Week 6 - Conformity

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

Tendency to change perceptions, opinions or behaviour in ways that are consistent with group norms

Question 2

Informational Influence

Answer 2

People conform because they believe others are correct in their judgements

Question 3

Normative Influence

Answer 3

People conform because they fear the consequences of appearing deviant.

Question 4

Private conformity

Answer 4

Changes in both overt behav. and beliefs

Question 5

Public Conformity

Answer 5

Superficial change in overt behaviour only

Question 6

Sherifs study produces

Answer 6

ambiguous private acceptance (informational influence)

Question 7

Asch’s line judgements study produces

Answer 7

public conformity (normative influence)

Question 8

Process of mimicry

Answer 8

people mimic others more when they are highly motivated to affiliate—say, because they are similar to these others or are feeling excluded—than when they are not

Question 9

purpose of mimicry

Answer 9

Serves an important social function, that being “in sync” in their pace, posture, mannerisms, facial expressions, tone of voice, accents, speech patterns, and other behaviors enables people to interact more smoothly with one another.

Question 10

implications of mimicry for

questions concerning the automaticity of social influence.

Answer 10

• mimicry appears automatic

Question 11

ostracism

Answer 11

by being neglected, ignored, and excluded

Question 12

ostracism and conformity

Answer 12

people conform to reduce the risk of ostracism

Question 13

minority influence on people’s behaviour

Answer 13

The process by which dissenters produce change within a group.

Question 14

ways in which the discourse of making requests affects compliance with
reference to mindlessness.

Answer 14

although a state of mindlessness can make us vulnerable to compliance, it can also have the opposite effect. For example, many city dwellers will automatically walk past panhandlers on the street looking for a handout.

(xerox study)

Question 15

norm of reciprocity

Answer 15

that we treat others as they have treated us ( Gouldner, 1960).

Question 16

foot-in-the-door

technique (and resisting)

Answer 16

A two-step compliance technique in which an influencer sets the stage for the real request by first getting a person to comply with a much smaller request.

To be able to resist the trap of
compliance techniques, one must:
 Be vigilant
 Not feel indebted by the norm of reciprocity

Question 17

low-balling (and resisting)

Answer 17

A two-step compliance technique in which the influencer secures agreement with a request but then increases the size of that request by revealing hidden costs.

Question 18

the door-in-the-face technique (and resisting)

Answer 18

A two-step compliance technique in which an influencer prefaces the real request with one that is so large that it is rejected.

Question 19

that’s-not-all technique (and resisting)

Answer 19

A two-step compliance technique in which the influencer begins with an inflated request, then decreases its apparent size by offering a discount or bonus.

Question 20

Summarize how participant characteristics predicted levels of obedience in the study

Answer 20

no difference between males and females

Question 21

Summarise how proximity of the victim predicted levels of obedience in the study

Answer 21

obedience reduced the closer the proximity to victim

Question 22

Meeus and

Raaijmakers (1995) and Milgram

Answer 22

ordered them to cause psychological harm. When participants arrived at a university laboratory, they met a confederate supposedly there to take a test as part of a job interview. If the confederate passed the test, he’d get the job; if he failed, he would not.

hassassing comments - 92% exhibited complete obedience despite seeing the task as unfair and distasteful.

Question 23

Gamson et al. (1982) and Milgram

Answer 23

William Gamson and others (1982) recruited people to participate in a supposed discussion of “community standards.

One key difference is that people in Milgram’s studies took part alone and those in Gamson’s were in groups.

only 1 of 33 groups even came close to following the script.

Question 24

social impact theory (Latane, 1981)

Answer 24

Social influence depends on three
factors

The strength of the source
 The immediacy of the source to
the target in time and space
 The number of sources

Question 25

relevance of social impact theory to conformity

Answer 25

• number of sources

Question 26

behavior influenced by peers

Answer 26

compliance