Social Influence - Booklet 3 Flashcards
Explanations of resistance to social influence, Minority influence, Social change
define resistance to social influence
-refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority
-this ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
define social support
-the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same
-these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
define locus of control
-the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
-internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them
-externals believe it is a matter of luck or other outside forces
describe social support
-helps resist obedience and conformity
-perceive a shared punishment or consequences as others don’t conform/obey
-not long lasting
evidence for social support helping resist conformity
-aschs only variation
-non conforming role model not following the majority
-naive participant had the confidence to resist the pressure
-social norms broken
-participant had independent behaviour
-as the role model starts to conform to the majority so does the participant
evidence for social support helping resist obedience
-milgrams variation of disobedient confederate
-brought another teacher
-gave advice to disobey giving shocks
-acts as a model for the participant to free them to act from their own conscience
-had confidence to resist pressure
-obedience decreased to 10%
who proposed locus of control
rotter
describe locus of control
-refers to personality
-continuum from high internal to high external
-measured by questionnaire
-choose out of two statements to agree
-statements related to points
features of an internal locus of control
-solely responsible
-total accountability for successes, failures, events
-independent behaviour
features of an external locus of control
-doesn’t take personal responsibility
-blames anything else eg luck and fate
-obey and conform
A03 points for social support
-strength= allen and levines research using an asch type study
-strength= gamson et als recreation of milgrams experiment
A03 points for LOC
-strength= holland repeating milgrams baseline study
-weakness= twenge et al
-weakness= rotter
-weakness= measured by questionnaire
evidence for conformity decreasing supporting social support
-allen and levine investigated effects on conformity with one dissenter in an asch type study
-found that conformity decreased
-especially when dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had vision difficulty
evidence for obedience decreasing supporting social support
-gamson et al recreated milgrams study in groups
-higher levels of resistance
-had to produce evidence used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
evidence for high internal loc increasing independent behaviour supporting loc
-holland repeated milgrams baseline study
-measured participants loc
-37% of internals did not continue
-23% of externals did not continue
-so obedience decreases in internal LOC
evidence for resistance to obedience and loc being unrelated which opposes loc
-twenge et al analysed data from american loc studies over 40 years
-people more resistant to obedience but more external
-resistance not linked to internal loc
-so independent behaviour could be due to a changing society
evidence for loc being irrelevant in daily situations which opposes loc
-rotter states loc only happens in novel situations
-it has little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations
-likely to repeat behaviour from past situations even when high internal
evidence for flawed methodology opposing loc
-questionnaire
-fixed response with all parts completed
-time consuming and boring
-answers affected by social desirability as some could give false answers to fit the research
-invalid responses
define minority influence
-a form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just one person) persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
-this leads to internalisation or conversion as private attitudes are changed as well as public
define consistency
-keeping the same beliefs
explain consistency
-increases the amount of interest from others
-can be agreement between people in the minority group (synchronic consistency) or consistency over time (diachronic consistency)
-makes people start to rethink their own views
define commitment
-demonstrating dedication to a position
explain commitment
-engaging in extreme activities to draw attention to their views
-at some risk to the minority to demonstrate commitment
-majority group members pay more attention (augmentation principle)
define flexibility
-accepting the possibility of compromise
explain flexibility
-consistency can be interpreted negatively due to rigidity
-members of minority prepared to adapt views and accept reasonable counter arguments
-balance needed between consistency and flexibility
which is the most important behaviour for successful minority influence
consistency
aim of moscovicis study
-investigate the process of minority influence by looking at how consistency can be used to affect opinions of a larger group
procedure of moscovicis study
-all female group of participants
-given eye test to check weren’t colour blind
-placed in a group of 4 participants and 2 confederates
-shown 36 slides of different blue shades
-asked to state colour out loud
-randomly allocated to one of two groups
1- confederates were consistent and answered green for all slides
2- confederates were inconsistent and answered green 24 times and blue 12 times
findings of moscovicis study
-8.42% of trials in consistent group resulted in agreeing with minority
-32% participants agreed at least once
-1.25% inconsistent group trials resulted in agreeing
conclusion of moscovicis study
-minorities can change the opinion of the majority if they are consistent
describe conversion
-after hearing something new
-people are made to think about the topic
-over time switch from the majority position to minority position
describe the snowball effect
-the more people switch from majority to minority
-the faster the rate of conversion
-minority view becomes majority view
describe social crypto amnesia
-people have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened
A03 points for minority influence
-sample
-unethical
-lab experiment
-real life examples
evidence for sample limiting minority influence
-female participants
-lacks population validity
-results difficult to generalise
-beta bias
counter for sample limiting minority influence
-participants had to be same gender and had an eye test so the research was standardised
-no researcher bias as participants randomly allocated
evidence for research being unethical which opposes minority influence
-participants deceived as unaware 2 of the the participants were confederates
-could not give informed consent
-results have less value
counter for unethical research into minority influence
-would have debriefed participants
-had the right to withdraw
-deception needed to avoid demand characteristics
evidence for lab experiment supporting minority influence
-replicable
-extraneous variables controlled
-standardised
-results are reliable as cause and effect established
counter for lab experiment supporting minority influence
-involves an artificial environment
-lacks ecological validity
-artificial task
-lacks mundane realism
define social change
-when a society adopts a new belief or way of believing that then becomes widely accepted as the norm
how is social change initiated
-minority influence
-examples of snowball effect occurring
how many processes are needed for a social change to become the norm
6
which 6 processes are needed for social change to become the norm
-attention
-conflict
-consistency
-augmentation
-snowball effect
-social crypto amnesia
explain attention leading to social change
-drawing attention from the majority which can create a conflict as the majority and minority have different views
real life example of attention leading to social change
-colin kaepernick started to protest by taking a knee during the national anthem at games
explain conflict leading to social change
-minority creating a conflict between what majority group members currently believe, and the position advocated by the minority
-causes the majority to think more deeply
real life example of conflict leading to social change
-CK led people to be in conflict about whether his actions were acceptable
-trump threatened to fire kneeling players
explain consistency leading to social change
-minorities are more influential when they express their arguments consistently
real life example of consistency leading to social change
-CKs protest lasted for a few years and during many games
explain augmentation leading to social change
-minority is committed to their views as they are willing to suffer
-their views are taken more seriously and are considered
real life example of augmentation leading to social change
-CK lost his career and received death threats by taking the knee
explain snowball effect leading to social change
-minority influence initially has a small effect but this spreads more widely when more and more people consider the issues promoted
real life example of snowball effect leading to social change
-CKs actions led to worldwide BLM protests
explain social cryptoamnesia leading to social change
-people have an awareness that a social change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened
real life examples of social crypto amnesia leading to social change
-CKs actions have not yet led to social change as protests are ongoing
-suffragette movement and recycling are social changes
evidence of minority influence in the suffragette movement
-started with a small group of women
-led to snowball effect and social cryptoamnesia as the vote for women was achieved
evidence of consistency in the suffragette movement
-campaign lasted over 20 years
evidence of commitment in the suffragette movement
-causing injury just for the cause
evidence of flexibility in the suffragette movement
-put campaign on hold for national unity
evidence of minority influence in rosa parks
-began with one person
-led to snowball effect and social cryptoamnesia as now black rights are respected
evidence of consistency in rosa parks
-boycott lasted a long time
evidence for commitment in rosa parks
-rosa parks got arrested
AO3 - real life examples of social change
-colin kaepernick demonstrated all 6 processes of social change by taking the knee at a football game
-shows relevance in real life
AO3- social change showed by moscovicis research
-investigated impacts of consistency using an inconsistent and a consistent condition
-more participants answered the same as the confederates in the consistent condition
-increases validity of the 6 processes as an explanation
AO3- limitation of social changes
-occur slowly and effects are fragile
-charles nemeth argues the effects of minority influence are indirect and delayed
-the majority is influenced on matters only related to the issue at hand, not the central issue
-only indirectly effective
