Social Influence

Question 1

What is compliance

Answer 1

Occurs when an individual accepts influence because they hope to achieve a favourable reaction from those around them. An attitude or behaviour is adopted not because the individual agrees with it but because it will please their peers.

Question 2

What is conformity

Answer 2

A form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and leads to compliance with that position

Question 3

What is identification

Answer 3

A form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude of behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group

Question 4

What is informational social influence

Answer 4

A form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right, looking to others as a way of gaining evidence about reality

Question 5

What is internalisation

Answer 5

Occurs when an individual accepts the influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour is consistent with their own value system

Question 6

What is normative social influence

Answer 6

A form of influence whereby an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or avoid social disapproval

Question 7

What are the evaluation points for types of and explanations for conformity

Answer 7

• It’s difficult to distinguish between compliance and internalisation
• Research shows support for normative influence
• Research shows support for informational influence
• Normative influence may not be detected
• Informational influence is moderated by the type of task

Question 8

What research supports normative influence

Answer 8

• Linkenbach and Perkins (2003) found that adolescents exposed to the simple message that their peers did not like the idea of smoking were therefore less likely to smoke
• Schultz et al. (2008) found that hotel guests that were exposed to the normative message that 75% of guests reused their towels each day reduced their own towel use by 25%

Question 9

What research supports informational influence

Answer 9

• Whittenbrink and Henley (1966) found that participants exposed to negative information about African Americans later reported more negative attitudes towards black individuals
• Fein et al. (2007), participants saw what was supposedly the reaction of fellow participants on a screen during a presidential debate. This information produced large shift in their judgments on a candidates performance

Question 10

What supports the claim that normative influence may not always be detected

Answer 10

Nolan et al. (2008) investigated whether people detected the influence of social norms on their energy conservation behaviour. When asked about what people felt had influenced their energy conservation, people believed that behaviour of their neighbours had the least impact on their own energy conservation, when really it was one of the strongest influences

Question 11

What was the study of variable affecting conformity

Answer 11

Asch (1956)

Question 12

Who were the participants in Asch’s study

Answer 12

123 male US undergraduates

Question 13

What was the procedure of Asch’s study

Answer 13

Participants were seated around a table in groups of varying size that consisted of one participant and the rest confederates. They were then showed shown two images, one of a single line and then one of three lines, two of clearly different lengths and one the same as the single line. The participants were then asked which line was the same

Question 14

What were the findings of Asch’s study

Answer 14

• In the 12 critical trials,the average conformity rate was 33% i.e participants agreed with the incorrect response of the confederates on third of the time
• 25% of participants never conformed on any of the critical trials
• 50% conformed on 6 or more of the trials
• 5% conformed on all 12 of the critical trials

Question 15

What did Asch find when he interviewed the participants afterwards

Answer 15

The majority of participants had continued privately to trust their own judgements, but changed their public behaviour, giving incorrect answers to avoid disapproval of the group

Question 16

In Asch’s study what were the three factors affecting conformity

Answer 16

• Group size
• The unanimity of the majority
• The difficulty of the task

Question 17

How does group size affect conformity in Asch’s study

Answer 17

There was very little conformity when the group consisted of just one or two confederates, however when there were 3 confederates conformity increased to 30%. Further increases in size did not cause any substantial increases in conformity, indicating that group size has an effect up to a point.

Question 18

How does unanimity of the majority affect conformity in Asch’s study

Answer 18

When the participant is given the support of one other the percentage of wrong answers dropped from 33% to just 5.5%

Question 19

How does the difficulty of the task affect conformity in Asch’s study

Answer 19

When the lines were all of more similar lengths conformity increased

Question 20

(Evalutation)(Asch) Why is Asch’s study considered a child of it’s time

Answer 20

It is possible that Asch’s findings are unique because the research took place in a particular anti-communist period when people were scared to go against the majority so were more likely to conform

Question 21

(Evalutation)(Asch) What were the problems with determining the effect of group size

Answer 21

Bond (2005) suggests a limitation with the research into conformity is that studies have only used a limited range of majority sizes

Question 22

(Evalutation)(Asch) Could the results be down to independent behaviour instead of conformity

Answer 22

In only one third of the trials where a unanimous majority gave the wrong answer did the participant conform

Question 23

(Evalutation)(Asch) Unconvincing confederates?

Answer 23

It may have been difficult for the confederates to act convincingly when giving an obviously wrong answer posing problems for the validity