unit 2 outcome 3 - social influences on behaviour Flashcards
what is a group?
two or more people who interact with each other and who share a common purpose
define power
the ability a person has to get someone to do something for them
what are the different kinds of power?
- reward
- coercive
- information
- legitimate
- expert
- referent
what is reward power?
the ability to provide the desired response e.g. parent giving child a lolly
what is coercive power?
the ability to use an unpleasant consequence (force) e.g. having your phone taken away
what is information power?
having knowledge that others desire e.g. telling someone inside information when they do something for you
what is legitimate power?
power given by a higher authority, may be due to role or position e.g. your boss at work
what is expert power?
power due to skills and depth of knowledge
e.g. someone in a higher role than you at work
what is referent power?
power coming from the desire to relate to the (powerful) person e.g. buying a product because a celebrity promoted it
what are the three kinds of leadership?
- democratic
- authoritarian
- laisse-faire
explain democratic leadership
the leader negotiates with the group and considers their views
explain authoritarian leadership
the leader makes all the decisions by their self and controls the group
explain laisse-faire leadership
the leader is present but takes no part in the group or decision making
what was the independent variable in the stanford prison experiment?
the positions of the participants (guards or prisoners)
what was the dependent variable in the stanford prison experiment?
the amount of hostile acts committed
who were the participants in the stanford prison experiment?
24 male university students
describe the method in the stanford prison experiment
the participants were randomly split into two groups. The prisoners were then arrested at random times and the guards were given sunglasses and batons.
what were the results of the stanford prison experiment?
the first day went by fine, the second day the prisoners started to rebel and the guards began to retaliate. The guards striped the prisoners and placed some in confinement. A priveledge cell was invented to psychologically mess with the prisoners and to stop them from rebelling. The experiment was abandoned after 6 days instead of 2 weeks.
what was the criticism and ethical issues from the stanford prison experiment like?
many people said it lacked fully informed consent as zimbardo didn’t know himself what the outcome would be. The participants also did not consent to being randomly arrested.
what was the aim of the milgram experiment?
to see how easily someone will obey an instruction when it involved harming another person
what was the method in the milgram experiment?
a group of men were collected and told they were ‘teachers’ and they would be teaching ‘students’ memory tests. They were told that they were in control of giving the student an electric shock, and that they were required to everytime the student got a wrong answer. The experiment was really an obedience test on the teachers.
what were the results from the milgram experiment?
all of the participants continued until 300 volts and 65% of participants went to 450 volts
what ethical issues concerned milgram’s experiment?
the deception of the participants
what was the aim of Asch’s experiment?
to investigate how far an individual will conform to the majority opinion
what was the method of Asch’s experiment?
the participant was placed in a group of 7 to 9 confederates. The group was shown two cards and asked “which line on card B is closest to the line on card A?”
what were the results from Asch’s experiment?
37 of the 50 participants (74%) conformed at least once
what was the conclusion from Asch’s experiment?
Asch found that participants conformed because
- they wanted to feel like they belonged in the group
- they believed that other group members were better informed than them
define a meta analysis
research that examines the results of many other studies and combines all the findings.
what are the factors affecting conformity?
- normative influence
- culture
- informal influence
- group size
- unanimity
- deindividuation
- social loafing
define normative influence
going along with the rest of the group to fit in and gain approval
define culture
a cultural difference where it is normalised that people individually make their own conclusions
define informal influence
where you believe that someone else’s opinion is correct because they are more capable of accurate judgement
define group size
people are less likely to conform to an incorrect answer because other members of the group have said so
define unanimity
if one of the confederates did not conform with the group, but gave the correct answer, conformity rates would drop
define deindividuation
the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations
define social loafing
someone in a group allowing others to do more work due to the amount of people participating
what is helping behaviour?
behaviour that benefits other people and society in general, also called pro social behaviour
e.g. rescuing, sympathising, and building relationships
what are some examples of helping behaviour?
- Doing something good for someone or society
- Voluntary
- Building relationships, friendships, trust
- Rescuing
- Charity work
- Sympathy
what factors influence pro social behaviour?
- biological (helps maintain the human gene pool)
- environmental (learning through socialisation to help people)
what is bystander intervention?
a person voluntarily helping someone
what is the bystander effect?
someone more likely to help another person when they are on their own as opposed to around others
describe the decision stage model of helping
- do we notice that help is needed?
- is the situation an emergency?
- does the potential helper take responsibility?
- does the potential helper decide on a way to help?
- does the potential helper take action to help?
what are social norms?
a form of action or behaviour that is standardised and expected in society
what is the reciprocity principle?
“do unto others as they do unto you”
what is the social responsibility norm?
members of society are expected to help in times of need
what are the personal characteristics of a helper?
- empathy
- mood
- competence (doing something successfully)
- altruism (placing others before you)
what happened to kitty genovese?
Kitty was attacked and stabbed several times when walking home at night, and though at least 12 of her neighbours heard her screams, none of them went to help or called the police, instead, she died.
what is anti social behaviour?
behaviour that is harmful to others and the community e.g. prejudice and aggression, can be hostile and deliberate over time
what are the 5 reasons that the bystander effect occurs?
- diffusion of responibility
- audience inhibition
- social influence
- proximity of the victim
- nature of the bystander
what is diffusion of responsibility?
assuming that someone else will do it
what is audience inhibition?
being self conscious
what is social influence?
behaving like others around you
what is proximity of the victim?
how close the potential helper is to the victim
what is nature of the bystander?
moral development, past experience, etc.
what are the six ethical considerations?
- informed consent
- confidentiality
- voluntary participation
- withdrawl rights
- deception
- debriefing
what are independent and dependent variables?
independent variable - the variable controlled and manipulated by the experimenter
dependent variable - the variable measured by the experimenter
what is a hypothesis
an educated guess about the outcome of an experiment before it is performed
give some examples of research designs
- independent groups
- matched participants
- repeated measures
what are independent groups?
different participants are used in all aspects of the experiment
what is matched participants?
participants are split into pairs based on similar qualities
what are repeated measures?
the same participants undertake each part of the independent variable.
what are control and experimental groups?
control groups - separates from the rest of the experiment and cannot influence results
experimental groups - the group undergoing an experiment who’s results the experimenters with to examine
what is an extraneous variable?
any variable not being investigated that may affect the results of the dependent variable. e.g. time of day or setting
