Social Infuence Flashcards
What are the 3 types of conformity?
Internalisation, identification and compliance
What does GRAVE stand for?
Generalisability ,reliability, application, validity, ethics
What is conformity?
The tendency to change what we do (behaviour), think or say(attitudes) in response to the influence of others
What is compliance?
This is when a person simply ‘goes with the crowd’ in public, but privately does not change personal opinions/behaviour
What is identification?
Private and public change but is usually temporary and not maintained when individuals leave the group - short terms change
What is internalisation?
A person genuinely adjusts their behaviour and opinions to those of the group. Public and private change - long term change
What did Asch study?
Social pressure affecting conformity
What is the aim of Asch’s study?
To investigate the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers
What is the sample of Asch’s study?
123 American male student volunteers to take part in a study of visual representation
In brief what is the procedure of Asch’s study?
To say which comparison line a, b, or c was the same as the stimulus line on 18 different trials
What is result 1 of Asch’s study?
The control group had an error rate of only 0.04% which shows how obvious the correct answers were
What is result 2 of Asch’s study?
On the 12 critical trials, there was a 32% conformity rate to wrong answers
What is result 3 of Asch’s study?
75% of participants conformed to at least one wrong answer
What is result 4 of Asch’s study?
5% of participants conformed to all 12 wrong answers
What is the general conclusion from Asch’s study?
As most participants conformed publicly, but not privately, it suggests that they were motivated by normative social influence
What method of research was Asch’s study?
Laboratory experiment
What are the IV’s in Asch’s study?
The difficulty of the task, size of the majority and unanimity
What is the DV is Asch’s study?
The rate that individuals conformed
Which experimental design was used in Asch’s study?
Independent groups
What is one weakness of Asch’s study?
It took place in a lab so it is low in mundane realism so it cannot be generalised
What is a strength of lab experiments?
It allows for control which shows cause and effect, this is a strength because it proves that people do conform
What is another weakness of Asch’s study?
It is androcentric so it cannot be generalised to other populations
What are the two explanations as to why people conform?
Normative social influence and informational social influence
What is normative social influence?
The desire to be liked
What is informational social influence?
The desire to be right
What 3 factors did Asch find that affects conformity?
The difficulty of the task, size of the majority, unanimity
What is the effect of task difficulty on levels of conformity?
The harder the task, the increased rate of conformity
What is the effect of the size of the majority on levels of conformity?
The levels of conformity increase but plateau at around 7 people
What is the effect of unanimity on levels of conformity?
Having a dissenter decreases the level of conformity
Does task difficulty show NSI or ISI?
ISI
Does size of the majority show NSI or ISI?
NSI
Does unanimity show NSI or ISI?
ISI
Who identified the two reasons for conformity?
Deutsch and Gerrad (1955)
What is conformity to social roles?
When an individual adopts a particular behaviour and belief, while in a particular social situation
What defines social roles?
The parts individuals play as members of a social group, which meets the expectations of that social situation
Who carried out the Stanford prison experiment?
Zimbardo, Haney and Banks
What was the aim of the Stanford prison experiment?
To investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of a guard and prisoner in a role playing stimulation to prison life. Also, to test the dispositional vs situational hypotheses that saw prison violence as either due to sadistic personalities of guards and prisoners, or to the brutal conditions of the prison environment
What was the procedure in brief of the Stanford prison experiment?
Participants were randomly assigned to either the role of a prisoner or a guard in a stimulated prison environment
What was the sample of the Stanford prison experiment?
24 American men students judged to be the most physically and mentally stable
What is the general finding of the Stanford prison experiment?
‘Prisoners’ and ‘Guards’ identifies with their social roles
What is the conclusion for the Stanford prison experiment?
The situational hypothesis is favoured over the dispositional hypothesis, as none of the participants had shown such character traits before the study. Individuals conform readily to social roles demanded of a situation, even when such roles override an individual’s moral beliefs about their personal behaviour
What method is the Stanford prison experiment?
Lab experiment
What is the IV and DV of the Stanford prison experiment?
IV: Guards and prisoners
DV: How the participants conformed to social standards
Which sampling technique was used in the Stanford prison experiment?
Random
What are the 5 ethical considerations?
Protection to participants, informed consent, debrief, deceit, right to withdraw, confidentiality and anonymity
What is obedience?
Obedience is a more direct form of social influence when a person has less choice whether to behave in a particular way
What did Milgram study?
Obedience to authority
What was the aim of Milgram’s study?
To investigate if ordinary American citizens would obey an unjust order from an authority figure and inflict pain on another person because they were instructed to
What method is Milgram’s study?
Lab experiment
What is the IV and DV of Milgram’s study?
IV: Uniform, location, touch proximity, remote authority, close proximity
DV: How many volts participants went up to
What was the procedure of Milgram’s study?
The participants were assigned to the role of a teacher not knowing that the learner was a confederate. The teacher had to ask the learner questions. If the learner got the question wrong, the teacher had to ‘shock’ the learner. Every time the learner got a questions wrong, the teacher had to increase the voltage up to 450V
How many participants in Milgram’s study had seizures?
3
How many participants in Milgram’s study had nervous laughing fits
14/40
Describe the sample of Milgram’s study
40 males who answered an advertisement in a newspaper that asked for people between 20-50, with certain jobs asking to take part in a study
How could Milgram’s sample have been improved?
By using males and females and people with different ethnicities i.e. bigger sample size
Does Milgram’s study support situation or disposition as the cause of people’s behaviour?
Situation
What percentage of participants in Milgram’s study went to 300V?
100%
What percentage of participants in Milgram’s study went to 450V?
65%
What percentage did the level of obedience drop to in Milgram’s study when touch proximity was a factor?
30%
What percentage did the level of obedience drop to in Milgram’s study when remote authority was a factor?
20.5%
What percentage did the level of obedience drop to in Milgram’s study when uniform was a factor?
20%
What percentage did the level of obedience drop to in Milgram’s study when close proximity was a factor?
40%
What percentage did the level of obedience drop to in Milgram’s study when location was a factor?
47.5%
What does situational factors mean?
Refers to the environment that the experiment is taken place in that could affect the results demonstrated and participants behaviour
What does dispositional factors mean?
Refers to the individual people taking part in the study and how things like their age, gender, personality etc. May effect the results of the investigation
What are the two social states we can be in?
Autonomous state and agentic state
What is the autonomous state?
When we are in control and accept personal responsibility for our actions
What is the agentic state?
The individual gives up their free will and no longer sees themselves as acting independently, but merely as an ‘agent’ implementing someone else’s decisions
What is the dispositional explanation for obedience?
Authoritarian personality
What are the situational explanations for obedience?
Agency theory of obedience and legitimacy of authority
What is the authoritarian personality?
Refers to a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them
What are the 4 descriptions of authoritarian personality?
Might is right, upbringing, personality traits, the F scale
What are the reasons people resist social influence ?
Legitimacy, locus of control, social support/having a dissenter
How does locus of control impact resistance to social pressure?
Research has shown that people with an internal locus of control tend to be less conforming and less obedient. Rotter proposes that people with internal loc are better at resisting social pressure to conform or obey, perhaps because they feel responsible for their actions
What are the characteristics of having an external locus of control?
The belief that life is determined by external/environmental factors, such as luck
What is minority influence?
A minority of people who persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
What are the 3 factors that are seen as crucial to minority influence?
Consistency, commitment and flexibility
What did Moscovici study?
Influence of consistent minority
What was the aim of Moscovici’s study?
To investigate the effects of a consistent minority on a majority
What was the sample of Moscovici’s study?
172 American female students who were told that they were taking part in a colour perception task
What was the procedure of Moscovici’s study?
The participants were placed in groups of six and shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue. The participants had to state out loud the colour of each slide. Two of the six participants were confederates and in one condition (consistent)the two confederates said that all 36 slides were green; in the second condition (inconsistent) the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and blue
What were the results of Moscovici’s study?
In the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of trials, whereas in the inconsistent, the real participants only agreed to 1.25% of the trials
What was the conclusion of Moscovici’s study?
It shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence
What are the key studies for social influence?
- Asch opinions and social
- Jenness
- Haney, Banks & Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment
- Milgram obedience to authority
- Moscovici influence of consistent minority
What are some examples of social change through minority influence?
Equal pay act, civil rights, gay liberation, Women’s right to vote
What are the 6 steps involved when a minority influence creates social change?
Drawing attention Consistency Deeper processing Augmentation principle The snowball effect Social cryptomnesia
