Social Influence (Unit 1) Flashcards
Outline and explain ‘Compliance’ as a type of conformity
- When individuals adjust their behaviour or opinion to a group publically
- Weak, or temporary form of conformity
- Dependent on the presence of the group
Outline and explain ‘Identification’ as a type of conformity
- Adjusting one’s beliefs to befriend a group which are desirable
- Private AND public acceptance
- Temporary and dependent on the presence of the group
Outline and explain ‘Internalisation’ as a type of conformity
- Both public AND private adjustment
- Not dependent on the presence of the group
List the three types of conformity
Compliance
Identification
Internalisation
Define ‘Normative Social Influence’
- The desire to be accepted
- Relates the compliance type of conformity
Define ‘Informational Social Influence’
- The desire to be correct
- One’s view changes to be in line with others, both publically and privately
- Relates to the internalisation type of conformity
KEY STUDY: Asch (1951)
What was it?
- 123 American Male Students
- Participants were shown a line, and then 3 more lines, they had to deciefer which are the same
- There were 7/9 confederates within each group, and one real participant, who would be sat second to last
- A control group were tested individually
- Critical Trials; where all confederates gave identical wrong answers
KEY STUDY: Asch (1951)
What did he find?
- Critical Trials; 32% conformity
- 75% conformed at least once
- 25% did not conform at all
What were the reasons given in Asch’s conformity study for obviously giving the wrong answer?
Distortion of action; avoiding public ridicule
Distortion of perception; ppt. believed they were wrong
Distortion of judgment; had doubts about judgement
Perrin and Spencer recreated Asch’s conformity study 29 years later, what did they find?
(British Engineering, Maths and Chemisty students)
Only ONE conforming response within of 396 trials
List some of the attributes of someone with a ‘conformist personality’
- Interlectually less effective
- Submissive
- Feelings of inferiority
- Less mature social relationships
What is a social role?
The part that individuals play as members of a social group, which meets the expectations of the situation. People learn to do this by watching others
e.g. son/daughter/student/customer/friend
KEY STUDY: Zimbardo et al. (1973)
What was it?
- 21 male university students who responded to a newspaper advertisement
- Zimbardo created a mock prison in a university basement, ppts were randomly selected as prisoners or guards
KEY STUDY: Zimbardo et al. (1973)
What did they find?
- SITUATIONAL HYPOTHESIS; ppts were generally passive people
- After 36 hours a prisoner was released due to an emotional fit, three more were released in the following days. A fifth prisoner developed a rash after denied parole
- Experiment lasted 6 days, out of the planned 14
Evaluation of Zimbardo’s Prison Study
Cons:
- Ethical Issues; brutality and psychological harm
- Demand Characteristics; guards may have acted how they thought they were supposed to
Outline Hoffling et al.’s Nurse Study
- Nurses in a hospital were telephoned by a ‘Dr Smith’ and asked to administer 20mg of Astroten to a patient
- 21/22 nurses followed his instructions
Define what an ‘autonomous state’ is
When individuals have control and act according to their own wishes and are responsible for their own actions
Define what an ‘agentic state’ is
When individuals obey orders, and maybe do something unethical as someone else is responsible for the action
KEY STUDY: Milgram (1963)
What was it?
(Cannot be bothered to explain entire study)
- 40 American males aged 20-50 who responded to a newspaper advertisement
- 15 to 450 volts, at 150 Mr Wallace protests
- “the experiment requires you to continue”
KEY STUDY: Milgram (1963)
What did he find?
- 100% of ppts went up to 300 volts
- 65% of ppts went up to 450 volts
Evaluation of Milgram’s Teacher/Learner Study
Pros:
- Study created a template for further research
- ‘Prods’ given by the researcher were the same for every ppt
Cons:
-Practical Applications; people still commit crimes whilst “just following orders”
Outline some variations of Milgram’s Teacher/Learner Study
Experimenter giving orders over the phone (62.5% to 20.5%)
Teacher and Learner in the same room (62.5% to 40%)
Teacher having to force Learner’s hand onto electric plate (40% to 30%)
Conducted in a rundown office block (62.5% to 47.5%)
Outline the procedure and findings of Blickman (1974)
Procedure:
-3 male experimenters dressed in either a public service uniform or as a civilian and asked people for money for a parking meter
Findings:
Civilian = 19% compliance
Milkman = 14%
Guard = 38%
Describe what is meant by an ‘authoritarian personality’
Someone who hold rigid beliefs, intolerant to authority and hostile to those of lower class
What is the F-Scale, and what did Zilmer et al. find out about it?
The F-Scale is a questionnaire consisting of 30 questions, and assessing 9 personality dimensions
Zilmer et al. found that 16 Nazi war criminals scored highly on three of the dimensions, but not all nine
Evaluation of the F-Scale
Pros:
-Altemeyer produced a less biased “Right-Wing Authoritarian scale”
Cons:
-Controversial results; some people, e.g. Zilmer’s Nazis, didn’t score as highly as predicted
What are the two components of Resistance to Social Influence?
- Disobedience
- Non-Conformity, which can occur in two ways:
- Independence (lack of movement toward/away from social expectations)
- Anti-Conformity (consistent movement AWAY from social expectations)
Outline a variation of Asch’s study and it’s affect on conformity
In one variation, a confederate disagrees with the rest of the group, and real ppts’ conformity dropped sharply because of this
Describe what is meant by a ‘high internal locus of control’
The belief that one can influence the outcome of a situation through the choices and decisions you make
Describe what is meant by a ‘high external locus of control’
The belief that everything happens because of luck or fate regardless of your actions
Define ‘minority influence’
A type of influence which motivates individuals to reject majority norms
Identify differences between Majority and Minority influence
Majority:
- Resistant to change
- Associated with compliance
Minority:
-Requires conversion, internalisation and informational social influence
KEY STUDY: Moscovici et al. (1969)
What was it?
-128 ppts and 64 confederates, all female
-They had to look at 36 slides (all different shades of blue) and state the colour of the slide
-Split into groups of 6 (4 real, 2 confederate)
-There were 2 different conditions:
+Consistent: Confederates answer only “Green”
+Inconsistent: Confederates answer 24/36 as “Green”
KEY STUDY: Moscovici et al. (1969)
What did they find?
Consistent:
- ppts answered green for 8.2% of slides
- 32% of ppts answered green at least once
Inconsistent:
-ppts answered green for 1.25% of slides
KEY STUDY: Moscovici et al. (1969)
State two criticisms of the study
- Unethical; involves deceit
2. Population (In)validity, only females
Briefly outline Nemeth’s (1986) flexibility study
- Groups of 4 (3 ppts and 1 confederate)
- Confederate needs to decide how much compensation to grant for a ski-lift accident
- Conf plays the consistent minority
- When the conf tries to compromise, the ppts also become more flexible with their responses
Define ‘snowball effect’
When a minority view gains momentum and more people begin to adopt the view (internalisation)
Define ‘social cryptoamnesia’
When minority views are adopted by the majority, and then the origin of the view is forgotten
Define ‘Commitment’
Minorities can exert influence by showing dedication e.g. the willingness to make sacrifices
Define ‘Consistency’
Where a person/group maintains the same stance over time
Define ‘Flexibility’
Demonstrating the ability to be cooperative and reasonable
