Social Influence

Question 1

Social Influence

Answer 1

The change in behaviour one person causes in another with intentionally or unintentionally, often due to group pressure and can also lead to c change in opinion as well as behaviour

Question 2

Conformity

Answer 2

Process by which someones attitude, opinions, beliefs or behaviours are changed by the presence or actions of another

Question 3

Three types of conformity

Answer 3

. Compliance - Shallow
. Identification
. Internalisation - Deep

Question 4

Compliance

Answer 4

Person conforms publicly but disagrees privately, usually done to fit in with a group and conformity stops when you leave the group so is temporary, has little impact and is the shallowest

Question 5

Identification

Answer 5

Person conforms both publicly and privately because they have identified with the group and feel a sense of membership. E.g football club supporters usually bound to the area you live in

Question 6

Internalisation

Answer 6

Person conforms both publicly and privately because they have internalised and accept the views and beliefs of the group norm, deepest form of conformity and is permanent for example you live with vegans and yourself become a vegan

Question 7

Normative Social Influence (NSI)

Answer 7

The desire to be liked and agreeing with the opinion of a group majority so they are accepted and approved

Question 8

Informational Social Influence (ISI)

Answer 8

The desire to be right and agreeing with the opinion of the majority because they believe that it is correct and they desire to also be correct

Question 9

Strengths of NSI

Answer 9

. Supported by Asch’s research, found a 36.8% conformity rate and found that people answered questions wrong due to anxiety of going against the group.
. Shows c + e relationship
. Uses Standardised procedures

Question 10

Limitations of NSI

Answer 10

. The explanation is affected by individual differences, not everyone affected by NSI in the same way thus low explanatory power as we don’t really know the reason some people desire to be liked and some don’t
. Smith and Bond (1998) found cultural differences between eastern and western countries in regard to levels of conformity, eastern cultures value family and friends needs more, cant be generalized and isn’t representative

Question 11

Jenness (1932) conformity study details

Answer 11

. Asked participant to guess the number of beans in a jar
. Asked participants to form groups of 3 and come up with a group estimate
. Gave the participants a chance to change their answers
. Found after being in a group, their results shift more is towards the group estimate
. Shows informational social influence

Question 12

What does Jenness’s study show

Answer 12

Informational Social Influence

Question 13

Sherif (1935) conformity study details

Answer 13

. Placed participants in a dark room
. A small light was projected on a screen and they were asked to estimate how far it traveled
. When estimating alone found lots of variance between answers
. When estimating in groups, estimates became very similar despite there being a large variance when estimating separately

Question 14

Limitations of Sherif’s and Jenness’s study

Answer 14

. Lacks temporal validity
. Occurred in a lab setting, artificial environment
. Lacks ecological validity
. Ambiguous

Question 15

Asch Research (1951 and 1955)

Answer 15

. Line comparison test
. 123 male undergraduates tested individually
. 6 - 8 Confederates, all instructed to give the same wrong answers
. Real participant sat last or second to last to see if they conform to group pressure

Question 16

Asch Findings

Answer 16

. Naive participant conformed overall 36.8% of the time.
. 25% did not conform at all
. 75% conformed at least once
. Asch effect used to describe result