Social influence- conformity Flashcards
social influence
the ways in which external social factors alter our behaviour
conformity
a change in someones behaviour or opinions because of real or imagined pressure from a person/ group.
types of conformity (Herbert Kelman) in order of most to least deep
- internalisation
- identification
- compliance
explanations of conformity (Deutsch and Gerard)
‘two process model’
- informational social influence
- normative social influence
informational social influence
instances where people conform as they’re uncertain about what to do in a situations–> look for guidance
leads to internalisation
internalisation
when exposed to the views of a group, someone examines their own beliefs
this leads to public and private acceptance of the groups beliefs
normative social influence
instances where people conform to fit in and gain approval from group members.
leads to identification and compliance
identification
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
compliance
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.
gynocentrism
when only females are used in a study
androcentrism
when only males are used in a study
what was the point of Asch’s research (line test) in 1956
to investigate whether people would conform to the majority in situations where an answer was obvious
what was the procedure of Asch’s research in the line test
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.
what were the results of Asch’s research
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.
what 3 reasons did Asch find for the participants conforming
- distortion of perception- a small number of people saw the lines in the same way as the majority
- distortion of judgement- they were doubtful/unsure of their own judgement
- distortion of action- most participants privately disagreed with the group but changed their public answer to avoid disapproval
what factors influence conformity- Asch’s research
- increasing difficulty of the task
- increasing the group of people
- unanimity of majority (all confederates gave the same answer)
how does increasing the difficulty of the task influence conformity- Asch’s research
-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.
how does increasing the group of people influence conformity- Asch’s research
- 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
how does unanimity of majority (if all confederates give the same answer) influence conformity- Asch’s research
-before, all confederates gave the same wrong answer, but when Asch told 1 confederate to give the right answer, conformity dropped considerably
disadvantages of Asch’s research
- 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.
advantages of Asch’s research
supports theory on ‘Normative Influence’ as some participants said they conformed to fit in the group
what was zimbardos research question
do prison guards behave brutally due to their sadistic personalities or because the situation creates their behaviour?
social roles
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
standford prison experiment (HANEY ET AL) procedure
- 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
