Topic 3-Social Influence Flashcards
What is conformity?
Conformity is the process of yielding to majority influence. Can be defined as “a change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure”
Different types of conformity?
Compliance- NSI
Internalisation-ISI
Identification
What is normative social influence?
The need to be accepted by other people-want others to like and respect us and being rejected is painful.
Therefore people have the power to either reward(approve) or punish(disapprove) us, oneway of ensuring their approval is by agreeing with them.
What is informational social influence?
A basic need to feel confident that our ideas and beliefs are correct. If we are unsure about something we tend to seek other people’s opinions. Tends to happen in situations we aren’t familiar with or in ambiguous situations
Outline sherif
Investigated the emergence of group norms using the auto-kinetic effect
Each p was given a series of trials and asked to judge how far the light moved, they were then placed in groups of three and asked to announce their estimates aloud.
Findings- tested individually =very similar estimates each time they were asked. There was a considerable variation between all ps singular answers.
Groups of three= estimates converged until a group norm emerged
Showing that when faced with an ambiguous situation ps looked to others in the group for guidance
Evaluate sherif
+well controlled lab experiment which can be replicated
- the experiment lacks external validity BC artificial situation
Outline asch
Investigated whether individuals would yield to majority influence
Participant was seated with a group of 6-8 confeds. Group is shown display of 3 vertical lines of different lengths A B and C and then another display of another line - asked which one it matched with.
Participant would always be either last or second from last to call out their answer.
12/18 trials confeds asked to give wrong answer( critical trials )
ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE WHITE AND MALE
Findings
Control trial error rate- 0.7%
Critical trial error rate - 32%
74% conformed at least once
Variables affecting conformity
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
Research into group size
One confederate-unaffected
Two confederates- less than 14%
Three confederates-rose to 32%
To produce conformity must be 3 - no difference between 3 and 15
Research into unanimity
Conformity goes down when group is unanimous
One confed disagreed with rest of group, making conformity drop from 32% to 5%
Didn’t matter if it was correct or incorrect
Research into task difficulty
Line judging task made more difficult - conformity increased when the task became more difficult (ISI)
Evaluation of Asch
Lacks ecological validity
Experiment and variations lack population validity
May be product of time and might not be applicable to western society today
Unethical
Lacks experimental validity
What is obedience
The result of social influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure
How does conformity differ to obedience
Others of equal status <> an authority figure who has higher status
Because of real or implied group pressure <> because of an explicit order to do so
Outline milgram
40 male volunteers who were paid $4.50 were told that the study concerned the role of punishment in learning. The genuine p had the teachers role to administer the electric shocks to the confederate (learner)
Every mistake the learning would receive a “shock” which started from 15volts and went up to 450volts
To begin with the learner gave the correct answers but then began to make mistakes. If the participant hesitated they would be told by a man in a white coat “the experiment requires that you continue”
Findings - all participants went to 300 volts, 65% of participants went to the end of the shock generator
Outline zimbardo
To investigate how readily people conform to the expectations they have about social roles
Used well-adjusted, healthy male volunteers, who were paid $15 a day to take part in a two-week simulation study of prison life. Randomly allocated to either prisoners or guards.
People will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play and such roles shape a person’s attitudes and behaviour.
Evaluate zimbardo
+ performance based on stereotypes and 90% of conversation was about prison life suggesting high internal validity
- exaggeration of the power of the situation to influence behaviour- only a third of the guards acted like the stereotype
Ethical issues-humiliation and distress to prisoners
Zimbardo played the “chief superintendent” so lost sight of harm being done
What are the explanations for obedience
Legitimacy of authority Being in an agentic state Situational variables- proximity Location Uniform
What does the legitimacy of authority mean
In society, police officers, teachers and doctors have legitimate authority- we respect their position and assume they know what they are doing.
Less likely to obey if we don’t feel they’re legitimate
E.g. Moving experiment to a run down office compared to a prestigious university
What does being in an agentic state mean
Feeling as if you aren’t responsible for your actions because you’re just acting as an agent for the authority figure.
Move from autonomous state to agentic state- agentic shift
E.g. Ps were told the experimenter was responsible for anything that happened to the learner and 92.5% carried on till 450volts
What does proximity mean
Refers to how close a person is to another person
E.g. Both teacher and learner put in same room and obedience rate fell to 40%
Another variation teacher forces hand onto shock - 30%
Another variation experimenter gave teacher instructions and prods via telephone - 20.5%
What does location mean
Milgram moved study to run down office - obedience fell to 48%
What does uniform mean
Experimenter in lab coat got called away and replaced by ordinary member of public( confed) obedience fell to 20%
What is a dispositional explanation
An explanation that highlights the importance of the individuals personality
What is the authoritarian personality
Adorno claimed the reason people obey is because they have a specific personality type which makes them very obedient towards people in authority.
Extreme respect for those in authority
Extremely hostile to those who they’d consider inferior
Highly conventional attitudes towards sex, race and gender
Everything is either right or wrong and very uncomfortable with uncertainty
Believed that this started in childhood as a result of harsh parenting - this creates resentment and hostility in the child and they can’t express these directly towards their parent so they are displaced on those who are perceived to be weaker.
Outline adorno
Investigated the causes of the obedient personality using 2000 middle-class, white Americans, assessed their attitudes towards racial groups, using the F-scale questionnaire
Findings those who scored highly in the fscale tended to have authoritarian personality characteristics
Evaluation of the authoritarian personality
Evidence to support the link between the personality and high obedience - milgram found the most obedient ps scored highly on the fscale
Difficult to explain why so many people can be prejudiced and obedient at the same time. If personality was the cause of obedience then that would mean that all the German soldiers in ww2 had the same personality and harsh upbringing which is highly unlikely
What does resistance to social influence refer to?
The ability of people to remain independent despite pressures to conform or obey. This may be because of situational or dispositional factors
What is social support?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
Social support when resisting conformity
The pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who are not conforming. This makes the individual feel more confident in their own decision and more confident in rejecting the majority position. Demonstrated in variation of Asch’s study- when the participant was in a group with a confed who gave the correct response, conformity levels dropped from 32%-5%
Social support when resisting obedience
The pressure to obey can be reduced if another person disobeys. The person may not copy the disobedient person’s behaviour but they act as a model for the p to copy that frees him to act from his own conscience. One of the variations of Milgram- 2 confeds joined the “participant”. When the two confeds refused to continue, obedience to continue to 450 volts fell to 10%
What is the locus of control
Individual difference in people’s beliefs and expectations about what controls events in their lives (where they locate the control).
Who proposed the locus of control?
Ritter
What is an internal locus of control
People with an internal LOC believe that what happens to them is a consequence of their own behaviour and it is controlled by themselves. They are more self - confident and have less need for social approval. A strong internal LOC is associated with the belief that one can control much of one’s life and succeed in difficult or stressful situations. Someone with an internal LOC accepts responsibility for their actions and they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs thus are less likely to conform and obey.
What is an external locus of control?
Those with an external loc tend to believe that “things happen to them” and are uncontrollable. Luck and fate are seen as important factors. People with an external LOC tend to face stressful situations with a more passive and fatalistic attitude. They believe that their actions have little impact and therefore they are more likely to conform and obey
Evaluation of Locus of Control - Rotter
A meta analysis of studies showed those who scored higher on external loc were more easily persuaded and likely to conform than those with a low score. The average correlation between the loc and conformity was 0.37, which was statistically significant. This supports the idea that people with an external loc are less likely to resist conformity
A replication of milgrams study measured whether ps were internal or external and found that 37% of internals refused to obey to the full voltage, whereas only 23% of externals did so.
What is minority influence
Situations where one person or a small group of people (ie minority) influence the beliefs and behaviours of other people.
What are the three main factors of minority influence?
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
What is consistency in relation to minority influence
When the minority kept to the same argument to try and persuade others. Being consistent makes others think that the minority know what they are talking about and so are persuaded. Consistency can involve synchronic consistency - where all of the minority say the same thing or diachronic consistency where they remain consistent over time.
What is commitment in relation to minority influence?
Minorities are more powerful if they demonstrate commitment to their cause. E.g. Personal sacrifices. Effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self interest
What is flexibility in relation to minority influence?
Consistency it not the only important factor in minority influence bc it can be interpreted negatively. Being extremely consistent and repeating the same arguments and behaviour can be seen as rigid, unbending, dogmatic and inflexible. Off putting to the majority and unlikely to result in persuasion. Minority should be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter arguments.
What is the snow ball effect
Over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minority view. They have become “converted”. The more this happens the faster the rate of the conversion.
evaluation of minority influence
There is research to support the suggestion that consistency can be used by minorities to persuade a majority. Also a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies found that minorities who were see as being consistent were most influential.
There is evidence to support that being flexible and compromising can cause minority influence.
Who did research into minority influence
Moscovici et al
Nemeth and Brilmayer’s
Outline Moscovici
Got 6 participants to look at 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity and to then state whether the slides were blue or green. In each group there were two confeds who consistently said the slides were green on two thirds of the trials . The ps gave the same wrong answer on 8.4% of the trials 32% gave the same wrong answer as the minority on at least one trial. A second group of participants were exposed to an inconsistent minority and agreement fell to 1.25%
Evaluate Moscovici et al
Study is very artificial - lacks ecological validity
Lab experiment - controlled and replicable
Outline Nemeth and brilmayer
Set up a mock jury in which groups of 3 participants and 1 confed had to decide on the amount of compensation to be given to the victim of a ski lift accident. When the minority (confed) remained consistent, refusing to change position and argued for a very low amount, he had no effect on the majority. When he compromised and moved some way towards the majority view they also compromised and changed their view
Evaluate nemeth and brilymayers
Lab
Realistic
What is social change?
This occurs when whole societies rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things- behave differently
Example-“green behaviour”. a few years ago very few people re cycled their rubbish but now it is common. Another example could be buying free range eggs - leads to people changing their personal opinion. Most people now believe that recycling is good for the environment and that battery hens are unacceptable.
What is the shift in personal opinion called
Conversion
What are the stages in which social change occurs
Drawing attention Consistency Deeper processing The augmentation principle The snowball effect Social crytoamnesia
Evaluation of role of social influence processes in social change
Nolan et al investigated whether social influence processes led to a reduction in energy consumption in the community. They hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California every week for one month. The key message was that most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage. As a control some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy but made no reference to other people’s behaviour. They found significant decreases in energy usage in the first group compared to the second. This supports the idea that conformity can lead to social change through normative social influence.
