Conformity Flashcards
(21 cards)
Define conformity
Compliant with standards, rules and laws
3 types of conformity
- compliance
- identification
- internalisation
Define compliance
Agreeing publicly but disagreeing in private
Define Identification
The person conforms publicly as well as privately as they have identified with the group and they feel a sense of group membership.
- the change in behaviour is often temporary
Define internalisation
The person conforms publicly and privately they have internalised and accepted the views of the group
Both beliefs and behaviour are changed
Define informational social influence
People conform because they want to be right
Define normative social influence
People conform because they want to be liked
What was Asch’s research procedure
- 123 male students were tested with a group of 6-8 confederates
- on each trial they identified the length of a standard line
- confederates started to make obvious mistakes on 12 of the 18 trials
Results of Asch’s research
Naive participants gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time
- 25% of participants never gave a wrong answer
- 75% conformed at least once
- conformity by the majority
Variables affecting conformity
- group size
- task difficulty
- unanimity
Evaluation of Asch’s research
- the situation and task were artificial
- findings may only apply to certain situations
- ethical issues
Zimbardos research - methods
- mock prison was set up in the basement in the psychology department at Stanford university
- 24 emotionally stable students were recruited and randomly assigned to roles of prisoner or guard
- prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and cap to cover their hair, they were identified by numbers - loss of personal identity - deindividuation
Zimbardos aim
Zimbardo wanted to know why prison guards behave brutally - was it because they have sadistic personalities or was it because of social roles
- conformity to social roles
Define deindividuation
When an individual losses their sense of self (individuality) this could occur when wearing a uniform, as people conform to the social role of the uniform
Findings of zimbardos research
- the guards took their roles seriously and began treating the prisoners harshly
- within 2 days prisoners rebelled, they ripped their uniforms and swore at guards. The guards retaliated with fire extinguishers.
- after the rebeliation the prisoners becam subdued, depressed and anxious.
Conclusion of zimbardos aims
Social roles have a strong influence on individuals behaviours. The guards became brutal and prisoners became submissive
Ethical issues in zimbardos research
- fully informed consent - participants should give explicit consent to take part in research
- deception - should not lie to the participant
- protection from harm - psychologists have to ensure participants are not harmed
- right to withdraw- participants must be bale to leave whenever they want
- confidentiality - participants must not be identifiable from the write up of the research
- privacy - psychologists should respect patients privacy,
Define obedience
The type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority
Milgram research - methods
- milgram recruited 40 male participants
- advertised it as a study into memory
- participants played the teacher and confederates played the learner and there was an experimenter in a lab
- the learner was strapped into a chair with electrodes. In a separate room than the teacher.
- every time a learner answered a question wrong they would get shocked.
- shocks varied from 15 volts to 450 .
Milgrams research - findings
- no participants stopped below 300 volts
- 12.5% stopped at 300 volts
- 65% continued to 450 volts
Obedience - what are the situational variables
- location - if in a run down building obedience fell to 47%
- uniform- if experimenter was in ordinary clothes obedience dropped by 20%
- proximity
