Social Influence

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

yielding to group pressure or majority influence

Question 2

Compliance + example

Answer 2

publicy but not privately going along with majority influence to gain approval example Asch

Question 3

Identification

Answer 3

Public and private acceptance of majority influence in order to gain acceptance

Question 4

Internalisation + example

Answer 4

public and private acceptance of majority influence through believing in a majority groups ideas example religious conversation

Question 5

Informational social influence

Answer 5

Motivational force to look to others for guidance in order to be correct

Question 6

Normative social influence

Answer 6

Motivational force to seek approval from a group

Question 7

Arthur Jenness

Answer 7

1932
aim: investigate whether individual judgements of jelly beans in a jar was influenced by group discussion
Procedure: participants had private estimates then they had a group discussion and another private estimate
Conclusions: Judgements were affected by majority opinion
Terms: Majority influence, Conformity, Information social influence
Evaluation: + tells about majority influence
- laboratory study
- tells us little if any informatino about majority influence

Question 8

Conferderates

Answer 8

pretend to be participants in studies

Question 9

Cognitive dissonance + example

Answer 9

Unpleasant feeling of anxiety created by simultaenously holding two contradictory ideas example Bogdonoff 1961 found that conflict created by participants doing an Asch like study created anxiety

Question 10

Asch

Answer 10

1955
Aim: how much individuals will conform to a majority who gave wrong answers
Procedure: 123 American males
Conclusions: the judgements of individuals are affected by the majority even though the majority is wrong
most people were motivated by normative social influence
Evaluation: - lab study and lacks mudane realism
- used only men so can’t generalise to women
- deciet and psychological harm
+ became a paradigm

Question 11

SITUATIONAL VARIABLES

Answer 11

Features of an environment that affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures

Question 12

TYPES OF SITUATIONAL VARIABLES

Answer 12

Size of group
example Asch 1956 found that if there was only one participant and one confederate, conformity rates dropped and increased as more confedarates were added
Unanimity
Asch 1956 found if there is one confedarate who is against the other ones then conformity dropped
Task difficulty
Asch 1956 found that if the task was made more difficult conformity rates increased

Question 13

Individual factors

Answer 13

qualities of the individual which influence their conformity example gender

Question 14

Obedience

Answer 14

complying with the demands of an authority figure

Question 15

Zimbardo

Answer 15

1973
Aim: investigate the extent to which people would to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing simulation of prison life
to test the dispositional versus situational hypotheses
Procedure: 24 American men were assigned to be either guard or prisoner
6 days
Conclusions: situational hypothesis is favoured more over the dispotional hypothesis and individuals do conform to their social roles in a particular situation
Evaluation: + individual differences are important
+ paraigm study
- did not change the way prisoners are treated in real-life prisons
- all participants were male

Question 16

Milgram

Answer 16

1963
Aim: test the ‘Germans are different hypothesis
To see if individuals will obey the orders of an authority figure that incurred negative consequences
Procedure: 40 American males assigned role of teacher and were tasked to give ‘shocks’ to learner when they got an answer wrong
Conclusions: ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis is wrong
Evaluation: - little practical application
+ has become a paradigm for studying obedience

Question 17

Agentic state

Answer 17

the way in which an individual may obey an order because they hand over responsibility for their actions to the authority figure

Question 18

Autonomous state

Answer 18

opposite of the agentic state where individuals are responsible for their actions

Question 19

Resistance to social influence

Answer 19

the ways in which individuals attempt to withstand perceived attempts to threaten freedom of choice
Social support
Asch 1956 found that if there was a dissenter that disagreed with the majority answer, conformity rates dropped
Independence
Anti-conformity

Question 20

Locus of control

Answer 20

the extent to which people individuals believe that they can control events in their lives

Question 21

Resistance to Obedience

Answer 21

the ways in which individuals attempt to withstand following the orders of an authority figure
Systematic Processing
Taylor et al 1997 found that disobedience increases when people question the motives of the authority figure
Morality
Milgram 1974 had one participant that did not fully obey and when asked the participant said he was obeying god
Personality
Oliner + Oliner 1988 found that those who had sheltered jews during WW2 had an upbringing where helping others was a social norm

Question 22

Minority Influence

Answer 22

a type of social influence that motivates individuals to reject established majority group norms

Question 23

SERGE MOSCOVICI

Answer 23

1969
Aim: investigate the role of a consistent minority upon the opinions of a majority
Procedure: participants were in 32 groups of 6 people blue slides
Conclusions: consistent condition had an agreement rate of 8.2%, inconsistent condition had an agreement rate of 1.25%
Evaluation: - only used female participants
- unethical as deceit was used
+ other research studies have supported the findings
+ shows that minorities can influence the majority

Question 24

SOCIAL CHANGE

Answer 24

the process by which society changes beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms