Types of conformity Flashcards
What is identification?
Conforming the behaviour of a group because there is something about the group we value and want to be part of the group. This leads to a public change in opinion/behaviour to be accepted even if we don’t agree but this can also lead to internalisation
What is compliance?
Going along with others in public but privately not changing personal opinions and/or behaviour and results in only a superficial change so the behaviour or opinion stops as soon as the group pressure stops
What is NSI?
Normative social influence - yielding to group pressure as the person wants to fit in as they are scared of being rejected and this usually involves compliance
What is ISI?
Informative social influence - when a person lacks knowledge and looks to the group for guidance or when a person is unclear on a situation and socially compares their behaviour with the group and usually involves internalisation
What is internalisation?
When a person genuinely accepts the groups norms resulting in a private as well as public change in opinions/behaviour and the change is usually permanent as attitudes have been internalised so the change persists even in the absence of other members of the group
What was Sherif’s study and what was the method?
Sherif conducted an experiment to try demonstrate people conform to group norms when they are in an unclear situation. He projected a small spot of light onto a screen and moved it then participants must guess how far it moved. The participants were in groups of 3 and put two people who has similar to estimates and one with a ver different guess and made people say their answer out loud.
What was the result and conclusion of Sherif’s study?
The group converged to a common estimate and the person with a greatly different estimate conformed to the group. The results show that when in an unclear situation, people look the the others for guidance as they want to be right. This is an example of ISI
What was Wesley Schultz et al’s experiment and the results?
They found they could change the behaviour of hotel guests by using printed messages encouraging them to save energy and suggested that other guess using less towels were more successful. This demonstrates NSI and people went along with the hotel norm.
What are the issues with Sherif’s study?
It has low ecological validity as the situation (a controlled lab) is not similar to real life and the mundane realism was low as the task is not something that would be completed in real life.
What are nAffiliators?
people who need affiliation (social approval) which is an individual difference that affects NSI/
