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