Social Influence Flashcards
What is obedience?
When people behave in a certain way because they comply with the demands of an authority figure
What is deindividuation?
When a person in a group loses their sense of individuality or identity, and personal responsibility for their actions. There is decreased awareness of one’s actions in a crowd.
Describe Asch’s study into conformity
Aim: to see how the judgements of others in a group affect the decisions of an individual
Method: 9 college students, 8 of them being confederates, judged the lengths of lines. The true participant answered last or next to last. On the first few trials the confederates answered correctly, but then started stating the wrong answers.
Results: when the confederates gave the wrong answer, generally the pps also got it wrong because they had conformed.
Conclusion: most will conform to the majority even on a simple task
Evaluate Asch’s study on conformity
+ lab experiment, controlled
+ task was easy and there was a definite answer, therefore easy to measure.
- lacks ecological validity, we may not conform like this in a real life situation
- ethical issues, pps made to feel uncomfortable
What is conformity?
When our thoughts and actions are affected by the presence of those around us.
What is social loafing?
When a person is likely to put in less effort into a group task. As a group working towards a common goal individual members put in less effort compared to what they would do individually.
What is normative social influence?
When we want to be liked by other people in a group and want to feel accepted by them and not be left out.
What is informational social influence?
Using the behaviour of people around us for information when we are in an ambiguous situation and are unsure of how to act
List 5 factors affecting obedience
Prestige: setting, surveillance: e.g. Telephone orders, buffers: if they’re in the same room, authority: wearing a lab coat, personal responsibility: forcing the learners hand
Evaluate Milgram’s study
+ lab experiment
+ did follow up the participants to make sure they’re ok
- lacks ecological validity
- not ethical, did not get informed consent, did not truly give right to withdraw, pps placed under high levels of stress.
Describe Zimbardo’s study into conformity (not the Stanford prison experiment)
Aim: to test whether deindividuation makes people show anti-social behaviour
Method: female college students were asked to deliver shocks to another woman. Each of the pps dressed in a lab coat and hood and the room was dimly lit with no names used OR the room was brightly lit and they wore no hoods or coats and they wore name tags.
Results: pps in the first condition gave more shocks than the second
Conclusion: deindividuation makes people show more anti-social behaviour
Evaluate Zimbardo’s study into deindividuation
- female American students cannot be generalised
- ethical issues, psychological stress, giving shocks to someone. Also deceived because they weren’t really giving shocks.
+ lab experiment, controlled.
Describe Latané and Darley’s study into the diffusion of responsibility
Aim: to test the idea of diffusion of responsibility
Method: students sat In booths and communicated via intercom. There were three conditions: the pps believed there were one, two, or five other people in the booth. After it had started a confederate mentioned there were epileptic and then pretended to have a seizure.
Results: 1-85% in the first 4 minutes, 2- 62%, 5- 31%
Conclusion: when they thought they were alone they were far more likely to help compared to those who thought they were in a larger group.
