Types of conformity Flashcards
What is conformity?
Conformity is when the behaviour of an individual or small group can be influenced by a larger more dominant group
What are the 3 types of conformity?
Internalisation
Compliance
Identification
What is internalisation?
Going along with the majority and believing in their views- you have accepted their views
What is informational social influence?
When you are in an unfamiliar situation and have to look to others for information about how to behave
What is compliance?
Agreeing with the majority even if you don’t agree with the views
What is normative social influence?
You just appear to do what is normal as going against the majority may cause rejection from the group
What is identification?
Conforming to what’s expected of you to fulfil a social role. Changing your behaviour because you want to fit a social role or imitate a role model
What was Sherif (1935) experiment?
Sherif used a visual illusion called the auto-kinetic effect where a stationary light viewed in a dark room appears to move. Participants were falsely told the experimenter would move the light. In public the group of 3 would repeatedly guess at how far the light had moved.
What were the results of Sherif’s experiment?
When participants were alone, the estimations between participants varied widely while when they were in a group the estimates were similar.
What was the conclusion for Sherif’s experiment?
Participant’s estimates were effected by other peoples. They were affected by informational social influence
Evaluation of Sherif’s lab experiment.
Lab- good control of variables- reduced chance of extraneous variables- cause and effect can be established- can be replicated
Artificial environment- low ecological validity
Evaluation of Sherif’s repeated measure.
Participant variables were kept constant
Evaluation of Sherif’s ethical issues.
The issue of deception as participants were told that the light was moving when it wasn’t
Evaluation of Sherif’s sample size.
The sample was quite limited- they were all male so they can’t be generalised and aren’t representative of society
What was Asch’s experiment?
In groups of 8 participants judged line lengths by saying out line which comparison line the standard line matched. There was only one real participant in the group
What were Asch’s results?
In the control group the participant got the answer wrong 0.7% of the time and in the critical trial 37% of the time participants conformed
What was Asch’s conclusion?
The control group showed that it was easy to complete the task however 37% of people were wrong showing they conformed due to normative social influence
Asch’s evaluation of lab experiment.
Lab- good control of variables- reduced chance of extraneous variables- cause and effect can be established- can be replicated
Artificial environment- low ecological validity
Evaluation of ethical issues of Asch’s experiment
The participants were deceived and may have felt embarrassed when they were told the results. They also were not protected from psychological stress
Evaluation of Asch’s sample size.
The sample was biased as only males from the same age group were used.
What situational factors were Asch’s participants influenced by?
Group size
Task difficulty
Social support
What did task difficulty have to do with Asch’s experiment?
The harder the experiment the more likely people are to conform
What does social support have to do with Asch’s experiment?
If the participant had a fellow confederate agree with them the rate of conformity fell to 5.5%
What does group size have to do with Asch’s experiment?
The smaller the group size the easier it is to resist conformity. There are little changes however after 3 confederates.
What was Zimbardo (1973) study?
How people conform to social roles
