Social Influence

Question 1

Social Influence

Answer 1

Process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours e.g. conformity, obedience and minority influence.

Question 2

Conformity

Answer 2

A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people.

Question 3

Compliance

Answer 3

A superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view but privately disagree with it. Change in our behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us.

Question 4

F-scale Test

Answer 4

A test of tendencies towards fascism, used to assess the authoritarian personality.

Question 5

Binding Factors

Answer 5

Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the ‘moral stain’ they are feeling.

Question 6

Group Size (Asch)

Answer 6

Variation of Asch’s study. Conformity increased with group size but only up to a point, levelling off when majority was greater than 3.

Question 7

My Lai Massacre

Answer 7

War crime during the Vietnam war. Unarmed civilians killed by American soldiers who were obeying lieutenant’s orders. Supports external validity of explanations of obedience.

Question 8

Zimbardo (1973)

Answer 8

Mock Prison. Tests conformity to social roles.

Question 9

Social Change

Answer 9

Occurs when the whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new beliefs, attitudes and ways of doing things. (1. drawing attention, 2. consistency & flexibility, 3. deeper processing, 4. augmentation principle, 5. snowball effect, 6. social cryptomnesia, 7. conformity/obedience)

Question 10

Moscovici et al. (1969)

Answer 10

Blue and green slides. Tests minority influence.

Question 11

Unanimity (Asch)

Answer 11

Variation of Asch’s study. The extent to which all the members of the group agree. Presence of anther non-conformer lowered conformity.

Question 12

Informational Social Influence (ISI)

Answer 12

An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well.

Question 13

Augmentation Principle

Answer 13

If a person performs an action when there are known constraints, their motive for acting must be stronger.

Question 14

Elms and Milgram (1966)

Answer 14

MMPI scale and F-scale test. Follow up study.

Question 15

Identification

Answer 15

A moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be apart of it. But we don’t necessarily agree with everything the majority believes.

Question 16

Synchronic Consistency

Answer 16

Consistency between group members.

Question 17

Asch (1951)

Answer 17

Testing conformity. Line lengths.

Question 18

Consistency

Answer 18

Minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority. Effective because it draws attention to the minority view.

Question 19

Abu Ghraib

Answer 19

Iraq war. 2003. Americans captured prisoners for interrogation.Guards severely abused detainees. Strength of Zimbardo’s study.

Question 20

Agentic Shift

Answer 20

Changing from being in an autonomous state to being in an agentic state.

Question 21

Normative Social Influence (NSI)

Answer 21

An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked.

Question 22

Obedience

Answer 22

A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order.

Question 23

Diachronic Consistency

Answer 23

Consistency over time.

Question 24

Location (Milgram)

Answer 24

Variation of Milgram’s study. The place where an order is issued. The relevant factor that influences obedience is the status or prestige associated with the location.

Question 25

Internalisation

Answer 25

A deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. Leads to far reaching and permanent change in behaviour even when the group is absent.

Question 26

Task Difficulty (Asch)

Answer 26

Variation of Asch’s study. Conformity increased when the task became more difficult.

Question 27

Resistance to Social Influence

Answer 27

The ability to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey to authority. This ability is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.

Question 28

Proximity (Milgram)

Answer 28

Variation of Milgram’s study. Physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to.

Question 29

Social Roles

Answer 29

The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. Accompanied by expectations we have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.

Question 30

Milgram (1963)

Answer 30

Shock levels. Tests obedience.

Question 31

Acquiescence Bias

Answer 31

Tendency for a person to respond to any questionnaire/interview item with agreement regardless of the actual content.

Question 32

Legitimacy of Authority

Answer 32

An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us.

Question 33

Agentic State

Answer 33

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure.

Question 34

Minority Influence

Answer 34

Form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours.

Question 35

Authoritarian Personality

Answer 35

A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority.

Question 36

Adorno et al. (1950)

Answer 36

Authoritarian Personality. F-scale test.

Question 37

Flexibility

Answer 37

Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore, minority influence is more effective if they show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.

Question 38

Autonomous State

Answer 38

Being aware of the consequences of one’s own actions and therefore taking voluntary control of one’s own behaviour. Opposite of agentic state.

Question 39

Dispositional Explanations

Answer 39

Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality. Contrasts with situational explanations.

Question 40

Uniform (Milgram)

Answer 40

Variation of Milgram’s study. People in positions of authority often have an outfit that is symbolic of their authority which indicates to the rest of us who is entitled to expect our obedience.

Question 41

Commitment

Answer 41

Minority influence is most powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position. Effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self-interest.

Question 42

Locus of Control (LOC)

Answer 42

The sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Can be internal or external.

Question 43

Social Support

Answer 43

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. Act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.