Social Influence - Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

• form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and leads to compliance with that position

Question 2

What are the three types of conformity?

Answer 2

• Kelman (1958) proposed three types of conformity
• compliance:
  
  • when an individual changes their views/behaviour so that they are in line with the majority
  • they change their views publicly but not privately
  • temporary/superficial form of conformity
• internalisation:
  
  • similar to compliance but individuals believe that the majority is correct
  • they accept the majority’s view both publicly and privately
  • deeper/more permanent form of conformity
• identification:
  
  • where an individual conforms to the opinions of the group as there is something about the group that they value
  • they identify with the group and feel that they are similar, so they change their views to be a part of it
  • they may agree with the group publicly but disagree privately

Question 3

What are the explanations for conformity?

Answer 3

• Deutsch and Gerard (1955) developed a two-process theory:
  
  • desire to be right (ISI)
  • desire to be accepted (NSI)
• informational social influence (ISI):
  
  • where an individual conforms as they are unsure of the correct answer/how to behave
  • most likely when:
  • situation is ambiguous/difficult or complex/a crisis (rapid action)
  • individual believes others to be experts
  • likely to lead to internalisation
• normative social influence (NSI):
  
  • where an individual conforms as they feel the need to fit in/to be liked and accepted
  • likely to occur:
  • in a situation with strangers (fear of rejection)
  • stressful situations (greater need for social support)
  • likely to lead to compliance

Question 4

What are the strengths of explanations for conformity?

Answer 4

• research support:
  
  • ISI : Lucas (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems
  • conformity rates increased as difficulty of the questions increased (students felt that their mathematical skills were poor)
  • supports the idea that ISI is more likely to occur when the situation is ambiguous/difficult
  • NSI : Asch (1951) found that many ppts went with a clearly incorrect answer because others did
  • these ppts feared rejection so agreed with the wrong answer
  • the answers to the questions were not ambiguous and yet the ppts still conformed

Question 5

What are the weaknesses of explanations for conformity?

Answer 5

• individual differences in NSI and ISI:
  
  • not every individual shows NSI
  • e.g. nAffiliators are more likely to conform as they have a greater need for being in a relationship with people
  • McGhee and Teevan (1967) supported this idea
  • lacks population validity
  • ISI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way
  • e.g. Asch (1955) found that students (28%) were not as conformist as office workers (37%)
  • so even in ambiguous situations we don’t always look to others for support
• ISI and NSI may work together rather than separately
  
  • both processes may be involved in explaining conformity
  • e.g. conformity rates decreased when there was one dissenting ppt
  • dissenter may reduce power of both NSI (social support) or ISI (alternative source of information)
  • not always clear whether ISI or NSI is at work in situations
• many supporting studies lack ecological validity
  
  • most of the studies are carried out in lab conditions
  • so the ppts behaviour in the lab may not reflect their behaviour in the real world
  • e.g. Asch’s study involved judging the length of lines which is something that would rarely take place in real life

Question 6

What was the aim of Jenness’ (1932) study?

Answer 6

• to examine whether individuals would change their opinion in an ambiguous situation, in response to group discussion

Question 7

What was the procedure/result of Jenness’ study?

Answer 7

• procedure:
  
  • an ambiguous situation that involved a glass bottle with 811 white beans
  • 26 ppts (students) were asked to estimate how many beans the glass bottle contained
  • they were then put into groups of 3 and asked to give a group estimate
  • the ppts were then given the chance to individually estimate the number (to see if they would change their original answer)
• results:
  
  • nearly all ppts changed their original answer
  • male ppts changed their answer by 256 beans
  • female ppts changed their answer by 382 beans
  • range went from 1,875 to 474 (-75%)
  • the ppts changed their initial estimate due to ISI

Question 8

What was the aim of Sherif’s (1935) study?

Answer 8

• to demonstrate that people conform to group norms when they are put into an ambiguous situation

Question 9

What was the procedure/result of Sherif’s study?

Answer 9

• part 1:
  
  • he used the autokinetic effect (small spot of light projected onto a screen in a dark, it appears to move even though it is still)
  • when ppts were individually tested and their answers varied considerably (20cm-80cm)
  • ppts were then tested in groups of 3 (2 had similar estimates)
  • each said their estimate out aloud
• results:
  
  • multiple groups converged to a common estimate
  • the one with a greatly different estimate conformed to the view of the other two ppts
• part 2:
  
  • ppts started off in groups and agreed on a group answer
  • when asked individually, their answers were very similar to the group norm
  • suggests that they had internalised the group norm
• when put in an ambiguous situation, an individual will look to others for guidance
• they observe others to provide the appropriate information
• demonstrates ISI

Question 10

What was the aim of Asch’s (1951)?

Answer 10

• to investigate the extent to which individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers in a non-ambiguous situation

Question 11

What was the procedure/result of Asch’s study?

Answer 11

• procedure:
  
  • 123 male US undergraduates took part in a ‘line judgement’ test (with up to 8 confederates)
  • each person had to state out aloud which line matched the target line
  • the real ppt sat either last/second last
  • there were 18 trials and in 12 critical trials, the confederates gave the incorrect answer
  • also a control condition with only the ‘real ppt’
• results:
  
  • 12 critical trials = one third (32-36%) of the ppts conformed to the incorrect majority
  • 75% of ppts conformed at least once, 25% did not conform at all
  • control group = less than 1% gave the incorrect answer
• Asch interviewed the ppts and most said that they knew the answer was incorrect but still went along with the group to fit in
• demonstrates NSI/compliance due to their desire to fit in publicly without changing their private views

Question 12

What are the variables affecting conformity?

Answer 12

• group size:
  
  • one/two confederates = very little conformity
  • three confederates = conformity rates went to 30%
  • further increase in the majority did not increase conformity rates
  • Campbell and Fairey (1989) argued that group size would have an effect depending on the judgement being made
  • e.g. ambiguous = following majority, non-ambiguous = to fit in with the group
• unanimity of the majority:
  
  • high conformity rates when everyone in the majority group agreed with the same answer
  • one confederate (correct answer) = 33% to 5.5%
  • one confederate (incorrect answer) = dropped to 9%
  • one break in the unanimous decision causes a drop in conformity rates
• task difficulty:
  
  • increased difficulty (smaller difference between lines) = level of conformity increased
  • Lucas (2006) found that high self-efficacy (more confident in carrying out tasks) ppts remained more independent that ppts of low self-efficacy and were less likely to conform
  • shows how situational differences and personality differences are both important in determining conformity

Question 13

What are the (strengths)/weaknesses of Asch’s studies/variables affecting conformity?

Answer 13

• lacks temporal validity:
  
  • Perin and Spencer (1980) repeated his study (engineering students) and found that only 1 student conformed in a total of 396 trials
  • these students may have been more confident measuring lines than Asch’s sample or the 1950s was an especially conformist decade
  • shows that Asch’s study is not consistent across situations/time
• artificial situation and task:
  
  • ppts may have shown demand characteristics
  • this task/the groups (according to Fiske (2014)) do not resemble every day life so the results cannot be generalised to real life situations
  • shows how it lacks ecological validity
• limited application of findings:
  
  • the ppts were all men so the findings may not apply to women
  • Neto (1995) argued that women may be more conformist than men as they are concerned about social relationships
  • Bond and Smith (1996) pointed out that ppts in Asch’s study (US) were seen as an individualistic culture
    - when repeated in China (collectivist culture), conformity rates were higher as they are more orientated to group needs
  • shows how Asch’s research lacks population validity
• ethical issues:
  
  • the main ethical issue was the use of deception
  • e.g. the ppts were not aware that the group had confederates, who purposely gave incorrect answers on 12/18 trials
  • deception could lead to psychological harm (confused/possibly stressed)
  • despite him debriefing his ppts at the end, it may not justify the decker used in the study

Question 14

What is conformity to social roles?

Answer 14

• where an individual conforms to the expectations of a particular social role/behaved in a way which is expected of that role (e.g. cashier in a bank is expected to be polite)

Question 15

What was the aim of Zimbardo’s (1974) study?

Answer 15

• to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that stimulated prison life

Question 16

What was the method/procedure of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 16

• more than 70 ppts volunteered to take part in this study of psychological effects of prison life
• they were all given diagnostic interviews/personality tests to eliminate those with psychological problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime/drug abuse
• 24 male college students (paid $15 per day)
• randomly assigned the role of prisoner or guard (2 reserves and 1 dropped out)
• 10 prisoners and 11 guards
  
  • guards worked in sets of 3 (8-hour shifts)
  • prisoners were housed 3 to a room (included a solitary confinement cell for those who misbehaved)
• prisoners were arrested at their own homes, fingerprinted, photographed, and ‘booked’
• they were then blindfolded and taken to the mock prison at Stanford University (where the deindividuation process began)
• the prisoners were stripped naked, deloused, and given prison clothes/uniform (referred by their number only which dehumanised them)
• all guards wore identical khaki uniforms, carried a whistle and wore special sunglasses (tinted to avoid eye contact with prisoners)
• the guards were instructed to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order (no physical violence was permitted)
• ** Zimbardo also took part in the experiment and acted as a prison warden/superintendent **

Question 17

What were the results of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 17

• both the prisoners/guards quickly idnetified with their social roles
  
  • guards dehumanised the prisoners and grew increasingly abusive towards them
  • the prisoners become increasingly submissive (identifying further with their subordinate role)
  • as prisoners became more submissive, the guards became more assertive (demanded even greater obedience from the prisoners)
• 5 prisoners were released from the experiment due to the physical/mental torment (led to crying and extreme anxiety)
• experiment was terminated on day 6 (supposed to run for 2 weeks)
• 1 prisoner was released after 36 hours because of uncontrollable burst of screaming, crying, and anger
• he appeared to be entering the early stages of a deep depression
• shows that people quickly conform to social roles even if it goes against their moral principles
• situational factors are largely responsible for their behaviour as none of the ppts had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously

Question 18

What are the strengths of the SPE (Zimbardo) study?

Answer 18

• good level of control over variables:
  
  • e.g. they chose the most emotionally stable male ppts
  • each ppt was randomly assigned the role of prisoner/guard so there was no experimenter bias
  • this increases the internal validity of the study
• good application (Abu Ghraib):
  
  • 2003-4 = USA Military Police committed serious human rights violations against Iraqi prisoners
  • Zimbardo argues that the results of the SPE was also present in the Abu Ghraib
  • he believed that the prisoners were actually victims of the situational factors at the time
  • the lack of training, unrelenting boredom, and no accountability to higher authorities were present in both prisons

Question 19

What are the weaknesses of the SPE (Zimbardo) study?

Answer 19

• lack of research support:
  
  • Reicher and Haslam (2006) partially replicated the SPE (BBC Prison Study)
  • their findings were very different to Zimbardo’s
  • in this case, the prisoners took control of the mock prison/harassed and disobeyed the guards
  • SIT (Social Identity Theory) was used to explain this outcome
  • e.g. the guards had failed to develop a shared identity as a cohesive group
  • the prisoners had actively refused to accept the limits of their assigned role as prisoners
• ethical issues:
  
  • ZImbardo’s dual roles in the study raised some ethical problems
  • e.g. his role as both the experimenter and the prison warden
  • 1 prisoner begged to be released from the prison and instead of Zimbardo responding as a responsible researcher, he stayed in his role as a superintendent
  • deception/the lack of informed consent of the prisoners
  • e.g. they did not know that they would be arrested in their own homes
  • the psychological distress caused by this would have scarred the ppts
  • ** Zimbardo held extensive group and individual debriefing sessions and returned post-experimental questionnaires at weekly, monthly, and yearly intervals **