social influence and change✅ Flashcards
1
Q
what are the 2 ways in which resistance to SI can occur
A
1) independence
2) Anti-conformity
2
Q
define independence as a resistance to social influence
A
- a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy
- ie. doing your own thing
3
Q
define Anti-conformity
A
- a consistent movement away from social conformity
- ie adopting the behaviour of minority group
4
Q
describe social support
A
- pressure to confirm is reduced if there are other non-confirming people present
- this dissenter adds a ‘model’ and allows someone to follow their conscience
5
Q
give an example of social support regarding conformity
A
- in Asch’s study, conformity rates dropped from 33% to 5.5% in the presence of a dissenter
6
Q
give an example of social support regarding obedience
A
- in Milgrams study, obedience dropped from 65% down to 10% in the presence of a dissenter
7
Q
what are some A03 points of social support?
A
- strength= supporting evidence
• Asch’s study
• Milgrams study - weakness= alternative explanation
• other factors such as Authoritarian personality
8
Q
describe an A03 point of social support regarding supporting evidence
A
- Asch found that once an ‘ally” was brought in conformity decreased from 33% down to 5.5%
- Milgram found that presence of ‘ally’ decreased obedience from 65% down to 10%
- shows presence of dissenter decreases social influence
9
Q
describe an A03 point of social support regarding alternative explanation
A
- psychologists have found that personality may effect social influence
- Adorno suggests that ppl w/ authoritarian personality is more likely to obey- so anyone opposite to this is more likely to resist
- not presence of ally, but personality that allows ppl to resist
- social support is a limited explanation
10
Q
what does a locus of control refer to?
A
refers to a persons perception of personal control over their behaviour
11
Q
what do people with a high external LOC believe
A
- believe things turn out a certain way regardless of their actions
- behaviour is caused by luck or fate
12
Q
what do people with a high internal LOC believe?
A
- perceive themselves to be in control of their behaviour
- they can affect the outcomes of situations
- therefore they take personal responsibility
13
Q
describe internality regarding resistance to SI
A
- people with high internality rely less on the opinions of others
- high internals seek info that is useful to them therefore less vulnerable to SI
- achievement orientated
- they believe they control their behaviour/future
14
Q
A03 of locus of control
A
- weakness= alternative explanation
• other factors such as gender
• eagly + Carli found males resist more than females - Strength= supporting evidence
• oliner + oliner (WWll survivors)
• ppl with higher internal LOC less likely to obey
15
Q
describe an A03 point of LOC regarding alternative explanation
A
- gender may effect social influence
- Early and Carli found men are more likely to resist
- women were more likely to be concerned about group harmony
- LOC is a limited explanation as it doesn’t take into account other factors
16
Q
A
17
Q
define minority influence
A
- type of SI where one person/small group influences the belief of other people
- motivates ppl to reject the established majority group norms
18
Q
how is minority influence achieved?
A
- conversion
• majorities are gradually won over to minority view point
• behaviour/belief accepted both publically and privately—> internalisation
19
Q
method of Moscovici research on Minority influence
A
- each group had 4 naive participants + minority of 2 confeds
- showed series of blue slides that varied in intensity and asked to judge color of slides
- in ‘consistent’ condition, two confeds called blue slides green on every trial
- in ‘inconsistent’ condition, confeds said slides were green on 2/3rds of trials
- in control condition, 6 naive participants and no confeds, all said blue throughout
20
Q
findings of Moscivici research
A
- found that in the consistent condition, the real participant agreed on 8.2% of trials
- in ‘inconsistent’ condition, real participants agreed on 1.25%
21
Q
conclusion of Moscovici minority influence research
A
- consistent minority is 7% more effective than inconsistent minority
- consistency is a more important factor in exerting minority influence
22
Q
what are the three main processes in minority influence?
A
- consistency
- commitment
- flexibility
23
Q
define consistency in regards to MI
A
- MI more likely if the same belief is retained overtime
- draws majorities attention
- synchronic consistency
- diachronic consistency
24
Q
define synchronic consistency
A
- people in the minority are all saying the same thing
25
define diachronic consistency
- minority have been saying the same thing for some time
26
describe commitment as a process of minority influence
- minorities engaging in risky/extreme behaviour to draw attention to their views
- demonstrates their commitment
- creates importance of viewpoint
27
describe flexibility as a process of minority influence
- MI more likely if minority is willing to adopt/compromise
- demonstrates willingness to listen to others
- ensures they are not viewed as dogmatic and unreasonable
28
minority influence A03
- methodological issues
• judging color of slide = artificial
•lacks external validity
- research support
• Nemeth and Brilmayer
• flexibility is major factor
- research has biased sample
• moscovici used all females (gynocentric)
• low generalisability
29
describe an A03 point of minority influence regarding methodological issues
- judging colour of slide = artificial
+ lacks external validity, mundane realism
- too far from real world minority influence cases such as political campaigning
- grossly disproportionate
- therefore consistency as an explanation of MI lacks validity
30
describe an A03 point of minority influence regarding research to support flexibility as a factor of MI
- Nemeth and Brilmayer investigated role of flexibility in jury stimulation where group discussed each side
- when minority put forward alternative view with no compromise, it had no effect
- when minority showed degree of flexibility it led to influence
- flexibility = major factor
31
describe an A03 point of minority influence regarding biased samples
- Moscovicci used 172 females from America (gynocentric)
- unable to generalise
- men may not respond in same way
- low population validity
32
what is social change
- process where whole society adopts nee beliefs/attitudes/way of behaving which becomes social norm
33
why is social change slow?
- allows for new ideas to be ‘road tested’ to check suitability for mainstream society
34
define drawing attention as a necessary condition for MI
- differing minority views create a conflict that majorities are motivated to reduce
35
define deeper processing as a condition necessary for MI
- the more people think about issue, the more they will be able to challenge the existing social norm
36
define the augmentation principle as a condition necessary for MI
- when majority pays attention to risky actions by minority, minority are taken more seriously
37
define the snowball effect as a condition necessary for MI
- starting minority has relatively small effect
- this spreads more widely as more people consider the issues being promoted
- reaches a ‘tipping point’ where it leads to wide scale social change
38
define social cryptoamnesia as a condition necessary for MI
- minority knows that social change has occurred but the source of change/original message has been disassociated
- now do not recall how it happened
39
give evidence of consistency regarding black american civil right act
- the boycott lasted 381 days
40
give evidence of deeper processing in regards to the black american civil right movement
- boycotting made more people questions the issue at hand
41
give evidence of the augmentation principle regarding the black american civil right movement
- rosa parks got arrested
- presents her as committed and taken serious
42
give evidence of the snowball effect regarding the black american civil rights movement
- boycott extended from rosa parks to the wider community
- members of black community were notified and began boycotting buses
43
give example of social cryptoamnesia regarding the black american civil rights movement
- law stating that black people can sit anywhere on the bus
44
social change A03
- research support
-nolan et al
- methodology issues
-issues with asch milgrams nf moscovici
-doubts regarding external validity
- minority influence can act as barrier to social change
-majority does not want to associate with stereotypes
45
describe an evaluation point of social change regarding research support
- Nolan found that ppl were more likely to reduce energy use when a message hung on their door saying other residents were also cutting back
- suggests conformity can lead to social change through normative social influence
CP--> Foxcroft - exposing ppl to social norms doesn't always change behaviour
46
describe an evaluation point of social change regarding methodological issues
- research such as Asch and Milgram have issues ranging from low generalisability to demand characteristics due to lab experiment in artificial setting
- doubts regarding external validity
47
describe an evaluation point of social change regarding MI acting as a barrier to change
- Bashir found that some minority groups, such as environmentalists, often live up to stereotypes (tree hugging hippies)
- can be off putting due to fear of being stereotypically labelled
