SOCIAL INFLUENCE ( MRS M)

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

when a person changes their attitude or behaviour due to real or imagined group peer pressure

Question 2

explain what is meant by compliance?

Answer 2

compliance is the lowest level of conformity. A person changes their public behaviour but not their private belief . This is usually a short term change

Question 3

explain what is meant by identification

Answer 3

Identification is the middle level of conformity. Here a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs , but only while in the presence of the group they are identifying with
. This is usually a short term change

Question 4

explain what is meant by internalisation?

Answer 4

Internalisation is the deepest level of conformity . Here a person changes both their public behaviour and their private beliefs. This is usually long term.

Question 5

Explain what is meant by Normative Social Influence (NSI)

Answer 5

conforming to be accepted and belong to a group

Question 6

why do people conform to NSI

Answer 6

it is socially rewarding, to avoid punishment

Question 7

what is an example of NSI

Answer 7

Compliance

Question 8

Explain what is meant by Informative Social Influence (ISI)

Answer 8

Conforming to gain knowledge and be “right”

Question 9

Why may people conform to ISI

Answer 9

to act appropriately , to avoid standing out

Question 10

What is an example of ISI

Answer 10

Internalisation

Question 11

EXPLANATIONS INTO CONFORMITY - AO3 eval

What is one strength of research into explanations of conformity ( PEE)

Answer 11

P: A strength is that there is research evidence to support informational social evidence .
E: Lucas et al asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were either easy or difficult . There was greater conformity on the more difficult questions , especially if the students rated their skills as poor
E: This suggests that when people don’t know the answer they look to others for guidance as they have a desire to be right . This shows that the theory has validity .

Question 12

what is one limitation to explanations of conformity ? (PEE)

Answer 12

P: A weakness is that there are individual differences in normative social influence and not everyone is affected in the same way .
E : Mcghee and Teevan found that people who are less concerned with being liked are less likely to be affected by NSI. Those that had a high need to be liked .
E: This suggests that the desire to be liked is more important for some than others so not everyone responds to NSI in the same way .

Question 13

APPLICATION QUESTION : Daniel is taking his AS psychology exam And has answered a difficult multiple choice question which he believes is D . He looks either side and notices Mila , a very intelligent student , has answered A. He decides to change his answer accordingly .

Using your knowledge if conformity , outline two reasons why Daniel changes his answer from D to A .( 4 marks )

Answer 13

IDEAL ANSWER :
Daniel is demonstrating informational social influence as he is coping Mila to gain knowledge and/or to be right which is why he changes his answer from D to A .In addition , Daniel is demonstrating internalisation , as he is changing both his public behaviour and private beliefs by changing his answer from D to A as he believes that Mila ( who is intelligent ) is likely to be right

Question 14

Outline Asch’s research into conformity

Answer 14

Asch studied 123 American male undergraduates. Ppts were showed 2 large cards at a time . 1 card had a standard line and the other had 3 comparison lines . 1 of the comparison lines was the same length as the standard line - this was always clear (umbigious) . Ppts were asked which line ( A,B,C) matched the standard line. Each pp was tested individually within a group of 6-8 confederates. On the1st trial confederates gave the correct answer . Confederates were then instructed to give the same wrong answer on 12 trials out of 18.

Question 15

What were Asch’s findings

Answer 15

The pps gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time ( so out of the12 critical trials , they gave a wrong answer 36.8% on them) .
25% did not conform on any of the trials. This means 75% conformed at least once . This result is called the Asch effect : when pps conform even when the situation is unambiguous ( clear )
When pps were interviewed afterwards they said they conformed due to normative social influence .

Question 16

what are 2 variations that Asch had and explain each’s role .

Answer 16

1. Group size - if there was only 2 confederates , conformity was low . When 3 or more are included conformity would rise . 3 confederates - 31.8% , 7 confederates - 36.8% , Anything bigger makes little difference.
2. Task difficulty - Asch made the task harder by making the stimulus line and comparison line more similar in length . Conformity increased when the task was more difficult . This suggests that informational social influence plays a part when the task becomes more difficult because people want to be right

Question 17

Outline Zimbardo’s research into conformity

Answer 17

Zimbardo wanted to investigate if people were likely to conform to social roles . He created a mock prison chose 24 men and paid them $15 to participate. He randomly assigned them to prisoner or guard , had them ‘arrested’ .

He found that roles were quickly established and conformed to especially by guards ( appeared to enjoy power ) . Prisoners rebelled , after rebelling they became subdued , anxious and depressed . The behaviour become a threat to the physical and psychological health of pps so the study was stopped after 6 days instead of 14.

The study demonstrated that situations have great power over individual’s behaviour . Guards , prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles very easily .

Question 18

What are 2 strengths of Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Answer 18

One strength is that the study was controlled .

Zimbardo ensured that selected ppts were emotionally stable. He also randomly assigned roles either guard or prisoner . This reduced individual personality differences making sure all behaviour observed was due to the situation not their personality .

This shows high internal validity.

Another strength was how it was a realistic set up of how prisons work.

Zimbardo gathered quantitive data about prisoner conversations. He found that prisoners mostly talked about prison life and one even said it was a real prison ran by psychologists not the government. This suggests that the experiment reflected real lie .

Suggests that the study has high validity because the setting was believable to the pps .

Question 19

Outline 2 Weaknesses of Zimbard0’s prison experiment

Answer 19

One weakness is that it was criticised for exaggerating the power of the situation and minimising power of personality of the guards .

Fromm noticed 1/3 of he guards behaved in a brutal manner. 1/3 applied rules failry and the 1/3 empathised with the them eg. relaxed rules.

Suggests that Zimbardo’s conclusion was exaggerated and that many guards showed they were able to choose right from wrong despite pressure to conform.

Another weakness of this was the ethical issues in this study.

Despite assesing ppts Zimbardo could not predict behaviour . During the study one ppt wanted to leave but Zimbardo talked to him as if he was actually a guard and convinced him to stay. This shows that Zimbardo did not act responsibly .

This suggests it would be difficult to replicate the study to check reliability