social influence Flashcards
Conformity definition
Conformity is a form of majority influence where the attitude beliefs and behaviours of people in a particular group are adopted in response to real or imagined group pressure
Kellmans types of conformity
Compliance
Complianca is publically conforming to the bahevuour or views of other in a group but privately maintaining ones own views. It involves with going aong with the group even if we do not really agree with what they are doing. It is temporary change in behaviour, it only lasts as long as the group pressure is present. This type of conformity is linked to normative social influence which means conformity due to the desire to be liked and not rejected by the group.
kellmans types of conformity
Identification
Indentification is when individuals adjust behaviour and opinions to fit to the group because majority of that group is desirable and that members of that group are seen as role models. This is stronger type of conformity involving private and public acceptance and it is generally temporary and not maintain when the individuals leave the group.
kellmens types of conformity
Internalisation
Internalisation is a conversion( or change ) of private views to match those of a group as well as public conformity. The behaviour or belief of the majority is accepted by the individuals and becomes part of their own beliefs systems. Its the most permanent form of conformity as it usually lasts even if the majority is no longer present. This type of conformity is most likely to be linked to informational social influence where by we changed our behaviour/ beliefs in order to be right because we believe the group has better info then us.
Dual process model- exp for conformity
Deutsch and gerard developed a dual proceaa model arguing that there are 2 main reasons people conform they distinguish between informational social influences and normative social influences. They are based on two central human needs: to be right and to be liked. Its believed that people will often be influenced by both of these processes when deciding to go with the majority.
NORMATIVE SOCIAL INFLUENCE:
desire to be liked- following the crowd (part of the norm)
* people conform because they desire to be liked by the members of the group and also want to avoid being rejected.
* The important thing is a need for acceptane and approval from the group. It is asociated with compliance as it involves publically following the groups behaviour/ beliefs but privately not accepting it. Also, conformity would only be temporary and wont be maintained when the majority arent present- would stop.
INFORMATIONAL SOCIAL INFLUENCE
desire to be right- accepting the majority’s viewpoint(look for information)
* based on the desire to be right and occurs when we turn to others who we believe to be correct in an attempt to gain information abput how to think or act. This type of conformity is common when people are uncertain about their opinion or how to behave. It is asociated with internalisation = continue to conform to behaviour of group even when its not present- believe behaviour is correct.
Research into ASCHs variables affecting conformity- group size
Research indicates conformity rate increases as the size of the majority influencing the person increase, but there comes a point where the further increases in the size of the majority doesn’t lead to further increases in conformity. Ash found that conformity did increase significantly when the number of Confederates did increase with three Confederates, conformity to the wrong answer was about 31.8%, but adding only one more. Confederate only increase this to 35% with no further increases as more confederates were added up to 15.
Research into ASCHs variables affecting conformity- unanimity
Unanimity means what degree the group members are in agreement with each other. conformity rates have been found to decline when majority influence is not unanimous (if the majority does not agree with each other). Asch found that the presence of Confederate, who disagreed with the majority (giving a different answer to the other Confederate) reduced conformity from 37% down to 5.5%.
Research into ASCHs variables affecting conformity- task difficulty
Conformity increases when task difficulty also increases as the right answer becomes less obvious. Therefore, confidence in our own judgement, tends to drop . asch increased the task difficulty by making the comparison lines similar in length to each other so the correct answer was less obvious. when he did this participants were more likely to conform to the wrong answer, demonstrating the effect of task difficulty on conformity.
Aschs conformity task variables AO3- strengths: research support for task difficulty
Research support for task difficulty
p- Strength of Asch’s research into the effects of task difficulty - supporting research.
E- Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or more difficu
Students were more likely to give the wrong answer (conform to the people around them) when the questions were difficult rather than when they were easy ones. This was especially true for students who rated their mathematical ability as poor.
E - Supports Asch’s findings - provide evidence - increasing task difficulty = greater conformity - Furthermore;
participants find a task more difficult due to a perceived lack of ability - also increases conformity
L-Adds validity to Asch’s findings on task difficulty.
Variables effecting conformity- AO3, ecological validity
Ecological validity
P - Studies into variables affecting conformity involved highly artificial task.
E - The task of matching lines is not representative of real-life situations involving pressure to conform (e.g., making a decision as part of a jury about the guilt or innocence of a defendant).
E - Shows - whilst someone may have conformed in the non-consequential setting of a lab experiment - more likelv to resist the pressures when the choices have real consequences. Asch’s studies - only explain conformity
in special circumstances - judgements have no consequences and bear little similarity to real life.
L - Studies- lack ecological validity - findings do not inform understanding of conformity in everyday situations.
Variables affecting conformity- AO3 weakness
Population Validity
P - Asch’s studies - unrepresentative sample of males from the USA.
E - One problem with using an all-male sample is that there is evidence that women are more concerned about social relationships and being accepted than men (Neto, 1995). This may mean they are more conformist than males. Furthermore, the results may not apply to collectivist cultures, which tend to have higher levels of conformity because the focus is on the needs of the group rather than the individual (Smith and Bond, 1996). E - Indicates - conformity rates found in Asch’s different studies - unlikely to generalise to the wider population
within the USA itself + other cultures = especially - collectivist
L - Research lack pop validity
Variables effecting conformity- temporal validity, AO3 weakness
Temporal validity
p. Asch’s studies - conducted during the 1950s - findings on conformity may lack temporal validity.
E -During this time in America people were more likely to conform to social norms due to concerns about the rise of communism. Moreover, Perrin and Spencer (1980) repeated Asch’s study several decades later and found much lower rates of conformity compared to Asch’s original study (conformity was found on only one trial out of a total of 396 trials).
not
* Shows that Asch’s findings not consistent across time + because conformity in general may have been higher when Asch conducted his research due to - specific conditions within society at that time.
L- Conclusions about conformity and the variables that affect conformity may not apply to modern day behaviour, undermining the validity of Asch’s research.
Asch- the line experiment AO1
Procedure
Male US undergraduates took part in what they were told was a study of visual perception, Seven people sat looking at a display and had to say out loud which one of the three lines was the same length as a given stimulus line. The correct answer was always obvious. All participants, except for 1, were confederates. The genuine/naive participant was always the last but one to answer and the confederates gave the same wrong answer on most trials
Findings
Participants conformed to the wrong answer on 37% of trials and 75% of participants conformed at least once.
Conclusion
Shows that participants will conform to the group’s behavior when they know the answer is wrong.
Asch the line experiment AO3 artificual situation and task
- Artificial situation and task -
A limitation of Asch’s research is that it employed an artificial situation and an artificial task.
For example, as Fiske (2014) argued, the group that naive participants were part of is very different to the kind of groups typically encountered in everyday life, which tend to be people we are familiar with (e.g., friends or colleagues). Furthermore, the task of matching lines has little to do with everyday life experiences and is insignificant compared to real life situations involving pressure to conform (e.g., making a decision on a jury about the guilt or innocence of a defendant). Thus, Asch’s study may therefore only explain conformity in special circumstances where there are no consequences to conformity and bear little similarity to real life.
Therefore, Asch’s research lacks ecological validity and is unlikely to inform our understanding of conformity in everyday situations.
Asch line experiment AO3- ethical issues
- Ethical Issues -
A limitation of Asch’s research is that it presents several ethical concerns. Asch’s naïve (real) participants didn’t provide fully informed consent prior to the study, because they were deceived about key aspects of the experimental procedures. For example, participants were not informed that the purpose of the research was to investigate conformity (in order obtain valid results) and in fact were led to believe that the study was investigating visual perception. The naïve participants also thought the other participants involved in the group task were genuine participants like themselves, when in fact they were confederates whose responses were deliberately inaccurate on most trials. Therefore, Asch’s research into conformity violates a number of ethical guidelines reducing the credibility of the research.
Stanford prison experiment ao1
What is social roles - parts people play as members of various social groups. For example, being a teacher, student, passenger and so on. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role such as caring or being obedient.
I. To investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing simulation of prison life.
Before the study
- A mock stud was set up in the basement of the psychology department at stand.
University USA.
- Zimbardo recruited 24 male students from a volunteer sample.
All volunteers were psychologically and physically screened to select those who were most stable with no violent or anti social tendencies and were randomly allocated either the role of prisoner or guard.
During the study
- The prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at home and taken to the prison.
- Dehumanisation and deindividuation occurred through use of iD numbers in prisoners and dark sun glasses in guards.
- The study was intended to run for 14 days.
- Within a day the prisoners rebelled and ripped off their numbers. The guards responded by confiscating their blankets and using aggressive behaviour.
- Dehumanisation was increasingly apparent as guards humiliated the prisoners until they became submissive. De-individuation was noticeable by the prisoners referring to each other and themselves by their prison numbers instead of their names.
- The prisoners became rapidly depressed. After 36 hours, 1 prisoner was released because he showed symptoms of psychological disturbances. 3 more prisoners developed similar symptoms and were released later.
Conclusion- SPE showed what conformity to social roles in a situation affects behaviour and behaviour is influenced by loss of identity. The power of the situation( as apposed to dispositional factors) influenced behaviour.
evaluations of zimbardos stanford prison experiment - lack of populational validity
evaluations of zimbardos stanford prison experiment - ethical issues
evaluations of stanford prison experiment - control
milgrims original research 1963 on obedience
evaluations of milgrims original study internal validity, ethical issues
i
psychological explanations for obedience AGENTIC STATE - how did milgrim invstigate this?
The agentic state- people may obey authority figures as they believe they are acting as an agent for the figure of authority. This is known as the agentic state where the person believes they are acting on someone’s behalf and the figure of authority is responsible for their actions.
This is the opposite to the autonomous state; where the person is acting on their own principles and feels responsible for their actions. People are typically in the autonomous state but shift to an agentic state when given an order by am authority figure increasing obedience
MILGRIM INVESTIGATED THIS THROUGH..
psychological explanations for obedience LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY- how did milgrim invstigate this?
Refers to the amount of power held by a person giving instructions more likely to obey someone- see as having social power and is therefore a legitimate authority figure. Particularly, if authority figure have power to punish or we trust there instructions due to expertise. Social power- often associated with social roles (e.g police officer, doctor) or social status- e.g elders or parents.
Psychological explanations AO3 research support for the agentic state
