Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity
A change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group
What is identification
A moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way with the group because we share their values and want to be accepted. May be temporary
What is internalisation
A deep type of conformity where a person conforms publicly and privately because they have internalised and accepted the view of the group
What is compliance
Confirming publicly but privately disagreeing
Only superficial and will stop as soon as group pressure stops
What is Informational social influence
We accept it because we believe the info is correct
What is normative social influence
We agree because we want to be accepted and gain social approval
What are aschs variations
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
Explain aschs study
123 american male undergraduates in 1951,1955
Line and comparison line
Critical trials
Confederates and naive
What were the findings
Naive people conformed 36.8% of the time
25% didn’t at all
75% did at some point
Did it to avoid rejection
What does the asch effect mean
The extent to which p’s conform even when the situation is unambiguous
What did Perrin and Spencer in 1980 do that went against asch
They repeated it with engineering students in the UK and did 396 trials and only one conformed
Different social norms
His was too andro and ethnocentric
Were there demand characteristics in aschs study
Yes
Name another negative
There are limited applications of findings as the US is a individualist culture and it’s ethno and androcentric
And it was answered out loud
And a group of strangers
Explain the Stanford prison experiment
By Haney et al in 1973
Mock prison in basement
Volunteer sampling of students who were mentally stable
Randomly assigned guard or prisoner
Arrested in home by police to heighten realism
Prisoners then blindfolded, strip searched, de loused and given a uniform and number
16 rules to follow, 3 guards at a time
Guards had uniform and accessories and told they had full control
What were the findings of the Stanford prison experiment
Guards behaviour became a physical and mental threat to prisoners wellbeing
Stopped after 6 days instead of 14
Riots
Divide and rule tactic which played prisoners off each other
One prisoner released early because of signs of mental disturbance
2 released on day 4
One went on hunger strike, put in the ‘hole’ and shunned
Guards seemed to enjoy the power and hit more brutal and aggressive
What is the conclusion of Zimbardos research
The power of the situation influences people’s behaviour
All people conformed to their roles
Name the strength of SPE about control
Had some control over variables such as selection of participants and randomisation which removes the explanation of different personalities
This increases internal validity
What is the limitation of SPE from Banuazizi and Mohavedidi
In 1975 said they were play acting and acting for the stereotypes rather than genuinely conforming which suggests a lack of realism
What was zimbardos counter to banuazizi
There is quantitative data that 90% of the prisoners conversations were about prison life
Why was zimbardos conclusions overstated
As only a third of the guards were aggressive and brutal
What were the ethical issues with the SPE
That one prisoner asked to leave but zimbardo treated the conversation as if he was the superintendent and he was talking to an actual prisoner
Explain the participants in Milgram’s obedience study
40 male p’s through newspaper ads aged between 20-50, unskilled to professional
told it was about memory
paid $4.50 to take part
Explain Milgram’s method
In a lab, paid straight away and did a rigged draw with Mr Wallace
told they could leave at any time
low level shock was demonstrated to teacher
learner strapped into chair
teacher told to give an increasing shock every time a mistake was made in word pairing
shocks were labelled from slight shock to danger severe shock
at 300v, learner pounded on the wall
at 315v, no response was given
experimenter told teacher that no answer is a wrong answer
What were the 4 standard verbal prompts that the experimenter could use
1) please continue 2) the experiment requires that you continue 3) it is absolutely essential that you continue 4) you have no other choice, you must go on
What were Milgram’s findings
no participants stopped below 300v
12.5% stopped at 300v
65% continued to full 450v
qualitative data collected - extreme signs of tension such as sweating and trembling
3 had seizures
all were debriefed and assured their behavior was normal
follow up questionnaire - 84% said they were glad to have taken part
What was Milgram’s estimate
3% would continue all the way
What variable did Milgram test
situational
Explain the 3 proximity conditions
orig - separate rooms
1st - same room 65% to 40%
2nd - teacher has to force hand down 65% to 30%
3rd - same room experimenter left and rings instructions 65% to 20.5%
Explain the location variable
orig - Yale University
1st - run down building 65% to 47.5%
Explain the uniform variable
orig - grey lab coat and clipboard
1st - member of public takes over due to phone call 65% to 20%
What increased the experimental validity
by meeting the learner, doing the draw and testing a shock
high levels of distress showed that they did believe it was real
How was the population validity increased
Milgram tested women and got the same findings
Meeus & Raajmakers (1986) showed that it willingness to obey wasn’t unique to the american culture
What does dispositional mean
personality
Why does obedience to a destructive authority occur
because a person does not have to take responsibility for their actions as they believe they are agents for someone else
What is the high anxiety felt by the agent called due to feeling powerless
moral strain
What is this called
agentic state or agency theory
What is the opposite of agentic state
autonomous state
What is autonomous state
a state of independence/free will where the person has their own opinions and feels responsible for their actions
What is the shift from autonomy to agency called
agentic shift
When does the agentic shift occur
when we perceive someone to be higher than us in the social hierarchy
How do people stay in the agentic state
through binding factors
What do binding factors do
help ignore or minimize moral strain “he deserved it”
What makes an authority legitimate
when it is accepted in a hierarchical society which is learnt from childhood
When do problems arise with legitimate authority
when they use their power for destructive purposes
Name some research support for legitimate authority
Blass and Schmitt (2001) asked their students who was to blame for the harm in Milgram’s
they said the experimenter because he had legitimate authority
Who claimed a particular personality type is more likely to obey authority
Adorno (1950)
Explain Adorno et al (1950) experiment into causes of obedient personality
2000 white middle class Americans F-scale measuring attitudes towards other racial groups
What personality type did Adorno say is most likely to obey
authoritarian
Describe an authoritarian personality type
traditional values
submissive
bullying
dislikes change
In earlier life, what can lead to this personality type
strict childhood with little love can create a fear of parents that leads to being excessively respectful of authority
can also create a hatred of parents that is displaced onto others
What is an issue that was raised with the F-scale
Greinstein (1969) said that it suffers from bias (leading questions) as the participants agreed even if they didn’t truly believe, meaning it lacks internal validity
What did Milgram’s follow up study find
a correlation between those who went to 450v and being authoritarian
Why does Adorno’s study have limited explanations
as millions of Germans displayed racist ideas but they can’t all have the same personality type
What is the social identity theory
favor own group (in group) and dislike other groups (out groups) and we try to maximize similarity within and differences out
nazis and jews
What helps us resist social influence
social support
Explain social support
when we have support or another resistance to conforming
Describe a study that showed this
Asch’s variation of unanimity - 65% to 10%
the confederate that disobeyed acted as a model
Who supported this
Allen and Levine redid this variation with a blind dissenter and conformity still dropped
Who discovered locus of control
Rotter (1966)
What does it mean to have an internal LOC
believe outcomes are due to them
What does it mean to have an external LOC
believe outcomes are due to fate
Name some evidence for LOC
Twenge (2004)
says americans have become more external LOC but also more resistant to SI
Define minority influence
minority of people influence the beliefs and behavior of others
What are the three things needed to influence a majority
consistency, commitment and flexibility
Name and explain a study for consistency
Moscovici et al (1969) 2 consistent confederates with 4 p's 8.42% of trials conformed 2 inconsistent confederates with 4 p's 1.25% of trials conformed
What is synchronic consistency
every minority saying the same thing
What is diachronic consistency
one person repeating the same thing
What does commitment show
that they are willing to risk themselves to demonstrate commitment (augmentation principle)
What does Nemeth say about flexibility
repeating the same views could seem rigid and dogmatic and therefore off-putting to the majority
minority needs to be able to adapt their point of view and recognize valid counter arguments
