Social: Key concept 1 Flashcards
Conformity
When a person changes their opinion/behaviour because they are pressured (or believe they are pressured) by another person or a group.
Informational social influence (ISI)
We agree with the behaviour of others because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct.
Normative social influence (NSI)
We agree with the behaviour of others because we want to be accepted and liked, to avoid rejection.
Practical applications evaluation
Strength is that understanding conformity can have useful practical applications in workplaces. For example, ‘whistle blowers’ are people who risk their jobs to highlight wrongdoing in organisations, even when everyone else accepts it. Therefore, having an understanding of NSI and ISI means we can take steps to counteract and resist mindless confomity.
Research support evaluation
Strength is that Asch provided evidence of NSI in his study on conformity. For example, he discovered than many of his participants went along with a clearly wrong answer just because other people did. When he asked them why, some said they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval. This suggests that we sometimes conform in order to avoid rejection by the majority. When this pressure is removed because you don’t have to disagree publicly, then conformity is less likely.
NSI and ISI are less clear in the real world evaluation
Weakness is that the two processes are interdependent. For example, you are less likely to conform if there is another person present who disagrees with the group. The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (because they provide social support). Or they may reduce the power of ISI (becasue there is an alternative source of information). This shows that we can’t always be sure whether NSI or ISI is responsible for conformity. It is most likely that both are operating, especially in real life situations.
