Social Influence✅ Flashcards
Independent behaviour
Resisting the pressure to conform or obey
Locus of control
How in control a person feels over what they do and their behaviour
External locus of control
Blaming others for your behaviour and don’t take responsibility
Internal locus of control
Taking responsibility for your actions
Identification
A form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group
Social norms
Expected behaviour or an unwritten rule
Conformity
A type of social influence involving a change in what we do or what we think and say in response to the influence of other or social pressure
Three types of conformity
Compliance
Internalisation
Identification
Compliance
Occurs when an individual accepts influence because they hope to achieve a favourable reaction from those around them
Internalisation
Occurs when an individual accepts influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour proposed is consistent with their own value system
What are the two explanations for conformity
Normative social influence and informational social influence
Obedience
Is following/ complying with a order from a superior person
What are the 3 situational variables that affect obedience
Proximity
Location
Power of uniform
Proximity
Distance between the person giving the order and the person receiving it
Location
Where the study takes place
Power of uniform
How the people are dressed, may make them feel / look powerful
External locus of control
Blame others don’t take responsibility
Independent behaviour
Resisting the pressure to conform or obey
Locus of control
How in control a person feels over what they do, and their behaviour
Internal locus of control
They take responsibility
Who researched into conformity
Sherif and asch
Advantages of asch and sherif study’s
Can establish cause and effect as they both used lab experiments and is controlled
They are reliable as both produced similar results so can be repeated
Disadvantages of asch and sherif studies
Lack population validity as they would have reacted differently if they were with family or friends as they’d feel comfortable so can’t apply studies to other group situations
Unethical- deception as participants were deceived into changing answers
Didn’t have any informed consent
What’s the type of conformity that’s most likely to occur due to normative social influence
Compliance
What’s the type of conformity most likely to occur due to informational social influence
Internalisation
Who studied informational social influence
Sherif
Who studied normative social influence
Asch
Variables effecting conformity
Group size
Difficulty of the task
Unanimity of the majority
Who researched Into obedience
Milgram
Advantages of milgrams study
Lab experiment- controlled no external factors, can repeat and compare so it’s reliable
Volunteer sample- random so no bias, less time consuming, less likely to withdraw because they volunteer
Disadvantages of milgrams study
All male participants- lacks population validity wanted new haven men ages 20-50
Lacks ecological validity so can’t generalise to real life
Limited people who’s going to volunteer as it’s only in one area
Unethical- right to withdraw not clear so felt they had to stay because of prods
Protection from harm- psychological as participants were distressed
Deception- didn’t know it was fake
Who researched into the authoritarian personality for obedience
Adorno
Advantages of Adorno study
Using questionnaires meaning less time consuming
Graphs can be used to analyse and collect the results
Disadvantages of Adorno study
Lacks population validity as all participants were white middle class americans People may misinterpret questionnaires so people may lie so may lack validity
Participants in Adorno study
2000 white middle class Americans
What scale was used in Adorno study to look at their unconscious attitudes towards racial groups
F scale
Social change
When a society adopts a new belief or way of believing that then becomes widely accepted as the norm
What are the most important behavioural characteristics of the minority
Consistency- most important
Commitment
Flexibility
Who studied social change
Moscovici
Snow ball effect
Starts off a minority but it gradually gets bigger
Social cryptoamnesia
Over time people forget that the social norm was once a minority view
Advantages of moscovici study
Lab experiment so it’s controlled
Supported by real life study’s- rosa parks and the suffragettes- ecologically valid
Two reasons why people may resist the pressure to conform and obey
Social support
Locus of control
How does social support help resist pressures to conform and obey
A non conforming role model may allow a person to resist the pressure to conform as they have the support for their answer not to look odd and don’t feel foolish
