types + explanations for conformity

Question 1

what is conformity

Answer 1

a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure

Question 2

what level of conformity is compliance

Answer 2

shallowest level

Question 3

what is compliance

Answer 3

gain approval + avoiding disapproval

a person changes their public behaviour but private beliefs remain the same

Question 4

what is compliance associated with

Answer 4

NSI, a short term change

Question 5

what is an example of compliance

Answer 5

saying you like rock music because your class mates do when you secretly hate it

Question 6

what level of conformity is internalisation

Answer 6

deepest level

Question 7

what is internalisation

Answer 7

a true conversion in ones views, agreeing in public and private to be right

Question 8

what is internalisation associated with

Answer 8

ISI, a long term change

Question 9

what is an example of internalisation

Answer 9

religion conversion, developing new lifestyles in public privately agreeing with the views

Question 10

what level of conformity is identification

Answer 10

moderate conformity level

Question 11

what is identification

Answer 11

when a person wants to be associated with a particular group

Question 12

what does identification have both elements of

Answer 12

beliefs are adopted and seen as correct (internalisation) but the purpose is soley to fit in with a group (compliance)

Question 13

what is normative social influence

Answer 13

desire to be accepted and avoid rejection

Question 14

why are people conforming in NSI

Answer 14

conformity for emotional reasons

Question 15

what does NSI lead to

Answer 15

compliance and identification

Question 16

when is NSI most likely to occur

Answer 16

when an individual feels under surveillance

Question 17

what is informational social influence

Answer 17

desire to be right and have the right information

Question 18

why are people conforming in ISI

Answer 18

cognitive reasons

Question 19

what does ISI lead to

Answer 19

a completely new belief system, internalisation

Question 20

when is ISI most likely to occur

Answer 20

when an expert is present or when the situation is ambiguous

Question 21

produce PEEL points for NSI research support

Answer 21

P: aschs study into conformity provides research support for NSI

E: when asked to judge the lengths of lines and match them to a standard line, he found that participants went along with obviously incorrect answers of other group members

E: when asked by asch in post experiment interviews why they did this, participants said they changed their answer to avoid disapproval from the rest of the group clearly showing compliance and NSI had occurred, in a later variation where pps were asked to write their answer as opposed to saying it aloud conformity levels dropped to 12.5% as pressure and fear of rejection became less

L: therefore, this shows that at least some levels of conformity in certain situations are down to NSI

Question 22

produce PEEL points for ISI support

Answer 22

P: research support for ISI comes from lucas et al

E: students were asked to give answers to mathematical problems that were either “easy” or “hard”

E: greater conformity to incorrect answers was found when the questions were difficult rather than easy, this is because when the problems were easy participants “knew their own minds” but when problems were hard the situation became ambiguous the participants did not want to be wrong so relied on answers they were given

L: this shows ISI as being a valid explanation for conformity as the results of such study are what ISI would predict in terms of conformity

Question 23

what counterpoint for ISI and NSI

Answer 23

P: however, it is often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies as well as real life

EE: for example, Asch found that conformity was reduced when there is one dissenting participant, the dissenter may reduce the power of NSI by providing social support or they reduce the power of ISI by providing an alternative source of information, both interpretations are possible

L: therefore, we cannot assume NSI and ISI are separate explanations for conformity and both processes probably operate together in most real world conformity situations

Question 24

produce PEEL points for individual differences and NSI

Answer 24

P: there has been research conducted which contradicts the definition of NSI and suggests that not everyone behaves the same way.

E: an example of this would be how some people may not worry about other people’s perception of them and therefore are less affected by NSI.

E: such people are called nAffiliators - people who do not have an increasing need to be affiliated - have a relationship with others.

L: This shows how NSI does not affect everyone in the same way and shows how the desire to be liked underlies conformity as it is greater for some than others, this means further explanations are needed perhaps some individuals have an innate temperament to conformity or perhaps environmental factors play a huge role therefore we cannot assume NSI is only the basis of conformity