Social Influence

Question 1

Three Types of Conformity

Answer 1

Compliance - agree in public but disagree in private
Identification - convinced by others. Often temporary
Internalisation - Agree both publicly and privately

Question 2

Explanations for Conformity

Answer 2

Normative Social Influence (NSI) - gain approval and avoid rejection
Informational Social Influence (ISI) - believe others are right and not wanting to be wrong

Question 3

Asch Study (1956)

Answer 3

Aim: Show whether people conform in unambiguous situations
Method: Used 123 male Uni students. Shown three lines alongside a comparison line. Asked to match one of the three to the comparison. Answer was unambiguous
Results : 37% provided wrong answers in clinical trials. 75% conformed at least once
Conclusion: Results were affected by NSI. Rate of wrong answers was increased by normative pressure, even when they were aware they were complying

Question 4

Zimbardo’s theory

Answer 4

Wanted to show has mutually agreed roles that people follow without thinking. Had a theoretical idea of deindividuation leads to disinhibition

Question 5

Stanford Prison Experiment (1973)

Answer 5

Aim: To see whether people conform to set social roles easily
Method: 24 male subjects, 12 prisoners & 12 prison guards. Used a volunteer sample.
Results: Study stopped after 6 days, instead of the full 2 weeks. Violent behaviour from guards. Long terms symptoms of various mental disorders among prisoners.
Conclusion: conformity to social roles is powerful

Question 6

Milgram’s theory

Answer 6

Interested in the ‘German Question’ and wanted to help prove against the judgement that was present against German people at the time. Believed that anyone under their circumstances could easily be persuaded to commit evil and immoral acts.

Question 7

Stages in Milgram’s Theory

Answer 7

Autonomous State- Your actions are under you own control
Agentic State- You’ve deferred responsibility over to someone else
Agentic Shift- The point at which you lose sense of responsibility
Legitimacy of Authority - Features or qualities of a person that makes us obey them

Question 8

Milgram’s Study (1963)

Answer 8

Method: Actor brought in with participant. Assigned as learner &teacher. The teacher enters seperate room and told to administer shocks from 15-450V to the learner if they provide a wrong answer to questions.
Results: 100% went up to 300V ( the point at which the actor was unresponsive). 65% went up to the full 450V

Question 9

Variations of MIlgram’s Study

Answer 9

Location: Study was repeated in an office building instead of a university. Obedience dropped to 45% administering 450V
Uniform: Researcher wore police uniform and obedience increased to 72%. Business suit decreased obedience to 45%. Dressing as a tramp caused 52% obedience
Proximity: Teacher and learner were placed in the same room and obedience dropped to 30%

Question 10

Elms & Milgram study (1966)

Answer 10

• Used the participants from Milgram’s original study
• Used MMPI and F-scale to explain their personalities and how it affects their decisions
• Concluded that the more their personality matched RWA, the more obedient their behaviour

Question 11

NSI & ISI

Answer 11

Asch (1956)

Question 12

Social Role Conformity

Answer 12

ZImbardo (1973)

- deindividuation & disinhibition

Question 13

Situational Obedience

Answer 13

Milgram (1963)
Autonomous State
Agentic State
Agentic Shift

Question 14

Dispositional Obedience

Answer 14

Elms & Milgram (1966)

Question 15

Evaluation of NSI & ISI

Answer 15

• Lacks internal validity due to potential demand characteristics
• Lacked internal validity due to potentially unconvincing confederates
• Lacks historical validity due to cultural changes and the dated theory Asch presented. This means it has weak reliability

Question 16

Evaluation of Social Role Conformity

Answer 16

• Lacked significant ethical consideration as there was a lack of privacy, right to withdraw, protection from harm and avoidance of deception.
• It lacked mundane realism as it was in the basement of a university. This decreased internal validity

Question 17

Evaluation of Situational Obedience

Answer 17

• Lacked ethical consideration as one participant suffered from a heart attack due to the stress.
• Lacked mundane realism as it was a lab study carried out in a university. Cannot truly judge obedience in the real world. Decreases internal validity
• The variations showed that the original study lacked internal validity as the dispositional factors cause results to not fully support his theory

Question 18

Evaluation of dispositional Obedience

Answer 18

• There were ethical issues as many suffered from the original study and may have found it difficult to be reminded of their experience.
• There has been multiple studies carried out that found similar results to Elms & Milgram which increases external validity
• Lacked internal validity as there were multiple extraneous variables (like education level) that could’ve have affected the results rather than authoritarianism

Question 19

Locus of Control

Answer 19

Rotter
External Locus of Control: have a sense that things are out of their control and are ruled by external forces
Internal Locus of Control: display independence in thought and behaviours. Believe they are in control of their own lives

Question 20

Resistance to Social Influence

Answer 20

Rotter ( Locus of Control)

Question 21

Moscovici

Answer 21

• Green & blue slides of different shades
• 8% gave wrong answers when minority were consistent
• 1.5% gave wrong answer when minority were inconsistent
• All female sample
• Lab study

Question 22

Behavioural Styles

Answer 22

CCF
Consistency: minority must adopt a consistent and clear approach as it leads people to reassess their situation and consider the issue
Commitment: This suggests certainty, confidence and courage in the face of the majority. Persuades majority members to take them seriously
Flexibility: They must negotiate their position with the majority rather than try and enforce it

Question 23

Process of Social Change

Answer 23

• Cognitive Conflict
• Consistency
• Deeper Processing
• Augmentation Principle

Question 24

Minority Influence

Answer 24

Moscovici

CCF