Social Influence Key Studies Flashcards
Study that supports Conformity- informational social influence?
Lucas-
Found that the influence of task difficulty on conformity depends on the self efficacy of the person. Doubted their maths ability in his study when given hard problems.
Study that supports conformity- normative social influence?
Asch-
Lab experiment using a Line judgement task, naive participant with seven confederates to measure level of conformity. He found that about one third (32%) of the participants who were placed in this situation went along and conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials.
Over the 12 critical trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% of participant never conformed.
In the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer.
Study that supports conformity- variables that may affect it?
Asch-
Group size- The bigger the majority group (no of confederates), the more people conformed, but only up to a certain point.
With one other person (i.e., confederate) in the group conformity was 3%, with two others it increased to 13%, and with three or more it was 32% (or 1/3).
Study that supports conformity- variables that may affect it?
Unanimity-
Asch (1956) found that even the presence of just one confederate that goes against the majority choice can reduce conformity as much as 80%. when one confederate gave the correct answer on all the critical trials conformity dropped to 5%.
( supported in a study by Allen and Levine )
Study that supports conformity- variables that may affect it?
Task difficulty-
When the (comparison) lines (e.g., A, B, C) were made more similar in length it was harder to judge the correct answer and conformity increased.
When we are uncertain, we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task, the greater the conformity.
Study that supports conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo-
The guards dehumanised the prisoners, waking them during the night and forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands; the prisoners became increasingly submissive, identifying further with their subordinate role.
adverse reactions to the physical and mental torment, for example, crying and extreme anxiety.
concluded that people quickly conform to social roles, even when the role goes against their moral principles. concluded that situational factors were largely responsible for the behaviour found, as none of the participants had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously. I ETHICAL ISSUES
Study that supports research into obedience?
Milgram- shock experiment
65% (two-thirds) of participants (i.e., teachers) continued to the highest level of 450 volts. All the participants continued to 300 volts.
He had prods which prompted the teacher to shock the learner, even if they felt unsure.
Study that supports situational variables that increase obedience?
Milgram’s - proximity, location, uniform.
Grey lab coat compared to everyday clothes- obedience dropped to 20%
University compared to run down offices- dropped to 47.5%.
Teacher forces learners hand onto shock plate when they refuse to participate- obedience fell to 30%- participant isn’t protected from seeing the result of their actions.
Study that supports the authoritarian personality and obedience?
Elms-
Elms and Milgrams research is correlational. FOUND THAT OBEDIENT PARTICIPANTS SCORED HIGHER ON THE F SCALE COMPARED TO DISOBEDIENT PARTICIPANTS.
Study that supports social support as an explanation for resisting social influence?
Asch’s variations again- give findings and conclusions.
3 or more- increase to 32% harder task, more likely to conform. Reduces conformity when one person says different answer by 80%.
Study that supports locus of control and resisting social influence?
Holland- Holland (1967) found that 37% of ‘internals’ refused to obey to the maximum shock level in a Milgram-type study, compared to 23% of ‘externals’, showing a link between locus of control and resistance to obedience.
Study that supports minority influence + minorities and social change?
Moscovici- wanted to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer, in a colour perception task.
172 female participants who were told that they were taking part in a colour perception task. The participants were placed in groups of six and shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue. The participants had state out loud the colour of each slide.
Moscovici found that in the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of the trials, whereas in the inconsistent condition, the real participants only agreed on 1.25% of the trials. This shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence.
Study that supports conformity and social change?
Nolan-
