Social Influence

Question 1

what is it meant by conformity

Answer 1

changing your behaviour/beliefs in response to real or perceived group pressure to fit into social rules and follow the majority influence

Question 2

what are the 3 types of conformity

Answer 2

• compliance
• identification
• internalisation

Question 3

what is compliance (is it public/private? how long is the change?)

Answer 3

• a public change of behaviour not beliefs
• a short term change that depends on the presence of people

Question 4

what is identification (is it public/private? how long is the change?)

Answer 4

• a public and private change depending on its importance
• the change is temporary depending on the presence of people

Question 5

what is internalisation (is it public/private? how long is the change?)

Answer 5

• a private and public change because the person has accepted the views
• it is a long-term change

Question 6

why does compliance and identification occur

Answer 6

to be liked

Question 7

why does internalisation occur

Answer 7

to be right

Question 8

what type of conformity did Asch study, and when

Answer 8

compliance - 1951

Question 9

what was Asch studying

Answer 9

researching whether ppts were affected by social pressure and conformed with the majority even when they know the answer is wrong

Question 10

where was Asch’s research conducted

Answer 10

a lab in Swarthmore College in America

Question 11

who were the ppts in Asch’s research

Answer 11

50 male students from Swarthmore College in America

Question 12

what were ppts told the experiment was

Answer 12

a test on visual perception

Question 13

how big was each group

Answer 13

8 (7 confederates with the ppt placed second to last)

Question 14

how did the experiment take place

Answer 14

• ppts were asked to select which of the 3 lines was closest to the target line, and had to give their answers 1 by 1
• the confederates started by giving the correct answer, then started giving incorrect answers (the critical trials

Question 15

how many normal and critical trials were there

Answer 15

18 normal, 12 critical

Question 16

why did Asch use a control group

Answer 16

to emphasise the clear cause and effect (group pressure) and to measure ppts susceptibility to group pressure

Question 17

what percentage of ppts conformed and gave an incorrect answer on at least 1 critical trial

Answer 17

74%

Question 18

what was the average % of ppts that conformed to the critical trials

Answer 18

32%

Question 19

what was the average % of ppts that conformed to the control trials

Answer 19

1%

Question 20

what were the 2 most common reasons given for why ppts conformed

Answer 20

• in order to fit in
• thought they would be mocked

Question 21

what are the 3 variables affecting conformity which Asch researched

Answer 21

• group size
• unanimity
• task difficulty

Question 22

how did Asch change his study to see how group size affects conformity, and what was the impact

Answer 22

he increased the number of confederates that gave an incorrect answer each time, the more confederates, the more likely to conform (most significant change was from 2-3 confederates: 13.6% to 31.8%) however, when it reached 15 confederates, conformity began to decrease

Question 23

how did Asch change his study to see how unanimity affects conformity, and what was the impact (2 ways)

Answer 23

1. one confederate gave the correct answer throughout, and conformity decreased to 5%
2. one confederate gave a different incorrect answer to the rest of the group and conformity decreased to 9%

Question 24

how did Asch change his study to see how task difficulty affects conformity, and what was the impact

Answer 24

he made the lines more similar and harder to judge differences, and conformity increased

Question 25

why does group size affect conformity

Answer 25

a larger group creates a bigger sense of unity, so it is harder to resist the group’s influence. however, after a certain point, Brown and Byrne (1997) suggest that ppts may start to become suspicious

Question 26

why does unanimity affect conformity

Answer 26

since somebody else has casted doubt in the accuracy of the majority group, there is less need for social approval

Question 27

why does task difficulty affect conformity

Answer 27

the more ambiguous a situation is, the more we look to others for guidance

Question 28

what was the generalisability of Asch’s study

Answer 28

negative. the sample was unrepresentative since it shows ethnocentric and androcentric behaviours (only male American college students), this reduces its population validity

Question 29

what was the reliability of Asch’s study

Answer 29

positive. the experiment was repeated and still worked with similar results because it was a controlled lab experiment which used standardised procedure to control extraneous variables

Question 30

what is the applicability of Asch’s study

Answer 30

positive. it is applicable to help understand peer pressure

Question 31

what was the validity of Asch’s study

Answer 31

good internal validity because EV were controlled, so there is a clear cause and effect

low ecological validity because the task has low mundane realism so ppts may act unnaturally

Question 32

what were the ethics of Asch’s study

Answer 32

negative. the experiment was unethical because ppts were lied to. HOWEVER, whilst deception is wrong, it is useful to provide accurate results which do not display demand characteristics