Social influence Flashcards
What were the aims of Asch’s study?
To see if real pps would stick to what they believed or would cave into the pressure of the majority
What was the procedure of Asch’s study?
123 male US uni-students, pps asked to look at 3 lines and call out which was the same length as the ‘standard line’. 12/18 trials (critical trials) confederates gave same wrong answer (only 1 real pp) real pp always second last to hear answers
What were the findings of Asch’s study?
On critical trials average conformity 33%, 1/4 of pps never conformed, 1/2 conformed on 6 or more trials, 1/5 conformed on all 12 critical trials
in control condition with no confederates pps only made mistakes 1% of the time. Most conformists continued to privately disagree but changed public behaviour to fit in.
What were the strengths of Asch’s study?
Lab- repeatable/controlled, good sample size, ethically valid- task wouldn’t cause psychological damage
What were the weaknesses of Asch’s study?
All young US men- not generalizable to pop, undergraduates- more clever?/worked out aim?, low ecological validity
What was the conclusion of Asch’s experiment?
Pps tended to yield to group pressure, though in interview most still privately disagreed- when under pressure, group conformity rates went up
What was the aim of Milgram’s study?
To see if ordinary people would perform unethical/ immoral tasks under the orders of an authority figure
How many pps were in Milgram’s study?
40 pps at a time over series of conditions, pps told was a study on effects of punishment on learning
What was the procedure of Milgram’s study?
Real pp assigned teacher role (confederate- learner), real pp to test learner on word pairs- if wrong answer gave ‘electric shock’, increasing by 15v with each wrong pair. Experimenter to give ‘prods’ if refused, and say they would take responsibility
What were the voltages in Milgram’s study?
Started at 45v, went up to 450v- labelled deadly and XXX sample shock of 45v
What were the findings of Milgram’s original study?
26pps - 65% gave full 450V shock, all pps went up to 300V with only 12.5% stopping there.
What were the predictions for the outcome of Milgram’s study?
That only 1 in 1000 would administer 450V shocks and that few would go past 150V
What were the ethical issues with Milgram’s study?
Deception, informed consent not possible, many felt ‘prods’ made it too hard for pps to withdraw (right to withdraw)
What were the strengths of Milgram’s study?
External validity- real life app (war crimes etc), easy to replicate, controlled variables (lab study), Bickman
What were the weaknesses of Milgram’s study?
Pps not generalizable to whole pop, lack of realism (researcher’s overly calm attitude too fake?), ethics
What was Milgram’s conclusion (original study)?
if someone has legitimate authority, ordinary people will go beyond normal capabilities to obey an order.
Also said situational factors more important than personal factors in a person’s behaviour.
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s study?
To observe how ‘ordinary’ people, when placed in prison environment, and prison roles, would behave in new social roles. (Conformity to social roles)
What was the procedure of Zimbardo’s study?
Set up mock prison, prisoners arrested at home, stripped, given uniforms and numbers. Guards given uniforms and reflective sunglasses (no eye contact), Zimbardo himself played prison superintendent
How many pps were in Zimbardo’s study?
24 male undergraduates, picked as being mentally stable, randomly assigned prisoner or guard
(planned to last 2 weeks)
What were the findings of Zimbardo’s study? Guard behaviour
Over first few days guards increasingly tyrannical/abusive, woke prisoners at night, forced to clean (degrading asks). Guards enthusiastic and offered to hours for no pay.
What were the findings of Zimbardo’s study? Prisoner behaviour
1 prisoner asked for parole rather than to leave the study, 5 prisoners released early due to extreme reactions (starting after 2 days), study terminated after 6 days. Prisoners increasingly passive.
What were the ethical issues of Zimbardo’s study?
Informed consent, potential psychological damage to pps
What were the strengths of Zimbardo’s study?
Applicable to real life (ecological validity), highly controlled
What were the weaknesses of Zimbardo’s study?
Demand characteristics, small sample size, all young male pps, ethics, BBC study- conflicting evidence
What was the conclusion of Zimbardo’s study?
That we conform to social roles and easily abuse positions of power
What were the variations of Asch’s study?
larger majority (from two to 3-16 confederates) 30% increase (no more), more difficult task increased conformity, presence of another non-conformist (confederate) conformity went down to 5.5%
What did Bickman study?
Research support for Milgram: 3 male researchers agve direct instructions to randomly selected pedestrians; guard/milkman/civilian asked pedestrian to pick up litter
What were the results of Bickman’s study?
80 % obeyed guard’s uniform, 40% obeyed the other two.
What were the variations of Milgram’s study?
Proximity, Uniform, Location
What were Milgram’s proximity variations?
same room as learner- lowered to 40%,
forced learner’s hand on plate lowered to 30%, experimenter instructing over phone -down to 21%
What were Milgram’s uniform variations?
Experimenter with no lab coat- lowered to 20% (legitimacy of authority)
What were Milgram’s location variation?
Run down office- lowered to 48% (legitimacy of authority)
What were the two dispostional hypothesis for obedience to authority?
Authoritarian personality and Locus of control
What is the Authoritarian personality hypothesis?
That some people more obedient to authority- personality trait (e.g. the Germans in WW2 were somehow ‘different’)
Who investigated the authoritarian personality?
Adorno
How is the authoritarian personality described?
Characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
Why do people supposedly have the authoritarian personality?
Harsh parenting (high standards, expected loyalty, strict discipline), child displaces feelings of despair/inadequacy onto scapegoats/the ‘weak’.
What was the procedure of Adorno’s research?
Investigated authoritarian personality in 2000 middle class, white americans, developed an F-scale- aimed to see if personality affected obedience, used closed question questionnaires.
What were Adorno’s findings?
Those who scored highly on f-scale identified with ‘strong people’, they were conscious of their own and others’ status.
high scorers also had fixed/distinctive stereotypes about other groups, strong correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
What are the strengths of Adorno’s research?
Milgram and Elms- follow up study of Milgram’s original- those who were fully obedient scored higher on authoritarian tests and lower on scales of social responsibility.
What are the weaknesses of Adorno’s study?
Limited explanation (not all the Germans could have had the same personality!), alternative- Social identity theory, political bias, type of pps
What is the social identity theory?
People identify themselves to particular social groups. We favour our own group over any other group. Maximise similarities within the group and the differences of other groups with ours.
Why was the F scale politically biased?
measures tendency towards extreme right-wing bias but not left-wing extremes.
In what two states can individuals act?
Autonomous state- individuals direct their own behaviour and take responsibility for their actions
Agentic state- individuals allow someone else to direct their behaviour- they pass on responsibility to them
How does legitimacy of authority affect obedience/conformity?
We are more likely to conform to people who we perceive to have authority over us. Authority is justified by the person’s position of power within a hierarchy.
What are the ways in which legitimacy of authority is measured?
Legitimacy of the system, legitimacy of authority within the system, legitimacy of demands/orders given
How does legitimacy of the system and of authority within the system affect obedience/conformity
Of system: extent to which the ‘body’ is a legitimate source of authority.
Within system: Status and hierarchy within ‘body’/power of the individual
How does legitimacy of demands/orders given affect conformity/obedience?
Extent to which the order is perceived to be a legitimate area for the authority figure to provide orders about
What is the support for legitimacy of authority as a social-psychological explanation for conformity?
Tarnow- obedience in the cockpit, cross-cultural evidence
What is cross cultural evidence for legitimacy of authority?
Strength- the theories can explain cultural differences in obedience; some cultures more obedient to an authority figure- the culture itself is traditionally obedient to the child raising practices, social structure and hierarchies.
What did Tarnow study?
support for legitimacy of authority; studied aviation accidents. In accidents where human error was the cause, co-pilots were overly dependent on the captain’s authority/expertise, and didn’t question any ‘risky’ decisions made.
What is independent behaviour?
Not altered despite pressures to conform- actions/views/opinions influenced solely by the individual carrying them out
What is anti-conformist behaviour?
Does the exact opposite of those in the social group who conform
What is resistance to social influence?
The ability to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority
What two reasons are people able to withstand social pressures?
Social support (situational factor) Locus of control (dispositional factor)
What is the locus of control?
A person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour- measured on a scale from ‘high internal’ to ‘high external’
What is an internal locus of control?
You make things happen (in control of self)
What is an external locus of control?
Things happen to you (controlled by external factors)
How does internal locus of control affect obedience?
High internals- active seekers of information so rely less on the opinions of others, more achievement oriented, better able to resist coercion from others, more likely to be leaders
How does external locus of control affect obedience?
High external- more likely to be followers, feel external factors in control, so are more likely to obey others and be influenced easily by others
What are the strengths of the Locus of control explanation?
Holland et al- repeated Milgram’s study, measured if pps were internals or externals; 37% internals disobeyed, 23% externals disobeyed- internals greater resistance to social influence
Who explored the cultural factors affecting locus of control?
Smith and Bond: reviewed 31 conformity studies, found pps from individualist cultures more likely to show resistance o social influence; maybe because individualist culture has greater emphasis on personal goals.
What are the gender differences affecting the Locus of control?
some people also argue that women are more agreeable than men, Eagly suggests that this is a result of different socialization and upbringing of males and females
What was Anderson and Scheneier’s research?
Support for locus of control: suggest internas more likely to become leaders than followers. Individuals who attribute responsibility for their actions to themselves tend to assume they can cause change to their environment
Who suggested we are becoming more external?
Twenge et al: in their meta-analysis found that young Americans believe their lives are controlled by outside forces- implications of this are negative- externality correlated with poor school achievement and depression
Why might people resist pressures to obey?
Desire for individuation, internal locus of control, support of colleagues, prior commitment, dispositional factors, independence/non-conformity, exposure to dissent
What are the techniques used by the minority to influence the majority?
Confidence, flexibility, relevance, persuasiveness, consistency, commitment (C CPR FC )
What is confidence?
Involves sending a message to the majority that the position is a serious one which is not going to go away
What is flexibility?
not adopting a rigid position in order to prevent perception of the minority as narrow-minded
What is persuasiveness?
The minority try to win over people from the majority and attract others to its position.
What is relevance?
The minority view is one that has meaning at one particular time and place
What is consistency?
Where a person maintains a consistent position over time or where there is agreement among members of the minority group
What is commitment?
Showing dedication to their cause (e.g. making sacrifices) Gives the minority message credibility because people are unlikely to suffer for a cause that is not worthwhile
When are minorities successful?
When they make us think: creation of cognitive conflict in people’s minds between what they always believed and what they are hearing, majority thinks deeper about issues, starting point for conversion
What is the augmentation principle?
When people are willing to suffer for their views (e.g. imprisoned/killed) their impact on others is increased/augmented. More influential in bringing about social change
What is the snowball effect?
When a minority succeeds in attracting enough supporters, it is transformed into the new majority
What is social cryptomnesia?
People have a memory that change has occurred but some people do not remember the events that led to this change/the people associated with this change
How can conformity help to change views?
If people perceive something as the norm they tend to alter their behaviour to fit the norm (normative social influence)
What is an example of the use of normative social influence?
e.g. In Montana 20% of young people said the drink and drive; led to a campaign using the reverse statistics- that in Montana 4/5 people DON’T drink and drive
What are some strengths of social change- evaluation?
Schultz et al, (Nemeth)
What is a weakness of social change?
Basir et al; barriers to social change, Many people avoid minority group influence due to stereotypes (e.g. man-haters, tree-huggers). Lesson for minority groups not to behave in ways that reinforce this stereotype
How many pps were in Moscovici’s study?
172 USA female pps (none colour blind), 36 trials x 6, 4 naïve pps with a minority of 2 confederates
What was the procedure of Moscovici’s study?
Shown series of blue slides that varied in intensity/brightness, asked to judge colour of each slide. Consistent condition-confederates repeatedly called the blue slides green.
Inconsistent condition confederates said green 2/3 time. Control condition of 6 pps not confederates.
What were the findings if Moscovici’s study?
Consistent: influenced pps to say green on 8% trials
inconsistent: little influence- barely differed from control group
What was Schultz’s study?
found that when a hotel advertised following message “nearly 75% of our guests choose to reuse their towels everyday…etc.” guests were much more likely to reuse their bath towels
What was Moscovici’s after study?
After main study pps were asked to sort 16 coloured discs into blue or green. 3 were blue, 3 green and 10 were ambiguous green-blue. Pps in consistent condition judged more slides to be green than those in the inconsistent condition. 32% consistent trial reported at least one extra green slide.
What was Nemeth’s study?
Group members discussed compensation claim for ski accident. Confederate put forward alternative amount. If rigid and non-flexible no effect on other members. If compromising and showed flexibility, they did have an influence
What are the strengths of Moscovici’s study?
Research (Nemeth), reliability, application, ethical
What are the weaknesses of Moscovici’s study?
Not generalizable- all USA women, task importance affecting results?
