Week 8

Question 1

What are the 3 types of conformity?

Answer 1

Compliance
Obedience
Acceptance

Question 2

What is compliance?

Answer 2

• People do as they are asked and required by formal regulations.
• Changing behaviour but not beliefs.

Question 3

What is obedience?

Answer 3

• People doing as they are told by an authority figure.

Question 4

What is acceptance?

Answer 4

• Changing behaviour and beliefs.

Question 5

When are people influenced: Contexual factors.

Answer 5

1) Individual/task related factors - participants feel insecure/incompetent. Difficult task.
2) The immediacy effect. - the physical/emotional closeness of someone to you makes you more aware of their humanity.

Question 6

When are people influenced: Group-related factors.

Answer 6

1) Percieved interdependence - people are attracted to and like others who are similar to them.
2) Believing that you need to work with others to achieve a goal.

Question 7

When are people influenced: Group size.

Answer 7

• Asch (1955) - group of 3-5 elict greater conformity than just 1-2 others being present.
• 5+ people make no effect on conformity (Milgram, Bickman and Berkowitz, 1969).

Question 8

Why do people conform?

Answer 8

• avoid rejection - normative influence.
• obtain important information - informational influences.

Question 9

What is normative influence?

Answer 9

‘Going along with the crowd’, gain approval or avoid disapproval. Akin to ‘compliance’.

Question 10

What is informational influence?

Answer 10

Leads people to acceptance/conversion, desire to be correct. Akin to ‘conversion’ or ‘acceptance’.

Question 11

What is social identity theory? (Tajfel and Turner, 1979)

Answer 11

• normative and information influence do not consider group belonging.
• we adhere to group norms because we believe the group is part of who we are.
• the group norms is internalised and becomes an appropriate way to act for members of the group.

Question 12

What type of person is more easily influenced than others? (Personality type and culture)

Answer 12

• Personality type = low self-esteem, high need for social support, a need for self-control, low IQ, high anxiety = greater conformity.
  -Culture = conformity is greater in cultures where there are heavy sanctions for non-conformity. Individualistic cultures - less likely to conform.

Question 13

When do people resist social influence?

Answer 13

• when influence attempts are blatant. - people assert their own uniqueness. Is attempting to protect freedom.
• unanimity - (Allen, 1975) - Asch’s paradigm, conformity was drastically reduced. Increased social support?

Question 14

What does innovation mean?

Answer 14

Minority Influence

Question 15

What is conversion theory? Moscovici, 1980

Answer 15

Minority impact lies in their own behaviour style (clear and consistent).

Question 16

2 types of consistency?

Answer 16

1) Diachronic - Intraindividual: Stability over time.
2) Synchronic - interindividual: within the minority.

Question 17

How might majority pressures affect minority influence?

Answer 17

• evokes a validation process.
• participant think more closely about the issue.
• participants become privately influenced.
  -BUT majority pressures may prevent this being shown publicialy.
• often get private acceptance but not public compliance.

Question 18

Disadvantage of majority groups?

Answer 18

• peoples desire to feel unique and autonomous.