Social Influence - Social Influence/Change Flashcards
1
Q
In each of these studies (Asch, Milgram, Hofling, Zimbardo), how many participants resisted social influence?
A
- Asch (1951) : 24%
- Milgram (1963) : 35% (14 ppts)
- Hofling (1966) : 1 nurse
- Zimbardo (1974) : around two-thirds
2
Q
What is an external factor affecting resistance to social influence?
A
- social support
- presence of others who are also resisting the pressure to conform/obey
3
Q
What is an internal factor affecting the resistance to social influence?
A
- (internal) locus of control
4
Q
What is social support?
A
- where an individual is able to resist the pressure to conform if they have an ally (supporting their point of view)
- it allows them to build confidence and remain independent as they no longer fear being ridiculed
- they avoid NSI
5
Q
Social support research support : Conformity
A
- pressure to conform can be reduced if there are others who are not conforming
- despite not giving the correct answer, the fact that they are going against the majority allows the individual to follow their own conscience
- e.g. Asch’s variations
- one correct dissenter = 5.5%
- one incorrect dissenter = 9%
- Allen and Levine (1971):
- similar to Asch’s variations/results
- conformity rates decreased (even if dissenter said they had vision problems)
- shows how having just one person going against the majority can lead to an individual resisting conformity
6
Q
Social support research support : Obedience
A
- pressure to obey can be reduced if another person disobeys
- e.g. Milgram’s variations
- disobedient confederate = 10%
- does not always follow their behaviour but has a will to follow/not follow based on their conscience
- Gamson et al. (1982):
- researchers asked for volunteers (Michigan, USA) to take part in paid group discussion
- they were met by consultant from MHRC (told that they were to discuss the petrol station manager’s sacking)
- the cameraman stopped multiple times to get the ppts to argue in favour (oil company) of the sacking of the manager
- they were asked to sign consent forms to show this film at court
- 32/33 groups rebelled during the group discussion
- they established a strong group identity
- “we don’t want to go on record… all three of us feel the same”
- 25/33 groups refused to sign the consent form
- 9 groups threatened legal action against MHRC
- shows the power of social support when resisting obedience to authority
7
Q
What are the strengths of social support?
A
- research support:
- Asch’s study (conformity) = 5.5%
- Milgram’s study (obedience) = 10%
- both show how social support can reduce social influence
- can be applied to real life (high ecological validity):
- Gamson’s study = the ppts were unaware that they were participating in a psychological study (no demand characteristics)
- the task given was also not ‘artificial’ (i.e. based on real-life situations), having discussions about the standards of behaviour in the community
8
Q
What are the weaknesses of social support?
A
- group size:
- it can only be applied to groups of under 10
- here, one dissenter can influence resistance to conformity/obedience
- however, in the real world, group sizes are much larger (100s), so one dissenter will not make much of a difference
- so these studies are restricted to small group sizes (do not represent group sizes in the real world)
- more research is required to establish effects of social support (resistance to social influence)
9
Q
What is locus of control’?
A
- proposed by Julian Rotter (1966)
- refers to a person’s perception of the degree of personal control they have over their behaviour
- Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale (questionnaire) measured this trait
10
Q
What is external locus of control?
A
- where individuals believe that their actions result largely from factors outside their control (i.e. luck or fate)
11
Q
What is internal locus of control?
A
- where individuals feel that they have a stronger sense of control over their lives
- they are active seekers of information
- rely less on the opinion of others
- more likely to resist pressure from others (resistant to social influence)
12
Q
Why do people who have an internal LOC more likely to resist pressures to conform/obey?
A
- they are able to take responsibility for their own actions/experiences (good or bad)
- they base their decisions on their own beliefs and thus resist pressures from others
- other characteristics:
- self-confident
- achievement orientated
- higher intelligence
- less need for social approval
13
Q
What are the strengths of locus of control?
A
- supporting evidence:
- Oliner and Oliner (1988) = interviewed 2 groups of non-Jewish people who lived through Holocaust and Nazi Germany
- 406 ppl protected/rescued Jews
- 126 ppl did not help Jews
- those who rescued the Jews had scores demonstrating internal LOC (they are more likely to act than leave situation to fate)
- Holland (1967) = repeated Milgram’s experiment and measured whether the ppts were internal or external LOC
- 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock
- 23% of externals did not continue to highest shock
- increases validity of LOC explanation (resistance to social influence)
14
Q
What are the weaknesses of locus of control?
A
- conflicting research evidence:
- Twenge (2004) = analysed data from American obedience studies (1960-2002)
- showed that people have become more resistant to obedience, but also more external LOC
- challenges the link between internal LOC and being resistant to social influence (especially obedience)
- also questions how this is being measured
- Rotter’s questionnaire was devised in 1967 (society had very different viewpoints/WWII had taken place just 22 years before)
- questions whether it is relevant in today’s world, hence it lacks temporal validity
15
Q
What is minority influence?
A
- where individuals are motivated to reject established majority group norms
- achieved through conversion (majorities gradually won over by minority viewpoint)
- conversion can be seen as a type of internalisation as the new behaviour is accepted both publicly and privately
- it’s associated with internalisation as the minority disagrees with the majority and goes against them
16
Q
What are the behavioural characteristics of minority influence?
A
- consistency:
- MI will be more persuasive if their views are consistent (unchanging), show confidence, appear unbiased
- others will reassess situation and consider issue more carefully
- commitment:
- important as it suggests certainty, confidence, and courage
- greater commitment may persuade the majority to take them seriously
- augmentation principle explains how minorities can change the majority viewpoint if they do something risky (shows commitment)
- this will lead to majority showing more interest
- flexibility:
- Mugny (1982) suggests this is more effective (at changing majority opinion) than rigidity of arguments
- minorities are generally powerless compared to majority so therefore they have to negotiate instead of enforcing their position
- however, the minority must not be too flexible (weak/inconsistent) or too rigid (dogmatic)
17
Q
How does consistency affect minority influence ?
A
- Moscovici (1969):
- he wanted to see if a consistent minority could influence the majority to give an incorrect answer
- 172 female ppts (groups of 6 with 2 confederates)
- shown 36 slides and 2 conditions (1. all 36 were green, 2. 24 were green and 12 were blue)
- consistent = real ppts agreed on 8.2% trials
- inconsistent = real ppts agreed on 1.25% of trials
- so consistency is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority
- Wood et al. (1994):
- carried out meta analysis of 97 studies of minority influence
- those who were perceived as being especially consistent were particularly influential
18
Q
How does commitment affect minority influence?
A
- Xie et al. (2011):
- discovered ‘tipping point’ where the number of people (minority) is sufficient to change majority opinion
- found that 10% of minority population is needed to influence the majority
19
Q
How does flexibility affect minority influence?
A
- Nemeth (1986):
- believed that flexibility is a more effective trait than consistency
- ppts (groups of 4 with 1 confederate) had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a ski-lift accident victim
- 2 conditions (1. minority asked for lower rate of compensation and refused to change position, 2. compromised by offering slightly higher rate)
- inflexible = minority had little to no effect on majority
- flexible = majority members were more likely to also compromise/change their view
- questions the idea of consistency (a balance between the two is the most successful strategy)
20
Q
What are the strengths of minority influence?
A
- (real value of) research:
- Nemeth (2010) argues that the minority group opens the mind and allows people to consider more options, make better decisions, be more creative
- researchers can then understand the means/processes for social change (linked to minority influence)
- research evidence:
- change in minority position involves deeper processing of ideas
- Martin et al. (2003) gave ppts a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support
- one group heard minority group agree with initial view
- other group heard majority group agree
- the ppts were then giving a conflicting viewpoint and attitudes were measured again
- they were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to the minority than the majority
- shows how MI has a more enduring effect and allows views to be more deeply processed
21
Q
What are the weaknesses of minority influence?
A
- lack of realism/ecological validity:
- many tasks given to ppts (e.g. Moscovici’s study) cannot be seen as very ‘real to life’
- so we should be cautious when analysing the results of these studies as they may not represent MI in the real world
- Nemeth (2010) argued that it is difficult to convince people of the value of the dissent
- although they may accept the minority view on the surface, they may become irritated by it due to the lack of harmony (hence the attempt to belittle the view)
22
Q
What is social change?
A
- when a whole society changes and adopts new beliefs/ways of behaving (becomes the norm)
- it is commonly the result of minority influence
23
Q
Examples of social change:
A
- attitudes towards homosexuality
- women’s right to vote
- immigration
- anti-slavery
- acceptance of mental disabilities
24
Q
What are the stages required for a minority group to create social change?
A
- drawing attention to the issue
- consistency of position
- deeper processing
- the augmentation principle (willing to suffer for their views)
- the snowball effect (spreads more widely until minority become majority)
- social cryptoamnesia (majority do not recall how the social change happened)
25
How does conformity research (Asch) show social change?
- a variation with one dissenter dropped conformity rates
- shows how this has the potential to lead to social change
- environmental/health campaigns use processes like NSI (e.g. 'others do it too')
- social change is encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority are doing
26
How does obedience research (Milgram) show social change?
- one disobedient person decreased the obedience rates dramatically
- Zimbardo (2007) suggested how obedience can create social change through gradual commitment
- so social change can take place if one disobedient person can take the *correct* decision and others can follow
27
How does minority influence research (Moscovici) show social change?
- demonstrated needs to be committed, flexible, and consistent to start social change
- conversion is possible if the source is consistent and passionate
- over time, people will switch from the majority to the minority (forming the new majority)
28
What are the strengths of social influence processes in social change?
- research evidence:
- Nolan (2008) investigated whether social influence led to a reduction in energy consumption
- every week for a month he hung messages on front doors in San Diego saying *most residents* were trying to reduce energy use
- control group's message did not mention other residents
- group that mentioned other residents decreased energy usage
- conformity can lead to social change through NSI
29
What are the weaknesses of social influence processes in social change?
- effects of MI is likely to be indirect/delayed (Nemeth (1986)):
- indirect = majority are only influenced on matters at hand, not the central issues
- delayed = effects may not be seen for some time
- can be seen as limitation of using MI as its effects are fragile and limited
- therefore making it difficult to test/measure in a scientific setting
- barriers to social change:
- Bashir (2013) found that ppts were less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways as they did not want to be associated with environmentalists ('tree huggers')
- social change can only take place if the minority are not associated with negative or extremist stereotypes
