social influence - types and explanations of conformity Flashcards
what is the definition of conformity
a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
what are the 3 types of conformity identified by kelman
compliance, identification and internalisation
what is the definition of compliance
agreeing with a group but keeping personal opinions resulting in a temporary change in behaviour
what is the definition of identification
valuing the membership of a group so conforming to their behaviour or ideas to be apart of the group even if you dont fully agree
what is the definition of internalisation
the deepest level of conformity where personal opinions genuinely change to match the groups resulting in a permanent change in beliefs
what is informational social influence as an explanation for conformity
occurs when we look to the majority for information as we are unsure about the way in which to behave and we want to be correct. this often results in internalisation permanently adopting views of the majority
what is jenness’ supporting research for informational social influence
asked participants first alone, then in groups and then alone again to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar. she found that the second guess alone moved closer to the group guess demonstrating informational social influence
what is a weakness of jenness’ research into informational social influence
the task in this experiment was unusual and not like a task performed in day to day life therefore lacking mundane realism so it could be argued conformity would act differently in real world situations
what is normative social influence as an explanation for conformity
occurs when we wish to be liked by the majority so we go along with them even though we might not agree. this often results in compliance.
what is asch’s supporting research for normative social influence
gave an unambiguous line length test to participants who would choose the incorrect answer when selected by confederates. when interviewed afterwards participants said they conformed to avoid rejection from others demonstrating that people will show compliant behaviour in order to fit in and be approved by the majority
what is a weakness of asch’s research into normative social influence
the task in this experiment was unusual and not like a task performed in day to day life therefore lacking mundane realism so it could be argued conformity would act differently in real world situations
what was the procedure of aschs research into conformity
participants were told they were taking part in a visual perception task and were tested with 7-9 confederates. two white cards were displayed, the first showing a standard line and the second showing three comparison lines with one being the same length as the standard line. the group were asked on 18 trials which comparison line was the same length as the standard line. on 12 critical trials confederates gave the wrong answers
what were the findings of aschs research into conformity
conformity was 32% compared to 0.04% in the control group. 75% of participants conformed at least once and 5% conformed all 12 times
what are the weaknesses of aschs research into conformity
- the study used a biased sample: all participants were male who belonged to the same age group meaning the study lacks population validity so the results cannot be generalised to females or older groups of people
- the study lacks temporal validity: the study reflects the social conditions of 1950s america rather then demonstrating conformity. perrin and spencer replicated the study and found very different results
what were aschs variations in his research on conformity
group size, unanimity and task difficulty
