Social Psychology Flashcards
Define conformity
the adjustment of individual behaviours, attitudes and beliefs to a group standard
Influencing factors of conformity? (3)
- Group Size – increases with group size up to 5 members
- Presence of a Dissenter – one person disagreeing greatly reduces conformity
- Culture – greater in collectivistic cultures
Describe Ashs’ experiment on conformity
- A subject was put in a room with several actors
- They were asked to compare the lengths of lines and all the actors chose the wrong answer
- Majority of subjects conformed, and in the control group less than 1% of people conformed
Define obediance
the compliance with commands given by an authority figure
Influencing factors of obedience? (4)
- Remoteness of the victim
- Closeness and legitimacy of the authority figure
- Diffusion of responsibility: obedience increases when someone else does the dirty work
- Not personal characteristics
Describe Milgrams’ experiment on conformity
- There was one subject, an experimenter and an actor
- The experimenter asked the actor questions, and instructed the subject to administer an ‘electric shock’ when the actor answered incorrectly
- Even when the shock level reached lethal doses and the actor played dead, most subjects still obeyed
Define social loafing
: the tendency for people to expend less individual effort when working in a group than when working alone.
Influencing factors of social loafing that make it more likely to occur? (4)
- The person believes that individual performance is not being monitored
- The task (goal) or the group has less value or meaning to the person
- The person generally displays low motivation to strive for success
- The person expects that other group members will display high effort
Social loafing depends on….? (2)
- Depends on gender and culture
- Occurs more strongly all-male groups
- Occurs more often in individualistic cultures
Social loafing may disappear when…. (2)
- Individual performance is monitored
* Members highly value their group of the task goal
• Group Polarisation definition
tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently.
• Group Think definition
tendency of group members to suspend critical thinking because they are striving to seek agreement
4 influencing factors of group think
Most likely to occur when a group: • Is under high stress to reach a decision • Is insulated from outside input • Has a directive leader • Has high cohesiveness
3 leadership styles?
- Autocratic or Authoritarian: all decisions made by leader
- Participative or Democratic: makes decisions after consulting group
- Laissez-faire or Free Rein: leaves the group entirely to itself
5 stages/influencers of the bystander effect?
- Notice the event
- Decide if the event is really an emergency. Social Comparison: look to see how others are responding
- Assuming responsibility to intervene. Diffusion of Responsibility: believing that someone else will help
- Self-efficacy in dealing with the situation
- Decision to help (based on cost-benefit analysis)
What is is diffusion of responsibility and where is it seen
In the bystander effect
believing that someone else will help
What is is social comparison and where is it seen
In the bystander effect
Where you look to see how others are responding
6 ways of reducing the bystander effect? (this is split into 2 categories)
- Reducing restraints on helping
- Reduce ambiguity and increase responsibility
- Enhance guilt and concern for self-image
- Socialise altruism
- Teaching moral inclusion
- Modelling helping behaviour
- Attributing helpful behaviour to altruistic motives
- Education about barriers to helping
Describe the Darley and Lane experiment showing the bystander effect
- Participants invited to take part in a ‘radio discussion’
- An actor in the other room had a ‘seizure’
- When alone, most subjects helped
- When in a group of 4, only 30% helped
- When in a group > 4, almost no one helped
