social influence - conformity

Question 1

define conformity

Answer 1

a change in a person’s behaviour or opinions due to real or imagined pressure from a person or a group of people

Question 2

define compliance

Answer 2

-the shallowest level of conformity
-a person changes their public behaviour but not their private beliefs

Question 3

how long does compliance last?

Answer 3

very short term
temporary and superficial - only present when we are in and amongst a group

Question 4

an example of compliance

Answer 4

saying to friends that you love rock because they do but you go home and listen to pop

Question 5

what is identification?

Answer 5

-the middle level of conformity
-a person acts the same way as the group because the group is valued and the individual wants to be a part of it - they identify with the group
-both public and private beliefs may change in order to be accepted but only in the presence of the group, away from the group, these views may not be held

Question 6

define internalisation

Answer 6

-the deepest level of conformity
-both public and private behaviour changes because the views of the group have been completely internalised and accepted

Question 7

how long does internalisation last?

Answer 7

usually a long-term change

Question 8

does behaviour change in public for each type of conformity?

Answer 8

COM - yes
IDEN - yes
INTER - yes

Question 9

does behaviour change in private for each type of conformity?

Answer 9

COM - no
IDEN - yes (in the presence of the group)
INTER - yes

Question 10

are each of the types of conformity long term or short term?

Answer 10

COM - short term
IDEN - short term
INTER - long term

Question 11

liz is by nature a smart dresser but she wears jeans and a sweater to work on ‘dress down friday’ because she doesn’t want to give the impression of being stand-offish to her work colleagues who she likes

Answer 11

identification

Question 12

lewis is eating alone at a sushi restaurant. although he finds eating with chopsticks rather tedious and inconvenient, he uses them because he feels too awkward to ask for a fork

Answer 12

compliance

Question 13

len slows down to 30 mph as soon as he reaches that speed zone because he believes it is wrong to drive faster than that in a built-up area

Answer 13

internalisation

Question 14

when did arch’s research take place?

Answer 14

1951

Question 15

what was the aim of asch’s study?

Answer 15

to see the extent to which social disagree with a unanimous majority affects conformity in an unambiguous situation

Question 16

method of asch’s study

Answer 16

-sample consisted of 123 male undergraduate students from the USA who thought that they were taking part in a general vision test
-asch used a line judgement task
-he placed one real (naïve) participant in a room with six to eight confederates (actors working on behalf of the experimenter), who had agreed their answers in advance
-the naïve participant was led to believe that the other people were also real participants
-the real participant was always seated second from last
-In turn, each person had to say out loud which line (A, B or C) was most like the target line in length
-the correct answer was always obvious
-each participant completed 18 trials and the confederates gave the same incorrect answer on 12 trials, called
‘critical trials’
-asch wanted to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view, even when the answer was clearly incorrect

Question 17

results of asch’s study

Answer 17

-asch measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority view
-on average, the real participants conformed to the incorrect answers on 32% of the critical trials
-74% of the participants conformed on at least one critical trial and 26% of the participants never conformed

Question 18

control group in asch’s study

Answer 18

-one real participant completed the same experiment without any confederates
-asch found that less than 1% of the participants gave an incorrect answer

Question 19

conclusion of asch’s study

Answer 19

-asch interviewed his participants after the experiment to find out why they conformed
-most of the participants said that they knew their answers were incorrect, but they went along with the group in order to fit in, or because they thought that they would be ridiculed
-participants complied due to normative social influence and the desire to fit in publicly without changing their private viewpoint

Question 20

behaviourisms of participants that took part:

Answer 20

-twitched
-shifted uncomfortably in their seats
-sweated
-coughed nervously
-turned rec

Question 21

which 3 variations/ factors affecting conformity did asch investigate?

Answer 21

-inanimity
-task difficulty
-group size

Question 22

define unanimity

Answer 22

the extent that members of a majority agree with one another

Question 23

how did asch investigate unanimity?

Answer 23

-in asch’s original experiment, the confederates all gave the same incorrect answer on the critical trials
-in one variation of asch’s experiment, one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout
-the rate of conformity dropped from 32% to 5%

Question 24

what conclusion can be drawn from the unanimity variation?

Answer 24

if the real participant has support for their belief, then they are likely more likely to resist the pressure to conform

Question 25

how did asch investigate unanimity?
(a second time)

Answer 25

-in another variation, one of the confederates gave a different incorrect answer to the majority
-conformity dropped to 9%

Question 26

what conclusion can be drawn from the second unanimity variation?

Answer 26

-if you break or disrupt the group’s unanimous position, then conformity is reduced significantly, even if the answer provided by the supporter is still incorrect

Question 27

how did asch investigate task difficulty? (+ results)

Answer 27

-in asch’s original experiment, the correct answer was always obvious (unambiguous)
-in one of his variations he made the task more difficult, by making the difference between the line lengths smaller and therefore appear closer together and more ambiguous
-he found that the rate of conformity increased, although he didn’t report the percentage

Question 28

what conclusion can be drawn from the task difficulty variation?

Answer 28

-proof for informational social influence -individuals look to another for guidance when undertaking an ambiguous/difficult task

Question 29

how did asch investigate group size?

Answer 29

-asch altered the amount of confederates in the experiment each time to see how this affected the rate of conformity

Question 30

what were the percentages of conformity for each group size?

Answer 30

1 confederate = 3%
2 confederates = 12.8%
3 confederates = 32-37%

(little changed in conformity once the group size reached 4-5)

15 confederates = 29%

Question 31

what is the optimal group size for conformity?

Answer 31

3

Question 32

when does conformity increase? (group size)

Answer 32

conformity tends to increase as the size of the group increases

Question 33

identify three variables affecting conformity and outline how each of these was investigated in asch’s experiment [6 marks]

Answer 33

group size - asch varied the number of confederates by adding and removing confederates

unanimity - asch sometimes arranged for a confederate to give a different answer to the majority/same answer as the real participant

task difficulty - asch made the right answer less obvious by having lines of similar length, making the task more ambiguous

Question 34

issues with asch’s study:

Answer 34

-sample was biased
-low ecoval
-lack of temporal validity
-there is further research to question the validity of asch’s findings
-ethically questionable

Question 35

asch’s study ao3: bias

Answer 35

P - asch’s initial sample was biased

E - asch used 123 male students from colleges in america
↳ we cannot generalise the results to other populations, eg: female students, as we are unable to conclude whether female students would have conformed in a similar way to male students

E - participants were from the USA (individualistic culture)
↳ it has been suggested that conformity rates are higher in collectivist cultures e.g. china which are more concerned with group needs

L - asch’s sample lacks population validity & further research is required to determine whether males and females and other cultures conform differently

Question 36

asch’s study ao3: low ecoval

Answer 36

P - asch’s experiment has low levels of ecological validity

E - asch’s line judgement task, is an artificial task, which does not reflect conformity in everyday life (the line task was trivial so there was no reason to conform)
↳ the naive participants were in a ‘group’ but not like groups found in everyday life) which means the task lacks mundane realism

L - we are unable to generalise the results of asch to other real-life situations, such as why people may start smoking or drinking around friends, and therefore these results are limited in their application to everyday life

Question 37

what is mundane realism?

Answer 37

how much a study reflects real life

Question 38

asch’s study ao3: study lacks temporal validity

Answer 38

P - asch’s study is criticised for being ‘a child of its time (1951)

E - asch’s research took place at a particular time in US history (McCarthyism - a period of strong anti-communist feelings where people were scared to be different)
it is challenged that the relatively high levels of conformity found in asch’s research in the 1950s are more relative of the particular social climate operating in the USA at that time, than of a universal human behaviour

L - suggests that asch’s experiment lacks historical/temporal validity and the conformity rates found in 1950 may not provide an accurate reflection of conformity in modern times

Question 39

asch’s study ao3: there is new research that contradicts asch’s findings

Answer 39

P - there is further research to question the validity of asch’s findings

E - perrin and spencer (1980) replicated asch’s research using british maths and engineering students and found significantly lower levels of conformity
(only one conforming response out of 396 trials)

L - suggests that asch’s experiment lacks historical/temporal validity and the conformity rates found in 1950 may not provide an accurate reflection of conformity in modern times

Question 40

asch’s study ao3: ethically questionable

Answer 40

P - asch’s study was ethically questionable

E - asch’s deceived the participants (they thought it was a vision test)
asch didn’t protect ppts from harm (many ppts felt stressed when disagreeing)

L - it’s unethical

Question 41

what is normative social influence (NSI)?

Answer 41

agreeing with the majority because we want to be liked/don’t want to be rejected

Question 42

what is informational social influence (ISI)?

Answer 42

agreeing with the majority view/behavior because we believe they know better/are more likely to be right

Question 43

NSI in simple terms:

Answer 43

the need to be liked

Question 44

ISI in simple terms:

Answer 44

the need to be right

Question 45

is NSI emotional or cognitive?

Answer 45

-emotional rather than a cognitive process

Question 46

which form of conformity is NSI likely to result in?

Answer 46

conformity

Question 47

when is NSI more likely to occur?

Answer 47

-social impact theory (when group membership and social approval are important to us)
-the group size is larger - i.e. 4 or more
-the person perceives some cost associated with not conforming (rejection)

Question 48

which form of conformity is ISI likely to result in?

Answer 48

identification or internalisation:

individuals believe that they are conforming to the ‘correct’ values

Question 49

is ISI emotional or cognitive?

Answer 49

it is a cognitive process

Question 50

when is ISI most likely to occur?

Answer 50

-in a situation that is new to a person (so you don’t know what is right)
-in an ambiguous situation (the right course of action is not clear)
-the situation is a crisis
-we believe others to be experts

Question 51

evaluations for NSI & ISI

Answer 51

-asch’s study into conformity supports NSI
-there is research support for ISI
-individual differences may play a role in explaining social influence
-NSI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way
-asch’s research into task difficulty supports ISI
-it is sometimes unclear whether behaviour is due to NSI or ISI

Question 52

ao3 NSI: asch’s study

Answer 52

P - asch’s study into conformity provides
research support for NSI

E - asch found that many of his participants went along with a clearly wrong answer just because other people did
↳ when asked why they did this, some of them said they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval

L - this supports the NSI as an explanation of conformity because it suggests that people do conform to situations due to a fear, rejection or social disapproval

Question 53

ao3 ISI: there is research support for informational social influence

Answer 53

P - there is research support for informational social influence

E - lucas (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or hard
↳ there was greater conformity to incorrect answers when they were difficult rather than when they were easier questions (this was most true for students who rated their mathematical ability as poor)

L - study shows that people conform in situations where they feel they don’t know the answer, which is exactly the outcome predicted by the ISI explanation. we look to other people and assume they know better than us and must be right

Question 54

ao3 ISI & NSI: individual differences

Answer 54

P - individual differences may play a role in explaining social influence, which means that the processes will not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way

E - perrin and Spencer (1980) conducted an Asch-style experiment, using engineering students in the UK
↳ only one conforming response was observed out of nearly 400 trials
↳ this could be because the students felt more confident in their ability to judge line lengths or due to a change in the time in history

L - there are differences in how individuals respond to ISI and NSI

Question 55

ao3 NSI: NSI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way

Answer 55

P - NSI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same way

E - people who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI than those who care more about being liked
↳ McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students who have a high need for affiliation are more likely to conform

L - the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others. therefore, there are individual differences in the way people respond to NSI

Question 56

ao3 ISI: asch’s task difficulty variation supports ISI

Answer 56

P - asch’s research into task difficulty provides research support for the role of informational social influence

E - asch found that conformity increased when the task was made more difficult and the ppts were unsure of the correct answer
↳ this was due to informational social influence, as they believed that the group were more likely to be correct, in comparison to themselves

L - the results show that when in an ambiguous situation a person will look to others (who know more / better) for guidance
(ISI)

Question 57

ao3 ISI & NSI: it is sometimes unclear whether behaviour is due to NSI or ISI

Answer 57

P - it is sometimes unclear whether behaviour is due to NSI or ISI

E - conformity was reduced when there was a dissenting partner in the Asch experiment
↳ this dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (by providing social support) or reduce the power of ISI (because they are an alternative source of information)

L - it isn’t always possible to know whether ISI or NSI is at work, this questions the view of ISI and NSI as operating independently in conforming behaviour

Question 58

what is conformity to social roles?

Answer 58

when an individual adopts a particular behaviour and belief, while in a particular social situation

Question 59

what type of conformity is conformity to social roles?

Answer 59

identification
-a person changes their public behaviour and private beliefs, but only while they are in a particular social role

Question 60

how do people learn how to behave in certain situations?

Answer 60

by observing the social roles of others and conforming to this behaviour

Question 61

who conducted the SPE?

Answer 61

zimbardo

Question 62

who funded the SPE and why?

Answer 62

the US navy:
-they were interested in the causes of conflict between guards and prisoners in naval prisons
-the aim was to test weather the brutality of prison guards was due to sadistic personalities or whether it was created by the situation

Question 63

how were participants for the SPE obtained?

Answer 63

with an ad

Question 64

what was the aim of the SPE?

Answer 64

1) to examine whether people would conform to the social roles of a prison guard or prisoner when placed in a mock prison environment

2) to examine whether the behaviour displayed in prisons was due to dispositional factors or situational factors

Question 65

what does dispositional mean?

Answer 65

part of our personality as humans

Question 66

what does situational mean?

Answer 66

the environment that a person is in

Question 67

how many participants were in zimbardo’s study?

Answer 67

21 male university students who volunteered in response to a newspaper advert

Question 68

who were the 22 participants selected from?

Answer 68

75 volunteers - on the basis of their physical and mental stability

Question 69

how and which roles were the participants assigned to?

Answer 69

random assignment
↳ prisoner or guard

Question 70

how much were the participants paid?

Answer 70

$15 a day

Question 71

where did the SPE take place and what was done to the place?

Answer 71

in the basement of Stanford University, which was turned into a mock prison to make the experiment as realistic as possible

Question 72

what happened to the participants when they were arrested to make it realistic?

Answer 72

-the ‘prisoners’ were arrested by real local police
-fingerprinted, stripped and given a numbered smocked to wear
-chains were placed around their ankles

Question 73

what did the guards wear? (SPE)

Answer 73

-uniforms
-dark reflective sunglasses
-handcuffs
-a truncheon

Question 74

were the guards instructed to use physical violence?

Answer 74

no

Question 75

how long was t he experiment supposed to last?

Answer 75

two weeks

Question 76

IV, DV of SPE

Answer 76

IV: the conditions the ppts were randomly assigned to

DV: the resulting behaviour

Question 77

results of the SPE:

Answer 77

-both the prisoners and guards quickly identified with their social roles

-within days the prisoners rebelled, but this was quickly crushed by the guards, who then grew increasingly abusive towards the prisoners

-the prisoners became increasingly submissive, identifying further with their subordinate role

Question 78

examples of the guards dehumanising the prisoners:

Answer 78

-waking them during the night
-forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands

Question 79

how many participants were released early and why? (SPE)

Answer 79

-five of the prisoners were released from the experiment early
-they had adverse reactions to the physical and mental torment
-eg: crying and extreme anxiety.

Question 80

how quickly was the experiment ended?

Answer 80

after 6 days rather than 2 weeks:
-zimbardo was told that the conditions were inhumane

Question 81

conclusion of the SPE:

Answer 81

-people quickly conform to social roles, even when the role goes against their moral principles
-situational factors were largely responsible for the behaviour found, as none of the participants had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously

Question 82

can you use the SPE as an example of obedience?

Answer 82

no

Question 83

what is deindividuation?

Answer 83

complete loss of personal identity

Question 84

how did deindividuation happen in the SPE?

Answer 84

-the ppts were unable to focus on who they were and so fell into the role of being prisoner
-this was manipulated by the humiliation of the arrest and strip-down at the beginning and the punishments carried out by the guards
-the labelling of the prisoners as numbers

Question 85

SPE ao3 - strengths

Answer 85

-ethical issues
-internal validity
-real world applications

Question 86

SPE ao3 - limitations

Answer 86

-ethical issues
-lack of realism
-individual differences and personality

Question 87

SPE strength: ethics

Answer 87

-zimbardo’s study was considered ethical because he followed the guidelines of the Stanford University ethics committee that had approved the research
-the volunteers knew they were being used in a study

Question 88

SPE strength: high internal validity

Answer 88

P - that the researchers had some control over variables

E - emotionally stable participants were recruited and randomly assigned the roles of guard or prisoner
↳ the guards and prisoners had those roles by chance, this means that their behaviour was more likely to be due to the pressures of the situation and not their personalities
↳ control over variables increases the internal validity of the findings

L - we can be more confident in drawing conclusions about the influences of social roles on

Question 89

SPE strength - real world applications

Answer 89

-the guards at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (2003) were similarly attected by an ‘evil situation’ which led them to behave in ways which they would normally reject
-just like some of the guards in Zimbardo’s prison study, the real-life guards at Abu Ghraib were very creative in their evil behaviour

Question 90

SPE weakness - ethical issues

Answer 90

P - zimbardo was also conforming to the social role of prison superintendent, he was not able to fulfil his main ethical responsibility (the welfare of his participants)

E - instead, they were exposed to the risk of psychological harm
↳ eg: ppts were finally allowed to leave the study, but later than they should have been

L - zimbardo should have given up one or other of his roles.
↳ eg: he could have remained as the lead researcher, let him be detached from the study & more objective about what was happening to his participants.

L - this criticism does not challenge the findings but is relevant as a criticism of the research

Question 91

SPE weakness - individual differences and personality

Answer 91

P - individual differences and personality also determine the extent to which a person conforms to social roles

E- in zimbardo’s original experiment the behaviour of the guards varied dramatically, from extremely sadistic behaviour displayed by around one third of the participants in that role, to a few guards who actually helped the prisoners by offering support, sympathy, offering them cigarettes and reinstating any privileges

L - suggests that situational factors are not the only cause of conformity to social roles, and dispositional factors such as personality also play a role, implying that Zimbardo’s conclusion about conformity to social roles, could have been overstated

Question 92

SPE weakness - lack of realism

Answer 92

P - lack of realism

E -has been suggested that the participants were play-acting
↳ their performances reflected stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave
↳ one guard based his role on a character from the film ‘cold hand luke’.
↳ prisoners rioted because that is what they thought real prisoners

COUNTER:
↳ zimbardo’s data showed that 90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life, which means that the simulation did seem real to them
↳ increases the study’s internal validity