Social Infuences Flashcards
What is conformity?
A form of social influence. It occurs when a person’s behaviour or thinking changes as a result of group pressure.
What is Normative social influence?
Conforming because you want to be liked
What is Informational social influence?
Conforming to get the answer ‘right’
What was the aim of Asch’s study?
Asch set out to investigate how people respond to group pressure. He chose to test this in a situation where the answer was clearly wrong (unambiguous) to see if even then people are influenced by what others think.
What was the method of Asch’s study?
123 American males(the naïve participants). The others were called the confederates. The naïve participants were tested in a group of of between 6 and 8. The naïve participants thought the other participants were real. The participants were asked which lone)A,B or C) matched the original line X.
What was the results of Asch’s study?
On the 12 trials participants gave the wrong 36.8% of the time.
25% of participants never gave the wrong answer.
75% of the participant conformed at least once.
What was the conclusion is Asch’s study?
The results show that people are influenced by group pressure even when involved in a task that has clear cut answers.
What are some social factors that can effect conformity?
Group size,
Task difficulty,
Anonymity
What are some dispositional factors that effect conformity?
Personality,
Expertise
How does group size affect conformity?
The bigger the group the higher chance of conformity.
How does Task difficulty affect conformity?
The more difficult the task the more likely you are to conform
How does anonymity affect conformity?
If not anonymous you are more likely to conform
How does expertise affect conformity?
The greater your expertise the less likely you are to conform.
What is locus of control?
The sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them, externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside factors.
What is the aim of Milgram’s study of obedience?
In citation circumstances a normal person would give somebody a potentially lethal shock if told to by an authority figure
What is the method of Milgram’s study of obedience?
He recruited 40 American males,
A confederate ended up as the learner (always),
The participant could leave at any time,
The shocks weren’t real but the teacher didn’t know it,
What is the results of Milgram’s study of obedience?
No participant stopped below 300 volts, five stopped at 300 volts, 65% of people went to the full 450 volts
What is a social factor?
You obey because there are features of your surroundings that make you feel stronger pressure from other people
What is an example of a social factor?
An authority figure
What is a dispositional factor?
You obey because you have a more obedient personality and are very aware of your position in the social hierarchy
What is the agency theory?
It explains obedience in terms of whether a individual imps making their own free will choices or acting as an agent for an authority figure
What are the 2 states and the shift called?
Autonomous state,
Agentic shift,
Agentic state
What are 3 social factors that may have affected whether people were obedient in Milgram’s study?
Authority,
Culture,
Proximity
What type of thinking did Adorno say authoritarian people had?
Cognitive style
What did authoritarian people do with anger and threatening emotion?
Scapegoating
What is diffusion of responsibility?
When there are lots of people around, people are less helpful
What is bystander behaviour?
People are less likely to help if there are other bystanders
What is prosocial behaviour?
Acting in a way that promotes the welfare of others
What was the aim of Pillavin’s subway study?
To investigate if certain characteristics of a victim would affect whether people help a bystander in a natural setting
What was the method of Pillavin’s subway study?
A confederate was the ‘victim’ and was always male. On 38 trials the ‘victim’ smelt of alcohol and on 65 trials the ‘victim’ had a cane (appearing disabled)
Another confederate was the model if no one else helped
What was the results of Pillavin’s subway study?
The disabled person was helped on 95% of the time,
The drunk was only helped 50% of the time,
87% of the disabled victims were helped in the first 70 seconds
17% of the drunk victims were helped in the first 70 seconds
What was the conclusion of Pillavin’s subway study?
The characteristics of the victim make a difference to whether they receive help,
In a natural setting the number of people who whiteness the emergency doesn’t effect their willingness to help
What is a social factor?
Explanations in terms of the social world around you
What is a dispositional factor?
Explanations of behaviour in terms of an individuals personality
What are examples of social factors?
Presence of others,
Cost of help
What are examples of dispositional factors?
Similarity to victim,
Expertise
What is deindividuation?
A psychological state in which a person losses their personality
What is prosocial behaviour?
Behaviour that benefits other people
What is antisocial behaviour?
Behaviour which is harmful to others
What social factors are in crowd and collective behaviour?
Social loafing,
Culture,
Evaluation
What dispositional factors are in crowd and collective behaviour?
Personality,
Morality,
Evaluation
What is social loafing?
Individuals make a reduced effort when in a group
