Social Influence - Booklet 1 Flashcards
Types of conformity, Explanations for conformity, Asch's research, Variables affecting conformity, Zimbardo's research
what is conformity
a type of social influence involving a change in behaviour or attitudes in response to the influence of others or social pressure. This pressure can be real (involving the physical pressure of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms/ expectations)
what are the types of conformity
-compliance
-identification
-internalisation
explain internalisation
-occurs when a person genuinely accepts the group norms
-results in private and public change of opinions/behaviour
-change is likely permanent as attitudes have been internalised
-persists in the absence of group members
explain identification
-conforming to the opinions/behaviour of a group because there is something about the group that we value
-identify with the group so want to be a part of it
-may publicly change opinions/behaviour to achieve this goal even if don’t privately agree
explain compliance
-involves simply going along with others in public
-privately not changing personal opinions and behaviour
-results in a superficial change
-means that a particular behaviour or opinion stops as soon as group pressure stops
explain normative social influence
-the desire to be liked
-when a person agrees with the majority because they want to be accepted by the group and liked by others. this may lead to compliance.
explain informational social influence
-the desire to be right
-when a person agrees with the majority because they believe it is correct and they want to be correct as well. this may lead to internalisation.
explain the research that supports ISI
-experiment where students are given easy or difficult maths problems
-more likely to conform when answers were difficult or if their ability was poor
-people more likely to conform when they don’t know what is correct
explain the research against NSI
-people who care more about being liked are known as nAffiliators, and are more likely to conform
-desire to be liked affects conformity for some and not others so there are individual differences in how people respond
explain how Asch’s research explains NSI and ISI
-when participants were interviewed they conformed because of fear of being ridiculed or because they believed the groups answers were actually correct
aim of asch’s research
investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group can affect a person to conform
procedure for asch’s research
-line judgement task
-naive participant in a room with 7 male confederates
-confederates agreed in advance their responses
-real participant led to believe the other 7 were real
-each person had to state which comparison line was most similar to the target line
-obvious answer
-real participant end of row so gave answer last
-in some, confederates gave wrong answer (12/18)
results for asch’s research
-1/3 (32%) of participants in each trial conformed to the incorrect majority
- 75% conformed on at least one trial
conclusion of asch’s research
-interviewed and said they had fear of being ridiculed or thought peculiar, or really believed the groups answers were correct
impacts of Asch using a lab experiment
-controlled, repeatable conditions
-artificial conditions, lack mundane realism
-establish cause and effect as behaviour is a direct result of the conditions
-controls external factors
impacts of asch using a naive participant
-better results
-ethically wrong
impact of asch using male confederates
-lacks population validity
-doesnt show how conformity affects all people
-can’t generalise results
impact of asch using strangers
-group pressure is stronger
-doesnt apply to real life
limitations of asch using a lab experiment
-artificial environment so lacks ecological validity, doesnt apply top real life conditions and everyday situations
-artificial stimulus makes results not valid in real life situations
when do ethical issues arise in psychology
-a conflict exists between the rights of the participant and the researchers need to acquire meaningful research
-can have implications on the safety and well-being of participants
how does the time of aschs study affect its validity
-lacks temporal validity as conformity was high at the time
-society has changed and the results are inconsistent with time periods
what are the types of ethical issues
-deception
-informed consent
-protection from harm
-privacy and confidentiality
define deception
when participants are purposefully lied to
define informed consent
when participants are fully informed and fully aware of all aspects of the research
define protection from harm
making sure all participants are protected from physical and psychological harm
define privacy and confidentiality
making sure all participants personal information is not revealed. making sure personal space is not invaded
how did asch test group size
-with three confederates to see if conformity rose
-added further confederates
what did ash find with group size
-a small majority is not sufficient for influence to be exerted
-there is also no need for a majority of more than three
-optimal group size is three
how did asch test unanimity of the majority
-introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others and sometimes gave the correct answer and sometimes the wrong one
what did asch find with unanimity of the majority
-conformity reduced by a quarter from its original level when majority was unanimous
-influence on the majority depends to some extent on the group being unanimous
how did asch test task difficulty
-made it more difficult by making stimulus live and comparison line more similar in length
what did asch find for task difficulty
-conformity increased
-isi plays a great role when the task is harder as the situation is more ambiguous
limitations of research into how variables affect conformity (asch)
-biased sample
-did not adhere to ethical guidelines
aim of zimbardos research
to investigate whether people will conform to new social roles
procedure for zimbardos research
-volunteered to take part in study
-psychological testing
-allocated to groups of prisoners and prison guards
-prisoners spent two weeks locked in cells in a wing of the university
-prisoners arrested and taken to university basement
-stripped, deloused, given prison uniform
-referred to by number
-23 hours in cells for 2 weeks
-prison guards given uniforms, sticks, mirrored sunglasses and worked shifts
findings of zimbardos research
-experiment called off after 6 days
-guards became brutal so 2 prisoners had breakdowns
-prisoners became apathetic
conclusion of zimbardos research
-conformed to behaviour they believed was expected of new social roles
-deindividuation
explain deindividuation
-a state when you become so immersed in the norms of the group that you lose your sense of identity and personal responsibility
strengths of zimbardos research
-highly controlled environment allowed observation of cause and effect and increased internal validity
-no ethical guidelines at the time and were added because of this
-unaware harm would occur and stopped experiment when it did
-couldnt remind them of right to withdraw due to realism
-cause and effect shown by guards
limitations of zimbardos research
-unethical
-no informed consent
-no protection from harm
-no rights to withdraw as accused of faking breakdowns, money offered
-lacks population validity
-environment unable to replicate a prison so lacked ecological validity, only lasted 2 weeks
