Social Influence Flashcards
What are the three types of conformity?
Compliance, Internalisation, Identification
What are the explanations for conformity?
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
What is the difference between the two explanations for conformity?
ISI- the desire to be right, we beleive the group is more likely to be right so we follow them/ It is a cognitive process/Most likely to happen in new situations.
NSI- the desire to be liked, we want to fit in with the group/ It is an emotional process/most likely to occur when we fear rejection.
How do individual differences relate to NSI?
People respond to the desire to be liked more than others, they are known as nAffiliators.
What are the variables affecting conformity?
Group size
Task Difficulty
Unanimity
Who investigated the variables affecting conformity?
Asch
Who took part and what was the procedure of Asch’s experiment?
123 male undergraduates took part, asked to identify which of 3 lines shown was the same length as the standard line in a group of confederates giving incorrect answers
How many trials were there, and on how many did confederates give a wrong name?
18 trials, 12 wrong answers.
What was the overall conformity rate?
37%
What percentage of confederates conformed at least once.
75%
What variations did Asch investigate in his study?
Group size
Unanimity
Task Difficulty
How did he investigate these variations?
Group size- Wanted to see effect of conformity, found that with 3 confederates conformity was 31.8% and didn’t have much affect after that.
Unanimity- Introduced a non conforming confederate who didn’t agree with the group. Showed conformity to drop to 9%.
Task Difficulty- Made the task more difficult and conformity increased, shows ISI at play with a more difficult task.
Methodological evaluation of Asch’s baseline condition
Possibility fir demand characteristics as participants knew they were in an experiment.
However they were deceived on the aim so possibility of demand characteristics not at play.
What is Fiske’s criticism of Asch’s study?
The group wasn’t very ‘groupy’ as they had only just met each other, it’s hard to generalise to everyday situations where we most likely would know the people. (low ecological validity)
Why could Asch’s study be criticised for being a child of it’s time?
Perrin+Spencer repeated Asch’s experiment on engineering students in the UK and only 1 out of 396 trials did someone conform.
Asch’s study took place in a time of conformist society in America. (1950s)
Ethical evaluation of Asch’s study.
Participants were deceived about the aim of the experiment.
Stress caused due to having to answer out to a group.
Why could Asch’s study have limited applications?
Only male participants in America a very individualist culture compared to e.g communist country like China, where conformity rates would be a lot higher.
What did Zimbardo investigate?
Conformity to social roles.
What was the research method and IV in Zimbardo’s experiment?
Field experiment using observational methods
IV= type of social role prisoner or guard.
Who were and how were participants collected?
Participants were male undergraduate students at Stanford University. A volunteer sample was used where they were then screaned and the most mentally stable of them were chosen. They were then allocated guard or prisoner by random allocation.
How were prisoners inducted into their roles?
Striped and searched, given a uniform a stocking cap, a smock with no underwear and their identities replaced by a number.
How were guards introduced into their roles?
Given a uniform, cub and handcuffs, keys and mirror shades. They were also told they had control over rules and punishments.
what behaviour suggested prisoners had confirmed to their role?
Started refering themselves by their numbers
asking for parole rather than to leave
started getting anxious and depressed- 2 had breakdowns crying ect ..
what behaviour suggested guards had confirmed to their role?
they became aggressive and brutal and began to enjoy the power
why was the experiment ended early?
(day 6 instead of 14) there was threat to the prisoners psychological and physical health rebellions happened ect and the guards punishments became to brutal
why were participants randomly allocated to role of prisoner or guard?
avoided individual differences, so they were not allocated based on their personality. so it could be sure it was the situation affecting conformity
not shit personalities
what did zimbardos stimulation conclude?
guards prisoners and researcher all confirmed to their roles, and were very easily take on to these roles. even volunteers acted as if they were installed prison rather than a psychological study.
arguments for and against the stimulation lacking realism
FOR- participants were play acting they were briefed by zimbardo so based behaviour on stereotype rather than situation
AGAINST- 90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life evidence that they were conforming
ethical evaluation of zimbardos study
little protection of prisoners, they were humiliated bullied physically hurt.
psychological harm people started to have break downs ect
zimbardo to immersed in the role of role of ‘superintendent’ than acting responsible for the protection of participants
why might people think dispositional factors were at play?
Fromm accused zimbardo exaggerated the power of the situation, as only 1/3 of the guards were brutal, 1/3 were were applying rules fairly and 1/3 sympathised with prisoners.
What was Milgram studying?
Obidience, he wanted to know why the German population had followed Hitler-were they more obidient?
how was the sample of milgrams study collected and who were they?
40 adult men with a range of occupations obtained through a volunteer sample
what are significance of the men having a range of occupations?
it have the study higher external validity as it can be generalised to a range of people from those with possibly more power at work to those with none.
what did the teacher and messenger have to do?
looking into effect of punishment on memory, learner had to learn word pairs each time they got I’ve won’t they were given an electric shock on the teacher - increased each time.
what was the standard way of replying to the teachers worries by the experimentor?
prods- e.g ‘please continue’
‘you have no choice you must go on’
in the baseline condition when did the learner begin to shout?
at 300 volts
what percentage of patients went up to 300 volts in the baseline condition?
100%
what percentage of participants went up to 450 volts?
65%
what qualative data was collected?
observations-participants showed extreme dicumfort they began to sweat stutter bite they’re lip ect, 3 had full blown seizures
how did the results collected differ from what students and psychologists first predicted?
thought only 3% would go up to maximum shock showing that we are much more likely to be obidient than we thought-underestimate the situation or overestimate the impact of personality
what other situations did Milgram investigate in relation to obidience?
proximity
location
uniform
how did Milgram investigate proximity?
the learner and teacher were placed in the same room
or
the experimentor gave the instructions over the phone
what percentage did the obidience rate fall too on each of the conditions of proximity?
teacher+learner in the same room: 40%
experimentor gave instructions over the phone: 20%
explain why obidience levels fell in both variables for proximity
teacher and messenger in the same room: lack of buffer, can physically see the suffering up close
experimentor gives instructions over the phone: Levi of binding factors-no embarrassment for questioning competence of experimentor
how did Milgram investigate the variable location?
he also conducted the experiment in a run down office
what was the obviousness rate with the change of location and what does it show?
47.5%- change of location has a slight effect but not huge.
how did Milgram investigate uniform as a variation for obidience?
the experimentor was replaced by a member of the public after experimentor made an excuse to leave.
what was the obidience rate in the uniform variation?
20%
evaluation of Milgram variables
lack internal validity:people may have guessed the procedure unclear whether the results are genuine or the participants looked through the deception
cross culture replication: replicated on Spanish students so not limited to only American males but have only been done in western countries similar to America so can’t be generalised for the whole of society
evaluation of Milgram baseline condition
low internal validity: acted the way they did because they had guessed the shocks and it wasn’t then an experiment testing obidience. BUT similar experiment conducted giving real shocks to puppies and 54% m and 100% f gave shocks Milgram said 70% thought shocks were genuine.
similar replication: holfling 21/22 nurses obeyed the orders that would possibly harm patients - shoes people likely to obey to people in uniform.
evaluation of control of extraneous variables in Milgram study
+ same prods and exposure to feedback from learner
- hard to be consistent over time and between conditions Perry founds evidence that the authority from the experimentor increase
ethical evaluation of Milgram study
participants were deceived:
experiment was about obidience not effect of punishment
allocation to teacher/learner rigged
learner not getting electri
ethical evaluation of Milgram study
participants were deceived:
experiment was about obidience not effect of punishment
allocation to teacher/learner rigged
learner not getting electric shocks
What are the main processes involved in minority influence?
Consistency
Flexibility
Commitment
Why is consistency important to minority influence, and what are the two types?
synchronic- agreement within the group
diachronic- over time
consistency increases the interest in the views of the group by others and consideration to if they are right.
What evidence is there for the role of consistency in minority influence?
Moscovici investigated consistency by studying colour perception.
He had a control (all naïve participants) 0.25% green responses
consistent ( always said green) 1.25%
inconsistent (said green some and blue sometimes) 8.42%
why is flexibility important for minority influence?
minority need to show willing to compromise so that majority feel comfortable with the idea of compromise
Why does Nemeth’s study show the importance of compromise
Participants had to agree on compensation for ski lift accident victims, when confederate stuck with a low offer and didn’t change their opinion it has no affect on majority
when offered slightly higher the majority changed to a lower amount.
Why is commitment important for minority influence?
it involves taking risks which shows sincerity of beliefs.
what is one drawback of commitment
can look or appear crazy or extreme
relate the three processes involved in minority influence to the Suffragette movement
consistency- marches and protests my many people over time
flexibility- suspended protests during WW1
commitment- willingness to take risks- go to prison etc.
How did the suffragette movement and civil rights movement use arguments considering inconsistency
suffragette- showed inconsistency of women not being able to vote but men who worked for them allowed.
civil rights- inconsistency of treatment of blacks and documents of American society- “all men are created equally”
explain the snowball effect in relation to the civil rights movement
once change starts it gathers momentum new issues can be addressed over time. Civil rights initial focus on segregation of schools and transport and later on general issues of e.g. unemployment
explain social cryptoamnesia with reference to feminism
for people to be comfortable with change old ideas need to be forgotten - stereotypes of feminists as man haters forgotten by those who held them.
what is the autonomous state
feeling free and responsible for the consequences of our own actions.
what is the agentic state
feeling as if they are the agent for someone else’s actions and therefore is not responsible
what is the agentic shift and what prompts it?
the movement fro autonomous to agentic state this happens when someone perceives someone else as a figure of authority
what internal conflict is involved in agentic state
moral strains between the demands of conscience and the drive to obey authority
How do binding factors relate to the agentic state?
aspects of the situation that allow the person to reduce the moral strain they are feeling. such as shifting responsibility to the victim (they were foolish for signing up) or denying the damage to the victim.
when do we see reduced anxiety by participants in Milgram’s experiment due to agentic shift?
When the experimenter says he is responsible for what happens to the learner.
What real life evidence is there that people involved in accidents make the agentic shift?
people blame the victims, get involved in killing but do feel regret and guilt after war.
why is Holfling’s study evidence against the agentic shift
the nurses did not show anxiety when giving the drug: no moral strain
How did Mandel’s study of Police Battalion 101 show evidence against the agentic shift?
police acted without anxiety and chose to kill the Je without direct orders: no agentic shift.
What word describes a society where some have authority over others?
hierarchal
how are hierarchies useful?
they allow society to function by placing competent people in charge preventing chaos.
how does being taught legitimacy of hierarchies lead to obedience.
people perceive hierarchy as legitimate and expect to obey depending on their position in hierarchy - obedience becomes second nature.
how did Blass & Schmitt’s study support legitimacy of authority
participants blamed the experimenter not the teacher for the harm to the learner - it shows people recognize hierarchy and their legitimacy
how does the legitimacy of authority both explain and deny atrocities in war?
explain: soldiers see their officers as responsible and that obeying was part of their role
deny: some atrocities occur without direct orders (police battalion 101)
what theory is an explanation for obedience? (ATP)
authoritarian personality theory
what happens during childhood that causes people to identify with authority?
strict parenting/ conditional love - a child must behave according to parents morality.
why do people with an authoritarian personality show prejudice against minority?
hostility against parents are repressed - it’s displaced onto minority with low social status.
What did Adorno’s experiment show?
The use of the F scale (potential for fascism scale) those who scored high on the F scale identified with the strong and were contemptuous of the weak. Strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.
What did Adorno identify as the origin for an authoritarian personality?
he found that it formed in childhood formed from harsh parenting including strict discipline and severe criticism which creates hostility in the child which is displaced onto others
what form did the evidence of authoritarian personality by Milgram and Elms show
showed an association between authoritarian personality and obedience.
what are two problems with Adorno’s measurement of authoritarian personality and upbringing.
lack of blinding - the interviewers knew participants authoritarian personality score.
acquiescence bias - if answer strongly agree you have an authoritarian personality.
what’s a mythological problem with the evidence for the authoritarian personality theory?
the results are only correlational: do not show a casual relationship between upbringing and AP or AP and obedience.
how does a non conformist peer provide both normative and informational influence?
normative: reduces discomfort
informational: increases confidence
how does a disobedient peer reduce obedience?
informational: makes you stop and think, weakens binding factor - the confederate acts as a ‘model’ with their behavior.
what was the conformity rate when a confederate answered differently to the rest in Asch’s study
dropped from 37% to 9%
what was the obedience rate with two disobedient confederates in Milgram’s study
down from 65% to 10%
what is the difference between an internal and external locus of control
internal: believe they are in control and responsible for the consequences of their actions
external: things happen without their control
how does having an internal LoC reduces effect of conformity and obedience
gives greater confidence to be different and greater responsibility
what value correlation did Avtgis find between LoC and non conformity in his meta analysis
0.35 - moderate correlation
what obedience rate did Holland find for those with high and low LoC (repeat of Milgram’s baseline study)
high: 77%
low: 63%
small difference so less of an effect on disobedience compared to non conformity
