Conformity

Question 1

Define conformity

Answer 1

yielding to group pressure

Question 2

Explain conformity

Answer 2

the influence that a group can have over an individual to change his or her behaviours, beliefs etc - which is why it is also known as majority influence

Question 3

What was the aim of Asch’s study

Answer 3

To investigate to what extent people will conform to a majority influence even when it is incorrect

Question 4

Give 6 key facts about the procedure

Answer 4

• Judged three lines and compare to target line
• Unambiguous
• 18 trials
• Wrong answer in 12 trials
• Given out loud and the participant often answered last
• Participants were interviewed after

Question 5

Give 4 key facts about the findings

Answer 5

• 32% of the critical trials they conformed by giving the wrong answer
• 74% conformed at least once
• Most said it was because they wanted to be liked
• Some said it was because they wanted to be right

Question 6

What did Asch conclude

Answer 6

That even when the task in unambiguous the majority can have an impact on the individual

Question 7

Who introduced the three types of conformity

Answer 7

Kelman - in 1958

Question 8

Define compliance

Answer 8

publicly changing our opinions and behaviours for the group

Question 9

Define identification

Answer 9

privately and publicly changing our behaviour whilst we are a member of a group

Question 10

Define internalisation

Answer 10

truly changing our behaviour hence changing privately and publicly

Question 11

What is normative social influence

Answer 11

Conforming to the majority’s behaviour to be accepted and approved.

Question 12

What types of conformity does normative social influence lead to

Answer 12

Compliance and identification because they are both short term and we want to be liked within certain groups

Question 13

In what way did Asch’s study of conformity provide evidence for NSI

Answer 13

Most conformed in order to be liked by the group despite knowing it was wrong

Question 14

What did Garandeau and Cillessen’s study in 2006 show?

Answer 14

It found that children who had a greater need for social acceptance were most likely to conform to bullying as they wanted to be accepted and approved - despite their private views on bullying.

Question 15

What did Linkenbach and Perkins study in 2003 show?

Answer 15

It found that young people exposed to the message that their friends didn’t smoke subsequently were less likely to take up smoking

Question 16

What did Noten et Al’s study in 2008 show?

Answer 16

That people conformed to their neighbours energy conservation behaviour and it had the strongest impact despite them not admitting it

Question 17

What happened when the task was made more difficult?

Answer 17

When the answer was more ambiguous conformity rates were much higher. This is because of ISI.

Question 18

What is social comparison

Answer 18

When we look to others for guidance on how to behave

Question 19

What is informational social influence

Answer 19

When we conform to majority behaviour to behave in the correct way often because we believe they have more information than us

Question 20

When is ISI particularly strong?

Answer 20

In new or ambiguous situations

Question 21

What type of conformity does ISI lead to?

Answer 21

Internalisation - as if we learn something new and it is correct this will become our true belief/opinion.

Question 22

In what way did Asch’s study of conformity provide evidence for ISI

Answer 22

As people, when interviewed, believed they may be perceiving the lines wrong when the task was more ambiguous

Question 23

What did Jenness’ study show?

Answer 23

the power of informational social influence

Question 24

What was the aim of Jenness’ study

Answer 24

To investigate whether individual judgements of jelly beans in a jar could be influenced by the majority group

Question 25

What was the procedure of the jelly bean study

Answer 25

Participants made private estimates first, then discussed with others and made an estimate with the group, and then made a second private estimate

Question 26

What did Allen’s study show?

Answer 26

That more intelligent and self confident people were less likely to conform - supporting ISI

Question 27

Why does ISI make sense from an evolutionary approach?

Answer 27

As looking for others guidance is essential for survival in new situations

Question 28

What variables were investigated by Asch?

Answer 28

Group size, unanimity and task difficulty

Question 29

How does group size affect conformity?

Answer 29

It increases it but then it plateaus. (13% with two, 32% with 3)

Question 30

How did unanimity affect conformity

Answer 30

It decreases. If one disagreed it would go down to 5.5% and if another did with another wrong answer it was 9%

Question 31

What was a strength

Answer 31

Support i.e Crutchfield

Question 32

Name limitations

Answer 32

• Lacks ecological validity, population validity, cultural and gender validity
• Lacks temporal and historical validity
• Ethical issues

Question 33

How did Mori and Arai’s procedure enable them to avoid the use of confederates

Answer 33

-By using glasses to change the lengths of the line

Question 34

In what ways did the participants differ from Aschs

Answer 34

-They knew each other so shows real life conformity

Question 35

What were the findings

Answer 35

• 78 majority participants answered wrong 8.2% of the time
• The 26 minority participants answered wrong 19.6% of the time (Women - 28.6% Men - 5%)
• With females the results were similar to Asch’s - the minority conformed on the 12 trials 4,41 times (3.44 for Asch’s) Male conformity was not noticeable

Question 36

How was it an improvement

Answer 36

-No demand characteristics

Question 37

What limitations still apply

Answer 37

Unethical

Lack realism

Question 38

Define social roles

Answer 38

The ways an individual plays as members of social groups to meet the expectations
Means there’s public and private acceptance but behaviour will change within each role

Question 39

What was the aim of the Stanford experiment

Answer 39

To see whether violence was a result of personality or situation

Question 40

What was the procedure of the Stanford prison experiment

Answer 40

• 21 male volunteers randomly assigned roles

- Arrested and de-individualised

Question 41

What was the conclusion of SPE

Answer 41

Individuals conform readily to social roles demanded of a situation even when such social roles override a morals beliefs

Question 42

Evaluate social roles in spe

Answer 42

Zimbardo believes the behaviour was an automatic consequence of their social roles but Haslam and Reicher argue that they chose how to behave

Question 43

Evaluate the demand characteristics in the study

Answer 43

When interviewed many said they were acting and playing a role, so this may not be their behaviour in real life. This means results can’t be generalised
HOWEVER it is argued against this point as 90% of the prisoners conversations were about prison life and guards rarely exchanged such information too.

Question 44

Name a limitation of spe

Answer 44

Lacks population validity and ecological validity

Question 45

Name strengths of spe

Answer 45

• altered how us prisons are ran

- introduced APA - see if study is justifiable

Question 46

What is the deindividuation theory

Answer 46

that people feel anonymous and lose their identity hence change their behaviour

Question 47

What did the Haslam and Reicher’s study show

Answer 47

It contradicted the SPE as they did not conform to social roles

Question 48

What did Zimbardo believe about Abu Ghraib

Answer 48

That the guards who had committed the crimes had fallen victim to conformity as well as their lack of training and no accountability