Social Influence

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

When an individual chooses to behave in a way that is social acceptable to a group.

Question 2

Types of conformity?

Answer 2

Compliance, Internalisation, Identification

Question 3

Compliance?

Answer 3

Going along with a group to gain approval, public not private.

Question 4

Internalisation?

Answer 4

Going along with a group because you have accepted their views, public and private.

Question 5

Identification?

Answer 5

Going along with others because you have accepted their point of view out of desire to be like them. public and private but its done for acceptance.

Question 6

What was the research that shows majority influence?

Answer 6

Asch (1956)

Question 7

Outline the findings of Asch’s study?

Answer 7

36.8% conformed and gave incorrect answers, 25% of participants never conformed.

Question 8

What was the procedures of Asch’s study?

Answer 8

• male, student volunteers
• 7-8 confederates were around table with the participant
• asked to state which of the 3 lines on a card matched a single line on another
• answer was obvious
• confederates gave the wrong answer on 12/18 of the trials

Question 9

What where the 3 reasons the participants gave for conforming in Asch’s study?

Answer 9

• distortion of perception: saw the lines as the majority did
• distortion of judgement: doubted their own accuracy
• distortion of action: avoid disaproval

Question 10

What are the explanations of why people conform?

Answer 10

Normative social influence, Informational social influence

Question 11

What is normative social influence?

Answer 11

conforming for fear of rejection

Question 12

What is informational social influence?

Answer 12

conforming out of a need to be right

Question 13

What was Asch’s manipulation of variables?

Answer 13

1. task difficulty
2. size of the majority
3. unanimity of the majority

Question 14

What was the effect on Asch’s studies when changing task difficulty?

Answer 14

conformity increased

Question 15

What was the effect on Asch’s studies when changing size of the majority?

Answer 15

The majority of 3 others is required to conform

Question 16

What was the effect on Asch’s studies when changing unanimity?

Answer 16

conformity rates dropped to 5.5%

Question 17

What real world applications does Asch’s study have?

Answer 17

The problems with the jury system, research show the first vote determines 95% of cases.

Question 18

What are the weaknesses of Asch’s research?

Answer 18

Validity- judging lines is insignificant
Ethical issues- deception
The role of culture- took place in a time when there was serious consequences for being different. Perrin and Spencer couldn’t replicate the results.
There wasn’t conformity in the majority of trials.
All male students.

Question 19

What were the influential factors in the social impact theroy?

Answer 19

Number
Strength- status of the individual
Immediacy- proximity

Question 20

What was the revised theory of the social impact theory ?

Answer 20

consolidation
clustering
correlation
continueing diversity

Question 21

What study investigates obedience?

Answer 21

Milgrams

Question 22

What was the procedure of Milgrams study?

Answer 22

• 40 males, ad in paper, memory study, £4.50
• Yale university, greeted by ‘researcher’
• fixed roles of the participant being teacher
• the participant had to give increasing electric shocks every time thy got a question wrong
• if the teacher asked to stop they were given a set on prompts

Question 23

What was the maximum voltage in the Milgram experiment?

Answer 23

450 volts

Question 24

What were the findings in the Milgram experiment?

Answer 24

all went to 300 volts

65% went to 450 volts

Question 25

What was the conclusion of milgrams experiment?

Answer 25

situational factors contribute to to individual obedience to authority.

Question 26

What were the situation factors that Milgram manipulated?

Answer 26

proximity to the victim
proximity to the authority figure
presence of allies

Question 27

What were the findings after Milgram manipulated the proximity to the victim?

Answer 27

when seated in the same room as the learner obedience fell to 40%

Question 28

What were the findings after Milgram manipulated the proximity to the authority figure?

Answer 28

when the researcher communicated through a phone obedience only 21% continued to the maximum shock level

Question 29

What were the findings after Milgram manipulated the presence of allies?

Answer 29

2 fake teachers when they withdrew from the experiment so did the participant, only 10% continued to max level

Question 30

What is cognitive dissonace?

Answer 30

having conflicting thoughts which leads to mental discomfort, and a change in opinion to relieve the uncomfort.

Question 31

What are situational variables?

Answer 31

factors in the enviroment

Question 32

What re individual variables?

Answer 32

personal characteristics

Question 33

What study demonstrates conformity to social roles?

Answer 33

Zimbardo’s stanford prison study

Question 34

What were the criticisms of milligrams study?

Answer 34

lack realism (internal validity)- Perry: many were skeptical if the shocks were real.
ethical issues
individual differences- gender
historical validity

Question 35

What was the procedure of zimbardos study?

Answer 35

• The 24 most mentally stable male participants were selected. and randomly separated into guards and prisoners
• unexpectedly arrested in their homes, put through a delousing procedure, given a prison uniform and ID number.
• supposed to last 2 weeks.

Question 36

Findings of zimbardo’s study?

Answer 36

• the study ended early
• guards became abusive to prisoners
• one prisoner asked for ‘parole’ instead of asking to leave
• 5 prisoners had to be released early
• terminated after 6 days
• guards became sadistic, prisoners became passive

Question 37

What was the procedure of the BBC prison study?

Answer 37

15 male participants were split into groups of 3 each with similar characteristics, one was given the role of the guard.
was run for 8 days

Question 38

What were the findings fo the BBC prison study?

Answer 38

didn’t immediately conform to their assigned roles, they worked together to establish rules and guards struggled to enforce authority

Question 39

What were the criticism to the conformity to social roles studies?

Answer 39

unethical
conformity to roles isn’t automatic
demand characteristics- the participant did what the study wanted.

Question 40

What is the agentic state?

Answer 40

when a person sees themselves as an agent carrying out someone else wishes

Question 41

What does legitimate authority mean?

Answer 41

when a person is in a position of authority in a social situation.

Question 42

What is an example of the agent state from a study?

Answer 42

Milgram- people said they wouldn’t have done it by themselves, they were just doing what they were told to do.

Question 43

What is one example of why people adopt the agent state?

Answer 43

They feel a need to have a positive self-image, and when they enter the agent state they transfer responsibility.

Question 44

Why do people not break the agent state?

Answer 44

They don’t want to disrespect the authority figure

Question 45

What did Tarnow find about the agent state?

Answer 45

19/37 plane accidents where a result of lack of monitoring errors, he found excessive dependance on the captains decisions.

Question 46

What was a weakness of milligrams evidence for the agent shift?

Answer 46

some believe he sensed sadistic tendances within the participants.

Question 47

Authoritarian personality?

Answer 47

A person with personality characteristics to agree with conventional values

Question 48

F-scale?

Answer 48

a measure of authoritarian traits and tendencies.

Question 49

what do people with an internal locus of control believe?

Answer 49

Everything that happens is dependant on what they do.

Question 50

what do people with an external locus of control believe?

Answer 50

Blame everything on outside influences.