Social Psychology

Question 1

Outline the findings of Hofling et al’s (1966) study on obedience.

Answer 1

There was a dramatic difference between what the nurses said they would do, and what they actually did, e.g. 21/22 nurses obeyed orders, where when interviewed 21/22 said they would not obey the doctors orders.
When nurses were questioned later, 11 said they were aware of the dosage discrepancy but still administered the drugs.
The nurses obeyed a doctor unquestioningly if they were ordered to do something that breached hospital regulations and endangered patients.

Question 2

Outline how the findings from Milgram’s original study of obedience might be applied to real life.

Answer 2

They can help to explain events such as WW2 and why so many soldiers obeyed authority to kill innocent Jews, It can be said the soldiers were not responsible and were just following orders from Hitler who was making them obey.
They can also explain why children obey parents who they perceive as an authority figure because they have more knowledge/power/society expects this.

Question 3

What was the aim of Sherif’s (1961 - 1988) study?

Answer 3

To test the idea that if you create an in-group/out-group situation and then creating conflict between them, prejudice will arise.
Was also: To see if prejudice would be reduced if the two groups were set a goal that required their co-operation to achieve.

Question 4

How many boys stayed at Robbers Cave State Park, Oklahoma (Sherif 1961-1988)?

Answer 4

22 boys

Question 5

What were the names of the groups that the boys were randomly divided in to? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 5

Rattlers and Eagles

Question 6

What happened when the boys discovered each other? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 6

They felt the other group was invaded their territory

Question 7

How was conflict introduced? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 7

The boys were involved in a tournament which led to loyalty to the in-group and hostility to the out group.

Question 8

What did the boys think of the opposing group, and their own group? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 8

They believed the out-group to be ‘sneaks, smart alecks and stinkers’ while they believed their in-group to be ‘brave, tough and friendly’.

Question 9

What did stage 3 involve? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 9

The Sherif organised tasks where the boys had to work together to overcome problems.

Question 10

What are some of the problem solving tasks the boys were made to do in Sherif’s study (1961-1988)?

Answer 10

They had to fix the water supply.

They had to pull a truck out of mud together

Question 11

How can you tell hostility was reduced between the two groups? (Sherif 1961-1988)

Answer 11

Before, 93% of the boys had friends in their own-group, whereas after, 30% had friends between the two groups.

Question 12

How can we explain prejudice?

Answer 12

Can be explained by out tendency to identify ourselves as part of a group (in-group) and to classify other people as either within or outside that group (out-group)

Question 13

Is conflict necessary for prejudice to occur?

Answer 13

No, even just being in a group and being aware of the existence of another group can lead to prejudice.

Question 14

What is meant by Social Categorisation?

Answer 14

Categorising ourselves and others as members of a particular group, in-group and out-group.

Question 15

What is meant by Social Identification?

Answer 15

Where we adopt the identity of the group we have categorised ourselves as belonging to and internalise norms and values of out in-group.

Question 16

What is meant by Social Comparison?

Answer 16

Comparing our in-group with the out-group by viewing them in a negative way.

Question 17

Give an example of Social identification.

Answer 17

Wearing a football teams colours and adopting their songs, e.g. blue for Chelsea

Question 18

Give an example of Social Comparison.

Answer 18

Thinking out team has better players/better stadium and putting down the players of the opponents. e.g.Terry is better than Rooney.

Question 19

Why do we demonstrate prejudice?

Answer 19

To raise our self-esteem, by putting down other members. e.g. support one football team, wear their colours and think our team is the best.

Question 20

What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 20

Prejudice refers to the learned feelings of dislike, hostility and fear based on stereotypes, and discrimination involves actions based upon these fears e.g. avoidance or physical attacks.
For example, In Robbers Cave study the eagles burned the rattlers flag as a symbol of hatred.

Question 21

Describe one of Milgram’s variations studies.

Answer 21

A distant authority figure: To see if it is easier to resist orders from an authority figure if they are not close by. The experimenter instructed and prompted the teacher by telephone from another room.
The level of obedience fell to 20.5% from 65% (in standard procedure).
Many participants cheated and missed out shocks, or gave less voltage than ordered to.
It shows that when an authority figure is close by then obedience is more likely.
It can be applied to situations like the police and teachers, they must be present for obedience to occur.

Question 22

Evaluate one of Milgram’s Variation Studies.

Answer 22

It is easy to replicate as controls were put in place.
Lacks ecological validity as it was an unnatural task and unnatural setting.
Procedure may be prone to demand characteristics where they may guess the aim of the study.
Unethical as it deceived participants, didn’t allow them to withdraw and put pressure on them.
All participants were debriefed and the majority were glad to have taken part.

Question 23

Describe the term Moral Strain

Answer 23

The pressure of doing something against ones feelings of right and wrong
When we do something immoral in order to function as an agent of society.
We use defence mechanisms to avoid the distress of having to perform acts which would normally find difficult.
E.g. denial was common in soldiers during the Holocaust as they refused to confront what they were doing.
E.g. Milgram’s participants showed distress (moral strain) when being asked to continue giving shocks.

Question 24

Did Hofling et al (1966) use only one hospital in the USA?

Answer 24

No - 22 different hospitals.

Question 25

How many nurses in Hoflin et al’s study (1966) said they were aware of the discrepancy?

Answer 25

11 nurses said they were aware of the dosage discrepancy

Question 26

Was it hospital policy to give orders over the phone in Hofling et al’s study (1966)?

Answer 26

No, order should not be given over the phone

Question 27

Was the order given to nurses by an unfamiliar voice in Hofling et al’s study (1966)?

Answer 27

Yes, it was an unfamiliar voice.

Question 28

Evaluate the Social Identity Theory of Prejudice

Answer 28

S - Tajfel (1970) found that being part of a group is sufficient to lead to prejudice against people not within that group.
C - Dobbs & Crano (2001) found in-group favouritism more complex, and the categorisation of people into groups is not always sufficient to create in-group favouritism.
R - SIT underestimates the importance of individual differences, some people may have much greater tendency to show in-group favouritism depending on their personality.
U - The theory can explain real life phenomena e.g. football teams why we favour out team over another.
M - Tajfel (1970) is a lab experiment which suffers low ecological validity and is carried out in an artificial setting.

Question 29

What percentage of Milgram’s participants obeyed to 450 Volts? (1963)

Answer 29

65% went to 450 Volts, all the way

Question 30

What percentage of participants in Milgram’s study (1963) went to 300 volts?

Answer 30

100%