Social influence Flashcards
who came up with the 3 types of conformity and when
Kelman 1958
what are the 3 types of conformity
compliance
internalisation
identification
what is compliance (type of conformity)
going along with others to gain their approval or avoid disapproval
what is internalisation
going along with others because you have accepted their pov as it is consistent with your own
what is identification (type of conformity)
has aspects of compliance and internalisation as the individual accepts that the attitudes and behaviours they are adopting are right (internalisation) but the purpose of adopting them is to be accepted into a group (compliance)
what is normative social influence
a form of influence whereby an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or to avoid social disapproval (a reason for compliance)
what is informational social influence
conforming because of uncertainty, in order to be correct/accurate.
people evaluate their ideas and attitudes in order to check they are socially correct. (reason for internalisation as there is a change in public and private behaviour
explain Linkenbach and Perkins 2003 study
they showed that informing 12-17 year olds that few people in their age group smoke reduced the number who took up smoking compared to states where the campaign wasn’t run- this is due to compliance
define usefulness in terms of a study
whether the results of a study can be applied to bring about a change in attitude or behaviour
what is informational social influence
a form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right
what is normative social influence
a form of influence where an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or avoid social disapproval
what was the procedure of Asch’s study
participants were seated around a table and had to look at 3 lines of different lengths and took it in turn to call out which line was the same length as the standard line
real p always answered second last
always a fairly obvious answer but on 12/18 the confederates were instructed to give the same wrong answer
what were the findings of Asch’s study
average conformity was 33%
1/4 of p’s never conformed
1/2 conformed on 6/12
1/20 conformed on all
what were asch’s conclusions about how group size affects conformity
very little conformity when just one or two confederates. at 3 confederates conformity goes up to 30% further increase in group size didn’t affect conformity suggesting size of majority is important but only up to a point
outline the procedure of the stanford prison experiment
1973
mock prison set up in stanford uni basement
male student volunteers where psychologically and physically screened and 24 most stable were randomly assigned to play ‘prisoner’ or ‘guard’
given prison uniform and ID number
planned to last 2 weeks
describe the guards in the stanford prison experiment appearance
given uniforms, clubs, whistles and wore reflective sunglasses (to prevent eye contact)
what were the findings of the stanford prison experiment concerning the guards
over the first few days the guards became tyrannical and abusive towards prisoners,
woke them in the night and forced them to do degrading activities
both guards and prisoners confirmed to their social roles
what were the findings to do with the prisoners in the stanford prison experiment
even when the prisoners were unaware they were being watched they sill conformed to prisoner role
asked for ‘parole’ rather than to withdraw
5 prisoners released early because of extreme reactions
prisoners became increasingly passive
why did the SPE end after only 6 days
Christina Maslach (a postgrad student) intervened and reminded the researchers that it was just a psychological experiment and did not justify the abuse to the participants
outline the bbc prison study procedure
randomly assigned men to the role of guard or prisoner and examined their behaviour in an artificial prison
15 participants divided into 5 groups of 3 matches on key personality variables. one was a guard and the other 2 prisoners
what were the findings of the bbc prison study
participants didn’t conform automatically to their assigned roles
prisoners increasingly identified as a group to challenge guards
guards failed to identify their role which made them reluctant to impose authority led to power shift and collapse of system
who carried out bbc prison study and in what year
reicher and haslam in 2006
what are the 3 situational factors in obedience
1) proximity- obedience fell when teacher and learner in same room
2) location- a more formal location (yale uni) gives p’s confidence in integrity of people involved when moved to a run down office, obedience fell
3) power of uniform- convey power and authority which increases obedience
outline procedure of milgram’s study
40 participants told it was testing how punishment affects learning
the ‘teacher’ was required to test the learner (confederate) on his ability to remember word pairs and every time he got one wrong the shock increased
15-450 V
if the ‘teacher’ asked to stop the experimenter had a series of prods to repeat
what were the findings for milgram’s study
milgram asked psychiatrists, college students and colleagues to predict how long p’s would go before refusing to continue
predicted very few would go beyond 150 V and 1/1000 would go to 450
65% went to 450 V
100% went to 300 V
how did milgram make it so the confederate was always the ‘learner’ and participant was the teacher
they drew rigged straws
what is the agentic state
when a person sees him or her self as an agent for carrying out another person’s wishes
what is legitimate authority
a person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation
how does group size affect conformity
asch found little conformity when the majority was 1/2 confederates but under the pressure of 3 confederates conforming rates rose to 30% but any further group size increases didn’t really affect the conforming
how does the unanimity of the majority affect conformity
when the real p was given the support of another p or a confederate giving the right answers conformity fell from 33% to 5.5%
when the lone ‘dissenter’ gave an answer different to both conformity was 9%
how does the difficulty of the task affect conformity
asch made the differences between the line lengths smaller and the conformity level increased
what is the F scale
used by adorno et al to measure the different components that made up the authoritarian personality
individuals with this personality were rigid thinkers who obeyed authority and thought social rules should be followed
what is right wing authoritarianism
a cluster of personality variables (conventionalism, authority submission and authoritarian aggression) that are associated with a right wing attitude to life
