Social Influences on Behaviour Flashcards
Definition of group.
2 or more people who interact with each other, influence each other and share a common purpose.
Definition of status.
An individuals position in the group that are perceived by other people in the same group.
Definition of power.
An individual to an extent can influence or control other individuals thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
Types of Power.
Reward power, Coercive power, Legitimate power, Expert power and Referent power.
Reward Power.
Example:
Provide the desired response, and get a reward.
Eg. parents giving their child a treat.
Coercive Power.
Example:
Use an unpleasant consequence (force).
Eg. Police.
Legitimate Power.
Example:
The power is given by a higher authority. A role/position.
Eg. School principle
Expert Power.
Example:
Power due to skills and depth of knowledge.
Eg. A doctor.
Referent Power.
Example:
Desire to relate to a powerful person; wanting to be like them/well liked.
Eg. A celebrity.
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment, Aim:
To investigate Status and Power on behaviour.
Zimbardo’s IV.
Prisoner or Guard.
Zimbardo’s DV.
How they acted; their actions.
Zimbardo’s Participants:
20 male students, who were either a Guard or Prisoner.
Zimbardo’s Method:
Prisoners were “arrested” by real police, and were taken to a mock prison in the basement of a university campus building. They were put in certain circumstances, where the guards had more power over them. This experiment was to run for 14 days but got cut short to 6 days.
Zimbardo’s Results:
None of the prisoners stood up for themselves, they accepted that they were prisoners and the guards were of a higher status.
The guards abused their power, and none of the other guards stood up to Jone Wane (the main guard) he was the group leader; took charge.
The experiment only lasted for 6 days.
Ended because the guards’ treatment of the prisoners got out of hand.
Zimbardo’s Criticism:
Prisoners did not consent to being “arrested” at home, and the experiment was unpredictable and he didn’t know what would happen.
Zimbardo’s Ethical Issues:
- Withdrawal rights, tried to bribe them to stay.
- No harm principle, mentally harmed.
- Debriefing, appropriate debriefing was was not shown.
- Beneficence, more risks than benefits, risk of the prisoners getting hurt and PTSD.
Definition of Obedience.
Following the instructions of people of authority or rules/laws of society.
Factors that affect obedience:
- Status or authority figure.
- Proximity, how far or close someone/something is.
- Group pressure, (peer pressure)
Milgrim’s obedience experiment, Aim:
To investigate whether participants would obey an authority figure and carry out actions that cause severe pain to another person.
Milgrim’s Method:
The teacher (participant) would give the learner a shock, for every wrong answer they got. each time they got a question wrong, the voltage of the shocks got higher. This looked at obedience to see how obedient they were when the authority figure was in close proximity, and /or in the other room. In some cases, some of the participants could see the learner.
Milgrim’s IV:
How close or far away the experimenter is. In the room or outside the room; proximity of the authority figure.
Milgrim’s DV:
The obedience of the participants; how far they went on he volt level.
Migrim’s Results:
65% of the participants administered shock up to 450 volts - the highest shock level.
people were likely to perform actions contrary to their beliefs if they were instructed to do so by authority.
Milgrim’s Ethical Issues:
- No harm principle.
- Withdrawal rights.
- Beneficence.
- Deception.
- Debriefing
Definition of Conformity:
An alignment of one’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviour to match others or social expectations.
Doing something because others are doing it; want to fit in with the crowd.
Definition of Social Norms:
Unofficial rules and expectations of society, which regards how we ought to act that most people follow without thinking.
Asch’s Conformity Experiment, Aim:
To measure the extent to which individuals would conform to the majority group.
Asch’s Method:
There were 3 lines, and the participant was to align the target line with a, b or c. The target line was obvious with which line it matched up with. The participant was in a room with other people who were helping with the experiment. If everyone said the answer was “b” when the participant knew it wasn’t, they still conformed and said what everyone else thought.
Asch’s results:
74% of the participants conformed at least once, and 24% of the participants didn’t conform at any point during the study.