Social Influence - Types of conformity and explanations

Question 1

What are the 3 types of conformity?

Answer 1

• Compliance: A superficial and tempory type of conformity, agree with view publicly but privately disagree - takes place to not stand out
• Identification: A superficial and temporary type of conformity, agree with view publicly but disagree privately - takes place beacuse we value the group and want to be part of it
• Internalisation: A more permanent change, agree with view both publicly and privately - takes place because we fully agree with the group and take on the group’s values

Question 2

What does conformity mean?

Answer 2

The tendancy to change behaviours and/or attitudes due to influence of others.

Question 3

What are the 2 explanations of conformity?

Answer 3

• Normative social influence (NSI)
• Informational social influence (ISI)
• Deutsch and Gerard 1955 - two process theory for 2 main reasons why people conform based on 2 central human needs: need to be right and need to be liked

Question 4

Explain NSI

Answer 4

• The central human need to be liked
• We conform to gain social approval and be accepted by a group, to also fit in
• Most likely to occur if the group is important to you
• Type of conformity: Identification and Compliance (temporary change in behaviour)

Question 5

Explain ISI

Answer 5

• The central human need to be right
• We conform to be right
• Most likely happens in new, ambiguous situations where it is not clear what’s right
• You look to others to see how to behave
• Type of conformity: internalisation (permanent change in behaviour)

Question 6

What was the overview and aim of Asch’s study?

Answer 6

• Asch 1956 study into conformity
• He investigated variables affecting conformity called the Opinions and Social Pressure study
• Aim: He wanted to test conformity under non ambiguous conditions. He made a simple perceptive task of matching the length of a line to one of three other comparisson lines.

Question 7

What was the procedure of Asch’s Opinions and Social Pressure study?

Answer 7

• 123 American male students
• Told it was a study into perception but it was really into conformity
• Only one real P was tested at a time, all the 7 others in the room were confederates
• Actors were told to give the same wrong answer
• Conducted in a lab
• Sat around a table in a horseshoe shape, real P was sat second to last in which they were faced with either giving their own opinion or conformingto the opinion of the group

Question 8

What were the findings of Asch’s study?

Answer 8

Quantitative
* In controlled condition (test with no actors present) - Ps would only make errors less than 1% of the time
* In condition with fake Ps, real Ps conformed 36.8%
* 25% of Ps didn’t conform at all
* 75% of Ps conformed at least once
Qualitative
Those who did conform did it to not spoil results of study and others conformed because they thought the majority who followed the wrong answer were sheep
Overall, Ps conformedto fit in (NSI).

Question 9

What are the 3 main variables affecting conformity?

Answer 9

1. Group size - The more confederates in the group, pressure to conform increased. With 3 confederates, Asch found the rate of conformity was 31.8%. He concluded the majority of confederates didn’t need to be more than 3 to see conformity.
2. Broken unanimity - When the P was in a condition with the support of a truthful partner and the majority of the group’s answers weren’t all wrong, conformity was reduced by 1/4. Asch concluded that the majority had to be unanimous to have influence of conformity.
3. Task difficulty - When Asch made the lines more closer in size and the answer wasn’t so clear, conformity increased. Asch concluded that when people are unsure and the situation is ambiguous, we look to others and conform.