Social Influence Predicted Questions

Question 1

Outline and evaluate variables affecting conformity (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 1

• Using variations of his original study, Asch investigated three variable that could affect conformity; group size, unanimity and task difficulty. - When Ash varied the group size he found that when the participants completed the study with 1 confederate conformity was 3% on critical trials, with 2 confederates it was 12.8% and 32% for 3 confederates.
• Conformity is highest when the majority is only 3, after which the effect begins to level off.
• In his second variation Asch introduced a confederate into the study who either gave the correct answer or gave the alternative incorrect answer.
• He found that when a confederate gave the correct answer conformity dropped to 5%. If they gave a different incorrect answer to the majority, it dropped to 9%, suggesting breaking the unanimity of the group is enough to reduce conformity.
• In his final variation he made the task more difficult by making the lines more similar in size.
• He found that when the task was more ambiguous conformity increased probably as the participant was looking to the others for answers (informational social influence).

Question 2

Outline and evaluate variables affecting conformity (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 2

+ Other research has found similar findings. For example, Lucas et al. (2006) asked participants to solve easy or difficult maths problems and found that the participants conformed to three other students’ answers if the problems were hard. This demonstrates that task difficulty is a variable that can affect conformity.

• However, a weakness Asch’s studies is that the task and laboratory set up were artificial. This is an issue because we do not compare lines like this on a day to day basis and additionally this task has no particular consequences for the participants. This therefore limits the generalisability of the results and lacks ecological validity. We cannot make assumptions about how people who conform in real life situations, where their actions may have more meaningful consequences.
• Another weakness of Asch’s research into variables affecting conformity is that it could be considered culture bias. Other studies, such as Smith and Bond (1996) have fond some countries to be more conforming than others. China, for example, considers social groups to be more important than being an individual. These are known as collectivist societies, whereas places like the USA and UK are individualist societies that focus on the needs of the individual. Therefore, Asch’s research can tell us little about variables that affect conformity in these types of societies and so lacks generalisability.
• A final consideration is that some would argue that Asch’s research is deemed unethical. This is because participants were deliberately deceived as they were told it was a test of vision not conformity. However, the study would have lacked validity if the aim was known. Also, some participants felt stressed and underwent psychological harm during the study. However, Asch argued that he interviewed them after the study to overcome this and that overall the benefits of understanding the role of different variables in conformity would outweigh the ethical costs.

Question 3

Describe and evaluate research investigating conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 3

• Zimbardo aimed to see whether people would conform to the social role of a prison guard or a prisoner, when placed in a mock prison environment and to test the dispositional explanation of conformity.
• He recruited 21 healthy male volunteers and randomly allocated to ‘prisoner’ or
  ‘guard’ and local police were asked to make realistic arrests.
• Participants were blindfolded and taken to the mock prison at Stanford University, California and given uniforms as well as numbers instead of names. - The guards wore khaki shirts and trousers, dark glasses and carried wooden batons.
• The guards were allowed to make up the rules. Fairly quickly the guards began to behave in a brutal and sadistic manner, apparently enjoying it.
  -The prisoners were taunted with insults and generally dehumanised.
  -Zimbardo proposed the guards had undergone deindividuation, the decreased sense of self-awareness that can occur in groups or crowds.
• The prisoners rebelled, ripped their uniforms and swore at the guards.
• Some prisoners exhibited passive behaviour, depression, crying and anxiety. The study was meant to last two weeks but was stopped after only 6 days. - Zimbardo concluded that the study rejects the dispositional hypothesis of conformity.
• People will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play in certain situations (situational explanation).

Question 4

Describe and evaluate research investigating conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 4

• One criticism of Zimbardo’s study was that it lacked realism. Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) claimed that the participants were playacting based on stereotypes of how they thought prisoners and prison guards were supposed to behave. For example, one participant based his role on a character from the film ‘Cool Hand Luke’. This suggests we cannot use Zimbardo’s study to understand real life prison conformity to social roles. However, Zimbardo did report that 90% of the prisoners’ conversations were about prison life and prisoner 416 said he believed it to be a real prison and so it was reflective of a real prison environment.
• Zimbardo’s ignored the role of dispositional influences. Fromm (1973) believed Zimbardo exaggerated the power of the situation and minimised the role of personality. For instance, only 1/3 guards behaved brutally, whereas 1/3 applied rules fairly, and the remaining guards actually helped the prisoners. Therefore, Zimbardo may have overstated the role of situational factors in conformity to social roles.
• Zimbardo’s study is that other research has failed to replicate his findings. Reicher and Haslam (2002) replicated Zimbardo’s study in the UK. Carried out this study in the UK. In their study the guards were unwilling to impose authority over the prisoners and the prisoners rapidly took charge. Both groups attempted to establish an equal and fair social system, although this failed and some prisoners took control. Haslam suggested that tyranny may become acceptable when law and order breaks down and groups feel powerless. They proposed that social identity theory was a better explanation of conformity to social roles in that participants firstly have to identify with their roles in order to conform.

Question 5

Outline and evaluate explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks) - Social support AO1

Answer 5

• One explanation for resistance to social influence is social support.
• Those with social support can be more confident and will not fear rejection or ridicule.
• This means they are more likely to resist social influence and remain independent.
• In a variation of Asch, where a confederate gave the correct answer, conformity dropped to only 5%, suggesting that the participant felt more confident in choosing the correct answer, despite group pressure to give the incorrect answer, when he had social support.
• Similarly, in Milgram’s study, when a participant was paired with two other teachers (confederates) who refused to go on, the number of participants who continue to 450v dropped to 10%.

Question 6

Outline and evaluate explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks) - Social support AO3

Answer 6

+ Studies have replicated Asch and found similar results. For instance, resistance to conformity increased from 3% to 64% when there was social support. However, if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision it only increased to 36%. This suggests that social support does help with resistance to conformity but it has to be a valid support for a significant impact. (Allen & Levine, 1971).

• Research like Asch and Allen and Levine could be criticised for having a lack of ecological validity. The tasks were artificial and as such had no personal consequences for the participants. This makes it difficult to generalise these findings to real life instances of resistance to social influence. Despite this there has been research conducted in a more natural setting so show the impact of social support. Albrecht et al. (2006) found that adolescents who had a ‘buddy’ to support them during the Teen Fresh Start USA campaign (anti-smoking) were less likely to smoke than those without a buddy. Therefore, this study demonstrates the impact of social support on social influence with higher ecological validity than previous laboratory experiments.

Question 7

Outline and evaluate explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks) - Locus of control AO1

Answer 7

• Another explanation for resistance to social influence is locus of control.
• Locus of control refers to a person’s perception of how much personal control they have over their own behaviour.
• It is measured along a dimension of ‘high internal’ to ‘high external’.
• High internals are active seekers of information that is useful to them, so rely less on the opinions of others and resist the pressure to conform.
• They take responsibility for their own actions and base decisions on their own beliefs so resist pressures from others and so won’t obey destructive orders.
• They are more self confident and higher intelligence so better able to resist coercion from others as they don’t need social approval.
• Oliner & Oliner (1998) found that those who resisted orders in Nazi Germany were more likely to have a high internal locus of control.

Question 8

Outline and evaluate explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks) - Locus of control AO3

Answer 8

• A weakness of the locus of control explanation is that studies suggest the link between being high internal and resistance to social influence is weak. Twenge et al. (2004) analysed locus of control studies from 1960-2002 in America and found that over time people become more resistant but also more external. This is the opposite of what we would expect and suggests that explanations of resistance to social influence is more complex than locus of control would suggest.

Question 9

Describe and evaluate research into minority influence (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 9

• There are three main processes involved in minority influence; consistency, commitment and flexibility.
  -Consistency is repeating the same message over and over again, challenging the beliefs held by the majority. Synchronic consistency refers to the whole group saying the same thing and diachronic consistency refers to the group saying the same message over and over again.
• Commitment is shown when members of the minority demonstrate their dedication to their belief perhaps by making sacrifices. This shows that the minority is not acting out of self-interest and suggests certainty, confidence and courage in the face of a hostile majority. It can include extreme activities, such as the risk of imprisonment, also known as the augmentation principle.
• By showing this commitment, it can persuade majority group members to take them seriously.
• Over time, consistency and/or commitment gives the members of the majority an opportunity to listen to the minority view and adopt it as their own.
• Finally, flexibility suggests a rigid minority that refuses to compromise risks being perceived as dogmatic, i.e. narrow-minded but a minority that is too flexible could be perceived as inconsistent.
• Therefore, the minority must adapt their point of view and accept counter-arguments in order to persuade. When a number of like minded individuals form a minority group, the group will influence others around them by presenting their ideas and encouraging others to join in. This group slowly gains more authority and grows in number - becoming the majority. This is called the snowball effect.

Question 10

Describe and evaluate research into minority influence (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 10

+ In support of the role of consistency in minority influence, research has demonstrated how it can change an individuals opinion very quickly. Moscoviciet al. (1969 asked participantsto estimate the colour of 36 slides. All the slides were blue, but of differing brightness. Two out of the six participants were actually accomplices of the experimenter. There were two conditions; the consistent condition where the two accomplices called the slides green on all the trials and the inconsistent condition where the two accomplices called the slides green 24 times, and blue 12 times. 32% of participants in the consistent condition reported a green slide at least once and participants in the inconsistent condition yielded and called the slides green in only 1.3% of the trials. Therefore, this shows that minorities can influence a majority and that consistency is important in doing so.

• However, a criticism of Moscovici is that he uses an artificial task to test consistency. This is an issue because we do not choose colours like this on a day to day basis and additionally the task has no bearing on real life consequences. This therefore limits the generalisability of the results and lacks ecological validity. We cannot make assumptions about how consistency aids minority influence in real life situations, where the changing our opinion has more bearing on our lives.

+ A strength of the role of commitment in minority influence is that there are many examples in history demonstrating how important and effective it is. For example, civil rights activists in America took great risks in protesting against the unjust system at the time. ‘Freedom riders who sat on buses risked beatings and people such as Rosa Parks, faced imprisonment. They showed great personal sacrifice for what they believed in. Over time, the majority began to take them more seriously and consider the inequality in society, with the Government eventually passing the Civil Rights Act. This therefore demonstrates the importance of a minority showing commitment to their beliefs in persuading a majority to change its point of view.

Question 11

Discuss the role of social influence processes in social change (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 11

• There are many key processes involved in social change according to social influence research.
  Initially minorities draw attention to their viewpoint through campaigns and protests.
• They will demonstrate consistency over time by presenting the same message over and over again. This means the majority will begin to think more deeply about the issue.
• If the minority take risks in presenting their message then the majority will see that they have a strong belief which reinforces their message. Over time the minority will convert others to the viewpoint and so their group slowly gains more authority and grows in number - becoming the majority. This is called the snowball effect.
• Governments may then implement policies reflecting these changing attitudes which creates social change through the process of obedience. Eventually, when social change has occurred, many will have no memory of how the changes came about, referred to as social cryptoamnesia.

Question 12

Discuss the role of social influence processes in social change (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 12

+ Conformity research has shown us the power of social support and normative social influence in social change. When we have social support, it will break the power of the majority, enabling others to resist conformity. Additionally, if we provide information about what other people are doing it encourages normative social influence as we draw attention to the issue. Obedience research also shows that if we can encourage people to commit to a small change in behaviour they are more likely to then commit a bigger change later on, known as gradual commitment.

+ In support of the role of social influence process in social change, research has demonstrated how normative social influence can cause changes in behaviour. Nolan et al (2008) studied energy consumption in a community where they hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California every week for a month. The key message was that most residents were trying to reduce their energy consumption. There was also a control condition where some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy but made no reference to other people’s behaviour. They found significant decreases in energy usage in the first group suggesting that when we believe the majority are doing something we will also conform to this.

+ A strength of research into social influence processes is that it helps to explain how social change comes about. Nemeth (1986) explained that social change happens slowly, for example, it has taken decades for attitudes on drink-driving and smoking to shift. The effects of minority influence are likely to be indirect and delayed as it takes time for a majority to think about the issues more deeply and weigh up the different options.

• However, Mackie (1987) believes majorities may create deeper processing than minorities. This is because if you do not share the views of a majority it forces us to consider their view more deeply as we like to think that others believe the same things as us. This suggests minority influence alone may not be a valid explanation of social change.