Social Influence : Conformity to Social Roles Flashcards
What is NSI?
Normative social influence
the desire to be liked
Was NSI present in Asch’s line judgement task? If so, how?
Yes
Participants complied to fit in and avoid ridicule, an instance of NSI
What is ISI?
Informational social influence
People conform because they believe that the group is competent and has the correct information, particularly when the task or situation is ambiguous
What is a social role?
A social role is a pattern of behaviour that is expected of a person in a given setting or group (Hare ‘2003)
What is a social norm?
A group’s expectation of what is appropriate and acceptable behaviour for its members (Deutsch & Gerard ‘55)
What is a script?
A person’s knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting (Schank & Abelson ‘77)
What was the sampling used in Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment? What did it ask participants to do?
Volunteer sampling
Ad placed in a California newspaper asking for male volunteers to participate in a study about the psychological effects of prison life
How many men volunteered for Zimbardo’s SPE?
More than 70
What process did the volunteers for Zimbardo’s prison experiment go through? Why?
Psychological testing
To eliminate candidates who had underlying psychiatric issues, medical issues, or a history of crime or drug abuse
Once the process of psychological testing was over, how many volunteers were able to participate?
24 healthy male college students
How was the experiment conducted?
(where was the ‘prison’, what happened before the participants entered the prison, how long was the experiment meant to run for?)
Mock prison constructed in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford
Participants assigned to play the role of prisoners were “arrested” at their homes by Palo Alto police officers, booked at a police station then taken to mock prison
Experiment was scheduled to run for two weeks
What surprised the researchers involved with the Stanford Prison Experiment?
(relating to behaviour of participants)
Both “prisoners” and “guards” assumed their roles with great energy
On day 2, some of the prisoners revolted and the guards quelled the rebellion by threatening the prisoners with night sticks
In a relatively short time, guards came to harass the prisoners in an increasingly sadistic manner, through a complete lack of privacy, lack of basic comforts such as mattresses to sleep on, and through degrading chores and late night counts
