Just everything Flashcards
(567 cards)
Conformity definition
Tendency to change what we do think or say in response to influence of real or imagined pressure from others
Types of conformity
- compliance
- identification
- internalisation
Compliance definition
- person changes their public behaviour but not private beliefs
- short term change
- result of NSI
Identification definition
- person changes public behaviour and private beliefs but only in presence of group
- short term change
- often result of NSI
Internalisation
- person changes their public behaviour and private beliefs
- long term change
- result of ISI
Two explanations of conformity
- normative social influence
- informational social influence
NSI definition
- person conforms to be accepted or belong to a group
- fit in with the norm
ISI definition
- person conforms because they believe the majority to be right
- result of a desire to be right
Jenness study aim
-to examine whether individuals will change opinion in an ambiguous situation in response to group discussion
Jenness study procedure
- glass bottle filled with 811 white beans
- sample 26 students
- individually estimated beans in bottle
- participants divided in 3 groups and had to give group estimate
- given another opportunity to individually estimate
Jenness study findings
- nearly all participants changed their original answer
- on average male pps changed answer by 382 beans
- range of group went from 1875 to 474
- decrease of 75%
Jenness study conclusion
- results suggest individuals who changed initial estimate due to ISI believed group estimates were more likely to be correct than their own.
Variables affecting conformity
- group size
- unanimity
- task difficulty
Variables affecting conformity aschs study aim
- to demonstrate the power of conformity in groups
Variables affecting conformity aschs study procedure
- used lab experiment
- individual pps seated with confederates
- asked to judge lines of different lengths and match one to standard line
- on 12 of 18 trials confederates were told to give wrong answer
- each person said aloud which line was most like comparison line
- answer was always obvious
Variables affecting conformity aschs study findings
- on critical trials average conformity rate was 33%
- 1/4 of pps never conformed
- 1 in 20 conformed on all 12 trials
- majority of people who conformed admitted conforming so to avoid disapproval from other group members
Aschs variations group size findings
- a majority of above 2 helped conformity rates rise up to 30%
- 3 people is considered the optimal group size for conformity
Aschs variations unanimity findings
- confederate gave correct answers conformity dropped to 5.5%
- confederate gave different wrong answer conformity dropped to 9%
Aschs variations task difficulty findings
- task difficulty = smaller differences between lines
- conformity increased
Conformity to social roles
- individual adopts a particular behaviour and belief while in a particular social situation
- eg teachers, students, parents
Conformity to social roles zimbardo stanford prison experiment aim
- examine whether people would conform to social roles of prisoner or guard when placed in mock prison environment
Conformity to social roles zimbardo stanford prison experiment procedure
- mock prison set up in Stanford uni
- male students randomly assigned to play either prisoner/guard
- prisoners wore smock uniform/ assigned an ID number
- guards given uniforms/clubs/whistles/sunglasses
- study planned to last 2wks
Conformity to social roles zimbardo stanford prison experiment findings
- guards= tyrannical/ abusive towards prisoners
- made them do degrading activities
- all participants conformed to roles even when unaware of being watched
- 5 prisoners released early because of extreme reactions
- study ended after 6 days by intervention of Christina maslach
BBC prison study reicher and haslam
Procedure
- male participants randomly assigned either prisoner/guard
- participants divided into groups of 3 with each person closely matched with other 2
- 1 was assigned guard the other 2 prisoners