Social influence- conformity

Question 1

social influence

Answer 1

the ways in which external social factors alter our behaviour

Question 2

conformity

Answer 2

a change in someones behaviour or opinions because of real or imagined pressure from a person/ group.

Question 3

types of conformity (Herbert Kelman) in order of most to least deep

Answer 3

1. internalisation
2. identification
3. compliance

Question 4

explanations of conformity (Deutsch and Gerard)

Answer 4

‘two process model’

1. informational social influence
2. normative social influence

Question 5

informational social influence

Answer 5

instances where people conform as they’re uncertain about what to do in a situations–> look for guidance

leads to internalisation

Question 6

internalisation

Answer 6

when exposed to the views of a group, someone examines their own beliefs

this leads to public and private acceptance of the groups beliefs

Question 7

normative social influence

Answer 7

instances where people conform to fit in and gain approval from group members.

leads to identification and compliance

Question 8

identification

Answer 8

conforming to a group because we value something about the group–> we identify with the group, so we want to be part of it

this leads to publicly changing our opinions/behaviour even if we privately disagree

Question 9

compliance

Answer 9

when exposed rot the views/actions of a majority, we engage in social comparison

as identifying with a majority is desirable, we change to fit in with them–> we go along with the majority without analysing why theres a difference

this leads to public compliance without private attitude change.

Question 10

gynocentrism

Answer 10

when only females are used in a study

Question 11

androcentrism

Answer 11

when only males are used in a study

Question 12

what was the point of Asch’s research (line test) in 1956

Answer 12

to investigate whether people would conform to the majority in situations where an answer was obvious

Question 13

what was the procedure of Asch’s research in the line test

Answer 13

groups of 6 confederates and 1 real participant were presented with a standard line and 3 comparison lines. The participants had to say outlaid which lines matched and the confederates were told to give incorrect answers.

Question 14

what were the results of Asch’s research

Answer 14

123 male Americans were tested in total and for 12 clinical trials around 37% responses were wrong as they conformed to the wrong response given by the confederates.
Asch did a control trial without any confederates to ensure the test wasn’t hard and found that people made mistakes 1% of the time.

Question 15

what 3 reasons did Asch find for the participants conforming

Answer 15

1. distortion of perception- a small number of people saw the lines in the same way as the majority
2. distortion of judgement- they were doubtful/unsure of their own judgement
3. distortion of action- most participants privately disagreed with the group but changed their public answer to avoid disapproval

Question 16

what factors influence conformity- Asch’s research

Answer 16

1. increasing difficulty of the task
2. increasing the group of people
3. unanimity of majority (all confederates gave the same answer)

Question 17

how does increasing the difficulty of the task influence conformity- Asch’s research

Answer 17

-by making the lines closer, the task was harder and he found that conformity to the majority increased

• LUCAS ET AL (2006)–> stated that majority influence depends on situational factors (task difficulty and individual differences)
• -> AND increasing task difficulty was influence by the self efficiancy of the participant- those who were more confident in their answer were less likely to conform.

Question 18

how does increasing the group of people influence conformity- Asch’s research

Answer 18

• the size of the majority’s important but only up to an optimal point
• -> BROWN AND BYRNE- people may suspect collusion if the majority’s over 3 or 4

Question 19

how does unanimity of majority (if all confederates give the same answer) influence conformity- Asch’s research

Answer 19

-before, all confederates gave the same wrong answer, but when Asch told 1 confederate to give the right answer, conformity dropped considerably

Question 20

disadvantages of Asch’s research

Answer 20

• lacks ecological validity–> is based on peoples perception of the lines so it doesn’t reflect the complexity of real life conformity
• lacks population validity due to sampling issues–> androcentrism and gender bias so results cant be generalised
• ethical issues- deception/ psychological harm
• cultural differences in conformity–> MARKUS AND KITAYAMA- theres a higher level of conformity in collectivist cultures as its seen as a ‘social glue’ that binds the community together.

Question 21

advantages of Asch’s research

Answer 21

supports theory on ‘Normative Influence’ as some participants said they conformed to fit in the group

Question 22

what was zimbardos research question

Answer 22

do prison guards behave brutally due to their sadistic personalities or because the situation creates their behaviour?

Question 23

social roles

Answer 23

the parts people play as members of various social groups
people have pressure to conform to the expectations of their social role
conforming to a social role= identification

Question 24

standford prison experiment (HANEY ET AL) procedure

Answer 24

• mock prison set up in basement
• male student volunteers were psychologically and physically screened and then randomly assigned to be prisoners/ guards
• prisoners unexpectedly arrested at home, given uniforms and ID numbers which the guards referred to them by
• guards given uniform and wore reflective glasses to avoid eye contact
• zimbardo observed the behaviour and acted as a prison superintendent

Question 25

standford prison experiment (HANEY ET AL) findings

Answer 25

• after few days, guards were tyrannical and abusive to prisoners–> e.g woke them at night and made them do degrading activities
• some guards were enthusiastic about their role- offered extra hours with no pay
• even when participants weren’t aware that they were being watches, they still confirmed to their social roles.
• study was terminated after 6 days, due to someone questioning the mortality of the study, instead of 2 weeks as planned
• the study demonstrated that both the guards and prisoners conformed to their social roles–> the guards became cruel, and the prisoners became passive

Question 26

advantages of zimbardos study

Answer 26

• the harmful treatment of participants led to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines–> Studies must now gain ethical approval before they are conducted.
• it altered the way US prisons are run.

Question 27

Disadvantages of zimbardos study

Answer 27

• lacks population validity as the sample had US male students. The study’s findings cannot be applied to female prisons or those from other countries. e.g. America is an individualist culture (were people are generally less conforming) and the results maybe different in collectivist cultures
• ethical criticisms- lack of fully informed consent
• ‘prisoners’ were not protected from psychological harm, experiencing incidents of humiliation and distress–> Zimbardo did conduct debriefing sessions for several years afterwards and concluded they were no lasting negative effects
• HASLAM AND REICHER- say conformity to roles isn’t automatic as some guards were nice which shows they chose to behave instead of blindly conforming to their social role
• pp’s responded to demand characteristics instead of conforming to social role