past paper questions

Question 1

what is compliance?

Answer 1

publicly changing behaviour whilst maintains a different private view

Question 2

what is conforming to the behaviour of a role model?

Answer 2

identification

Question 3

briefly outline and evaluate the findings of any one study of social influence

Answer 3

•Milgram
•65% went up to the maximum voltage, influenced by situational variables like uniform, location and proximity
•Artificial task

Question 4

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence

Answer 4

•locus of control- people with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist pressure to conform and less likely to obey than those with an external locus of control; people with an internal locus of control believe they control their own circumstances; they are less concerned with social approval.
•social support- defiance/ non-conformity is more likely if others are seek to resist influence; seeing others disobey/ not conform gives the observer the confidence to do so; description of forms of social support- disobedient role models, having an ally, explanation of why these produce resistance (e.g. breaks the unanimity of the group in conformity situations, challenges legitimacy of authority figure)

Question 5

outline two explanations for obedience

Answer 5

•authoritarian personality: a collection of traits developed from strict parenting; examples of traits include - conformist, obedient, disapproving towards people of a lower status
•legitimacy of authority: setting, status of authority figure
•agentic shift: person ‘unthinkingly’ carries out orders; diffusion of responsibility

Question 6

use your knowledge of conformity and minority influence to explain the factors that will determine how successful a small group of students will be in convincing a majority

Answer 6

•the majority are more likely to be convinced if the minority are consistent, flexible and committed
•variables affecting conformity like group size and unanimity
•informational/ normative social influence leading to internalisation
•ACCASS

Question 7

outline the procedures of Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles

Answer 7

••Zimbardo set up a mock prison and Stanford university
•they advertised for willing participants and selected those deemed as ‘emotionally stable’ after psychological testing.
•participants were randomly assigned the role of either a guard or a prisoner
• the prisoners were treated like real prisoners and arrested in their homes
•the social roles of the prisoners and the guards were strictly divided
•the prisoners had 16 rules they had to follow and were only referred to by a number
•the guards had uniform and equipment, and were told they had complete power over the prisoners

Question 8

outline the findings of Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles

Answer 8

•there was a slow start but then the guards behaviour became a threat to the prisoners psychological and physical health. the study was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14
•after 2 days, the prisoners rebelled aggressively. the guards played the prisoners against eachother
•the guards frequently harassed the prisoners and do head- counts to assert authority
•after the rebellion was put down, the prisoners become depressed and subdued
•many were released over the first few days regarding concerns for their well-being
•the guards administered brutal and harsh punishments, with some of them appearing to enjoy the power

Question 9

briefly discuss two criticisms of Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles

Answer 9

•ethical issues: lack of informed consent, lack of protection from psychological harm
•zimbardo playing a ‘dual-role’. zimbardo’s own behaviour affected the way in which events unfolded, thus the validity of the findings could be questioned
•methodological issues: sample bias, demand characteristics/ lack of internal validity; lack of ecological validity/ mundane realism

Question 10

discuss research into two or more factors that affect the reliability of eyewitness testimonies

Answer 10

•misleading information, including leading questions
-loftus and palmer ‘car crash’ study where the verb in the question was changed
-loftus and palmer, ‘did you see broken glass’
•anxiety
-loftus weapon focus experiment found that more participants correctly identified a person holding a pen (49%) than a person holding a knife covered in blood
-Yuille and Cutshall
•post event discussion
~ issue of validity in laboratory studies or lack control in real-life situations
~ methodological issues, including sampling, replication
~ ethical issues
~ practical applications/ implications of the research

Question 11

explain how Asch’s conformity research illustrate the features of science- replicability, theory construction and hypothesis testing

Answer 11

•replicability- Asch’s studied had standardised procedures (the number of confederates; length of lines) which meant that they could be replicated to assess consistency/ reliability of the findings; this increased the validity of the conclusions drawn
•theory construction- Asch’s findings led to the development of explanations/ theories of conformity (that people will conform to group pressure to avoid ridicule- normative social influence)
•hypothesis testing- Asch’s research tested the assumption that naive participants would conform to an obviously wrong answer when placed under group pressure; this was achieved by manipulating an IV (fake/ genuine answer) to measure the effect on the DV and keeping other (possible confounding) variables consistent

Question 12

what are legitimacy of authority and agentic state?

Answer 12

•legitimacy of authority- when a person recognised their own and others position in a social hierarchy. legitimacy is increased by visible symbols of authority (uniform), legitimacy of setting, order, system
•agentic state- when a person acts on behalf of an authority figure/ person of higher status. the actor feels no personal responsibility/ does not feel guilty for their actions. the opposite of autonomous state in which people act according to their own principles. binding factors decrease the moral strain.

Question 13

describe how zimbardo investigated conformity to social roles

Answer 13

•set up a mock prison in the basement of stanford university
•observational study- controlled, participant, overt
•emotionally stable volunteers were assigned to the roles of either prisoner or guard
•prisoners ‘arrested’, blindfolded, strip searched ect
•guards given a night stick, uniform and told to maintain order
•prisoners daily routines were heavily regulated by guards working in shifts
•dehumanisation of prisoners (numbered)
•the study was planned to run for two weeks, but was stopped early

Question 14

use your knowledge of social influence processes in social change, explain why fewer and fewer people are using single- use plastic items

Answer 14

•minority influence processes- consistency, commitment (augmentation principle), flexibility- snowball effect, views change gradually over time
•conformity processes- normative social influence/ compliance- informational social influence/ internalisation
•obedience processes- rules

Question 15

what is normative social influence likely to lead to?

Answer 15

compliance

Question 16

what is informational social influence likely to lead to?

Answer 16

internalisation

Question 17

discuss legitimacy of authority as an explanation for obedience

Answer 17

•when a person recognises their own and others positions in a social hierarchy
•leading to recognition of the authority figures right to issue a demand
•legitimacy is increased by visible simple’s of authority like uniform
•legitimacy if setting, order, system
•milgram (location) bickman (uniform)
-use of evidence to support/ contradict the explanations (Milgram, Bickman, Hofling)
-use of real life examples (My Lai massacre)
-cannot account for rates of disobedience
-obedience may be dispositional, not situational (authoritarian personality)
-cultural differences in respect for and responses to authority

Question 18

a teacher was absent and left work for students to complete during the lesson, some students in the class did not do the work their teacher had left for them. use one possible explanation of resistance to social influence to explain why this happened.

Answer 18

•social support
•disobedience is more likely to occur in the presence of others who are disobeying role models
•’some students’ suggests there were more than one who did not complete the work
•this would have given more confidence to ignore the teachers instructions- they act as a ‘model’ to others
•social support is associated with the diffusion of responsibility/ the more people who disobey the less severe the consequences are likely to be
•Milgram- two confederates one naive participant variation

Question 19

describe how situational variables have been found to affect obedience. discuss what these situational variables tell us about why we obey. (16)

Answer 19

•procedure and/ or findings of research into the effects of
•proximity- Milgram- teacher and the learner were in the same room, obedience decreased; touch proximity condition; experimenter leaves the room issues orders over phone, obedience decreased
•location- Milgram- run down office block vs Yale (Hofling- hospital location)
•uniform- Bickman- more likely to obey a man dressed as a guard. In Milgram’s experiment the experimenter wore a grey lab coat
- legitimacy of authority- uniform
- decreased proximity to the authority figure meant that participants returned to a more autonomous state (from agentic state)
- hofling- 21/22 obeyed even though orders were given over the phone (legitimacy of setting is more important than proximity)
- authoritarian personality
- field studies like Bickman may have more relevance in this situation
- Mandel’s analysis of the ecological validity of Milgram’s research
- Orne and Holland