Social Influence Flashcards
Define Conformity
A Change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group (Aronson 2011)
Define Internalisation
The deepest type of conformity where we take on majority view as we accept it is correct. It leads to permanent change in behaviour privately and publicly
Define Identification
Moderate conformity where we act in the same way as a group as we value it and want to be part of it. However, we don’t necessarily agree with everything the majority believes
Define Compliance
A superficial, temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view but privately disagree. The change in behaviour lasts as long as the group is present
Define Informational Social Influence
An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority as we believe it is correct and we accept it as we want to be correct also. This may lead to internalisation
Define Normative Social Influence
An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked. This may lead to compliance
Who suggested the three types of Conformity?
Herbert Kelman (1958)
Who is responsible for the two-process theory of conformity? Describe the theory
Deutsch and Gerard (1955)
People conform because they need to be right (ISI) or need to be liked (NSI)
When is ISI most likely to occur?
In new situations, situations with ambiguity, crisis and where someone may be regarded as an expert
When is NSI most likely to occur?
In situations with strangers where rejection is concerned and with people we know such as friends
AO3: What is the research support for ISI?
- Lucas (2006) asked students to answer maths problems that were easy and hard
- Greater conformity to incorrect answers when questions were hard
- Shows people conform when they do not know information
AO3: What are the individual differences of NSI?
- People who are less concerned with social approval are less affected by NSI
- McGhee and Teevan (1967) found students in need of approval were more likely to conform
- Shows desire to be liked underlies conformity and individual differences exist
AO3: How might ISI and NSI work together?
- Two-process model states one or the other
- Both processes may be involved
- E.g dissenters reduce conformity
- They may reduce NSI (dissenter is social support) or reduce ISI (alternative source of information)
- Casts doubt over two-process theory and only one process causing conformity
AO3: What is the research support for NSI?
- Asch (1951) found P’s went along with wrong answer because others did
- When asked why, they said self-conscious feelings and fear of disapproval
- When writing answers, conformity fell to 12.5%
- Show people conform to fit in and gain approval
Define Group Size in Asch’s Study
Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates to increase the majority size. Conformity increased with group size only up to a certain point, levelling off after 3
Define Unanimity in Asch’s study
The extent to which all the members of a group agree. In Asch’s study, the majority was unanimous when all the confederates selected the same comparison line. This produced the most conformity
Define Task Difficulty in Asch’s Study
Asch’s line-judging task is more difficult when it becomes harder to work out the correct answer. Conformity increases as P’s assume the majority is more likely to be correct
Give the Procedure of Asch’s study
- P’s see a standard line and three comparison lines
- Asked which comparison line matched with the standard line
- 123 American male undergraduates
- Each P tested with 6-8 confederates
- On the first few trials, all confederates gave right answers
- Confederates gave wrong answer on 12/18 critical trials
Give the Findings of Asch’s study
- P gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time
- 25% did not conform at all
- 75% conformed at least once
- When interviewed, they said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI)
Name Asch’s Variations
Group size, Unanimity and Task difficulty
What did changing the group size do to Asch’s study?
- With three confederates, conformity rose to 31.8%
- Addition of further confederates made little difference
- Small or large majorities not needed, just 3
What did changing the task difficulty do to Asch’s study?
- Made comparison and standard lines similar
- Conformity increased suggesting ISI plays a greater role in harder tasks as it is more ambiguous
What did changing unanimity do to Asch’s study?
- Confederate who disagreed with others
- This presence reduced conformity by 25% compared to a complete unanimous decision
- Presence of a dissenter allows P to behave more independently
- Influence of majority depends on unanimity
AO3: Why may Asch’s study lack temporal validity?
- Perrin and Spencer repeated task in 1980 with UK engineering students
- 1 conformed out of 396 trials
- Engineering students may be more confident OR
- 1950s were a conformist time so made sense to stick to social norms
- Hence is not a fundamental feature of human behaviour and lacks temporal validity
AO3: Why is an artificial task a problem with Asch’s study?
- P’s knew they were in a study (demand characteristics)
- Trivial task and so no reason not to conform
- Groups did not resemble everyday groups
- Fiske (2014) said groups were not groupy
- Limitation as not generalisable, especially when consequences of conformity are more serious
AO3: Why is there limited application of Asch’s findings?
- Only men tested
- Neto suggested women are more likely to conform due to more concern about social relationships
- USA is an individualistic culture rather than China etc
- Conformity sometimes higher than what Asch found but results only generalisable to American men
AO3: What are the ethical issues with Asch’s research?
- P’s deceived and embarrassment could cause psychological harm
- Ethical costs should be weighed against benefits of research
- Debrief given
Define Social Roles
The parts that people play in everyday life. Examples include: parent, teacher, child, student. They are accompanied by expectations of what is appropriate for each role
What was the aim of the SPE?
To answer the following:
Do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities or is it the situation that causes the behaviour
Give the procedure of Zimbardo’s SPE
- Mock prison at SU
- Students volunteered and emotionally stable ones selected
- Random assignment to role of guards or prisoners
- Realism increased by house arrest and strip search
- Prisoners had numbers and uniforms
- Guards enforced rules, had uniforms and told they had complete power
Give the findings of Zimbardo’s SPE
- Guards behaviour eventually became a threat to mental and physical health so stopped after 6/14 days
- Prisoners rebelled and shouted/swore
- Guards harassed the prisoners and punished even the smallest misdemeanour
- Prisoners became subdued and depressed after rebellion
- 3 prisoners were released due to psychological disturbance
What are the conclusions for the SPE?
- Revealed the power of the situation to influence behaviour
- Guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed
AO3: Why does the SPE have ethical issues?
- Zimbardo had two roles: superintendent and researcher
- Would not let a P leave prison
- Denied the right to withdraw and subjected to more harm
AO3: Why does the SPE have good internal validity?
- Control over some variables such as selection of P’s
- Emotionally stable P’s randomly assigned
- Ruled out individual differences, but prisoners and guards still behaved differently
- Hence behaviour influenced by the situation
- Increases internal validity and confidence in conclusions
AO3: Why may Zimbardo’s conclusion be over-stated/exaggerated?
- Fromm (1973) accused Zimbardo of exaggerating power of the situation
- Minimised dispositional factors (personality)
- E.g Only one third of guards acted brutally, one third kept the rules enforced and one third helped prisoners
- The difference between guard behaviour showed that they were able to exercise right and wrong regardless of the situational pressures
Define Obedience
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
What was the aim of Milgram’s procedure?
Why did the German population follow the orders of Hitler? Were Germans different?
Give the procedure of Milgram’s research
- 40 Male P’s through adverts (paid $4.50)
- 20 - 50 y/o with jobs unskilled to professional
- P always teacher and confederate teacher
- Teacher gave a shock at every wrong answer through to 450v
- Learner pounded on wall at 300/315 then was silent for the remainder of the experiment
- Silence was to be treated as a wrong answer
- The experimenter was also present and used prods
What were the prods of Milgram’s research?
- Please go on
- Experiment requires you to continue
- Essential you continue
- You have no other choice, you must go on
What were the findings of Milgram’s research?
- No P stopped below 300v
- 12.5% stopped at 300v
- 65% continued to 450v
- P’s showed extreme tension (three had seizures)
- Predicted only 3% would shock at 450v so results unexpected
- All P’s debriefed, 84% claimed to be glad to take part
AO3: Why may Milgram’s research have low internal validity?
- Orne + Holland argued P’s guessed that the electric shocks were not real hence was not measuring what was intended
- Perry (2013) confirmed this and listened to tapes of P’s expressing doubt about the shocks
- Sheridan + King (1972) conducted similar study shocking puppies (real shocks)
- Males (54%) and females (100%) delivered fatal shock
- Suggests effects in Milgram’s study are genuine as people behaved the same with real shocks
AO3: Why does Milgram’s research have good external validity?
- First glance, lacks external validity due to lab
- Central feature was between P and authority figure
- This accurately reflected real life situations
- E.g Hofling (1966) studied nurses and found levels of obedience to unjustified demands of doctors were high (21 out of 22)
- Results are valuable and can be generalised
AO3: Why does Milgram’s research have ethical issues?
- Baumrind (1964) was critical of Milgram
- Deception
- Allocation was not random
- Electric shocks not real
- Damage of reputation of psychologists due to betrayal of trust
AO3: What is an alternative explanation of Milgram’s research?
- SLT claims obedience lies in identification
- P’s obeyed as they identified with the experimenter
- When obedience fell, it was because P’s identified less with experimenter and more with victim
- Haslam + Reicher (2012) studied behaviour of P’s and the fact they quit after the fourth prod was used (the only prod demanding obedience)