social: social influence

Question 1

the process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by real or implied presence of other people

Answer 1

social influence

Question 2

what is the difference between compliance and conformity?

Answer 2

compliance = surface changes in behaviour but cognitions do not change

conformity = deep seated change in behaviour and cognitions change

Question 3

define obedience

Answer 3

performance of an action in direct response to an order

Question 4

attempts to persuade an individual to accept a request to respond in a desired way

Answer 4

compliance

Question 5

explain the idea of reciprocity in compliance

Answer 5

idea of returning the favour, you scratch my back if i scratch yours

key notion in social change that is deeply ingrained in most cultures and societies

Question 6

what are the 3 compliance techniques?

Answer 6

foot in door, door in face, low balling

Question 7

smaller request that virtually everyone agrees to followed by a larger target request. what technique is this?

Answer 7

foot in door technique

Question 8

larger request that most people reject, followed by a smaller more reasonable request. what technique is this?

Answer 8

door in face technique

Question 9

relies on the fact that people do not like to change their mind after committing to a course of action. what technique is this?

Answer 9

low balling technique

Question 10

describe research to show the effect of ‘door in face’ technique

Answer 10

→ recruited people in local neighbourhoods
→ small request to put a sign in garden saying ‘keep California beautiful’ compared to control group
→ small request increased compliance to big request (55% compliance from experimental group vs. 17% from control group)

Question 11

why does the foot in door technique work?

Answer 11

→ commitment to a course of action (people don’t want to deviate from this course)
→ perceived change in self image

Question 12

why does the door in face technique work?

Answer 12

1) reciprocal concessions → derived from norm to reciprocate, feel pressure to compromise
2) social responsibility → larger request indicates needs, feel obliged to help, accept smaller request as its the least you can do
3) guilt → accepting the 2nd request alleviates negative emotions arising from declining the first request

Question 13

describe research to show the effect of ‘low balling’ technique

Answer 13

low balling group → asked to take part in a study, those who said yes were then told it starts at 7am

control group → asked to take part in a study at 7am

results:
low balling = 53% attended
control = 24% attended

effective technique because once committed to a decision we are reluctant to change our minds

Question 14

describe the method looking at evidence for obedience and conformity in The Milgram Studies (1963)

Answer 14

→ involved experimenter, learner (confederate) and teacher (ppt)
→ volunteers told they were taking part in a study linked to memory
→ ppt instructed that as the teacher must give an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake
→ every mistake = higher voltage → dangerous/life threatening
→ starts from 15v up to 450v
→ confederate learner is not receiving shocks behind screen but as shocks increase, shouts out they are in pain and please stop
→ experimenter prods ppt when they begin to protest giving the shocks

Question 15

what were milgrams pre study expectations?

Answer 15

predicted most people would not go beyond 150v

expected only 4% would go up to 300v and only 1-2% would deliver the full 450v

Question 16

what were the results from milgrams study?

Answer 16

65% obeyed and delivered the full 450v
this included both men and women from a variety of different backgrounds and occupations

was also replicated in different countries
demonstrates the power of authority influence

Question 17

give explanations for the results from milgrams study

Answer 17

agentic state:
→ the instrument of another
→ increased psychological distance
→ little to no sense of personal responsibility

dehumanisation of the victim:
→ can’t see learner
→ learner not given name

slippery slope → ‘I’ve started so ill finish’ → 15v→450v

Question 18

give some ethical criticisms of milgrams study

Answer 18

harm → ppts in worse state than when they arrived, deception, insufficient debriefing (ppts not told the learner was not shocked), transformed view of human behaviour

replications would not be possible today

Question 19

give some methodological criticisms of milgrams study

Answer 19

→ prods from researcher were more coercive than the set scripts → more pressure given → higher Vs

→ some ppts sceptical → only 50% believed learner was actually receiving the shocks

→ misrepresented debrief procedures

→ engaged fellowship → wanting to help the researcher as a team

Question 20

describe Sherif’s (1936) experiment on conformity and majority influence

Answer 20

→ auto kinetic movement
→ pinpoint of light in dark room → stationary but looks like its moving

→ asked ppts individually how much they thought the dot was moving
→ most ppts estimated between 2-6inches
→ then put in group → confederate shouted out their opinions of dot movement
→ tested ppts again individuality → merged to a similar estimate closer to confederates answers
→ those with extreme estimates of 1 and 6inches changed their answer to fit the norm

Question 21

describe Asch’s method in his conformity study (1955)

Answer 21

lab study, showed ppts lines, asked which of 3 lines in B matched standard A line, first few trials confederates gave correct answers, then 7/8 gave wrong answers with real ppt last to answer

aim of study = examining the power of conformity in a group

Question 22

describe Asch’s results in his conformity study

Answer 22

→ 76% of ppts conformed at least once to the wrong majority answer
→ only 1/4 provided the correct answer on all 12 trials
→ almost 11% conformed to wrong answer 10x or more

Question 23

Asch’s study: why did people conform?

Answer 23

informational influence, normative influence, referent informational influence (people derive identity from majority response)

Question 24

give critical thoughts on Asch’s line study

Answer 24

→ conformity or resistance - 25% didn’t conform
→ demand characteristics → ppts said they didn’t want to ruin study results
→ are lines important? → no deeper belief system
→ ethical issues → deception
→ artificial → low ecological validity
→ male only sample
→ are the majority actually the minority in the real world?

Question 25

does the size of the majority matter? describe evidence

Answer 25

Asch’s line study → 7 confederates giving wrong answer was highest % of errors
this declined slightly using 9 people and even more using 15

evidence that size is not the most important factor of conformity

Question 26

can an ally reduce conformity?

Answer 26

yes → the ally effect

1 supporting partner largely reduces conformity
even when ally gives wrong answer but is still different from majority → conformity reduces

however, once ally goes back to majority error rates increase

UNANIMTY = key

Question 27

describe a recent adaptation of Asch’s study

Answer 27

52 undergraduate students → completed MCQ online.

control: no information
experimental: saw 2 confederates incorrect answers

findings → no. of correct answers:

control: 8.1
experimental: 6.8 (lower)

Question 28

describe evidence for minority influences that resulted in social change

Answer 28

→ suffragette movement

→ fashion → crocs → trainers

Question 29

describe evidence for minority influence in experimental settings (calling blue slides green)

Answer 29

→ blue slides were called green by 2 confederates in a group of 6
→ consistently said green → 8% of majority said green
→ inconsistently said green → 1.25% said green

shows CONSISTENCY is critical for minority influence

Question 30

why were adaptations of Asch’s line study less effective when looking at minority influence?

Answer 30

less effective because 7 real participants found it hilarious that 1 confederate was consistently getting it wrong so did not conform to minority

Question 31

for the minority to influence the majority, the message needs to:

Answer 31

→ be consistent over time and within minorities
→ be flexible
→ appear unbiased
→ provide an alternative, clear, confident view point

Question 32

what is latent influence?

Answer 32

happens over time, slow conversion effect, viewpoint (attitudes and behaviours) align over time

Question 33

the enhancement of performance in the presence of other people

Answer 33

social facilitation

Question 34

why does social facilitation happen?

Answer 34

zajonc → AROUSAL
→ presence of others leads to arousal

presence of others → arousal → dominant response → either facilitates easy task or impairs difficult task

Question 35

describe evidence for social facilitation

Answer 35

Markus (1978)
45 undergraduate males,
dressing/undressing task.
easy → remove shoes and put shoes back on,
difficult → remove clothes and put different clothes on,

audience = alone or confederate watching

outcome = DV = performance (time taken)

results:
easy task → faster than difficult task and faster in front of audience than alone (arousal),
difficult task → longer with audience than alone

Question 36

what is the low % of studies that examined individual differences in social facilitation?

Answer 36

5-7%

responses for studies of ppts as a whole

Question 37

describe evidence that individual differences affects social facilitation

Answer 37

review of 14 studies,
can ppts characteristics affect performance?

higher facilitated performance in ppts scoring higher in + traits → extroversion, high self esteem

impaired performance in ppts scoring higher in - traits → introversion, low self esteem

Question 38

when individuals work as a group, they often generate less effort than if they worked alone

Answer 38

social loafing

Question 39

why do people loaf?

Answer 39

1) EVALUATION APPREHENSION
→ tasks are uninteresting, group provides cover to remain anonymous
2) OUTPUT EQUITY
→ expect members to loaf so loaf yourself (info about team members effort reduces loafing)
3) MATCHING TO A STANDARD
→ no clear performance standard to match, normative influence (don’t want to look silly putting in 100% effort)

Question 40

individuals work hard in a group if they believe their effort will make a difference to an overall output they value. what model is this?

Answer 40

collective effort model

Question 41

what are the different valued outputs that increase group effort?

Answer 41

objective → grade, pay

subjective → satisfaction, personal development

Question 42

the collective effort model says loafing will be reduced in a group if:

Answer 42

1) input is evaluated
2) work in small groups
3) members see their contribution as making a difference
4) work on meaningful tasks
5) strong group identity

Question 43

group leads to a weakened sense of personal identity

Answer 43

deindividuation

Question 44

what are the effects if deinviduation?

Answer 44

→ self awareness diminishes
→ people feel anonymous
→ less responsible for their actions

can lead to anti-social behaviour