Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
what is conformity?
A
yielding to majority influence
2
Q
what are the different types of conformity?
A
-compliance
-identification
-internalisation
3
Q
define compliance
A
it is the lowest level of conformity, here a person changes their public behaviour but not their private beliefs- this is usually a short term change
4
Q
define identification
A
it is the middle level of conformity, here a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs, but only while they are in the presence of the group they are identifying with- this is usually a short term change
5
Q
define internalisation
A
this is the deepest level of conformity, here a person changes both their public behaviour and their private beliefs- this is usually a long term change
6
Q
does compliance involve a change in public behaviour?
A
yes
7
Q
does compliance involve a change in private behaviour?
A
no
8
Q
does identification involve a change in public behaviour?
A
yes
9
Q
does identification involve a change in private behaviour?
A
yes
10
Q
does internalisation involve a change in public behaviour?
A
yes
11
Q
does internalisation involve a change in private behaviour?
A
yes
12
Q
is compliance a long term of short term change?
A
short term
13
Q
is identification a long term of short term change?
A
short term
14
Q
is internalisation a long term of short term change?
A
long term
15
Q
is compliance normative social influence or informational social influence?
A
normative social influence
16
Q
is identification normative social influence or informational social influence?
A
normative social influence
17
Q
is internalisation normative social influence or informational social influence?
A
informational social influence
18
Q
what is normative social influence?
A
-needing to be liked
-conforming to be accepted and belong to a group
19
Q
why do people succumb to normative social influence?
A
-it’s socially rewarding
-avoids punishment
20
Q
what is informational social influence?
A
conforming to gain knowledge and be right
21
Q
why do people succumb to informational social influence?
A
-to act appropriately
-to avoid standing out
22
Q
who was one of the first psychologists to study conformity?
A
Jenness
23
Q
describe Jenness’ experiment for conformity
A
-his experiment used an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans
-he asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained
-he then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion
-he found that nearly all participants changed their original answer when they were provided with another opportunity to estimate the number of beans in the glass bottle
24
Q
were the results of Jenness’ experiment due to normative or informational social influence? why?
A
The results were due to informational social influence as the participants had a desire to be right so that they didn’t stand out from the crowd.
25
is Jenness' experiment an example of compliance, identification or internalisation?
it is identification as they changed their own personal answer when in private
26
who also did a study into conformity?
Ash
27
what participants did Asch use in his study?
123 male students from America
28
what were participants told the aim of Asch's study was?
they were taking part in a vision test using a line judgement task
29
how else were the participants in Asch's study decieved?
they were led to believe that the other seven to nine people were also real participants
30
what was the experimental method used in Asch's study?
lab experiment
31
what are the two ways that Asch explained why his participants conformed?
1. desire to be liked (normative social influence)
2. desire to be right (informational social influence)
32
what are the strengths of Asch's study into conformity?
he used the scientific method (lab experiment): this meant operationalised IVs and DVs and controlled EVs--> therefore meaning cause and effect can be established
33
what are the limitations of Asch's study into conformity?
-lacks validity: ecological as it was done in a lab, population as he used american students and temporal as it was done during an american conformist time in the 1950s
-unethical- deception: he lied about the aim of his experiment and lied about the confederates in the room (meaning it has no replicability--> however it reduced demand characteristics)
34
what are the different variables that affect conformity according to Asch's research?
-group size
-unanimity
-task difficulty
35
what was the percentage of people who conformed in Asch's study?
33%
36
describe the supporting research Asch conducted to demonstrate the effect of group size on conformity
-Asch found that as the majority number increases, the percentage of people who conformed also increases
-when Asch changed his experiment so that the majority consisted of just one or two confederates, the conformity rate was very low
BUT
-when participants were under the pressure of a majority of three confederates, the proportion of conforming responses jumped to about 30%
37
what other research investigated the effect of group size on conformity levels?
Campbell and Fairey suggest that group size may have a different effect depending on the type of judgement being made and the motivation of the individual. When there is no objectively correct answer and the individual is concerned about fitting in, then the larger the majority the more likely they are to conform. However, when there is a correct response and the individual is concerned about being correct then the views of just one or two others will usually not be sufficient to conform.
38
describe the supporting research Asch conducted to demonstrate the effect of unanimity on conformity
In one variation of his experiment, the real participant was given the support of a confederate who had been instructed to give the right answers throughout. Conformity levels dropped significantly, reducing the percentage of wrong answers from 33% to just 5.5%. However, in variation when the answer given by the confederate was different from the majority AND wrong, conformity still dropped to 9%.
39
describe the supporting research Asch conducted to demonstrate the effect of task difficulty on conformity
In another variation of his study, Asch made the differences between the line lengths much smaller so that the correct answer was less obvious. In this circumstance, conformity increased.
40
what other research investigated the effect of task difficulty on conformity levels?
Lucas et al, found that the influence of task difficulty is moderated by the self-efficacy of the individual. When exposed to maths problems in an Asch type task, high self-efficacy participants remained more independent than low self-efficacy participants, even under conditions of high task difficulty. This shows that situation differences and individual differences are both important in determining conformity.
41
who did an experiment investigating conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo
42
what was the aim of zimbardos study?
to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise
43
what was the method of Zimbardo's study?
-all applicants were interviewed and those perceived to be most stable were accepted and randomly assigned a role, that left 10 prisoners and 11 guards
-the basement of Stanford university was converted into a "prison" and the experiment was set up to run for 2 weeks, the prisoners wore smocks and stockings on their head and had a chain around their ankles, the guards wore khaki shirts and trousers, sunglasses and carried a baton and a whistle
-the experiment began with prisoners being "arrested" at their homes, they were then blindfolded and finger printed and taken to "prison", after being photographed they were placed in a cell and were told to respect the rules and they had to only refer to each other as their allocated numbers
44
what were the results of Zimbardo's study?
-the environment had a huge and almost instantaneous effect on the behaviour of the guards and prisoners
-prisoners became increasingly passive as guard's interactions with them became more verbally hostile
-after only a day symptoms of stress began to show in some of the prisoners, as some of the guards began harassing them
-the experiment was terminated on the sixth day when the morality of what was happening was questioned
45
what is the conclusion of Zimbardo's experiment?
the guards and prisoners conformed to their social roles- both groups became dehumanised and the experiment clearly supports the situational explanation of behaviour rather than the dispositional one
46
what were the issues with Zimbardo's study?
-the sample consisted of predominantly white, middle class american men
-there was a lack of informed consent as the participants had not consented to being "arrested" at their homes
-the IV and DV are not easily identifiable
-participants who experienced psychological distress were not releases as soon as they showed problems
-Zimbardo became too involved in the experiment as a prison warden
47
what is a plus of Zimbardo's study?
there were post experimental questionnaires which showed the experiment had no lasting effects on the participants
48
why does it matter that Zimbardo's sample consisted predominately white American men?
this matters because it reduces the population validity which means the findings can not necessarily be generalised to other cultures
49
why does it matter that there was a lack of informed consent as the participants had not consented to being "arrested" at their homes in Zimbardo's study?
this matters because this means the experiment was not ethical, therefore it is extremely difficult to replicate due to the ethical issues
50
why does it matter that the IV and DV are not easily identifiable in Zimbardo's study?
this matters because it means the experiment lacked internal validity as not everything was controlled appropriately
51
why does it matter that participants who experienced psychological distress were not releases as soon as they showed problems in Zimbardo's study?
this matters because this removes their protection from harm which may have caused psychological harm which could have had a lasting effect on their lives
52
why does it matter that Zimbardo became too involved in the experiment as a prison warden?
it reduced the internal validity due to experimenter bias, also his over involvement meant that he did not stop the study when it got out of hand as he couldn't see what was happening from an outside perspective
53
why does it matter that there were post experimental questionnaires which showed the experiment had no lasting effects on the participants in Zimbardo's study?
this meant the participants were not detrimentally effected by what happened to them
54
who conducted a replication of Zimbardo's study?
Haslam and Reicher
55
describe the BBC prison study conducted by Haslam and Reicher
The prison had an ethics committee on site and involved participants being randomly allocated as prisoners and guards. This was televised on the BBC in Britain in 2006. The study was run for 8 days.
56
explain how the findings from the BBC prison study by Haslam and Reicher differed from Zimbardo's findings
The guards felt uncomfortable in their authority position and the prisoners ended up banding together and being more aggressive to the guards. The prisoners increasingly identified as a group and worked collectively to challenge the authority of the guards and a establish a more egalitarian set of social relations. This led to a shift of power and the collapse of the prisoner guard system.
57
explain why the findings of Haslam and Reicher's study challenges Zimbardo's conclusions about conformity to social roles.
They argued that the guards had failed to devlope a shared identity as a cohesive group, but the prisoners did. They actively identified themselves as members of a social group that refused to accept the limits of their assigned role as prisoners.
58
what is obedience?
this is usually the obedience to a minority influence, a change in opinion in line with the minority is not necessary for obedience to take place (this is often related to hierarchy where those lower in the hierarchy obey those higher up)
59
what are the explanations for obedience?
-situation attribution
-dispositional attribution
60
what is situational attribution?
inferring that a person's behaviour is caused by something about the situation they are in
61
what is dispositional attribution?
inferring that the reason for a person's behaviour is something about themselves, such as their personality
62
who conducted a study into obedience?
Milgram
63
what was the aim of Milgram's study?
Milgram aimed to investigate whether ordinary Americans would obey unjust orders and inflict pain on another person
64
what was the method of Milgram's study?
-40 male volunteers took part in an experiment on 'learning and punishment'
-the real participants were paired with a confederate and told to teach the learner (confederate) word pairs
-each time the learner got an answer wrong, they had to administer an electric shock of increasing voltage
-if the real participant tried to stop, the experimenter provided a verbal prompt to continue
65
what are the results/conclusions of Milgram's study?
100% administered 300 volts and 65% administered the full 450 volts, showing that nearly all people will obey an unjust order
66
what are the strengths of Milgram's study?
it has good replicability as it has standardised procedures (screams were prerecorded and prods were all the same)
67
what are the limitations of Milgram's study?
-lacks external validity (population- all male sample, ecological- done in a lab so hard to generalise, temporal validity- would we get the same results today as it was done in the 60's)
-lacks internal validity ( they may have guessed the 'learner was not real' as the experimenter did not care- Orne and Holland)
-unethical (removes protection from harm as the trauma had a lasting effect, deception- Milgram told the participants it was about the effect of punishment on learning so no informed consent, participants did not have right to withdraw as prods designed to make them obey and not leave, they were also paid to participate)
68
what are the situational variables that affect obedience?
-proximity
-location
-uniform
69
what are the variations of Milgram's study that involved different proximities and how did this change the obedience levels for 65%?
-variation one involved the teacher being one metre from the learner instead of being in separate rooms, this caused obedience levels to fall to 40% as the teacher was able to experience the learners anguish more directly
-variation two involved the teacher had to push the learners hand onto the electrodes which caused obedience levels to drop to 30%
-the third variation involved the experimenter leaving the room and giving instructions over the phone which caused obedience to drop to 21%
70
what are the variations of Milgram's study that involved different locations and how did this change the obedience levels for 65%?
Milgram moved his study to a random office with no obvious affiliations with Yale- this caused obedience rates to drop to 48% as they had less confidence in the integrity of the people involved
71
what are the variations of Milgram's study that involved different uniforms and how did this change the obedience levels for 65%?
-a non-experimenter was put in charge, such as an admin assistant (so was not wearing a lab coat) which caused obedience to fall to 20%
72
describe a study that opposes the results that Milgram found in his location variation of his study
-Milgram found that location can decrease obedience levels but this lacked ecological validity
-Hofling conducted a study in real life with nurses that found very high obedience levels due to the location the nurses were in (their workplace)
-Nurses were phoned by an unknown doctor who asked them to administer a particular amount of certain medicine to a patient
-this order went against hospital policy because the nurses were not allowed to take instructions over the phone, or from an unknown doctor and the amount was twice than was advised on the bottle
-95% of the nurses obeyed
73
what is a study other than Milgram's that demonstrates the impact of uniform on obedience?
Bickman
74
describe the Bickman study
-Bickman dressed a confederate in three outfits (sports jacket and tie, milkman's uniform or as a guard)
-the confederate had to make requests from passers by, such as picking up litter or requesting money for a parking meter
-obedience was greatest when the confederate was dressed as a guard
75
define agentic state
a person sees himself or herself as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes
76
define legitimate authority
a person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation
77
describe agentic shift
-Milgram suggested that people operate as autonomous, independent individuals and also at an agentic level, it was suggested that people move between these two states
-he believed that conformity occurs in an authority situation when there is an agentic shift
-it was claimed that upon entering this situation the individual no longer claims personal responsibility but suggests they are only doing what they are told
78
suggest reasons for agentic shift
-Milgram believed that the reason this agentic shift occurs is early socialisation; parents teach their children to be obedient to authority at home, in school and in society
-we are also taught not to be rude so individuals don't want to look rude by disrupting orders as it would be a breach of etiquette and require courage
79
what's a real life example of agentic shift? how is this agentic shift?
During the Holocaust American soldiers slaughtered 500 innocents in the My Lai massacre as they had just been 'following orders' of their superior officer
80
who was the legitimate authority in Milgram's study?
experimenter in lab coat
81
explain the agentic shift in the context of Milgram's study
Agentic state involves moving from an autonomous state, where a person 'sees himself or herself as responsible for their own actions' and into an agentic sates, in which a person 'sees himself or herself as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes'. In interviews carried out at the end of Milgram's study, when obedient participants were asked why they had continued to administer electric shocks, a typical reply was: "I wouldn't have done it by myself. I was just doing what I was told."
82
why do we obey legitimate authority?
because we respect their credentials and assume that they know what they are doing
83
what's a strength of explanations for obedience?
there has been research support for the power of legitimate authority in real life scenarios
84
what's a limitation of explanations for obedience?
the idea that people shift between an agentic state and an autonomous state has not bee supported by real life obedience examples
85
what are the types of situation attribution that explains obedience?
-legitimate authority
-agentic shift
86
define a dispositional explanation
highlights the importance of the individual's personality
87
who investigated authoritarian personality?
Adorno
88
describe what Adorno was interested in investigating
-Adorno was interested in investigating why Nazi soldiers were so willing to persecute and kill members of minority groups during WWII; could it be blamed on a personality trait?
-he claimed a particular personality type is more likely to obey authority
89
define fascist
someone who believes in a totalitarian state rule by a supreme leader who controls everything possible and treats people harshly
90
describe the study that Adorno conducted on authoritarian personality
-he investigated the causes of obedient personality in a study of more than 2000 middle class, white Americans and their
unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
-they developed and F scale to measure the relationship between and person's personality type and prejudiced beliefs
91
what type of data is the F scale questionnaire collecting?
self report
92
what is the name of the scale used in the F scale questionnaire?
likert
93
what it the F scale questionnaire measuring?
your attitudes and whether or not you have an authoritarian personality
94
what characterisitics do those with an authoritarian personality tend to have?
-hostile to those who are of inferior status, but obedient of people with high status
-fairly rigid in their opinions and beliefs
-conventional, upholding traditional values
95
define authoritarian personality
a distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
96
what did the discovery of the authoritarian personality enable?
the identification of a particular personality type, the authoritarian personality provided a possible explanation for why some people require very little pressure in order to obey
97
what are thought to be the origins of authoritarian personality?
-harsh and punitive upbringing, little love and much punishment
-this causes a fear of parents which means they are excessively respectful of authority figures
-and this causes a hatred of parents which means they displace their hate and anger onto others (usually of a lower social status)
98
what was the aim of the study Elms and Milgram conducted?
to see if the obedient participants in Milgram's research were more likely to display authoritarian personality traits, in comparison to disobedient participants
99
what was the method of the study Elms and Milgram conducted?
-their sample consisted of 20 obedient participants, who administered the full 450 volts and 20 disobedient participants who refused to continue
-each participant completed several personality questionnaires, including Adorno's F scale, to measure their level of authoritarian personality
-the participants were also interviewed about their relationships with parents and their thoughts about the experimenter and learner in Milgram's original experiment
100
outline the key findings of Elms and Milgram's research
there's a correlation between the obedient participants and higher scores on the F scale and also the more obedient participants were less close to their fathers during childhood
101
why might it be a problem that the data collected in Elms and Milgram's study was correlational?
we can't establish cause and effect- there could be other causes such as situational variables (uniform)
102
what are the types of dispositional attribution that can be used to explain obedience?
authoritarian personality
103
Elms and Milgram used the F scale to determine levels of authoritarian personality, why might this be a problem?
participants may answer under influence of social desirability bias
104
research by Middendorp and Meleon found that less educated people are more likely to display authoritarian personality characteristics in comparison to well-educated people, if these claims are correct then why does this pose a problem for the authoritarian explanation of obedience?
it suggests that people who have an authoritarian personality are stupid which creates social sensitivity
105
what are the different factors that affect resistance to social influence?
-locus of control
-social support
106
what is an internal locus of control?
-people feel they have control over the events in their life, they tend to have more confidence and need little approval from others
-these people are less likely to conform or obey
107
what is an external locus of control?
-people feel they have little or no control over their lives and often believe in 'luck' or 'fate', they believe that what happens to them is determined by external factors
-these people are more likely to conform or obey
108
what is some real life evidence for the locus of control?
Oliner & Oliner
109
describe the Oliner & Oliner locus of control study
They interviewed two groups of non-Jewish people who lived through the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. They interviewed 406 people who had rescued and protected Jewish people from the Nazis and 126 who had not. They found that the 'rescuers' were more likely to have an internal locus of control.
110
what is a strength of Oliner's study into an internal locus' affect on obedience?
real life study so has ecological validity
111
what is a limitation of Oliner's study into an internal locus' affect on obedience?
correlational study so cause and effect can not be established
112
who also conducted a study on the impact of locus of control on obedience?
Holland
113
describe Holland's study on the impact of locus of control on obedience
Holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether participants were internal or external.
-he found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock
-however 23% of externals also did not continue
-showing those with an internal locus of control are more resistant to pressure
114
what is an issue with Holland's study into the impact of locus of control on obedience?
it is a correlational study so cannot establish cause and effect
115
what research demonstrates the effect of social support on obedience and conformity levels?
-a variation of Asch's experiment (unanimity)
-a variation of Milgram's study where the teacher had two other confederates with them that refused to continue giving shocks
116
define social support
the perception that an individual has assistance available from other people and that they are part of a supportive network
117
describe how the social support variation of Asch's study demonstrates the affect of social support on conformity
-when the partner gave the correct answer it dropped from 37% to 5%
-when the partner gave a different incorrect answer from the other confederates, conformity levels dropped from 37% to 9%
118
describe how the social support variation of Milgram's study demonstrates the affect of social support on obedience
the participant had social support of two people that said no so obedience dropped from 65% to 10%
119
what is minority influence?
when an individual or small group influences the behaviour of a larger group- this usually involves a change in opinion in line with the minority
120
what are the three factors that help a minority to influence?
-consistency
-commitment
-flexibility
121
define consistency
a minority must be stable in their opinion over time and there must be an agreement among the members of the minority
122
define commitment
a minority must be dedicated to their cause, the greater their dedication, the greater their influence
123
define flexibility
although a minority must be consistent, they must show a willingness to compromise when expressing their opinion
124
what is supporting evidence for consistency having a role in minority influence?
Moscovici
125
what was the aim of Moscovici's study?
to see if a consistent minority can influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task
126
what was the method of Moscovici's study?
-172 female participants were told they were taking part in an experiment on colour perception
-six participants at a time were asked to estimate the colour, out loud, of 36 slides (which were all different shades of blue)
-two of the six participants were confederates
-there were two conditions 1) Consistent: the two confederates called the slides green on all the trials; 2) Inconsistent: the two confederates called the slides green 24 times, and blue 12 times
127
what were the results of Moscovici's study?
participants in the consistent condition were influence by the minority as they called the slides green on 8.4% of the trials, participants in the inconsistent condition only called their slides green in 1.3% of the trials
128
what is a limitation of Moscovici's study?
-lacks ecological validity
129
what is a person that demonstrated ecological validity in relation to Moscovici's study?
Sampsons: Said that it is harder to conform to the minority in real life when there are serious consequences such as going to jail whereas in a lab there would be no consequences so conformity levels may be higher
130
what is supporting evidence for flexibility having a role in minority influence?
Nemeth
131
what was the aim of Nemeth's study?
to investigate whether a flexible minority could influence a majority to give less compensation to a victim of a ski lift accident
132
what was the method of Nemeth's study?
-participants were placed in groups of four and had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give a victim of a ski-lift accident
-one of the participants in each group was a confederate and there were two conditions: 1) when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change its position (inflexible) ; 2) when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation, but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible)
133
what were the results of Nemeth's study?
Nemeth found that in the inflexible condition, the minority had little or no effect on the majority, however, in the flexible condition, the majority was much more likely to compromise to change their view.
134
what's a limitation of Nameth's study?
lacks ecological validity (it was a hypothetical scenario)
135
what is supporting evidence for commitment having a role in minority influence?
Rosa Parks
136
what is a strength of using Rosa Parks as a case study for commitments role in minority influence?
it's a real life scenario
137
what is a limitation of using Rosa Parks as a case study for commitments role in minority influence?
only one person so cannot be generalised
138
what did Rosa Parks do?
-Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male passenger in 1950s America
-The bus driver had her arrested for violating US law
-This event helped trigger the civil rights movement to end the racial segregation laws in America, at a personal cost to Rosa
-Rosa's sacrifice (being arrested) helped lead to social change
139
what is minority influence in terms of social change?
a form of social influence where a persuasive minority changes the attitudes and behaviours of the majority
140
what is social change?
when a whole society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm
141
what is an example of social change?
suffragettes (women's right to vote)
142
what is the process of social change?
1. drawing attention
2. creating a conflict
3. consistent with each other and over time
4. the augmentation principle
5. the snowball effect
143
describe drawing attention
drawing attention to a particular social issue which opposes the majority position
144
describe creating a conflict
conflict is for the majority against their currently held view and the position of the minority which means they begin to examine the minority more deeply
145
describe consistent with each other and over time
when minorities express their arguments consistently they are taken more seriously
146
describe the augmentation principle
willingness to suffer helps with being taken seriously
147
describe the snowball effect
starts with small effect but then this spreads more widely until it eventually leads to social change as the minority become the majority
148
what are the limitations of social change?
-it is actually very gradual due to the process of minority influence
-the minorities are often seen as deviant and this weakens their position
