Social Influence L3 Flashcards
Et al definition
And others (researchers)
What are 2 key studies that support informational social influence (ISI)?
Jenness (1932) — jelly bean experiment
Sherif (1935) Autokinetic effect experiment
What was the aim of the Jenness (1932) study?
To examine whether individuals will change their opinion in an ambiguous (unclear) situation, in response to a group discussion
What was the method for the Jenness (1932) study?
- He used an ambiguous situation that involved a glass bottle filled with 811 white beans
- 26 students individually estimated how many beans the glass contained
- Participants were then divided into groups of 3 and provided a group estimate after discussion
- They were asked again to individually provide an estimate
What were the results for the Jenness (1932) study?
- Nearly all participants changed their original answer when asked for an estimate the second time
- Male participants changed their answers by 256 beans and female participants changed their answers by 382 beans (females changed their answers more compared to males)
- The range of the whole group went from 1,875 (before discussion) to 474 (after discussion), which demonstrates how their opinions converged
What was the conclusion for the Jenness (1932) study?
- It suggested that individuals changed their initial estimate due to informational social influence (ISI)
- This is because they believed that the group estimates were more likely to be correct as opposed to their own
- Therefore it supports ISI as they looked to others for information in an ambiguous situation and had the desire to be right
What was the aim for the Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment?
To demonstrate that people conform to group norms when they are put in an ambiguous (unclear) situation
What was the method (PART 1) for the Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment?
- He used the Autokinetic effect which is where a spot of light (projected onto a screen) in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still (this is a visual illusion)
- Participants were individually asked to estimate how far the light moved (this varied considerably from 20cm - 80cm)
- Participants were then tested in groups of 3 which consisted of 2 people who has similar estimates and 1 person who had a very different estimate
- They were asked again to give an estimate out loud
What were the results of the Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment?
- Over numerous estimates (trials) of the movement of light, the group converged to a common estimate
- The 1 person whose estimate was completely different at first confirmed to the other 2 people in the group as they came to a group agreement
What was the method (PART 2) of the Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment?
- In a follow up experiment, he put participants in groups at the beginning and they agreed on a group estimate
- They were then individually tested and their answers were similar to the group norm, suggesting they had internalised the group norm (ISI)
What was the conclusion of the Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment?
- Results showed that when in an ambiguous situation, a person will look to others for guidance as they want to do the right thing
- This is an example of ISI and supports ISI
What was the aim of the Solomon Asch (1951) experiment?
To investigate the extent to which individuals would conform to a majority group who gave obviously wrong answers in a non-ambiguous (clear) situation
What was the method of the Solomon Asch (1951) experiment?
- 123 male US undergraduates participated in a ‘vision test’ using a line judgement task
- Asch put 1 naive participant in a room with up to 7 confederates
- Each person had state out loud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line
- The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave their answer last so that they could hear the confederates’ answers first
- Confederates gave the wrong answers in 12 out of 18 trials (known as the critical trials)
- There was also a control condition where there were no confederates
What were the results of the Solomon Asch (1951) experiment?
- In the critical trials, about one third (around 35%) of the participants conformed to the clearly incorrect majority
- Over the 12 critical trials, around 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% never conformed
- In the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer
What was the conclusion of the Solomon Asch (1951) experiment?
- Asch interviewed his participants after the experiment and found that most of the participants knew their answers were incorrect, but they went along with the group in order to fit in
- This supports the idea that the participants conformed due to normative social influence (NSI) and the desire to fit in publicly without changing their private views
- It supports NSI as people wanted to be liked and accepted rather than be right
