Social influene Flashcards
When does conformity occur
When a person adapts the attitudes, belief and behaviours of people in a group in response to real or imagined pressure.
define conformity
can be defined as giving in to pressure.
name the three types of conformity
compliance, internalisation and identification
define compliance
when individuals change their own opinions/behaviours to fit in the group.
Privately they do not change their personal opinions.
Does not result in a permanent change
As soon as group pressure stops the behaviour stops
Define Identification
When individuals conform to the opinions/behaviours of a group because thee is something they value.They identify with the group and want to be apart of it.
Publicly change their opinions to be accepted by the group even if they don’t privately don’t agree for what it stands for
Compliance + internaliisation
Think opinions are right and true (internalisation)
but only because they want to be accepted(compliance)
publicly options change but it may not be maintained privately
define internalisation
when a person genuinely accepts the group norm
Private as well as public change in options and behaviours.
Change is likely to be permanently
describe Asch’s line study’s aim
to see if ppts would conform to majority social influence and give incorrect answers on a task even when the correct answers were always obvious
What is the method of Asch’s line study?
-123 male American students
-Recruited using volunteer sampling
-Seven students asked to take part in a vision test each test
-Sat around table
-Shown two cards
-one card showed one vertical line (standard line)
-Other card showed three vertical lines of different lengths
-Ppts had to call out which lines correctly matched with the standard line
-THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS OBVIOUS
-All ppts except one were confederates
-Genuine ppts were second to last to call out their answer
-Confederates gave unanimous wrong answers on 12/18 trials
-The twelve were called critical trials
describe Asch’s line studies results
-The naive ppts gave the wrong answer on 36.8% of the critical trials
-25% Of the ppts did not conform
-75% Conformed at least once
-when ppts were interviewed after they said they conformed to avoid rejection
Describe the conclusion on Asch’s study
Asch concluded the participants exhibited a ‘distortion of action’- they knew what the right answer was but conformed to majority to avoid ridicule
what is NSI
normative social influence
the need to be liked
more likely to result in compliance
what is ISI
Informative social influence
the need to be right
a new ambiguous situation we look to see what others are doing and copy it
more likely to result in internalisation
describe group size
Asch’s study
The amount of people in the group
how did group size affect aschs study
conformity increased with group size but only to a certain point levelling off when the majority was greater than three
WITH THE THREE CONFEDERATES CONFORMITY TO THE WRONG ANSWER WAS 31.8% COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL 36.8% with 6 confederates
what is task difficulty
Asch’s study
How hard the task was to complete
how does obedience differ from conformity?
Obedience is when someone follows instructions depending on the other person that tells them to do things. Whilst conformity is following others actions
Name 4 evaluations of Asch’s study
General research method evaluations:
Lab experiment:
+High. levels of control
-lacks ecological validity
Study specific:
.Limited sample, 123 American male students
.Cultural bias, only American students
.Historical bias, Study completed in 1950s Perrin and Spencer
How did task difficulty affect the study
When the task was more difficult the levels of conformity increased ( ISI)
How did unanimity affect Asch’s study if 1 confederate always gave the right answer
From Asch’s original 36.8% conformity decreased by 5.5%
How did unanimity affect Asch’s study if 1 confederate gave a different wrong answer to the majority
From Asch’s original 36.8% conformity decreased by 9%
How did unanimity affect Asch’s study if 1 confederate sometimes gave the right answer and sometimes gave the wrong answer
From Asch’s original 36.8% conformity decreased by 25%
Evaluations of variables affecting conformity
+high control
-limited sample
- artificial situation and task
-culturally biased
+research support Todd Lucas asked ppts to solve ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths questions. Ppts were given three answers from other students. The ppts conformed and gave the wrong answer when the problems were harder
-individual differences
- historical bias
evaluations for different types of conformity
+Research support for NSI from Asch
when Asch interviewed his ppts some said they conformed because they felt self conscious of going the wrong answer
+Lucas et al difficult maths questions proves ISI
- Unclear whether ISI or NSI is at work in studies
- Individual differences in NSI does not predict conformity in every case
- ISI moderated by type of task
+supporting research for ISI and Internalisation
what does De-Individuation mean
A state in which individuals have lower self-awareness and a weaker sense of personal responsibility for their actions
what was the aim in Zimbardos study
To investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role playing simulation of prison life
What is the method of Zimbardos study
-He set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University
-Observational study
-Male student volunteers physically and psychologically screened and 21 off the most stable were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners
-Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to social roles both through uniforms and also instructions about their behaviours
-Prisoners arrested at their homes to be taken to prison
-Zimbardo took a role within the study as the superintendent
Describe the uniform that participants had to wear in zimbados study
-The prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and a cap to cover their hair
-They were addressed by number not names
-The guards had their own uniforms reflecting the social status of their role, with wooden clubs, handcuffs and mirror shades(no eye contact)
What instructions were given to the participants of Zimbardos study
-The prisoners were further encouraged to identify with their role by several procedures
-The guards were encouraged to play their role by being reminded that they had complete power over the prisoners.
What were the results in Zimbardos study
-Within the first few days, guards greeted increasingly abusive, they harassed the prisoners constantly
headcounts, prisoners in line and call out their numbers
-The prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious
-The guards created opportunities to enforce rules and administer punishments
-One of the prisoners went on a hunger strike but the guards punished him by putting him in the hole (a tiny dark wardrobe
-Zimbardo ended the study after 6 days instead of the intended 14
-The ppts appeared at times to forget that this was only a study and that they were acting
Conclusions for zimbados study
-Social roles appear to have a strong influence on individual’s behaviour.The guards became brutal and the prisoners became submissive
-Roles were taken on very easily by ppts
-Volunteers who came in to preform specific functions found themselves behaving as if they were in prison rather than a psychological study
Evaluations of Zimbardos study
Evaluations of research method:
LAB: +High control
-Low ecological validity
+Ppts behaved as if the prison was real to them. Mcdermott 90% of private conversations were about prison life
-Ethical issue(right to withdraw, protection from harm)
-low population validity
+Real life validity, Abu Ghraib
definition of obedience
Carrying out the instructions of an authority figure. Assumed that without such order the person would not have acted this way
What was the aim of Milgrams study
To investigate whether oridinary Americans would obey an unjust order from a person in authority to inflict pain on another person
