Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
Types of conformity - AO1
A
- Compliance - going along with the group to gain approval or avoid disapproval
- Internalisation - Going along with a group because of their own beliefs - they agree privately and publicly
- Identification - They might accept influence because they want to be associated with a person or group
2
Q
Explanations for conformity - AO1
A
- Normative social influence - when someone goes along with the majority without really accepting their beliefs - an example of compliance
- Informational social influence - when someone looks to another person or group for the ‘correct’ way to behave - an example of internalisation
3
Q
Variables affecting conformity - AO1 (study)
A
- Asch’s line study:
- 123 US male ppts
-PPts were round a table and shown three lines of different lengths
-They were then asked which line was identical to the control line shown
-Confederates were instructed to say the wrong answer every time on 12/18 trials
-Aim was to see if real ppts then said the correct or wrong answer to go with the majority (confederates)
Findings:
-average conformity rate was 33%
-when interviewed he found ppts disagreed but still went with the majority to avoid disapproval
4
Q
Variables affecting conformity - AO1 (variables)
A
- Group size - found there was little conformity when majority was 1 or 2 but when it increased to 3 the conformity levels rose to 30%
- Unanimity of majority - when someone gave the right answer the conformity rates dropped to 5.5% and when they gave the wrong answer from the group and the ppt the rates dropped to 9%
- Difficulty of task - When the task was more difficult conformity rates rise - self efficacy also plays a role (people confident in their own abilities)
5
Q
Conformity to social roles - AO1 (study)
Another study done on this was the BBC study
A
- SPE study: USA
-24 mentally stable men were picked to take part in either being a guard or prisoner
-Study was meant to last 2 weeks
-Men were randomly assigned roles
-Prisoners were given numbers and guards were given uniforms with whistles, glasses and clubs
Findings:
-Over the first few days, guards became tyrannical
-Study was stopped after six days due to the extreme reactions of the prisoners
6
Q
Situational factors affecting obedience - AO1 (study)
A
-40 participants were told it was a study on how punishment affects learning
-Teacher had to test learner on memory of word pairs and every time it was wrong administer an electric shock
-Max of 450V
Findings:
-There was prediction that only 1/1,000 would go to 450V
-65% went to 450V
7
Q
Situational factors affecting obedience - AO1 (situations)
A
- Location - moved to a run down office - 48% of people gave the shocks
- Proximity - seated in same room = 40% and when forced to put hand on shocker = 30%
- Uniform - police uniform (72%) beggar (52%) executive (48%)
8
Q
Agentic state - AO1
A
- Agentic shift involves moving from an autonomous state to an agentic state where someone sees themselves as an agent for others carrying out their actions
- Self image - one reason why people adopt an agentic state is because of the need to maintain a positive self image - no longer their responsibility
- Binding factors - Things that keep a person in the agentic state maybe the fact that social etiquette means they would feel bad for just breaking off from experimenter
9
Q
Legitimacy of authority - AO1
A
- For someone to enter the agentic state there needs to be a perceived person of authority
- Definition of the situation - tendency of people to accept the definition of a situation from the authority figure even though they are the ones completing the task
- Requires an institution - if the actions of that person are perceived to be destructive in any way then it must occur in some sort of institutional structure
10
Q
The Authoritarian personality - AO1 points (study)
A
- Elms and Milgram - did a follow up study and selected 20 obedient and 20 disobedient ppts - they each completed a MMPI scale and F scale to measure level of authoritarianism - also asked q’s about childhood
- Findings - little differences between scores on MMPI scale - there were higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient than disobedient - obedient ppts also reported having a less close relationship with father
11
Q
The Authoritarian Personality - AO1 points
A
- The F scale - created by Adorno - measure components of the authoritarian personality - people who were obedient saw the world as black and white - people who scored highly tended to have been raised by parents who were authoritarian
- Right wing authoritarianism - Altmeyer - high RWA people have 3 characteristics : conventionalism, authoritarian aggression and authoritarian submission
12
Q
Resistance to social influence - AO1 points
A
Locus of control:
- external locus of control - believe that what happens is due to external factors like fate - more likely to conform to social influence
- internal locus of control - believe that everything that happens is a consequence of their own behaviour - less likely to conform
Social support in resisting influence:
- allows the ppt to resist influence
- Asch - when there was support fell from 33% to 5.5%
Social support in resisting obedience:
- people find it easier to resist obedience if there is someone else that will back them up
- Milgram - one condition where people refused - only 10% then carried on to the 450V level
13
Q
Minority influence - AO1 points (study)
A
Moscovici:
- 4 ppts and 2 confederates
- Blue slides varying in intensity
- Consistent conditions - the confederates said the slides were green
- Inconsistent condition - 2/3 of time said green
Findings:
- Consistent condition - ppts said green 8% of time
- Inconsistent condition - no influence exerted
14
Q
Minority influence - AO1 points
A
- Consistency - consistent in their views - makes people reasses the situation more
- Commitment - committed to their view - shows confidence
- Flexibility - people who are not flexible are seen as dogmatic
