Conformity Flashcards

Question

What were Asch's variations?

Answer 1

- Group size - Unanimity - Task difficulty

Answer 2

Group size - Asch found that conformity tends to increase as the size of the group increases - With 1 confederate in the group conformity was 3%, with 2 others it increased to 13%, and with 3 it was 32% - Conformity does not seem to increase in groups larger than four, this is considered the optimal group size

Answer 3

Unanimity - When one other person in the group gave a different answer from the others, conformity dropped - Asch found that even the presence of just one confederate that goes against the majority choice can reduce conformity as much as 80% - Therefore, people are less likely to conform when the groups unanimous decision is broken

Answer 4

Task difficulty - When the comparison lines were made more similar in lenght it was harder to judge the correct answer and conformity increased, reflecting Asch’s results - When we are uncertain, it seems we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task the greater the conformity. - This is an example of informational social infleunce because there is belief that others are correct and they have desires to be right.

Answer 5

- Eagley and Carli - Perrin and Spencer

Answer 6

Eagley and Carli (1981) carried out a meta-analysis to examine whether women are more conforming they found that although women were more likely to conform than men, the size of the difference was small difference appears most in group-pressure situations in public, privately this difference virtually disappears therefore women are more likely to comply with the group opinion rather than internalise it.

Answer 7

Perrin and Spencer (1980) suggested that the Asch effect was a “child of its time” replicated Asch’s study using engineering, maths and chemistry students only 1/396 trials where an observer joined the majority when they were wrong they argue that there is a time/cultural change to conformity however the sample may have been more confident in performing the task because of the nature of their studies.

Answer 8

ARTIFICIAL SITUATION AND TASK ppts knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with the demands of the situation (demand characteristics) It was a trivial task so there was no real reason no to conform It didn’t resemble groups that we are a part if everyday because the confederates were not really a group It has been suggested that consequences of conformity may bo more important when we interact with groups in a much more direct way

Answer 9

LIMITED APPLICATION OF FINDINGS Only men were tested. WOmen may be more conformist because they are mroe concerned about social relationships and acceptance All men from USA (individualist culture) Smith and Bond found that culture can affect conformity rates in their meta-analysis where the average conformity is collectivist cultures was 37% wherea individualist countries had a rate of 25% In collectivist cultures, members are socialised to value the collectivist goals of the group Individualist cultures the emphasis is on personal achievement and independence

Answer 10

- Artificial situation and task - Limited application of findings

Answer 11

Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Study AIM: To investigate thte extent to whichi individuals will conform to social roles PROCEDURE: - 24 male volunteers were psychologically screened as normal aim - They were randomly assigned as guard or prisoner - Prisoners were arrested at home, brought to the mock prison, de-loused, stripped and given unifroms - Guards wre given uniform and told to keep order but not to use violence - Behaviour over 2-week period was recorded and observed FINDINGS: 1. Tyrannical behvaiour from guards; abusing prisoners, use of cruel punishment and group loyalty 2. Submissive behaviour from prisoners; referring to eachother by number, hunger strike, following orders of guards, reluctant to the experiment 3. Prisoner 8612 was put in ‘the hole’ and later wanted to leave the experiment but Zimbardo suggested that he should become an informer 4. Prisoner 416 went on a hunger strike which is evidence that ppts really did believe their roles 5. Experiment ended early - on the 6th day CONCLUSION: Ppts did conform to their social roles to a significant extent. Zimbardo called this deindividuation Zimbardo held a dual-role in the experiment as he acted both as a researcher and the prison superintendent.

Answer 12

- Debate over the internal validity - Debate over ecological validity - Low population validity - Individual differences - Ethical issues

Answer 13

DEBATE OVER THE INTERNAL VALIDITY Yes: ppts were psychologically tested and then randomly assigned to one of the roles. This gave control as only the role given could explain the behaviour. No: Banuaizizi and Movahedi (1975) suggested that the procedure was too obvious to the participants and that they were very likely to guess and then act in a certain way to be helpful to the researchers, known as demand characteristics. John Wayne, a participant, admitted in an interview that he deliberately showed extreme behaviour as he though that was what was expected.

Answer 14

DEBATE OVER ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY Yes: Effort was made to make it as realistic as posible; ppts were arrested, de-loused and all had appropraite uniforms, and were given numbers. Recordings show that 90% of the conversations were about the prison. Participants only addressed eachother by their numbers. No: Prison is harsher than study; e.g gang violence, revenge attacks or victimisation The sentence wasonly 2 weeks so prisoners knew it was a limited period. Guards knew there were no consequences of extreme behaviour. FIndings cannot be generalised as a result.

Answer 15

LOW POPULATION VALIDITY Sample was 24 white male students from California, USA, a individualist culture. Volunteer bias.

Answer 16

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES - LOW INTERNALY VALIDITY Because of the small sample it would only require one or two individuals to behavie in an extreme way in order to significantly shift the findings. For example, had ‘John Wayne’ been allocated as a prisoner or had been isck on day one of the experiment then an entirely different result may have occurred. Same argument can be made about prisoner 416. Dispostional factor as result may have been down to individual differences in the sample rather than conformity to social roles.

Answer 17

->Lack of fully informed consent as events were unpredictable in the study - More realistic, Higher ecological validity, ppts debriefed ->Prisoners not told about the arrest at the start of the experiment as Zimbardo wanted it to come as a surprise - More realistic, Higher ecological validity, ppts debriefed ->Atmosphere created led to prisoners to believer the couldn’t leave until sentence over over. 8612 asked to leave but offered to become an informant in exchange for no guard harassment, eventually let him leave due to emotional distress - Experiment finished early ->5 left early due to torment. Guards felt anxious and guilt. ZImbardo acknowledged that the study should have stopped earlier - Ppts debriefed, Experiment finished early

Conformity Flashcards

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