Social Influence

Question 1

Compliance

Answer 1

type of conformity
conformity to a group without accepting their view
they change their attitude publically but not privately
only temporary

Question 2

Internalisation

Answer 2

type of conformity
conforming to a group whilst accepting their views as correct
private and public change in attitude and behaviour
more permanent as their views are internalised

Question 3

Identification

Answer 3

type of conformity
adopting the attitude in order to be associated with a group
change in private and public attitudes until prolonged separation from the group
therefore, fairly permanent

Question 4

Normative social influence (NSI)

Answer 4

explanation for conformity
conformity to gain approval or avoid disapproval
explains why compliance occurs
we must believe we are under surveillance by the group

Question 5

Informational social influence (ISI)

Answer 5

explanation for conformity
conforming because we believe the majority to be right
explains why internalisation occurs
the human desire to be right suggests ISI is more likely if the answer in unclear

Question 6

Asch - aim

Answer 6

to see if individuals conform to group majority

Question 7

Asch - procedure

Answer 7

125 males students carried out 18 trials where answer was obvious
in each group of 6 only 1 was a P the other confederates. in 12 trials, confederates all gave same wrong answer
had to say which line was the same as the standard line
there was a control condition without confederate distraction = mistakes made 1% of the time

Question 8

Asch - findings

Answer 8

33% conformity rate on 12 critical trials and individual differenes discovered
25% never conformed
50% did on 6 or more trials
1 in 20 conformed on all 12 critical trials
when interviews, found majority followed compliance

Question 9

Asch - conclusion

Answer 9

majority of people follow compliance

Question 10

Asch - Group Size

Answer 10

Variable affecting Conformity in Asch’s study
group with 1 other person = conformity 3%
with 2 = 13%
with 3 or more = 32% (doesn’t increase much after this)
small minority influence not exerted

Question 11

Asch - Unanimity

Answer 11

Variable affecting Conformity in Asch’s study
if another P/confederate goes against majority = 5.5% conformity
P’s give different answer to majority and true answer 9%
influence of majority depends on unanimity (break in unanimity =reduction)

Question 12

Asch - Task Difficulty

Answer 12

Variable affecting Conformity in Asch’s study
Line task more difficult - conformity increased
informational social influence plays greater role when task was harder

Question 13

Haney et al - Aim

The standard Prison Experiment

Answer 13

to see if ordinary people would conform to a social role

Question 14

Haney et al - Procedure

The standard Prison Experiment

Answer 14

mock prison was set up
24 male college volunteers assigned the roles of either guard or prisoner
guards had uniforms, clubs , whistles and reflective glasses
prisoners were blind folded, stripped, made fun of and only referred to as their ID number
prisoners were allowed 3 meals and supervised toilet rips a day and 2 visitors per week

Question 15

Haney et al - Findings

The standard Prison Experiment

Answer 15

over first few days guards because increasingly abusive towards prisoners
woke prisoners in middle of night to carry out activities
some guards volunteered to do extra hours with no pay
they appeared to forget it wasn’t real
5 prisoners had to be released early due to extreme reactions - symptoms appeared after 2 days
study ended after 6 rather than 14 due to intervention of another psychologist who reminded researcher how unethical it had become

Question 16

Milgram - aim

Answer 16

to see if people obey orders form an authority figure in order to understand Nazi behaviour

Question 17

Milgram - procedure

Answer 17

40 male Ps ages 20-50 told carrying out a study on how punishment effects learning
P = teacher
Confederate = ‘learner’
P’s read out word pairs and if leaner repeats them wrong told to give an electric shock
shocks 15v - 450v increased by 15 each time
learner would play a tape of their reaction and sometimes asked to stop
if the teacher asked researcher in white to stop told ‘you must finish’

Question 18

Milgram - findings

Answer 18

65% continued to 450v
100% continued to 300v
12.5% stopped after 300v when learner gave first objection
however, participants did show extreme tension (sweating, trembling and biting lips, hysterical laughter)
after interviewed and asked why obeyed

Question 19

Milgram - conclusion

Answer 19

people do obey authority figures despite feeling what they are doing is not right

Question 20

Proximity

Answer 20

situational factor in obedience
teacher and learner in same room = 40% obedience
teacher must place hand on shock plate = 30%
experimenter not in room = 21% (some continued giving weakened shock and saying they were increasing

Question 21

Location

Answer 21

situational factor in obedience
at Yale uni and gave confidence in integrity of researchers
moved to run down offices - 48% gave 450 instead of original 65%

Question 22

Uniforms

Answer 22

situational factor in obedience
in original baseline study researcher wore white coat
in other experiment white coat experimenter called away and replaced by a man in casual clothes
20% obedience

Question 23

Agentic state

Answer 23

see ourselves as an agent carrying out another person’s wishes - feel no personal responsibility for own actions
opposite = autonomous state
move form autonomous to agentic state = agentic shift (occurs as a way of maintaining self image
binding factors reduce moral strain of obeying immoral disorder by shifting responsibility to the victims or denying damage

Question 24

Legitimate authority figure

Answer 24

we obey those at the top of a social hierarchy
Legitimate authority figure perceived to be in position of social control
for argentic state to occur must take orders from LAF
for authority to be perceived as legitimate, must occur within sort of institutional structure

Question 25

explanations for authoritarian personality

Answer 25

obedience caused by specific personality type

these people are normally rigid thinkers who obey authority

Question 26

F scale questionnaire

Answer 26

measures components of the Authoritarian Personality
3 main characteristics
1) conventionalism
2) Authoritarian aggression
3) Authoritarian Submission
AP result of authoritarian parenting style
- parents high on F scale emphasise obedience and physically punish children
children see it as a norm and acquire some attribute through learning and imitation

Question 27

Elms and Milgram - Aim

Answer 27

can someone’s disposition effect levels of obedience or was it all due to situational conditions

Question 28

Elms and Milgram - Procedure

Answer 28

taken 20 obedient and 20 defiant P from Milgram’s earlier study
completed MMPI scale (measures range of personality variables) and F scale and Open-ended questions on childhood, parents, attitude towards experimenter and learner

Question 29

Elms and Milgram - Findings

Answer 29

Obedient - higher levels of authoritarianism
Obedient - less close to fathers and saw experimenter as admirable and leaner as less so
not seem among defiant

Question 30

Elms and Milgram - conclusion

Answer 30

Suggests that obedient group has higher authoritarianism traits

Question 31

Adorno et al

Answer 31

investigated unconscious attitudes of racial groups (2000 middle class white Americans)
F scale given out
Agree/Disagree with statement
people who scored high identified with strong people who are contemptuous of the weak
conscious of own and other status
cog styler-distict stereotypes about other group

Question 32

Social Support

Answer 32

Resistance to social influence
pressure to conform is reduced if others are not conforming - creates a support network
breaks the unanimity of the majority

Question 33

Locus of Control (LOC)

Answer 33

Resistance to social influence
personas perception of personal control over their own behaviour
strong Internal LOC = what happens is due to own ability and effort (rely less on others opinions)
strong External LOC what happens id due to external factors(take responsibility for actions and more likely to accept others influences
normally a mixture of the two

Question 34

Moscovici et al - aim

Answer 34

can a minority influence the majority

Question 35

Moscovici et al - procedure

Answer 35

each group has 4 Ps and 2 Confeds
consistent minority - all blue slides were green
inconsistent - blue slides green 2/3 of time
control - no confeds
after asked individually to sort 16 coloured disks (3B, 3G and 10B/G) into blue and greens

Question 36

Moscovici et al - findings

Answer 36

consistent minority - Ps say green 8% of trials
inconsistent differed little form control
consistent - more disks as green than inconsistent
effect greater for Ps who didn’t agree with minority in experiment

Question 37

Moscovici et al - conclusion

Answer 37

minority can cause influence of majority even when correct answers obvious - only if consistent

Question 38

Minority Influence

Answer 38

Minority changes opinions of others through internalisation

public and private believes are changed

Question 39

Consistency

Answer 39

makes other re-think own views
Sychronic consistency - people in minority all saying same thing
Diachronic Consistency - they’ve ben saying same thing for some time

Question 40

Commitment

Answer 40

helps gain attention through extreme activities - activities create some risk to minority to demonstrate commitment
majority pay even more attention

Question 41

Flexibility

Answer 41

Must first balance flexibility and consistency so don’t appear too rigid
repeating same augments and behaviours is off putting
must adopt point of view and accept reasonable counter- arguments

Question 42

Snowball effect

Answer 42

Over time more people become converted

gradually more join minority until minority become majority and social change has occurred