, (which might have increased the perceived legitimacy of authority of the experimenter) to a run down office in a bad part of town (low legitimacy setting), obedience dropped from 65% to 47.5%
103
How did Milgram test the effect of uniform on obedience and how much did obedience drop by?
The original study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat, a uniform which was a symbol of his authority. In the other variation the person giving the orders changed from th experimenter in a lab coat to a confederate dressed in everyday clothes.
Obedience dropped from 65% to 20%
104
What were the reasons Milgrams study’s as regarded as unethical?
- Consent
- Protection of participants
- Deception
- Right to withdraw
- Debrief
105
How did the participants endure psychological harm in Milgrams study?
Participants were asked to give extremely high shocks to an old man until he was in huge amounts of pain, this is a stressful situations and would make the participants feel pretty awful about themselves, the evidence shows that participants showed distress to the point of seizure’s
106
How did Milgrams justify and defend the claim that participants endured psychological harm in his study?
Only 2% of the participants had any regrets in taking part in the study so he argued that the psychological harm was not that big or lasting.
107
How were Milgrams participants deceived in his study?
Milgram did not tell them that the learner was a confederate pretending to be shocked and he told them it was a study of learning but it was really a study of obedience. The shocks were also not real
108
Since Milgram deceived his participants we can also say that…
His participants couldn’t give informed consent
109
What was Milgrams response to criticism of deception?
Deception was nesercary for the experiment to work, if participants knew the true aim of the experimenter they wouldn’t have behaved realistically, and we still wouldn’t know anything new about obedience.
He also argued that he debrief the partisan to at the end of the experiment and he told them the real aim, and made sure they hadn’t really harmed anyone
110
In Milgrams study the participants may have felt they didnt have a right to withdraw, how was this seen in the study?
The experimenter in the study gave verbal probs, you have no choice, although they were no physical ally restrained they may have felt as they would have not git paid if they left the experiment
111
What was Milgrams response to criticism of right to withdraw?
Milgram pointed out that he payed his participants at the beginning of the study so they knew they could have withdrawn, 35% of the participants withdrew from the study
112
What is my first evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
One strength is that it was conducted in a lab study - control over extraneous variables, establish cause and effect
113
What is my counter argument to my first evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
A limitation of Milgrams study is that it lacks ecological validity, lab study unusual setting, Artifical tasks, not reflect every day life, lacks mundane realism
114
What is my second evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
A limitation - demand characteristics, ppts may not have believed the shocks were real, lacking internal validity , which may have been the reason for their obedience. This would suggests that this research was not actually testing obedience to authority.
115
What is my counter argument to second evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
The reactions of ppts, suggest they believed the shocks were real, they were distressed and they were sweating - suggesting that the results reflect their real behaviour and that he was measuring the effects of obedience to authority.
116
What is my third evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
A limitation is that it is unethical - deception, psychological harm, right to withdraw…
117
What is my counter argument of my third evaluation point of the evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience?
Milgram argued it was necessary to device participants. If participants were aware of the true nature of thee experiment, it would not be possible to measure their natural behaviour.
118
What is the relationship between having a high authoritarian personality and obedience?
it is a correlation between the two not a cause and effect relationship
119
What is counter point to my first evaluation point for the evaluation of dispositional expiation for obedience?
However, the findings from Milgram and Elms' (1966) study suggest that the link between authoritarianism and obedience may not be as straightforward as initially thought.
120
What is my second evaluation point for the evaluation of dispositional expiation for obedience?
One limitation of the authoritarian personality theory is that it cannot explain the obedient behaviour of the majority of a population, particularly in large-scale instances such as pre-war Nazi Germany.
121
What is my first evaluation point for the evaluation of dispositional expiation for obedience?
One strength of Milgram's research in supporting the authoritarian personality theory is the evidence found in the study by Milgram and Elms (1966), which suggests that obedient individuals share traits associated with authoritarianism.
122
What is minority influence?
When a minority group changes the attitudes and behaviours of the majority
123
What is resistance to social influence?
When an individual withstands pressure to conform and withstands pressure to obey
124
What is social support?
- The perception of assistance and solidarity available from others
- when people have the support of others, they’re more likely to resist.
125
What type of explanation of resistance to social influence is social support?
Since this is a feature of the external environment, social support is a situational explanation of resistance to social influence
126
How is social support linked to non conformity?
The presence a dissenter provides strong support for defiance as dissenters provide 'moral support'. The impact of a majority view is reduced if the majority do not all agree. If the dissenter speaks out early the pressure to confirm situation, it will be more effective than later social support
127
What is locus of control?
The extent to which people believe that they can control events in their lives
128
What did Rotter do?
Identified LOC as a personality dimension related to peoples perception of control of their lives which lies on a continuum
129
What is a continuum?
is a range of wellbeing having mental health and mental illness at the two extreme ends.
130
What is a high internal locus of control?
People believe that they can affect the outcomes of situations by their own effort, choices and decisions
131
What is a high external locus of control?
People believe that they do not affect the outcome of situations which are controlled by the behaviour of others, luck or fate
132
What type of locus of control makes you less likely to conform or obey?
having a high internal locus of control means individuals are more aware of their free choice so are resistant to social pressure, they are also more self confident, achievement oriented, intelligent and have less need for social approval.
133
What is evidence for locus of control in correlation with obedience?
Spector found that participants with high external locus of control conformed more than those with low external locus of control but only in situations with normative social influence. LOC did not affect behaviour for informational social influence. This suggests that people with less need for social acceptance are more able to resist social influence
134
How can LOC be measured?
By a questionnaire developed by Rotter
135
What is conversion?
the process by which minorities influence a majority
136
That happens in the process of conversion?
the majority internalising the attitudes of the minority
137
What is minority influence?
Where a majority because gradually won over by the minority view
138
What are the three key things in minority influence?
- internalisation
- informational social influence
- the snowball effect
139
What is internalisation?
The new belief becomes accepted publicly and privately and can be seen as a type of internalisation which affects internal belief systems
140
What is informational social influence?
Minority influence typically takes longer to achieve as it occurs where individuals need to re-examine their beliefs in the light of the new beliefs that the ,minority are advocating
141
What is the snowball affect?
The gradual process whereby the minority view is adopted as the majority; at first, few convert to the new viewpoint and as more people change their attitude, the pace quickens and the majority gain status, power and acceptability
142
What 3 things are crucial for minority influence?
Consistency, commitment and flexibility
143
What is consistency?
A minority that shows consistent opinions/behaviours can be persuasive.
Consistency over time (diachronic consistency)
Agreement between people in the minority (synchronic consistency)
144
Why should the minority be consistent?
As it can create doubt about established norms to get individuals to re-exaime their own beliefs and behaviour
145
What is commitment?
When the minority engages in activities which create some risk to the minority
146
Why can commitment be helpful to minorities?
This leads to the majority paying attention as they appreciate how much the minority must believe in their ways
147
What is flexibility?
To be persuasive, minorities need to be flexible and compromising, moderate, co-operative, reasonable then they will be persuasive
148
What does flexibility require?
it is argued that it requires inconsistency
149
Who did the study for minority influence?
Moscovici
150
What was Moscovici's study?
He presented 6 people a set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity and were asked to state which slides were blue and which were green. They were tested in 3 groups:
- the control group, participants had to identify the colour of each slide and were wrong on just 0.25% of trials
- in a group with 2 confederates who consistently said that the slides were green, the participants gave the same wrong answer on 8.42% of trials, 32% gave the same answer as the minority on at least one trial
- in a group exposed to an inconsistent minority, agreement fell to 1.25%
151
What was Moscovici's influence?
People did terrible things due to obedience and conformity, he wasn't interested in why the majority did these things, he wanted to know how to change the majority
152
How can minorities strengthen their influence?
By showing commitment, consistency and flexibility
153
What is social change?
The process by which society changes beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms
154
What does social change require?
Non conformists and dissenters
155
What is the main driving force for social change
Minority influence as the minority views slowly change the majority view to what will become the new social norm
156
What can social change lead to?
- positive effects such as increased womens rights in western societies
- negative effects such as a widespread belief in the inferiority of different races in WW2
157
How does social change occur in conformity?
- Dissenters have the potential to create social change by not conforming; they model attitudes and behaviours necessary for social change
- normative influence encourages others to follow the norm and is used in health and environmental campaigns providing information about what the majority are doing
158
When does social change occur in obedience?
- disobedient models demonstrate the behaviour necessary to reduce obedience levels - when a teacher refuses to give shocks
- gradual commitment, obedience can create social chance. Once a small intrusion is obeyed, it becomes more difficult to resit a larger instruction; people drift into a new behaviour as happened in Milgrams study
159
What is ACTASS?
Attention, Consistency, Thinking, Augmentation Principle, Snowball effect, social cryptomnesia
160
What is an example of social change in minority influence?
ACTASS
161
What is attention in minority influence?
Drawing attention to a problem; providing social proof
162
What is consistency in minority influence?
Giving the same message again and again and again
163
What is thinking in minority influence?
Making people think about the problem. When individuals try to understand why the minority holds a particular view.
164
What is augmentation principle?
Taking risks for the cause
165
What is the snowball effect?
When a minority idea gains momentum. A moment of critical mass’ occurs when the minority view becomes the mainstream view and becomes adopted due to compliance
166
What is social cryptomnesia?
People remember that change occurred but cannot remember how it happened
People forget how the new social norms were adopted and who they came from
