Social Influence - types of conformity Flashcards
Internalisation - think the group is right
A conversion of your own personal view
The behaviour or belief of the majority is accepted by the individual and is internalised (becomes apart of your own personal belief system)
It is the most permanent type of conformity as it continues once the influence is no longer present
Identification - value the group
When people adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of a group as they see those in the group as role models
Stronger than compliance
It is generally temporary and is not maintained the moment the individual leaves the group
e. g conforming to the dress sense of the group
Compliance - temporary agreement
Publically conforming with the views and opinions of the majority
It is a temporary change as it lasts a short amount of time and only exists when the group is present
e.g laughing at a joke you do not find funny because the group are laughing
Conformity
A form of the majority influence where the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of people in a particular group are adopted in response to real or imagined group pressure
What are the two explanations for conformity (dual process model)
Informational social influence
Normative social influence
Informational social influence (ISI)
- cognitive process
The desire to be right - accepting majority’s viewpoint
It is the desire to be right because you are usually unsure, especially in ambiguous situations
It is common with people uncertain about their own opinions and believing others have superior knowledge to you
It is associated with internalisation
Normative social influence (NSI)
- emotional process
The desire to be liked - following the crowd
It is the desire to be liked by other people and avoidance of being left out
Approval is sought and associated with compliance
e.g when a joke is made and everyone laughs, however you, yourself may not find the joke funny but laugh anyways
What are the two strengths of the explanations of conformity?
Research to support ISI
Research to support NSI
EVALUATION: Research to support ISI
P - One strength of ISI explanation of conformity is that there is supporting evidence
E - For example Lucas et al asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or difficult
E - Greater conformity to incorrect answers was found when the questions were difficult rather than easy. This is because when the problems were easy participants ‘knew their own minds’, but when the problems were hard the situation became ambiguous. The participants did not want to be wrong so they relied on the answers they were given
L - Therefore this supports the role of ISI in conformity. Thus increasing the validity of this explanation
COUNTERPOINT FROM LUCAS ET AL
P - However it is often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies (or in real life)
EE - For example Asch found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant present. The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI by providing social support, or they may reduce the power of ISI because they provide alternative source of information. Both interpretations are possible
L - Therefore it is hard to separate ISI and NSI and both processes probably operate together in most real world conformity situations
EVALUATION: Research to support NSI
P - One strength of NSI explanation of conformity is that there is supporting evidence
E - For example Asch asked participants to judge the lengths of lines and match them to a standard line. He found that many of the participants went along with the obviously wrong answers of the other group members
E - When asked by Asch is post-experimental interviews why they did this, participants said that they changed their answer to avoid disapproval from the rest of the group, which clearly shows that compliance had occurred as the participants conformed in order to ‘fit in’.
Further to this, Asch demonstrated in a later variation that when the pressure to publicly conform is removed by asking participants to write down their answers on a piece of paper, rather than say them aloud the conformity rates fell to 12.5% as the fear of rejection became far less
L - This shows that at least some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing with them
What are two limitations
Individual differences are ignored
Belongingness is more powerful than social approval
EVALAUATION: Individual differences are ignored
P - A limitation of NSI is that it fails to account for individual differences in conformity
E - For example, some individuals care more about being accepted by others and are more likely to be influenced by the majority and conform to be liked than those who care less about being liked. Additionally, Shute found individuals with an external locus of control are more likely to conform, as they believe the cause of behaviour lies externally and beyond their own control.
E - Thus, the problem with the dual process model is that it believes that all humans react to conformity in the same way . This is a key oversight because these personality related factors are key in determining the likelihood of conforming and are factors that vary between individuals
L - Therefore, individual differences are not accounted for, giving the NSI explanation incomplete and reducing its validity
EVALUATION: Belongingness is more powerful than social approval
P - A further limitation is that there are alternative reasons for why people conform
E - For example Deutsch and Gerard found a 7 times greater rate of conformity when the other group members belonged to the participants’ in groups (shared interests and identity) rather than an out group (different interests/identity)
E - Therefore, belonging to a certain group may have a greater influence on conformity than seeking approval from other
L - This suggests the dual process model may be an incomplete explanation of conformity because it cannot account for the role of social circumstances in conformity, which reduces the validity of the model
