Types of conformity Flashcards
What is internalisation?
when a person genuinely accepts the group norm
- results in a private as well as a public change (permanent)
What is compliance?
when people change their opinions to fit in with the group
- don’t privately change their personal opinions and doesn’t result in a permanent change
What is identification?
When an individual conforms to the opinions of a group because there’s something about the group that they value and they want to be a part of it
- publicly chance opinion even if they don’t agree
How does identification show elements of both compliance and internalisation?
the individual accepts the behaviours they are adopting as right but the purpose of adapting to them is to be accepted
- opinions change privately and publicly but they may not be maintained
What is informational social influence? (ISI)
- motivated by the need to be right
- when in an ambiguous situation we look to see what others are doing and copy it
- results in internalisation as its more likely to lead to a change in our personal opinions
What is normative social influence? (NSI)
- motivated by the desire to be accepted
- we conform to the group to gain acceptance as we think the group can reward us or reject us
- results in compliance as we change our behaviour publicly to be accepted but not privately
What are strengths of the explanations of conformity?
- NSI supported by research (Asch)
- ISI supported by research (Lucas et al)
- Supporting research for ISI and internalisation (Sherif)
What are limitations of the explanations of conformity?
- unclear whether NSI or ISI is at work in studies
- individual differences
- ISI is moderated by type of task
Evaluate research support from Asch as a strength of NSI as an explanation of conformity
P: Supported by Asch’s study
E: When Asch interviewed ppts some said they conformed because they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval. When ppts wrote their answers down conformity reduced from 36.% to 12.5%
E: Strength of NSI because the results of the study suggest that giving answers privately meant there was no pressure from the group to conform or to be accepted
L: Suggests at lease some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected and therefore suggests that the theory that individuals conform publicly even when they don’t agree privately to be accepted has some validity.
Evaluate Research support from Lucas et al as a strength of ISI as an explanation of conformity
P: Supporting research
E: Lucas et al found that ppts conformed more often to incorrect answers when the maths problems were difficult. When the problems were easy ppts knew their minds but when the problems were hard the situation became ambiguous and ppts didn’t want to be wrong so they relied on the wrong answers given.
E: Strength of ISI because it shows that individuals are more likely to conform on a public and private level in unclear situations and therefore strengthens the claim that internalisation is a valid type of conformity
Evaluate supporting research from Sherif as a strength of ISI and internalisation as an explanation of conformity
P: Supported by research
E: Sherif asked ppts to estimate how far and in which direction a light moved (the light was an optical illusion) Ppts were asked to do this on their own, then in a group aloud and finally ppts were asked to then estimate again on their own. Found that ppts final estimations had changed from their first estimates and were now more like the group norm.
E: Supports ISI because it demonstrates that when people are in an ambiguous situation they look to others for more information because they have the desire to be correct.
Supports internalisation because it demonstrates that when people are exposed to the opinions of others they believe to be correct, they conform to the group norm and maintain this view even in the absence of the group
Evaluate Individual differences as a limitation of NSI as an explanation of conformity
P: Does not predict conformity in every case.
E: For example, some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others. Such people are called nAffiliators - they have a strong need for ‘affiliation’ McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform.
E: Limitation because it shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than it does for others. There’s individual differences in conformity that can’t be fully explained by one general theory of situational pressures, therefore limiting the validity of NSI as an explanation.
Evaluate the idea that ISI is moderated by type of task as a limitation of ISI as an explanation of conformity
P: Features of the task moderate the impact of majority influence.
E: For example, for some judgements there are clear physical criteria for validation, but for other judgements, there may be no physical way of validating them.
Some judgements can be determined through objective means such as statistics, however, other judgements cannot be made using objective criteria because they do not exist. So these judgements can only be made on the basis of social consensus
E: Limitation because as a result, majorities should exert greater influence on issues of social rather than physical reality and this is what research tends to show (Laughlin 1999) Therefore, ISI is limited as an explanation for conformity in certain situations
Evaluate how it’s difficult to know whether NSI or ISI is at work as a limitation as NSI AND ISI as an explanation of conformity
P: It is unclear which one is the reason for conformity in studies
E: For example, Asch (1955) found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant. The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI because they provide social support or they may reduce the power of ISI because they provide an alternative source of social information. Both of these interpretations are possible.
E: This is a limitation because it is hard to separate ISI and NSI as both processes may operate together in most real-world conformity situations and therefore this may limit the validity of compliance and internalisation as types of conformity in real life.
