Social Influence

Question 1

Asch’s study aim

Answer 1

To see how people responded under group pressure

Question 2

Asch’s study method

Answer 2

They were shown different lines and asked which was the shortest, everyone answered the wrong answer and they saw what the other participant answered

Question 3

Asch’s study results

Answer 3

75% conformed at least once

Question 4

Asch’s study conclusion

Answer 4

People are influenced by group pressure but there is evidence that people can resist the pressure to conform

Question 5

The 3 social factors of conformity

Answer 5

Group size
Anonymity
Task difficulty

Question 6

The 3 dispositional factors of conformity

Answer 6

Personality

Expertise

Question 7

Milgram’s study aim

Answer 7

To see if a normal person would give a potentially lethal electric shock

Question 8

Milgram’s study method

Answer 8

Had an actor in one room and a participant in the other, they were asked to give ‘electric shocks’ to the person in the other room

Question 9

Milgram’s study results

Answer 9

65% went to the lethal electric shock

Question 10

Milgram’s study conclusion

Answer 10

Obedience is little to do with dispositional factors and more to do with social factors

Question 11

The 4 factors in Milgram’s agency theory

Answer 11

Agency
Authority
Culture (social hierarchy)
Proximity

Question 12

Milgram’s agency theory - agency

Answer 12

That people sometimes act as an agent for someone else

Question 13

Agentic state

Answer 13

Where someone acts on behalf of someone else

Question 14

Autonomous state

Answer 14

Where people behave according to their own principles

Question 15

Milgram’s agency theory - authority

Answer 15

Agentic shift often occurs if they are asked to do something by authority

Question 16

Milgram’s agency theory - culture

Answer 16

Some people have more authority because of their position in the social hierarchy

Question 17

Milgram’s agency theory - proximity

Answer 17

If you are closer to the consequences then they are less likely to be agentic

Question 18

The 4 factors of Adorno’s theory of authoritarian personality

Answer 18

The authoritarian personality
Cognitive style
Originates in childhood
Scapegoating

Question 19

Adorno’s theory - authoritarian personality

Answer 19

Some people have an exaggerated respect for authority so they are more likely to obey orders and often look down on people with inferior social status

Question 20

Adorno’s theory - cognitive style

Answer 20

They think in ‘black and white’ so they believe in rigid stereotypes and struggle to believe that some people can be good and others can be bad

Question 21

Adorno’s theory - originates in childhood

Answer 21

That an authoritarian personality is nurture rather than nature so can be developed with strict parents with strong discipline

Question 22

Adorno’s theory - scapegoating

Answer 22

People with an authoritarian personality displace their negative feeling on those who are socially inferior

Question 23

Piliavin’s subway study aim

Answer 23

To investigate bystander behaviour in a natural environment

Question 24

Piliavin’s subway study method

Answer 24

4 researches got on a subway. One person played the victim and had to ‘collapse’ on the floor until assisted. They either carried a cane or smelt of alcohol and after 150 seconds another researcher would help

Question 25

Piliavin’s subway study results

Answer 25

The person with a cane was helper 95% of the time whereas the person smelling of alcohol was only helped 50% of the time

Question 26

Piliavin’s subway study conclusion

Answer 26

Certain characteristics of a victim make a difference on whether they receive help

Question 27

The 4 factors effecting bystander behaviour

Answer 27

Presence of others
Cost of helping
Similarity to victim
Expertise

Question 28

Antisocial behaviour

Answer 28

Behaviour that is harmful to others

Question 29

Collective behaviour

Answer 29

Behaviour that emerges when a group of people join together

Question 30

Deindividuation

Answer 30

When someone ‘loses their identity’ and takes on the group identity in a crowd

Question 31

Prosocial behaviour

Answer 31

Behaviour that is beneficial to other people around you

Question 32

Zimbardo’s study aim

Answer 32

To investigate deindividuation

Question 33

Zimbardo’s study method

Answer 33

They had to give an ‘electric shock’ to someone in another room in front of each other. One group were in normal clothes and the other group wore a large coat and a hood to hide their identity

Question 34

Zimbardo’s study results

Answer 34

The deindividuated group were more likely to press the button and normally pressed it for longer

Question 35

Zimbardo’s study conclusion

Answer 35

Deindividuation and anonymity increase the likelihood that people will act antisocially

Question 36

Reicher’s case study aim

Answer 36

To study the behaviour of a crowd and see if it could be described as ‘ruly’ rather that ‘unruly’

Question 37

Reicher’s case study method

Answer 37

He analysed reports from police, newspapers, TV and radio stations about riots in Bristol. He also interviewed 20 people to get understanding of what happened

Question 38

Reicher’s case study results

Answer 38

His summery of the event was that people thought that the police had launched unjustified attacks, the attacks from the rioters were mainly focused on the police but then spread to surrounding businesses. After the police had left the rioters then helped the area with traffic issues

Question 39

Reicher’s case study conclusion

Answer 39

That the crowds behaviour was rule driven as they only attacked police and left when the police left

Question 40

The 4 factors of crowd and collective behaviour

Answer 40

Social loafing
Culture
Personality
Morality

Question 41

Social loafing

Answer 41

Individuals make a reduced individual effort when they are part of a group than when they are on their own