social influence (mocks)

Question 1

define resistance to social influence

Answer 1

refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.

Question 2

define social support

Answer 2

the presence of people who resist pressure to conform or obey can help others to do the same.
these people act as a model to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.

Question 3

social support - resisting conformity

Answer 3

Asch’s study - variable of unanimity - support

when a confederate didn’t conform this provide the naïve participant with social support allowing them to make their own decision, as it acted as a model of independent behavior.
(the confederate dissent led to more dissent)

Question 4

social support - resisting obedience

Answer 4

Milgram’s variation study - support

the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10%
when the participant was joined with a non-obedient confederate
this is because it provide a disobedient model allowing that allowed the participant to use their own consensuses and challenged the authority figure.

Question 5

define locus of control (LOC)

Answer 5

refers to the sense we each have, about what directs events in our lives.

Internal believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them (internal locus of control).

external believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces ( external locus of control).

Question 6

locus of control - Rotter

Answer 6

internal control Vs external control -
internal LOC believe that the things that happen to them is controlled by themselves
external LOC believe that the things that happen to them are out of their control.

continuum - LOC is a scale (high internal and external on each with low internal and external in the middle)

Question 7

LOC and resistance to social influence

Answer 7

people with a high internal LOC are more able to resist pressure to conform or obey. - this is because if someone believes their personally responsible for their actions/experiences they tend to make decisions on their own beliefs.

• high internal LOC also tend to have more self confidence, higher intelligence and are more achievement orientated leading to resistance to social influence.

Question 8

minority influence - 3 elements

Answer 8

consistency - same beliefs over time
commitment - show dedication to their position by making personal sacrifices
flexibility - accept the possibility of compromise.
(snowball effect)

Question 9

social change - lessons from minority influence research

Answer 9

real world example - African-American civil right moment

1. draw attention - segregation
2. consistency- millions marched from the 1950’s to the 1960’s
3. deeper processes - make people unjust to the social norm
4. augmentation principles - risk their lives multiple times - freedom riders challenged segregations on buses
5. snowball effects - activists got attention of government e.g. martin Luther king
6. social cryptomnesia - people not having memory of the way the change happen

Question 10

social change - lessons from conformity research

Answer 10

Asch’s research - showed that dissent can led to social change (variation of unanimity)

normative social influence - (used by environmental and health campaigns) challenges conformity by providing information on what people are going -social change encouraged by drawing to what the majority is doing.

Question 11

social change - lessons from obedience research

Answer 11

Milgram’s - importance of disobedient role models. confederate teacher led to a decrease in obedience.

Zimbardo’s - obedience can be used to create social change through a gradual commitment process. one small instruction is obey leading it to be harder to resist a bigger one.

Question 12

Zimbardo’s research - the stanford prison experiment

Answer 12

• conformity
• 21 male participants that were randomly assigned to prisoner or guard
• encouraged to conform through uniforms and instructions about behavior (de-individuation)
• found social roles have an influence on individual behavior as people conform to the roles
• guards became brutal and prisoners became submissive

Question 13

Milgram’s - obedience

Answer 13

• 40 American male participants - all became the teacher and a confederated became the learner
• asked to shock the learner when they got an answer wrong (screaming track played) - couldn’t see student - probed to continue
• electricity went up to 450 volts - 12.5% of participants stop at 300 volts -65% when to 450 volts
• students estimated only 3% would go to 450 volts
• situational variables influenced obedience - location, proximity and uniform

Question 14

Asch research - conformity

Answer 14

123 American male participants
was in a group of 6-8 with
confederate seated around a table positioned in the second to last seat had to verbally state which line they thought was closer in size to line x (thought was eye sight test)
25% of participants never gave a incorrect answer
the rest of the participants agreed with confederates incorrect answers 36.8% of the time
investigated the variables of - group size, unanimity and task difficulty

Question 15

define conformity

Answer 15

a change in an individuals behavior or option as a result of a real or imagined pressure from a group or person

Question 16

define obedience

Answer 16

a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order.