Social Influence

Question 1

what is conformity?

Answer 1

yielding to majority influence

Question 2

what are the different types of conformity?

Answer 2

-compliance
-identification
-internalisation

Question 3

define compliance

Answer 3

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

Question 4

define identification

Answer 4

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

Question 5

define internalisation

Answer 5

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

Question 6

does compliance involve a change in public behaviour?

Answer 6

yes

Question 7

does compliance involve a change in private behaviour?

Answer 7

no

Question 8

does identification involve a change in public behaviour?

Answer 8

yes

Question 9

does identification involve a change in private behaviour?

Answer 9

yes

Question 10

does internalisation involve a change in public behaviour?

Answer 10

yes

Question 11

does internalisation involve a change in private behaviour?

Answer 11

yes

Question 12

is compliance a long term of short term change?

Answer 12

short term

Question 13

is identification a long term of short term change?

Answer 13

short term

Question 14

is internalisation a long term of short term change?

Answer 14

long term

Question 15

is compliance normative social influence or informational social influence?

Answer 15

normative social influence

Question 16

is identification normative social influence or informational social influence?

Answer 16

normative social influence

Question 17

is internalisation normative social influence or informational social influence?

Answer 17

informational social influence

Question 18

what is normative social influence?

Answer 18

-needing to be liked
-conforming to be accepted and belong to a group

Question 19

why do people succumb to normative social influence?

Answer 19

-it’s socially rewarding
-avoids punishment

Question 20

what is informational social influence?

Answer 20

conforming to gain knowledge and be right

Question 21

why do people succumb to informational social influence?

Answer 21

-to act appropriately
-to avoid standing out

Question 22

who was one of the first psychologists to study conformity?

Answer 22

Jenness

Question 23

describe Jenness’ experiment for conformity

Answer 23

-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

Question 24

were the results of Jenness’ experiment due to normative or informational social influence? why?

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

is Jenness’ experiment an example of compliance, identification or internalisation?

Answer 25

it is identification as they changed their own personal answer when in private

Question 26

who also did a study into conformity?

Answer 26

Ash

Question 27

what participants did Asch use in his study?

Answer 27

123 male students from America

Question 28

what were participants told the aim of Asch’s study was?

Answer 28

they were taking part in a vision test using a line judgement task

Question 29

how else were the participants in Asch’s study decieved?

Answer 29

they were led to believe that the other seven to nine people were also real participants

Question 30

what was the experimental method used in Asch’s study?

Answer 30

lab experiment

Question 31

what are the two ways that Asch explained why his participants conformed?

Answer 31

1. desire to be liked (normative social influence)
2. desire to be right (informational social influence)

Question 32

what are the strengths of Asch’s study into conformity?

Answer 32

he used the scientific method (lab experiment): this meant operationalised IVs and DVs and controlled EVs–> therefore meaning cause and effect can be established

Question 33

what are the limitations of Asch’s study into conformity?

Answer 33

-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)