social influence-conformity

Question 1

Asch’s line study aims

Answer 1

measure the extent that people conformed to the opinion of others, even when other’s answers were completely wrong

Question 2

what were Asch’s findings?

Answer 2

• naive participants conformed 36.8% of the time
  -high level of conformity when situation unambiguous
  -individual differences 25% never gave wrong answer
  -75% conformed at least once

Question 3

variables investigated by Asch

Answer 3

-group size
-unanimity
-task difficulty

Question 4

procedure for investigating group size Asch

Answer 4

varied no. of confederates in each group so group size between 2-16

Question 5

findings of investigating group size Asch

Answer 5

-two confederates, conformity to wrong answer was 13.6% when three confederates conformity rose to 31.8%
-above three confederates conformity rate levelled off. more than three made little difference

Question 6

what’s Asch’s explanation for the role of group size in obedience?

Answer 6

people very sensitive to opinion of others as one confederate enough to sway opinion

Question 7

what’s the procedure for investigating unanimity (Asch)?

Answer 7

dissenting confederate who sometimes correct answer sometimes wrong but always disagreed with majority

Question 8

findings for investigating unanimity Asch

Answer 8

-conformity reduced on average to less than a quarter of the level it was when majority was unanimous
-conformity reduced if dissenter gave right or wrong answer

Question 9

what role does the dissenting peer play for role of unanimity (Asch)?

Answer 9

having a dissenter enable the naive participant to behave more independently

Question 10

what’s the procedure for task difficulty (Asch)?

Answer 10

-line-judging task harder as stimulus line and comparison lines more similar in length
-difficult to see the differences between lines

Question 11

findings for task difficulty Asch

Answer 11

conformity increased

Question 12

explanation of obedience in task difficulty (Asch)?

Answer 12

-situation more ambiguous so more likely to look for guidance and to assume they are right and we are wrong
-ISI plays a greater role when task gets harder

Question 13

ao3 asch task artificial

Answer 13

-p’s knew they were in a study, demand characteristics
-task was trivial so no reason not to conform
-Fike (2014) argued ‘Asch’s groups were not very groupy’ (not like real-life groups)
-findings do not generalise to everyday life

Question 14

ao3 little application

Answer 14

-only American men were tested
-Neto (1995) suggested women might be more conformist possible bc more concerned about social relationships
-also US an individualist culture and studies in collectivist cultures (i.e. China) found higher conformity rates (Bond and Smith 1996)
-Asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in some and people from some cultures.

Question 15

ao3 empirical evidence

Answer 15

-Lucas et al. (2006) asked p’s to solve ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths problems
-p’s were given answers that (falsely) claimed to be from three other students
-p’s conformed more often when the problems were harder
-Asch was correct that task difficulty is one variable affecting conformity

Question 16

what was Asch’s line study’s procedure?

Answer 16

-shown two cards on one was a ‘standard line’ on other were three comparison lines
-one of the lines same length other two were clearly different
-each member of group stated which line matched the standard

Question 17

how many and who were the participants in Asch’s study?

Answer 17

123 american males

Question 18

in what size groups and in what order were p’s tested in Asch’s study?

Answer 18

individually, or sitting last/ next-to-last in groups of 6-8 confederates

Question 19

internalisation definition

Answer 19

-think group is right
publicly changing behaviour to fit in with the group and agreeing with them privately too (internalise the behaviour)

Question 20

how permanent is internalisation?

Answer 20

usually permanent, persists in the absence of group members as attitude has become how the person thinks (internalised)

Question 21

identification definition

Answer 21

-value the group
conforming to expectations of a social role but our private views remain the same. only while in the presence of the group

Question 22

compliance definition

Answer 22

-temporary agreement
publicly changing behaviour to fit in and private views disagree with behaviour of the group

Question 23

conformity definition

Answer 23

change in behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure. it is a group influence

Question 24

informational social influence

Answer 24

-desire to be right
-based on the need to be right
-often uncertain about what behaviour was right or wrong
-look to what others are doing and conform
-both publicly conform and privately agree- known as a conversion. permanent

Question 25

normative social influence

Answer 25

-desire to behave like others, not look foolish, do the norm
-based on need to be accepted
-belonging to the the group could be rewarding, or not belonging could lead to punishment
-publicly conform but privately disagree and keep their old attitudes

Question 26

where’s NSI most likely?

Answer 26

-mostly likely in unfamiliar situations and with people you know
-don’t know the norms so look to others about how to behave
-with strangers as don’t want to be rejected or friends as want social approval
-nsi leads to compliance

Question 27

where’s ISI most likely

Answer 27

-in situations that are ambiguous
-when not clear what is right
-may happen when decisions have to be made quickly when we assume the group is likely to be right

Question 28

ao3 of NSI: supportive empirical evidence

Answer 28

-asch (1951) found many p’s conformed rather than give correct answer as afraid of disapproval
-when p’s wrote down answers conformity fell to 12.5%
-shows conformity desire to not be rejected by group for disagreeing

Question 29

ao3 of ISI: supportive empirical evidence

Answer 29

-Lucas et al. (2006) found p’s conformed more to incorrect answers when maths problems were difficult
-for hard problems the situation was ambiguous so relied on the answers given
-supports ISI and as results are what it would predict

Question 30

ao3 of NSI: individual differences

Answer 30

-some people concerned about being liked- nAffiliators who have a strong need for ‘affiliation’
-McGhee and Teen (1967) found students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
-shows NSI underlies conformity for some people more than others

Question 31

two process theory

Answer 31

Deutsch and Gerard (1955)
-brought NSI and ISI together
-argued people conform because of two basic human needs: the need to be liked (ISI) and the need to be right (NSI)

Question 32

Zimbardo (1973) SPE: procedure

Answer 32

-mock prison in basement of psychology department at stanford uni investigate effect of social roles on conformity
-21 male student volunteers w/ psychological testing to determine they’re ‘emotionally stable’
-randomly allocated to guard or prisoner
-prisoners strip-searched
-prisoners given a number
-uniforms to encourage de-individuation
-prisoners told couldn’t leave as would have to ask for parole
-guards were told they had complete power over prisoners

Question 33

Zimbardo (1973) SPE: findings

Answer 33

-guards played their role enthusiastically and treated prisoners harshly
-prisoners rebelled within two days ripped uniforms shouted and swore at guards
-guards retaliated with fire extinguishers and harassed the prisoners
-after rebellion was put down prisoners became anxious and depressed
-three prisoners were released early as they showed signs of psychological disturbance
-one prisoner went on hunger strike guards attempted to force feed him and punished him by putting him in ‘the hole’

Question 34

Zimbardo SPE how long did it last?

Answer 34

6 days instead of planned 14

Question 35

Zimbardo (1973) SPE: conclusion

Answer 35

social roles powerful influences on behaviour- most conformed strongly to their role
-guards became brutal, prisoners became submissive

Question 36

ao3 of Zimbardo SPE: highly controlled

Answer 36

-emotionally-stable participants were recruited and randomly allocated the roles of guard or prisoner
-roles by chance so behaviour was due to the role itself and not their personality
-control increases the internal validity so more confident in conclusions drawn

Question 37

ao3 of Zimbardo SPE: lacked mundane realism

Answer 37

-Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) suggested p’s were play-acting and their performances reflected stereotypes
-one guard based his character on film Cool Hand Luke
-prisoners rioted as they what they through real ones did
-so SPE tells us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons

Question 38

counterpoint to mundane realism in Zimbadro (SPE)

Answer 38

-p’s behaved as if prison was real, 90% of conversations ab prison life, prisoner 416 believed it was a prison run by psychologists
-suggests SPE replicated roles of guard and prisoner just as in a real prison, increasing internal validity

Question 39

ao3 of SPE: Zimbardo exaggerated the power of roles

Answer 39

-Fromm (1973) argued power of social roles to influence behaviour exaggerated
-only a third of guards behaved brutally. another third applied rules fairly and other third supported the prisoners giving them cigarettes and other privileges
-SPE overstates the view that guards were conforming to a brutal role and minimised dispositional influences (e.g. personality)