Social Psychology Flashcards
Impact of Presence of Others
Social Faciliation
Social Inhibition
Norman Triplett (2007)
◦ cyclists
◦ hypothesised presence of others boosted performance
◦ asked adolescents to wind a reel as fast as they could
Social Facilitation better performance when another was also winding reel > alone
Yerkes & Dodson (1908)
◦ perform best at moderate arousal
◦ optimal arousal level depends on task
◦ simple and well learned tasks => high arousal
◦ difficult or complex tasks => low arousal
Social Facilitation
Enhanced performance due to the presence of others.
Social Inhibition
Reduced performance due to the presence of others
Common in complex tasks
Diffusion of Responsibility
The assumed reduction in responsibility to provide assistance in an emergency if other people are present
Bystander effect
The tendency for a person who is present in an emergency to be less likely to help if other people are present.
Social Influence
Changing behaviour in response to other people
Peers
People who interact with us on fairly equal terms; people of similar status and age and with similar interests
Usually important to us and can influence us greatly
Influence of peer groups increase from middle childhood to middle adolescence; declines as influence of close friends on adolescents’ behaviour increases.
Peer pressure
Social influence from peers to think, feel and behave in certain ways
Brown & colleagues (1986)
Parents and peer groups often agree in more important areas like decisions about education and careers, and moral behaviour
‘Fringe’ members or less sure of standing in group => more likely influenced by peer pressure
Try to gain favour with other members by acting in ways they believe group would approve (Kaplan, 2004).
Group Polarisation
The strengthening of attitudes of individuals when they are in groups of people who hold similar attitudes
Discussions strengthen opinions
Myers and Bishop (1970)
◦ students low in racial prejudice discussed racial issues => even more accepting
◦ highly prejudiced students discussed same issues => even more prejudiced
McCauley (2002)
◦ terrorist mentality arises when people with a shared grievance get together and talk in a group with no moderating influences.
Conformity
A change in behaviour and attitude in response to group pressure
Dislike standing out and appearing different.
Society requires some conformity so norms and standards can be established and agreed upon
Factors:
1) Group size - increases up to size of 4
2) Degree of unanimity - difficult to stand out, presence of another who shares one’s view or disagrees with group strengthens resistance to conformity.
Bond and Smith (1996)
◦ Cultural differences in conformity
◦ Collectivist: group goals=> high
◦ Individualistic: independence and personal goals => low
Normative social influence
The pressure on an individual to change their behaviour to conform to group standards in order to be accepted by the group
Breaking social norms => disapproval or exclusion
Asch
Conformity
1955
3 lines
One participant and others confederates
18 trials
75% agreed with confederates on > 1 trial
50% agreed > 6 trials
25% stuck with their answer
1 confederate disagreed => conformity greatly reduced
Informational social influence
The pressure on individuals when in strange situations to behave in the manner of those around them
Conform in strange situations, with people we don’t know or new situations
Obedience
Changing behaviour in response to instruction or direct request by an authority figure.
Milgram
1963
◦ All went to 300 volts, 5 refused to continue
◦ 26/40 went to 450 volts
Factors influencing obedience:
1) Immediacy or proximity to victim
2) Immediacy or proximity of experimenter
3) Authority of experimenter
Why people obey authority:
1) Belief in legitimate authority
2) Commitment to successful achievement of experiment
3) Lack of disobedient role models
4) Lack of personal responsibility.
