Social Influence: Lesson 2 - Explanations of Conformity Flashcards
What is normative social influence?
People have a fundamental need to be liked and accepted by others and to be part of a group. We therefore avoid any behaviour that will make others reject or ridicule us. This can lead us to copy the behaviour of others in order to ‘fit in’. Research has shown that people like those who are similar to them and so conformity can be an effective strategy to ensure acceptance. Normative social influence is likely to lead to compliance.
What is informational social influence?
People have a need to be confident that their perceptions and beliefs are correct. Individuals may make objective tests against reality (e.g. check the facts) but if this is not possible they will rely on the opinions of others to check if they are correct and then use this as evidence about reality. Informational social influence is more likely to happen if the situation is ambiguous (the correct answer is not clear) or when others are experts. Informational social influence leads to internalisation.
What did Linkenbach and Perkins (2003) research support and find?
Supported normative social influence
They found that adolescents exposed to the simple message that their peers didn’t smoke were less likely to smoke
What did Tanford and Penrod (1986) research support and find?
Supported normative social influence in 95% of all cases they looked at the vote of the first member of the jury was the final outcome
What did Wittenbrink and Henley (1996 research support and find?
Supported informational social influence
They found that participants in their experiment who were exposed to negative information about African Americans (they were led to believe that this was the view of the majority) later reported negative beliefs about an African American individual
What did Lucas et al (2006) research support and find?
Supported informational social influence
They found that when asking students to give an answer to easy of difficult maths questions, there was more conformity on the difficult maths questions when they were not confident in their own mathematical ability
What did Bond and Smith (1996) research support and find?
Said that Normative and Informational social influence cannot explain cultural differences in conformity
They conducted a meta-analysis of cross-cultural studies using the Asch (1956) Design.
Indian teachers in Fiji had a 58% conformity (highest rate) whilst Belgium students had the lowest rate -14%
This proved that culture has an effect in conformity
What did Kurosawa (1993) research support and find?
Normative social influence cannot explain individual differences
Found that people with Hugh self-esteem were far more resistant to conformity
