social influence AO3 Flashcards
A strength of ISI is Research Support….
- Lucas et al - students give answers to maths problems
- more conformity when problems were difficult
- want to be right so we look to others
A limitation of ISI is Individual Differences….
- Asch found less conformity in students
- PERRIN AND SPENCER - found the same in engineering students
- people who are more confident or knowlegeable are less influenced
Strength of NSI is Research Support…
- Asch asked why they agreed with the wrong answer , some said they felt self conscious and afraid of disapproval.
- when they wrote the answers down conformity dropped to 12.5%
Limitation of NSI is individual differences…
- people who care more about being liked are more affected by Nsi - naffiliators
- MCGHEE AND TEEVAN - naffiliators are more likely to conform
- desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others
a Limitation of Asch’s findings may be a ‘child of the times’ …
- PERRIN AND SPENCER - found one conforming pp out of 396 trials. (engineering students felt more confident))
- 1950s America was a conformist society but society has changed.
- Asch effect is not consistent over time
A limitation of Asch’s findings was that the task was artificial…
- pp knew they were in a study so demand characteristics
- no reason not to conform
- cannot generalise to every day situations where consequences of conformity are important
A limitation of Asch’s study was that there were ethical issues…
- deceived as they thought the confederates were participants
- but it should be weighed against the benefits
- shows how the pressures to conform are shown in this situation
A limitation of Asch’s study was that it only applies to certain groups…
- only men tested - NETO - suggested women might be more conformist maybe cuz they want to be accepted
- pps were from the USA - individualist culture. SMITH AND BOND suggest that conformity rates are higher in collectivist cultures - more concerned with group needs
- Asch’s findings maybe limited to american men
Strength of the SPE is that researchers had control over variables…
- Emotionally stable pps were recruited and randomly assigned the roles of guard or prisoner
- roles given by chance - behaviour was due to the pressures of the situation and not their personalities
- control increases the internal validity
limitation of the SPE is a lack of realism…
- BANUAZIZI AND MOHAVEDI - ‘pps were play acting’
- one guard based his roleon a character from the film COOL HAND LUKE.
- however zimbardos data showed 90% of their conversations were about prison life - increases internal validity
FROMM - suggested zimbardo understated dispositional influences
- 1/3 of guards behaved brutally. 1/3 applied to the rules. rest supported prisoners
- zimbardo said that they all conformed to social roles
- differences in the guards’ behaviour show that they could exercise right and wrong choices despite the pressure
limitation of SPE is the major ethical issues …
- zimbardo was both lead and researcher and prison superintendant
- a student wanted to leave the study spoke to zimbardo, responded as a superintendant worried about the running of the prison
- limited the ability to protect his pps from harm
limitation of milgrams study is that it lacked internal validity…
- ORNE AND HOLLAND - suggested they guessed the electric shock were fake.
- But SHERIDAN AND KING’S - pps gave real shocks to a puppy ; 54% of males, 100% females
- m’s study might be genuine, 70% of m’s pps believed the shocks were genuine.
strength of milgrams study is that it had good external validity …
- m argued that the lab-based relationship between experimenter and pp reflected wider real life authority relationships
- HOFLING - levels of obedience in nurses on a hospital ward to unjustified demands by doctors were very high - 21/22
- generalised
replications of milgrams research support his finidings…
- french game show - paid to give fake shocks when ordered by the presenter
80% gave the 450 V shock to an unconscious man - supports milgrams original conclusions about obediance to authority and shows replicability
