Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
What is social psychology?
A
How people interact and influence each other
2
Q
What is social influence?
A
How the behaviour of others can cause individuals to change their behaviour
3
Q
What is conformity?
A
When the behaviour of an individual/small group is influenced by a larger/dominant group
4
Q
What are the 3 types of conformity?
A
1) internalisation
2) compliance
3) identification
5
Q
What is internalisation?
A
1) going along with the majority
2) believing in the majority’s views
3) accepting and internalising the views - making them your own views
3) private AND public
6
Q
Give an example of internalisation.
A
When you’re in an unfamiliar situation, where you don’t know what the ‘correct’ way to behave is. You’d look to others for information on how to behave
7
Q
What is compliance?
A
1) going along with the majority
2) not sharing their views
3) public ONLY
4) superficial + temporary
8
Q
What is identification?
A
1) accepting social influence to be associated with a role model/social group
2) changing/imitating behaviour of a role model
9
Q
What are the 2 explanations for conformity?
A
1) normative social influence
2) informational social influence
10
Q
What is normative social influence?
A
1) avoiding behaviour that will lead to exclusion + rejection from the group
2) people have a fundamental need for social approval + acceptance
11
Q
Why is normative social influence effective?
A
People like those who are similar to them
12
Q
What does normative social influence lead to?
A
Compliance
13
Q
What is informational social influence?
A
1) relying on the opinions of others to check you are correct
2) people have a fundamental need to be right + have an accurate perception of reality
14
Q
When is informational social influence more likely to happen?
A
If the situation is ambiguous
15
Q
What does informational social influence lead to?
A
Internalisation
16
Q
What did Asch’s (1951) test?
A
Whether people would conform to a majority’s incorrect answer in an unabiguous task
17
Q
What is an unambiguous task?
A
One where the answer is obvious
18
Q
What was the method for Asch (1951)?
A
1) placed a naïve participant in a group of confederates
2) asked participants to say which of three ‘test lines’ was the same as the ‘standard line’ without discussing and gave their responses out loud
3) confederates gave wrong answer on 12/18 trials even though the answer was obvious
4) naïve participant was always last or second to last
19
Q
What were the findings for Asch (1951)?
A
1) 33% of responses given by participants were incorrect
2) 75% of participants conformed at least once
3) 5% of participants conformed on every trial
4) 25% of participants did not conform on any trial
5) majority of conforming participants didn’t want to look different
20
Q
What situational factors affect conformity?
A
1) group size
2) task difficulty
3) unanimity
21
Q
What did Asch (1956) find when he changed group size?
A
1) 1 confederate = 3% conformity rate
2) 2 confederates = 13% conformity rate
3) 3 confederates = 32% conformity rate
4) little change to conformity in groups beyond 4 confederates
5) small majorities easier to resist than larger ones
22
Q
How did Asch (1956) adjust task difficulty?
A
Making the test lines more similar in length
23
Q
What did Asch (1956) find when he adjusted task difficulty?
A
1) conformity increased
2) people are more likely to conform if they’re less confident
3) the more difficult the task, the greater the informational social influence + conformity
24
Q
What did Asch (1956) find when the group had unanimity?
A
Conformity increased
25
What did Asch (1956) find when the group was not unanimous?
1) conformity decreased
2) 1 confederate who went against majority reduced conformity from 33% to 5%
3) 1 confederate giving the wrong answer to the rest of the group reduced conformity from 33% to 9%
26
What are social roles?
The behaviours society expects of an individual who occupies a social position/status
27
Give an example of a social role
In our society, a woman who has a baby might be expected to look after and love her child - ‘mother’
28
What did Zimbardo (1973) test?
Whether people would conform to the assigned roles of prisoner or guard in a mock prison
29
What was the method for Zimbardo (1973)?
1) stimulated prison created in the basement of the Stanford University’s Psychology department
2) 24 emotionally + psychologically young men recruited + randomly assigned to role of prisoner/guard
3) prisoners were ‘arrested’, taken to ‘prison’, given uniforms + numbers
4) guards also given uniforms + mirrored sunglasses
5) guards told to maintain order using any means except physical violence
30
What were the findings of Zimbardo (1973)?
1) guards asserted authority quickly
2) prisoners resisted by sticking together
3) prisoners became more passive + obedient
4) guards invented nastier punishments
5) experiment abandoned after 6 days instead of 2 weeks because some prisoners became very distressed
31
Why was Zimbardo (1973) highly unethical?
1) prisoners subjected to psychological harm
| 2) 5 prisoners had to be released early because of extreme reactions (crying/rage/acute anxiety)
32
Why was the sample in Zimbardo (1973) unrepresentative?
All participants were:
1) white (with one exception)
2) young
3) middle class
4) male
5) students from Stanford University
33
Why can the results from Zimbardo (1973) not be generalised to women?
Gender bias
34
Why can the results from Zimbardo (1973) not be generalised to other cultures?
Culture bias
35
Why was observer bias a problem in Zimbardo (1973)?
1) Zimbardo became prison warden
2) Zimbardo became too involved in the experiment + lost objectivity
3) the validity of the findings can be questioned
36
How did demand characteristics play a part in Zimbardo (1973)?
Some participants reported that they thought the experimenters wanted them to behave aggressively and so they did
37
How did individual differences play a part in Zimbardo (1973)?
1) some guards did not conform to the role + were reluctant to be involved in cruelty towards prisoners
2) some guards were very abusive
3) individual differences could be important when determining the extent people will conform to social roles
38
What is obedience?
Behaving as instructed by an authority figure
39
What did Milgram (1963) test?
Obedience
40
What was the procedure for Milgram (1963)?
1) placed advert in newspaper asking for male participants for a study on effect of punishment on learning
2) 40 participants invited to Psychology Department of Yale University
3) met experimenter wearing white laboratory coat (actually a confederate)
4) participant introduced to participant named Mr. Wallace (actually a confederate)
5) both picked notes out of hat to determine the role of ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ (set up so that Mr. Wallace was always learned + participant was always teacher)
6) participant told their role was to punish learner if they made a mistake by administering an electric shock, increasing the voltage every time a mistake occurred
7) learner taken to a room and hooked up to electric shock machine
8) electric shock machine was fake but looked very real. Switches raised in increments of 15 volts up to 450 volts, from ‘Slight Shock’ to ‘XXX’
9) as the shocks became more severe, Mr. Wallace demanded to be released (screamed/kicked wall/complained about weak heart/went silent)
10) if teacher hesitated during the process, experimenter prompted hi to continue, using one of four statements
41
What four statements did the experimenter use in Milgram (1963) when prompting the participant to continue with the experiment?
1) ‘Please continue’
2) ‘The experiment requires that you continue’
3) ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’
4) ‘You have no choice, you must continue’
42
What were the findings of Milgram (1963)?
1) 100% of participants gave shocks up to 300 V
2) 65% (26/40) of participants gave shocks until the maximum 450 V
3) participants showed high levels of stress during the experiment (sweating/trembling/anxious + hysterical laughter/groaning)
4) most participants were obedient + willing to inflict potentially lethal shocks on a man with a weak heart
43
What was the conclusion of Milgram (1963)?
Ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else, even if it means acting against their conscience
44
Why did Milgram (1963) lack ecological validity?
The participants were unlikely to encounter the task in real life
45
What were the ethical issues in Milgram (1963)?
1) participants were deceived on the true nature of the story - couldn’t give informed consent
2) participants weren’t informed of their right to withdraw - prompted to continue when they wanted to stop
3) participants weren’t protected from harm - showed signs of stress
46
What situational factors affect obedience?
1) presence of allies
2) proximity of the victim
3) proximity of the authority
4) location of the experiment
47
How did the presence of allies affect obedience?
1) having allies makes it easier to resist orders
2) when there were 3 teachers (1 participant + 2 confederates), real participant was less likely to obey if other two disobeyed
48
How did the proximity of the victim affect obedience?
1) proximity makes it harder to ignore learner’s suffering
2) 65% gave the maximum shock in original experiment
3) 40% gave the maximum shock with learner in the same room
4) 30% gave the maximum shock when told to place learner’s hand on shock plate - touch proximity variation
49
How did the proximity of the experimenter affect obedience?
1) when the experimenter wasn’t close by, orders were easier to resist
2) when the experimenter gave prompts by phone form another room, obedience rates dropped to 21%
3) majority of participants missed out shocks/gave lower voltages that they were meant to
50
How did the location of the experiment affect obedience?
1) 48% gave the maximum shock when the experiment was moved to a set of run-down offices
2) when the association with a prestigious university was removed, the authority of the experimenter seemed less legitimate and obedience decreased
51
What did the experimenter wear in the alternative setting experiment (Milgram (1963)) and how did this affect obedience?
1) experimenter did not wear uniform (laboratory coat)
| 2) uniforms are symbols of power + status (or lack of) - police officer’s uniform/prisoner’s uniform
52
What is an agentic shift?
The change from being in an autonomous state to an agentic state
53
What does Milgram’s agency theory state?
When we feel we are acting out the wishes of another person, we feel less responsible
54
How is agentic state shown in Milgram’s studies?
1) some participants asked who would take responsibility if learner was harmed
2) experimenter would take responsibility and participant would continue
55
Why does agentic state occur?
1) authority figures are usually trustworthy
2) orders seem reasonable at first, becoming more aggressive - gradual commitment
3) people are psychologically protected from the consequences of their actions - buffers
4) maintaining a positive self-image
56
What does it mean when you behave autonomously?
You don’t follow orders
57
Why did Milgram (1974) think the agentic stage had developed during human evolution?
1) necessary for hierarchies to function in society - prevents chaos
2) in our society we are constantly submitting to authority figures (parents/teachers/police/doctors)
3) participants claimed they would have gone as far by themselves - following orders
4) some people resist pressure to obey authority - individual differences
58
What are the situational explanations of obedience?
1) agentic state
| 2) legitimate authority
59
What is meant by legitimate authority?
1) people are more likely to obey an order given by someone who has legitimate authority
2) people with legitimate authority are in a position of power within a certain setting
60
What is the dispositional explanation of obedience?
Authoritarian personality
61
What is meant by dispositional explanations of obedience?
Individuals’ personality characteristics determine their behaviour, not situational influences in the environment
62
What did Adorno (1950) propose about authoritarian personalities?
1) over-strict parenting results in a child being socialised to obey authority unquestioningly
2) strict parenting means the child feels constrained - creates aggression
3) child fears discipline if they display aggression towards parents, so they’re hostile to weak/inferior people - minority groups
63
What traits do authoritarian personalities have?
1) servile to people of higher status
2) hostile to people of lower status
3) preoccupied with power
4) inflexible in beliefs + values
5) conformist + conventional
6) likely to categorise people using ‘us’ + ‘them’
7) dogmantic
64
What is the F (Fascism) scale?
A questionnaire measuring authoritarian personalities
65
How does the F-scale work?
Participants are asked to rate how much they agree with statements such as ‘obedience and respect for the authority are important virtues children should learn’
66
Evaluate authoritarian personalities.
1) participants who scored higher on the F-scale were more willing to adminster bigger shocks in Milgram’s experiment
2) other factors such as education could cause both authoritarian traits + obedience
3) situational factors such as proximity + location had a bigger effect on obedience
4) doesn’t explain how whole societies become obedient - not everybody has this personality type
67
What is the social support theory?
When one person refuses to conform/obey it makes it more likely that other people will also resist social influence and refuse to obey
68
Why does having social support make people more resistant?
1) easier to stand up to authority with support from others (ally) - no longer have to take full responsibility for rebelling (breaks unanimity of group)
2) people are more likely to display independent behaviour if they’ve got support from others
3) groups are more influential if unanimous
People are more likely to disobey if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey - challenges authority figure’s legitimate authority
69
What does a person’s locus of control indicate?
How much personal control the person believes they have over events in their life
70
How is locus of control measured?
On a scale from internal to external
71
What is meant by an external locus of control?
1) more likely to conform/obey
2) believe strongly what happens in life is out of control/determined by chance/other people - no ability to alter it
3) events are caused by external factors
4) have a less stronger control over their lives
5) less likely to exhibit independent behaviour
72
Give an example of an external locus of control.
If a person does badly on a test they will blame it on bad luck or inadequate teachers
73
What is meant by an internal locus of control?
1) believes what happens in life is a result of own behaviour + actions
2) can alter what happens in life
3) have a stronger sense of control over their lives
4) more likely to exhibit independent behaviour
5) less likely to conform/obey
74
Give an example of an internal locus of control.
If a person does badly on a test they consider it to be a result of their own inadequate revision
75
What characteristics do people with an internal locus of control have?
1) likely to be leaders than followers
2) less concerned with social approval
3) more self-confident
4) believe they control their own circumstances
76
What is minority influence?
When persuasive small groups/individuals change the way the majority behaves + thinks
77
Why does minority influence lead people to truly change their private views?
The cognitive conflict between the majority’s current believes and the new deviant ideas proposed by the minority leads to careful and creative thought
78
What is conversion?
When individuals change their private beliefs + views because of minority influence (internalisation)
79
What does minority influence lead to?
Conversion
80
Why may people alter their behaviour in public?
To avoid being rejected (normative social influence)
81
What is social crypto-amnesia?
When public opinion gradually changes over time, until the minority view is accepted as the norm, but people forget where the view originally came from
82
What is the snowball effect?
When minority influence initially has a small effect but this then spreads, as more and more people consider the issue being raised, until it reaches a tipping point, where the minority becomes the majority
83
What three factors must minority groups have to be convincing?
1) consistent
2) committed
3) flexible
84
Why are minority groups more convincing when they are committed?
1) joining minority costs more than staying with majority
2) degree of commitment shown by minority is greater than majority
3) greater commitment means majority will take them seriously
85
Why are minority groups more convincing when they are consistent?
1) people come to reassess the situation + consider the issue more carefully
2) natural to assume the minority is wrong at first
86
Why are minority groups more convincing when they are flexible?
1) they are less powerful than majority and must negotiate their position rather than enforce it
2) rigid minorities that will not compromise risk being seen as narrow minded - failing to consider others’ opinions may be justified
3) minorities that are too flexible + willing to compromise risks being seen as inconsistent
87
What two methods allow social change to take place?
1) conversion theory
| 2) social impact theory
88
What is the social impact theory?
Social influence occurs when the combined effects of 3 factors are significant enough:
1) strength
2) number
3) immediacy
89
How did the gay rights movements cause social change?
1) homosexuality used to be illegal in the UK
2) when it was decriminalised the age of consent was 21 (higher than for heterosexuals)
3) minorities in the gay rights movements successfully changed attitudes
4) the Equality Act 2007 made it illegal to discriminate against homosexuals
5) same-sex marriage was legalised in the UK in 2014
90
In what ways can minorities bring about social change?
1) drawing attention to the issue
2) cognitive conflict
3) consistency of position
4) the augmentation principle
5) the snowball effect
91
In what ways can majorities bring about social change?
1) conformity
| 2) obedience
92
How does obedience bring about social change?
1) governments can use their power to change the law
| 2) changing the law means more people will be accepting as the law will become a social norm
93
What is misperception?
The gap between the actual norm and the perceived norm
94
What is social norms intervention?
The social change that occurs when communicating the actual norm to people in order to correct a widespread misconception
95
What is a strength of Milgram (1963)?
1) after conducting a cost-benefit analysis, it was found the study was worthwhile - we know most people will potentially do the same thing
2) participants did not suffer long-term emotional harm - 84% said they were happy to have taken part + learnt something important
96
What is a cost-benefit analysis?
Weighing the harm a study has done against the valuable knowledge it has provided
97
What is a weakness of Milgram (1963)?
1) participants deceived about true nature of experiment - told it was about memory but it was about obedience
2) participants did not give informed consent
3) participants weren't protected from psychological harm - extreme distress/hysterics/some participants thought they'd killed Mr. Wallace
4) no right to withdraw
5) sample is unrepresentative - all participants were white American males
6) gender bias - cannot be generalised to women
7) cultural bias - cannot be generalised to other cultures
98
What is a strength of explanations for conformity?
1) normative social influence in Asch (1951) - participants claimed they knew the right answer but were worried the group would ridicule them if they answered differently to everyone else
2) informational social influence - participants estimated number of beans in a jar individually but then as a group where they roughly estimated the same value (uncertain about number of beans so genuinely influenced by group)
3) informational social influence using autokinetic effect
99
What was the method for Sherif (1935) and the autokinetic effect?
1) small spot of light projected on screen in dark room appears to move
2) participants estimated individually how far light moved
3) participants tested in groups of 3 - 2 people with similar values, 1 with different value
4) each person said aloud how far light moved
5) person with different estimate conformed - group converged to common estimate
100
What is a weakness of explanations for conformity?
1) suggested 3rd explanation for conformity - ingratiational conformity (similar to normative social influence + motivated by need to impress rater than fear of rejection)
2) dispositional factors (personality traits) may affect whether a person conforms - people with high self-esteem more resistant to conformity
101
What is a weakness of variables affecting conformity?
1) may not have temporal validity - conducted 80 years ago where people may have been more conformist (post-war attitude where people should work together + consent)
2) lacks mundane realism + ecological validity - artificial + unlikely to occur in real life
3) gender bias
4) culture bias
5) lacks population validity - volunteer sample was used (certain type of people)
102
What is a weakness of Zimbardo (1973)?
1) unethical - prisoners subjected to psychological harm
2) validity can be questioned - Zimbardo lost objectivity after taking on role of prison warden
3) unrepresentative sample - all participants were white (except one)/young/middle class/male students from Stanford University
4) gender bias - cannot be generalised to women
5) cultural bias - cannot be generalised to other cultures
6) demand characteristics make the study not valid - some participants thought experimenter wanted them to behave aggressively
7) individual differences - some guards did not conform whilst others were very abusive
103
What is a strength of legitimate authority?
1) nurses obeyed dangerous order from a doctor because they were in a hospital location - Hofling (1966)
2) person in uniform more likely to be perceived as legitimate authority figure - Bickman (1974)
104
What is a weakness of legitimate authority?
1) does not explain why some people are able to resist legitimate authority - 35% of participants in Milgram (1963) refused to obey experimenter even though he had legitimate authority
105
What was the method of Hofling (1966)?
1) nurses received phone call from unknown doctor (actor) called Dr. Smith
2) doctor asked nurse o administer 20 milligrams of a drug to a patient
3) dosage broke hospital rules - twice the dse indicated on bottle
4) instructions given over phone/doctor was unknown/medicine was not on stock list
5) 95% of nurses carried out the instructions despite the danger
106
What was the method of Bickman (1974)?
1) asked confederates to order passerby to pick up litter off street/move away from bus stop
2) confederates dressed up as guard/milkman/smart clothes
3) 90% obeyed guard
4) 50% obeyed civilian
5) person in guard uniform more likely to perceived as legitimate authority figure
107
What is a strength of authoritarian personality?
1) participants were ordered to give themselves increasing levels of electric shocks when they made a mistake on a task - significant correlation between those willing to shock themselves + high scores on the F scale
108
What is a weakness of authoritarian personality?
1) situational factors may be more important than dispositional - Milgram found obedience was 100% when Mr. Wallace made no noise/obedience was 0% when 2 authority figures disagreed with each other
2) dispositional explanations do not explain entire societies - fewer than 65% of people have authoritarian personalities (cannot be the only explanation)
3) lack of education could cause authoritarian personality + obedience - less educated people are more likely to have authoritarian personality/participants with lower levels of education were more obedient
