Social influence

Question 1

who came up with the 3 types of conformity and when

Answer 1

Kelman 1958

Question 2

what are the 3 types of conformity

Answer 2

compliance
internalisation
identification

Question 3

what is compliance (type of conformity)

Answer 3

going along with others to gain their approval or avoid disapproval

Question 4

what is internalisation

Answer 4

going along with others because you have accepted their pov as it is consistent with your own

Question 5

what is identification (type of conformity)

Answer 5

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)

Question 6

what is normative social influence

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

what is informational social influence

Answer 7

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

Question 8

explain Linkenbach and Perkins 2003 study

Answer 8

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

Question 9

define usefulness in terms of a study

Answer 9

whether the results of a study can be applied to bring about a change in attitude or behaviour

Question 10

what is informational social influence

Answer 10

a form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right

Question 11

what is normative social influence

Answer 11

a form of influence where an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or avoid social disapproval

Question 12

what was the procedure of Asch’s study

Answer 12

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

Question 13

what were the findings of Asch’s study

Answer 13

average conformity was 33%
1/4 of p’s never conformed
1/2 conformed on 6/12
1/20 conformed on all

Question 14

what were asch’s conclusions about how group size affects conformity

Answer 14

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

Question 15

outline the procedure of the stanford prison experiment

Answer 15

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

Question 16

describe the guards in the stanford prison experiment appearance

Answer 16

given uniforms, clubs, whistles and wore reflective sunglasses (to prevent eye contact)

Question 17

what were the findings of the stanford prison experiment concerning the guards

Answer 17

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

Question 18

what were the findings to do with the prisoners in the stanford prison experiment

Answer 18

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

Question 19

why did the SPE end after only 6 days

Answer 19

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

Question 20

outline the bbc prison study procedure

Answer 20

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

Question 21

what were the findings of the bbc prison study

Answer 21

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

Question 22

who carried out bbc prison study and in what year

Answer 22

reicher and haslam in 2006

Question 23

what are the 3 situational factors in obedience

Answer 23

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

Question 24

outline procedure of milgram’s study

Answer 24

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

Question 25

what were the findings for milgram’s study

Answer 25

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

Question 26

how did milgram make it so the confederate was always the ‘learner’ and participant was the teacher

Answer 26

they drew rigged straws

Question 27

what is the agentic state

Answer 27

when a person sees him or her self as an agent for carrying out another person’s wishes

Question 28

what is legitimate authority

Answer 28

a person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation

Question 29

how does group size affect conformity

Answer 29

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

Question 30

how does the unanimity of the majority affect conformity

Answer 30

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%

Question 31

how does the difficulty of the task affect conformity

Answer 31

asch made the differences between the line lengths smaller and the conformity level increased

Question 32

what is the F scale

Answer 32

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

Question 33

what is right wing authoritarianism

Answer 33

a cluster of personality variables (conventionalism, authority submission and authoritarian aggression) that are associated with a right wing attitude to life