Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

What is majority influence

A

When a person changes their attitude beliefs or actions in order to fit in with a larger group

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2
Q

What is minority influence

A

When a person or small group of people influence the majority to change their attitudes beliefs or actions

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3
Q

What is conformity

A

Yielding to group pressure. Changing behaviour due to the pressure of a group, conformity reduces independence

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4
Q

What are the 3 types of conformity

A

Compliance, Identification and Internalisation

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5
Q

What is ISI

A

When people conform because they are unsure on how they are supposed to think or act, we have a natural human instinct to be correct and if the majority are acting in a certain way we assume they are correct so conform

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6
Q

What explanation for conformity is ‘when people conform because of a need to belong to or be accepted by a group’

A

NSI - belonging to the group may be rewarding, the person wants to avoid rejection, the group may have the power to exclude those that do not fit in

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7
Q

What was the aim of Asch’s line study (what were the ppts told?)

A

To investigate the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority who give obviously wrong answers
(Study of visual perception)

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8
Q
In Asch's line study....
How many ppts were there?
How many confederates in a group?
How many critical trials?
How many in the control group?
How many control trials?
A
123 
7-9
12/18
36
20
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9
Q

What were the findings of Asch’s line study

A
Control group: 0.04% error rate
32% conformity 
25% never conformed
79% conformed at least once 
5% conformed to all 12 wrong answers
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10
Q

What were the reasons for conformity in Asch’s line experiment

A

Distortion of action, perception and judgement

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11
Q

Evaluate Asch’s line study

A
\:) paradigm
\:) wrong answered genuinely explained by conformity as error rate was 0.04%
\:) reliable and replicable 
\:( time consuming 
\:( uneconomical 
\:( unrealistic
\:( highly manipulated to lacks mundane realism/ecological validity
\:( unethical and deceitful
\:( bias
\:( demand characteristics
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12
Q

What are the variables affecting conformity

A

Group size, unanimity and task difficulty

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13
Q

How did Asch investigate unanimity

A

1 confed against other confeds = 5.5% conformity

1 confed against other confeds and ppt = 9% conformity

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14
Q

How did Asch investigate group size

A

1:1 = low conformity
1:2 = 13%
1:3 = 32%
No increase beyond 15
Conformity peaks at 4/5 confeds

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15
Q

What was the aim of Zimbardo’s experiment

A

Investigate to the extent people would conform to the social roles in a role play prison
Test dispositional and situational hypotheses

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16
Q

Describe Zimbardo’s prison experiment

A

21 male university students
10 guards and 11 prisoners
Arrested by real local police, finger printed, stripped and deloused
Prisoners wore smocks and a chain around one ankle (dehumanisation)
Guards wore uniform, reflective sunglasses and held weapons

17
Q

What were the findings of Zimbardo’s experiment

A

36 hours until 1 prisoner was released
3 more prisoners released after
1 prisoner developed a rash after his parole was denied
Prisoner rebellion
Stopped after 6 days despite an intended 2 weeks

18
Q

What were the conclusions of Zimbarodo’s prison experiment

A

Situational hypothesis favoured

Ppts conformed readily to social roles demanded by the environment

19
Q

Give 1 strength and 1 limitation of Zimbardo’s experiment

A

Strength - ecological validity

Limitation - ethics? Demand characteristics, bias, researcher effects, ethnocentrism

20
Q

What is obedience

A

Complying with the demands of an authority figure

21
Q

How many ppts were there in Milgrams experiment

A

40

22
Q

What were the findings of Milgrams shock experiment

A

100% up to 350 V

65% obedience rate

23
Q

Evaluate Milgram’s study using research

A

Deception, Informed Consent and Protection of Participants
Lack of realism
Androcentrism: King (puppy experiment) 100% obedience in females but only 54% in males
Historical validity: Burger
Reliability: Blass
Ethnocentrism
Lacks ecological validity (lab)

24
Q

What are the 4 explanations for obedience

A

Situational variables
Authoritarian personality
Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority

25
Q

A) what did the obedience rate fall to in Milgrams experiment when the learners hand was held on the shock plate by the teacher? B) what did the obedience rate fall to when the teacher had to look at the learner
What situation variable is this testing?

A

30% up to 450V

Obedience fell to 40%

Proximity

26
Q

What situation variable was Milgram investigating when he did his experiment in a run down office block and what was the result

A

Location - obedience dropped for 48%

27
Q

What state is it if you take responsibility and act according to your own values

A

Autonomous state

28
Q

What are the 2 reasons for resistance to conformity

A

Social support and locus of control

29
Q

If you perceive yourself as having a lot of control over your behaviour and take responsibility do you have high internal or external locus of control?

A

Internal

30
Q

Who investigated LOC and resisting conformity? How?

A

Avtgis: meta analysis, individuals with high internal LOC are less easily persuaded so less likely to conform

31
Q

Who investigated minority influence

A

Mosovici

32
Q

What are the conditions for conversion

A

Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility

33
Q

What does flexibility mean

A

The minority must not appear too rigid or dogmatic, they must not force their opinion and be prepared to compromise, NEMETH: compensation

34
Q

What is social change

A

When society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm

35
Q

What type is SI does the majority influence use

A

NSI

36
Q

What are the stages of social change

A

1) put forward new ideas = ISI
2) internalisation through the conditions for conversion
3) snowball effect = minority becomes majority
4) compliance to the majority = NSI
5) social cryptoamnesia

37
Q

What are some of the traits of an authoritarian personality

A
Extremely obedient 
Rigid beliefs
Hostile to those who are inferior
Servile to those who are superior 
Strong belief in class system
38
Q

What is a strength of the authoritarian personality

A

Measurable by F scale

39
Q

Describe the authoritarian personality

A

Hostile to those who are inferior, servile to those who are superior, rigid, strong belief in class system, measured by the F scale, discovered by Adorno