Monk - Social Psychology Test Revision 19/10/18 Flashcards

1
Q

What is Obedience ?

A

A form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order from an authoritative figure. This authoritative figure has the power to punish when individuals are not being obedient

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2
Q

Milgram’s Study Aim ?

A

To see if a participant will obey people in authority

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3
Q

Milgram’s Study Participants ?

A

40 men, between age 20 and 40

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4
Q

Milgram’s Study Procedure ?

A

Participants were introduced to the confederate. The experimenter drew names to see who was the participant and teacher (rigged). The participants (teacher) had to shock (15V to 450V) the confederate (learner) each time they got a answer wrong. The participants were given 3 prompts before thy could stop or had reached 450V then could stop.

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5
Q

Milgram’s Study Results ?

A

Milgram found that 65% went up to the maximum voltage of 450V.

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6
Q

Positives for Milgram’s Study ?

A
  • His findings had been replicated in other cultures and they generally found the same results (Miranda found 90% obedience) ~ Reliability
  • He has good control variables - he could change one variable but keep everything the same this improves accuracy ~ Validity
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7
Q

Negatives for Milgram’s Study ?

A
  • Deception - told his participants weren’t dangerous ~ Ethics
    Right to Withdraw - participants were given three prompts before they could leave ~ Ethics
  • Protection of Participants - on participant had a seizure because he was so uncomfortable with carrying on
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8
Q

Milgram’s Study Variation ?

A
  • Location
  • Proximity
  • Uniform
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9
Q

What is Location ?

A

Less obedience when the venue is not prestigious

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10
Q

What is Proximity ?

A

The closer the experimenter was, the more obedience and the further away the experimenter the less obedience.

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11
Q

What is Uniform ?

A

When the experimenter wears a lab coat, obedience increases because he looks professional. If the experimenter was wearing mufti, obedience decreases because he doesn’t look professional.

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12
Q

What was the obedience rate for Milgram’s Original Experiment ?

A

65%

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13
Q

What was the obedience rate for when venues moved to seedy (bad) offices in nearby towns ?

A

47.5%

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14
Q

What was the obedience rate for when the teacher and learner were in the same room ?

A

40%

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15
Q

What was the obedience rate for when the teacher had t force the learner’s hand onto the plate (switch) ?

A

30%

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16
Q

What was the obedience rate for when the teachers given support from others who also refused to obey ?

A

10%

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17
Q

What was the obedience rate for when the teacher was paired with an assistant who threw the switches ?

A

92.5%

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18
Q

What was the obedience rate when the experimenter was an ‘ordinary member of the public’ and was dressed in everyday clothes ?

A

20%

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19
Q

What is the Agentic State ?

A

When we blame the person giving the order for any negative consequences of our actions, becoming an ‘agent’ of theirs.

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20
Q

What is the Autonomous State ?

A

We feel a sense of responsibility for our actions. It is the opposite of the Agentic State.

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21
Q

What is the shift from the Agentic State to the Autonomous State called ?

A

Agentic Shift

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22
Q

What is a Binding Factor ?

A

Aspects of the situation which allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour.
- A person who remains in the Agentic State due to binding factors reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling.

23
Q

What is Legitimacy of Authority ?

A

We are more likely to obey people whom we see to have accepted power over us.

24
Q

What do people in Legitmacy of Authority believe ?

A

They believe that society is hierarchal and we are taught to and accept that some people have power of them and we should hand control of our behaviour to them.

25
Q

How is authority justified ?

A

The authority someone has is justified by an individual’s position of power within the social hierarchy.

26
Q

Positives for the Agentic State ?

A
  • The theory supported several studies. Milgram’s own research demonstrated how the majority of ordinary people will follow instructions.
  • Blass and Schmitt proved the same thing (humans can act in a callous an inhumane way)
27
Q

Negatives for the Agentic State ?

A
  • Alternative reasons why people disobey authority (due to personality)
  • Theory does not explain why people disobey
28
Q

What did Adorno believe ?

A

He believed that a high level of obedience was basically a psychological disorder and tried to locate the causes of it in the personality of the individual

29
Q

What did Adorno study ?

A

Studied more than 2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups. One of the measures was the F - Scale.

30
Q

What is the F - Scale ?

A

Used to measure tendency towards fascism (dictatorship), one characteristic of which is authoritarianism.

31
Q

F - Scale Findings ?

A

People who scored highly on the F - Scale identified with ‘strong’ people and were contemptuous (disrespectful) of the ‘weak’. They were conscious of their own and others status, showing excessive respect, defence and servility to those of a higher status

32
Q

What are the Authoritarian Characteristics identified by Adorno ?

A

Extreme respect for authority, Showing contempt to people they perceive as inferior, Having conventional attitudes, Believe we need we need a strong leader, Belief in traditional views, Inflexible outlook

33
Q

What aspects of parenting led to the Authoritarian Personality ?

A

Strict discipline, Conditional love, Expectation of absolute loyalty, Severe criticisms of perceived failings, Impossibly high standards.

34
Q

What can aspects of parenting leading to the Authoritarian Personality cause ?

A

Can cause resentment and hostility in the child which they displace onto others who are perceived to be weaker this leads to dislike of people who belong to other social groups considered to be socially inferior

35
Q

Strengths of the Authoritarian Personality ?

A

Research supports the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience

36
Q

Limitations of the Authoritarian Personality ?

A
  • Cannot establish cause and effect with obedience and authoritarianism with Adorno’s research
  • Limited explanation of obedience as it cannot explain obedience in the majority of a country’s population
37
Q

What are two reasons people resist pressure of social influence ?

A

Locus of Control and Social Support

38
Q

What are two types of Locus of Control (LOC) ?

A

Internal LOC and External LOC

39
Q

What is Internal LOC ?

A

A person who believes their behaviour is caused primarily by their own personal decision and efforts
- Caused by ourselves

40
Q

What is External LOC ?

A

A person who believes their behaviour is caused primarily fate, luck or by other external circumstances
- Caused by others

41
Q

Holland’s Study ?

A
  • Repeated Milgram’s study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
42
Q

How does Holland’s a Study support LOC as a way of resisting social influences ?

A

Internals showed greater resistance to authority. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock (showing resistance) whereas 23% of externals did not continue.

43
Q

Twenge et al’s Study ?

A

They analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40 year period (1960 to 2002)

44
Q

How does Tewnge’s study challenge LOC as a way of resisting social influence ?

A

The data showed that over time, people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external. If resistance were linked to an internal LOC, we would expect people to have become more internal.

45
Q

How can social support help people resist to conformity ?

A
  • Pressure to conform can be reduced there other people present not conforming - unanimity
46
Q

How can social support help people to resist obedience ?

A
  • Pressure to obey can be reduced if there is another person disobeying
  • Obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate
47
Q

What did Allen and Levine find ?

A

They found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter (going against the group).
- Supports the view that resistance is not just motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free from the pressures of the group

48
Q

What did Gamson find ?

A

Found that higher levels of resistance due to dissenting (going against the group) peers in the group.
- Found that 29 out 33 groups of participants (88%) rebelled.

49
Q

What is the Minority Influence ?

A

Refers to situations where one person or a small group influence their beliefs and behaviour on other people

50
Q

What can Minority Influence lead to ?

A

Internalisation which is a true change in private views due to ISI and it is not influenced by the presence of a group

51
Q

What is the Snowball Effect ?

A
  • When more and more people are converted to the minority position, the more this happens the rate of conversion
  • Gradually the minority view becomes the majority view and change occurs.
52
Q

What are examples of the Minority Influence ?

A
  • Moscovici
  • Fathers 4 Justice
  • Nemeth
53
Q

What did Moscovici do ?

A
  • Showed participants blue slides and asked them to say whether the slides were blue or green. There were two confederates who said the slides were green
  • Moscovici wanted to see if the consistency of the minority would have any influence on the majority
54
Q

What did Moscovici find ?

A
  • Experiment 1 ~ 32% agreed with the minority at least once - overall, agreed with them on 8.42% of trials (consistent)
  • Experiment 2 ~ agreement with the majority reduced to 1.25% of trials (inconsistent)