Social Influence

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

A change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of a real or imagined pressure from a person/group

Question 2

What is compliance

Answer 2

Going along with others views in public, but in private they arent changed

Superficial change
Temporary
Only when group pressure is present

E.g. Eating with chopsticks at a Chinese even though its tedious, too scared to ask for a fork

Question 3

What is identification

Answer 3

Conforming to the views of a group because there is something desirable about them

Temporary change
Public change but not private
Only in group pressure

E.g. Buying something because your friend has it and you want them to like you still

Question 4

What is internalisation

Answer 4

Views change in private and public

More permanent
Opinions internally changed

E.g. Liking a certain band because everyone else does but you realise they are good

Question 5

Normative social influence

Answer 5

To gain approval or avoid disapproval

Leads to compliance

Question 6

Informational social influence

Answer 6

Uncertain of what to do in a situation
Look to others for advice
Leads to internalisation

Question 7

Asch - study of conformity

APFC

Answer 7

A- see if people conform to a group when the answer is clearly wrong

P - thought it was a vision test
One participant, seven confederates
Shown a line, had to say which it was most alike, a/b/c

F - conformed to incorrect answers 32% of the time
75% on at least one critical trial
25% never conformed
Less than 1% incorrect in control group

C - people will conform to the majority, even if the majority is incorrect

Question 8

Variables affecting conformity - group size

Answer 8

No need for the group to be larger than 3 for conformity to take place

Question 9

Variables affecting conformity - unanimity

Answer 9

The extent to which all members of the group agree

Majority was unanimous therefore the participants selected the same line

Question 10

Variables affecting conformity - task difficulty

Answer 10

Harder tasks mean people are most likely to assume that the majority are right

Question 11

Evaluation of Asch study of conformity

Answer 11

+ conducted in a lab, variables controlled
+ good sample size of 123 participants

• biased sample, all male americans, cant be generalised
• lacks ecological validity, no application to real life as its not meaningful
• participants were deceived, ethical issue
• ‘child of its time’ results may be different if it was done today

Question 12

Zimbardo - study of conformity to social roles

APFC

Answer 12

A - see if brutality in prisons was to do with personality or identification to the social roles

P - newspaper ad, people applied, paid, two weeks, 24 ‘normal average’ males selected
Randomly assigned roles, prisoner or guard
Mock prison
Prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at their homes
Referred to by number, 3 meals a day, 2 hours reading and 2 visits per week ‘rights’

F - took to their roles ‘too well’
Guards made prisoners do dehumanising tasks, they volunteered to do extra hours without pay
5 prisoners sent home early
Experiment was cut short, only lasted 6 days

C - due to normative social influence and identification
Conditions of the prison are to blame

Question 13

Evaluation of zimbardo’s prison study

Answer 13

+ lab environment, controlled
+ findings can be applied to real life situations

• biased sample, all white american males
• ethical issues, psychological harm

Question 14

Milgram - study of obedience

APFC

Answer 14

A - why did germans follow Hitlers orders? Are they more obedient?

P - experiment investigating ‘learning’
40 males between 30 and 50
Range of jobs
Introduced to participant who was a confederate, drew straws to determine role, confederate always learner
Word pairs to remember and recall from a list of 4
Administer electric shock, increases each time, 15v-450v
Wrong answer on purpose, standard instructions and told to continue giving the shocks

F - 65% went all the way to 450v, 100% went to 300v

C - likely to follow orders of an authority figure, even to the extent of killing someone

Question 15

Evaluation of Milgrims study of obedience

Answer 15

\+ controlled lab environment
\+ actor faked screaming to make it more realistic
\+ standardised procedure (reliable)
\+ can be replicated
\+ has been replicated in other cultures

• participants were deceived
• low ecological validity
• not protected from harm (guilt/shame)
• biased sample (all men)
• lack of internal validity, people worked out that it was fake

Question 16

Variables affecting obedience - proximity

Answer 16

Rate dropped when the experimenter left the room

Also dropped when the person receiving the shocks was in the same room as they could see the pain they were in

Question 17

Variables affecting obedience - location

Answer 17

Obedience rates lowered when it was in a less prestigious environment e.g. Run down office block

Question 18

Variables affecting obedience - uniform

Answer 18

Obedience rate dropped when the experimenter was wearing normal, everyday clothes or was a member of the public

Question 19

What is the agentic state

Answer 19

Individuals believe they’re acting on behalf of someone else
No sense of responsibility for their actions
Social hierarchy to the authority figure

Question 20

What is the autonomous state

Answer 20

State of independence
Free will to make their own decisions and choose how to behave
Take full responsibility

Question 21

What are blinding factors

Answer 21

Aspects of the situation that allow us to block out the moral strain that we should feel

Question 22

What is the legitimacy of authority

Answer 22

Social hierarchy, people at the top have authority and power
Their authority is legitimate and is to keep society in order
Learn to accept these figures from a young age
Power to punish us

Question 23

What is an authoritarian personality

Answer 23

High level of obedience is a psychological disorder
California F scale (fascist)

People with a high score

• very obedient to authority
• submissive to authority figures
• conventional attitudes about race/sex/gender

Forms in childhood due to strict parenting/discipline

Question 24

Elms & Milgrim - authoritarian personality study

APFC

Answer 24

A - to see if participants high in authoritarianism are more likely to obey an authority figure

P - 20 obedient, 20 defiant completed the F and MMPI scale
Asked questions about the relationship with parents during childhood
Attitude towards the experimenter and learner (from milgram’s origional experiment)

F - higher levels of authoritarianism in participants that were classified as obedient

C - obedient group usually have more authoritarian traits

Question 25

Evaluation of milgram & elms authoritarian personality study

Answer 25

+ link between a high score on F scale and obedience

• f scale is politically based and measures an extreme form of right-wing ideolgy
• only shows a correlation, doesnt show that the personality will cause people to be obedient

Question 26

What is locus of control

Answer 26

How responsible you feel over your own destiny

Question 27

Evaluation of locus of control

Answer 27

+ holland, 37% of internal didnt continue to give the highest shock level

• v little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations
• people have became more resistant to obedience, but also more external

Question 28

Internal locus of control

Answer 28

Life is within your own control
Determined by hard work/decisions

Confident
Motivated
Success-orientated
Every situation is unique

Accepts responsibility and makes own decisions

Question 29

External locus of control

Answer 29

Life is outside of your control
Determined by fate and external factors

Let things happen to them
Passive/accepting
Successes happen due to luck

Follow the crowd
Wont stand up for what they believe in

Question 30

What is social support

Answer 30

People acting as models to show that resistance to social influence is possible
Other people who dont conform

Question 31

Asch - effect of social support

Answer 31

Added more non-conformists to the group who gave the right answer
Participant felt more comfortable giving the right answer too

Question 32

Milgram - effect of social support

Answer 32

Participant paired with an actor that refused to give the shocks
Had support from someone else

Question 33

What is minority influence

Answer 33

One person or a small group influences the behaviour of others

Minority influencing the majority

More likely to lead to internalisation

Question 34

Minority influence - consistency

Answer 34

Majority will assume the minority is wrong

Minority must be consistent with their views for the majority to reassess their views

Question 35

Minority influence - commitment

Answer 35

Suggests certainty and confidence
Easier to persuade the majority
Will be taken more seriously
Prove that they are right
Take part in risky activities to demonstrate their dedication

Question 36

Minority influence - flexibility

Answer 36

Compromise and negotiate

More effective than being stubborn

Question 37

Evaluation of Minority influence

Answer 37

+ consistency is key
+ moscovici’s research supports the theory

• research is limited
• research has ethical issues as participants were lied to

Question 38

6 Conditions for social change to occur

Answer 38

1 - draw attention to the issue
Expose views of minority
Causes conflict to be reduced

2 - consistency
Will be taken more seriously if the views are repeated

3 - deeper processing
Reassess the situation and think about it more due to the conflict it caused

4 - augmentation principle
People that take risks will be more likely to be taken seriously

5 - snowball effect
More and more people join the movement
Wider audience

6 - social crypto-amnesia
People remember that the change occurred bur forget how/why

Question 39

Evaluation of social change

Answer 39

+ Nolan et al, conformity can lead to social change through normative social influence

• relies on studies by asch, milgram, moscovici, which can be criticised

Question 40

Moscovici - minority influence

APFC

Answer 40

A - to see if minority influence leads to internalisation

P - 4 participants, 2 confederates
Shown blue slides and asked to judge the colour of them
Consistent - always called the slides green
Inconsistent - called green 2/3 times
Control - always called blue (only participants)

F - consistent influenced majority to say green on over 8%
32% said green on at least 1 trial