Social Influence Flashcards
definition of conformity
yielding to group pressure
definition of compliance
publicly, but not privately, going along with majority influence to gain approval
definition of identification
publicly and privately acceptance of majority influence in order to gain group approval
definition of internalisation
public and private acceptance of majority influence, through adoption of the majority group’s belief system
informational social influence (ISI)
a motivational force to look for others for guidance in order to be correct
evidence of ISI
Lucas et al asked students to answer easy and hard maths questions. He found that conformity rates were higher on the difficult questions, especially amongst students who rated their maths ability as poor
normative social influence (NSI)
a motivational force to be liked and accepted by a group
evidence of NSI
When Asch repeated his experiment, he asked participants to write down their response, and conformity fell to 12.5%, suggesting participants conformed due to fearing disapproval
who researched into conformity?
Asch (1956)
procedure of Ash’s study
- 123 male American undergrads were put into groups with 5-7 participants, but only one was the true participant, rest were confederates.
- Each group was presented with a standard line and 3 comparison lines. Participants had to say aloud which comparison line matched the standard line, with the real participant answering last.
- confederates instructed to give same incorrect answer on 12/18 trials
Results of Asch’s study
true participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials where confederates gave the wrong answers. 75% of the sample conformed on at least one trial. 26% never conformed.
Evaluating Asch’s study
- sampling issues (gender + cultural bias)
- ethical issues (deception + embarrassment)
- contemporary research (Mori + Arai)
Asch’s variations/variables
- group size (increases as majority increases)
- task difficulty (suggests ISI dominant force as conformity increases)
- unanimity (when 1 confederate went against majority, conformity dropped from 32 to 5.5%)
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment?
conformity to social roles where participants acted as a prisoner or guard in a mock prison
procedure of Zimbardo’s SPE?
- 24 US male volunteers paid $15 a day
- psychological assessments - participants were stable and healthy
- randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard and Zimbardo was prison superintendent
- prisoners unexpectedly arrested at home, deloused, given uniform and ID number
- guards given uniforms, whistles and reflective sunglasses
- guards told to run prison but not harm prisoners
how long was the SPE supposed to last?
2 weeks, but stopped after 6 days
findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment
Both guards and prisoners settled into their roles. After an initial prisoner ‘rebellion,’ guards began to harass prisoners in a sadistic way. Prisoners became more submissive and guards more aggressive. Some prisoners even sided with the guards and told tales on disobedient prisoners.
Evaluation of Stanford Prison Experiment
- demand characteristics
- lacks population validity
- ethical criticisms
- altered way US prisons are run
what are the ethical criticisms of Zimbardo’s research?
lack of consent with being arrested at home, subjecting participants to psychological harm when one person was asking to leave and was being denied that right, though they were screaming and crying. Zimbardo as superintendent and researcher was unable to fulfil ethical responsibility
what was a strength of Zimbardo’s study?
It has altered the way US prisons are run, as juveniles accused of crimes are now no longer housed before trial with adult prisoners, due to the risk of violence against them
how can a minority bring about social change?
by being consistent, flexible and non-dogmatic. By also showing they have nothing to gain for themselves if people follow them and making personal sacrifices is much more likely to have an effect on the majority.
what locus of control helps minority groups for social change?
having an internal locus of control
what is the snowball effect
the gradual change process by which minority opinions become majority
Who is an example of a researcher providing supporting evidence of minority influence to create social change?
Moscovici
