Social Psychology - Conformity - Research

Question 1

What is Conformity?

Answer 1

Result of social influence. People adopt behaviours, attitudes and values of majority members of reference group.

Question 2

What is Obedience?

Answer 2

Outcome of social influence. Individual acts accordingly to orders. Assumed without such an order, person would not have acted this way.

Question 3

What is two types of conformity are there?

Answer 3

Compliance and Internalisation.

Question 4

What is Compliance?

Answer 4

Publically conforming to behaviour or views of others in group while privately maintaining one’s own views.

Question 5

What is Internalisation?

Answer 5

Conversion or true change of private views to match those of group, attitudes and behaviours have become part of one’s own value system.

Question 6

What are the two major research studies into conformity?

Answer 6

Asch (1956) and Zimbardo (1973).

Question 7

What was the aim of Asch (1956)?

Answer 7

To see if P’s would conform to majority social influence and give wrong answer when right answer was obvious.

Question 8

What was the procedure in Asch (1956)?

Answer 8

• 7 male students looked at 2 cards; 1 showed a vertical line, other card showed 3 lines of different lengths.
• Asked to call out in turn which line matched the other card. Correct answer was obvious.
• All P’s except 1 were accomplices. Genuine P called out 2nd to last.
• Accomplices gave wrong answers 12/18 times. 12 trials were called ‘critical’ trials.
• 50 male students were used overall.

Question 9

What were the results of Asch’s study?

Answer 9

Overall conformity rate – 32%. 74% conformed at least once. 26% never conformed.

Question 10

What two explanations the P’s of Asch (1956) they give for their conformity?

Answer 10

a) Actually thought the line identified by everyone else was the correct line.
b) Couldn’t bear to be in a minority of one and risk being ridiculed by the group.

Question 11

What two studies evaluate Asch (1956)?

Answer 11

Perrin and Spencer (1980) and Perrin and Spencer (1981).

Question 12

What happened in Perrin and Spencer (1980)?

Answer 12

Replicated Asch’s experiment using British students, found 1 conforming response in 396 trials.

Question 13

Why were the results of Perrin and Spencer (1980) so different from Asch’s study?

Answer 13

1980’s Britain was very different from 1950’s America, it was a conformist society.

Question 14

What type of students did Perrin and Spencer (1980) use, how might this affect their results?

Answer 14

Maths, Chemistry and Engineering. Knowledge and skills acquired in their courses has equipped them to resist conformity pressures during a task of this sort.

Question 15

What happened in Perrin and Spencer (1981)?

Answer 15

Used youths on probation and probation officers and confederates – found similar levels of conformity to Asch’s.

Question 16

Explain the results of Perrin and Spencer (1981)?

Answer 16

Youths on probation would be scared of probation officers and conformed since they didn’t want probation officers to think they were stupid or send them back to jail.

Question 17

Evaluate Asch (1956).

Answer 17

• Lacks ecological validity – unrealistic, wouldn’t be expected to compare lines in real life.
• Only used Sociology students – not generalizable to other students.
• Androcentric – not generalizable to females.
• Ethical issues - Deceived P’s about what they were doing, might have made them feel embarrassed, insulted or ridiculed.

Question 18

What happened in Zimbardo (1973)?

Answer 18

• Well-adjusted, healthy male volunteers paid £15 a day to participate.
• Randomly allocated to prisoner or guard.
• Police helped by ‘arresting’ prisoners at home without warning taken, blindfolded, to ‘prison’.
• Stripped and sprayed with disinfectant, given smokes to wear and prison number to memorise. Referred to by number only.
• Guards wore khaki uniforms, dark glasses and carried wooden batons.
• No physical aggression permitted.

Question 19

What were the results of the Zimbardo (1973)?

Answer 19

• Guards harassed and humiliated prisoners and conformed to perceived roles that study had to be discontinued after 6 days.
• Prisoners rebelled against guards after 2 days. Guards quelled rebellion using fire-extinguishers.
• Prisoners depressed and anxious, one had to be released day 1, two more released day 4.

Question 20

What did Zimbardo (1973) conclude?

Answer 20

People readily conform to social roles they are expected to play. Roles people play shape their attitudes and behaviour.

Question 21

Evaluate Zimbardo (1973).

Answer 21

• Ethical issues - Lack of fully informed consent. Protection from psychological/ physical harm.
• All male sample - Gender biased. All students – social bias. All American – culturally bias.
• Superintendent role - Conflict of roles whereby he lost sight of harm being done to P’s. Wanted results to be interesting so may have influenced study in order to get results.

Question 22

What study evaluates Zimbardo (1973)?

Answer 22

Orlando (1973).

Question 23

What did Orlando (1973) find?

Answer 23

Half of staff on psychiatric ward became patients, half carried out daily roles, ‘patients’ reported feelings of tension, anxiety, frustration, despair and loss of identity. Staff learnt from this and treated patients better.