Social Infleunce Flashcards
(130 cards)
1
Q
What is internalisation
A
When a person genuinely accepts the group norms. Private as well as public change in behaviour
2
Q
Why is internalisation more likely to be permanent
A
The attitudes have been internalised - become part of the way the person thinks
3
Q
What is identification
A
Identifying with a group that we value means er want to become part of it, we publically change our opinions to achieve this even if we don’t privately agree
4
Q
What is compliance
A
Going along with others in public but privately not changing personal opinions
5
Q
What does compliance result in
A
Superficial change and the behaviour to stop with the group pressure stopping
6
Q
What is Informational Social Infleunce
A
When we are uncertain about what behaviours are right or wrong we look to others. It is a bout information and a desire to be right. We assume the majority are right and so we follow this.
7
Q
Example of ISI
A
Not knowing the answer in class but if most of the class agree on one answer you go along with that because you feel it is likely right
8
Q
What kind of process is ISI
A
Cognitive process (how we think)
9
Q
4 situations ISI is likely to happen
A
- those new to a person so you don’t know what’s right
- ambiguity in a situation
- decisions need to be made quickly
- when someone is regarded as an expert
10
Q
What is Normative Social Influence
A
It’s about norms - what is typical behaviour for a social group. It’s a desire to behave like others and not look foolish to gain social approval
11
Q
Why do we pay attention to norms
A
The regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals
12
Q
Example of NSI
A
Going to a foreign country and feeling your behaviour is different from everyone else
13
Q
What kind of process is NSI
A
Emotional process
14
Q
3 situations NSI is likely to occur
A
- unfamiliar situations where you don’t know the norms and look to others about how to behave
- with people you know because you want social approval of their friends
- in stressful situations where you need social support
15
Q
Strength of ISI
A
Research support. Lucas et al asked students to give answers to math problems. Greater conformity to incorrect answers when they were difficult rather than when they were easier problems. Confirm in situations where they don’t know the answer.
16
Q
Strength of NSI
A
Research support. Asch asked participants to explain why they went along with the wrong answer. Said they felt self-conscious giving the wrong answer and were afraid of disapproval. Shen participants wrote their answers conformity’s fell to 12.5%. Supports participants own reports that they were confirming bc of NSI.
17
Q
Limitation of ISI and NSI
A
‘Two process’ approach May be oversimplification. Says it’s due to one or the other however often both processes are involved. In Asch’s study conformity reduced when there’s a dissenting participant which may reduce the power of NSI (social support) or reduce ISI (alternative source of info). Shows it’s not always possible to be sure whether it’s NSI or ISI at work.
18
Q
Limitation of NSI
A
People who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI. People who care are called affiliators. McGhee and Teevan found students high in need of affiliation were more likely to conform. One general theory does not cover the fact that there are differences
19
Q
Key study for conformity research
A
Asch’s line study
20
Q
Procedure of the Asch study
A
- showed participants a line and then three comparison lines. One line was the same the other two completely different.
- 123 male American participants asked which line matched.
- naive participants tested in a group with 6 confederates and went last or second to last.
- 18 trails, 12 ‘critical trails’. First few the confederates gave the correct answer and then started getting it wrong in he critical trails.
21
Q
Findings in the Asch study
A
High conformity. Wrong answer 36.8%. Called Asch effect (extent to which participants conform even when situation is unambiguous).
25% never conformed. Shows significant independence and individual differences.
22
Q
Conclusions in the Asch study
A
Participants interviewed after said they confirmed in order to avoid rejection and continued to privately trust their own opinion (compliance)
23
Q
What is the key study for variables affecting conformity
A
Asch
24
Q
What were the three variables asch tested
A
Group size
Unamity
Task difficulty
25
Procedure and findings in Asch group size variable
He varied the number of confederates in the group. between 1 and 15.
Two confederates meant conformity to wring anderr was 13.6%.
Three confederates the conformity rose to 31.8%.
Further confederates made little difference, small majority is not sufficient but there is no need for a majority of more than 3.
26
Procedure and finding in the Asch unamity variable study
Introduced one truthful confederate or one who was dissenting but inaccurate.
Dissenting confederate led to reduced conformity. Their presence enabled the naive participant to behave independently. Suggests influence of majority depends on the group being unanimous.
27
Procedure and findings of task difficulty variable in Asch study
Made the line judging task more difficult by making stimulus line and comparison line more similar.
Increase conformity due to ISI - task was more difficult and ambiguous so likely to assume others are right.
28
Limitation of Asch’s study (artificiality)
Participants knew they were in an experiment and may have gone along with the demand of the situation (demand charscteristics). Although the participants were part of a group it didn’t resemble groups that err part of everyday life. Can not be generalised to everyday situations especially when consequences of conformity might be more important.
29
Limitation of Asch’s study (child of its time)
Perrin and Spencer repeated study with engineering students in the Uk. Only one student in 396 trials confirmed. May be intelligence level or time period. 1950s were especially conformist in America and people may be less conformist today. The Asch effect is not consistent across time so lacks temporal validity.
30
Limitation of Asch Study (gender)
Only men tested. Neto suggests that woman might be more conformist because they are more concerned with social relationships than men. Or that America is individualist culture and studies in collectivist cultures (Bond et al) have found higher conformity rates.
31
Key study for social zones
Zimbardo
32
Aims of zimbardos experiment
To set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University, wanted to test whether brutality was the result of sadistic personalities or whether the behaviour was created by the situation - looking at whether disposition or situation was the key explanation for behaviour
33
Procedure of zimbardos experiment
- advertised for students and selected those deemed ‘emotionally stable’ after psychologyicsl testing
- randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners
- realistic: prisoners arrested in home and delivered to prison, blindfolded, strip searched, deloused and issued a uniform and number (number created de-individuation)
- prisoners routine heavily regulated. 16 rules enforced by guards who worked in shifts.
- guards had uniform with club, handcuffs, keys and mirror shades (glasses created de-indivduation)
- guards had complete control over prisoners
34
Findings of the zimbardo’s prison study
In two days the prisoners rebelled against their treatment by the guards.
Shouted and swore and guards who retaliated. Guards harassed prisoners by conducting frequent head counts, sometimes in the middle of the night, making them call out their number. Guards highlighted difference in social roles by creating opportunities to enforce the rules of punishing slight misdemeanours.
Study stopped after six days instead of 14 due to health of prisoners at the hands of the guards.
35
Why was the zimbardo study stopped after 6 days
The guards role became a threat to the prisoners pschokogical and psychical health. E.g
- prisoners became subdued, anxious and depressed
- one prisoner released on first day bc he showed signs of psychological disturbance
- one prisoner went on hunger strike and the guards punished him by force feeding and putting him in the ‘hole’
36
Conclusions of the zimbardo prison study
Revealed the power of he situation to influence people behaviours. Guards, prisoners and researchers all confirmed to their roles. The more the guards identified with their roles the more brutal their behaviour became
37
Strength of zimbardos study
zimbardo and his colleagues had some control over the variables. They chose emotionally stable participants and randomly assigned their roles. Ruled out individual differences as an explanation because if they behaved differently then their behaviour must have been due to the pressures of the sitstuion. Increase internal validity of the study so we can be more confiding in drawing conclusions
38
Limitation of the zimbardo study
Lack of realism. The participants could have been play acting rather than genuinely confirming to the role. Based on stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to act. One guard claimed he based his role in a brutal character from the film ‘cool hand luke’.
39
Strength of zimbardo combating the lack of realism
Zimbardo pointed to evidence that the situation was very real to the participants. Dats showed that 90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life, the simulation did seem real to participants which gives the study a high degree of internal validity
40
Ethical issues with zimbardos study
Zimbardos dusk role in the study as superintendent of the prison and lead researcher. One prisoner wished to leave and he reacted as the superintendent worried about running his prison not as a researcher worried about his participants. Limited his ability to protect his participants from harm because his roles conflicted.
41
Key study in obedience
Milgram
42
Aims of Milgrams study
Sought an answer to the question of why the German population had followed the orders of Hitler and slaughtered over 10 milkion Jews.
43
Procedures of milgrams study
- 40 male participants aged between 20 and 50 years, jobs ranged from unskilled to professional and they were paid.
- told it was a study on memory, and drew lots for their roles. A confederate was always the learner and participant was the teacher. Also a confederate playing the experimenter dressed in a lab coat.
- participant told they could leave at any time.
- learner strapped into chair and wired with electrodes, teacher required to give the learner an increasingly severe electric shock each time the learner made a mistake.
- shock level started at 15 and rose to 450 volts.
- when the shock got to 300 and 315 the learner pounded on the wall and gave no response to the next question. No further response form learner after these.
44
What were the four prods the ‘experimenter’ gave the participant if they wished to stop in milgrams study
Please continue
The experiment requires you to continue
It is essential you continue
You have no choice, you must go on
45
Findings of milgrams study
12.5% stopped at 300 volts, 65% continues to 450 volts. Participants showed signs of extreme tension; many of them were seen to ‘swear, tremble, stutter etc’ some even had ‘full blown uncontrollable seizures’.
Prior to the study Milgram asked students to predict the behaviour, students estimated that 3% would continue to 450 volts. Shows the findings were not not expected.
All participants debriefed and assured their behaviour was normal.
Follow up questionnaire: 84% reported glad to have participated and 74% felt they had learned something of personal importance.
46
Limitation of Milgrams study (validity)
Lacked internal validity. Orne and Holland guessed that participants acted the way they did because they didn’t believe the set up and thought the shocks were fake. In which case Milgram was not testing what he intended to test.
47
Strength of Milgrams study (internal validity)
King et al conducted a similar study where REAL shocks were given to a puppy. Despite the real shocks 54% of the male students and 100% of females delivered what they thought was a fatal shock. Suggests that the observed effects in Milgrams study were genuine because people believed the same way with real shocks (70% in Milgrams study believed the shocks were genuine)
48
Strength of Milgrams study (external validity)
Central feature of this situation was the relationship between the authority figure and the participant. Milgram argues the lab environment accurately reflected wider authority relationships in real life.
Other research supports this. Hofling et al studied nurses on a hospital ward and found levels of obedience to unjustified demands by doctors were very high (21 out of 22 nurses obeyed)
49
What are the three situational variables that cause differences in obedience
Proximity
Location
Uniform
50
What happened in the proximity variation of Milgrams study
Original study: teacher and learner in different rooms
Proximity variation: same room and obedience rates dropped from 60% to 40%
Touch proximity: teacher had to force learners hand onto electroshock plate and obedience dropped to 30%
Telephone instructions: experimenter gave instructions by phone and obedience dropped to 20.5%. Participants frequently pretended to give shocks or gave weaker ones.
51
What happened in the location variable in Milgrams study
Original: conducted in Yale University
Variation: changes the location to a run-down building. Reduced obedience to 47.5%. Indicates the experimenter less authority in this setting
52
What happened in the uniform variation of Milgrams study
Original: experimenter had a lab coat
Variation: experimenter with lab coat was called away and his role was replaced with a member of the ‘ordinary public’ in everyday clothes. Obedience dropped to 20%.
Suggests that uniform does act as a strong visual authority symbol and a cue to behave in an obedient manner
53
Strength of Milgrams research and his variations
Replicated in other cultures. Miranda found obedience rates of over 90% amongst Spanish students, suggesting results aren’t limited to American males.
54
Limitation of replicability in Milgrams original study and variations
Smith and Bond make the crucial point that replicas have taken place in western developed societies. Not culturally different to the USA. Would be premature to conclude that Milgrams findings about the variables apply to everywhere
55
Why has Milgrams study been criticised
Provides an excuse for obedience. The proximity, location and uniform are all factors which influence obedience. Mandel argues it offers an excuse for evil behaviour. It is offensive to survivors of the holocaust to suggest nazis were simply obeying orders and were victims theirselves. Dangerous because it ignores the roles that discrimination, racism and prejudice played in the holocaust
56
What does Milgram propose that obedience to destructive authority occurs because of
A person does not take personal responsibility, instead the person believes they are acting for someone else I.e they are an agent.
57
What is an agent
Someone who acts for or in place of another
58
When does an agentic state occur
When acting for another person, with no sense of personal responsibility
59
What is the opposite to being in an agentic state
Autonomous state
60
What is an autonomous state
Free to behave according to their own principle and therefore feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions
61
When does an agentic shift occurs
When a person perceived someone else as a figure of authority this other person has greater power because of their position in a social hierarchy.
62
What are binding factors
Aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the moral strain they are feeling
63
What does “most societies are structured in a hierarchal way” mean
People in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us. Parents, teachers bouncers etc
64
What are the two social-psychological factors explanations for obedience
Agentic state
| Legitimacy of authority
65
How are authorities given legitimacy
Through societies agreement. Most of us accept that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power over others because this allows society to function smoothly
66
What is a consequence of legitimacy of authority
Some people are granted the powers to punish others. We are willing to give up some of our independence and hand control of our behaviours over to people we trust exercise authority appropriately.
67
What has history shown about legitimacy of authority
That powerful leaders such as hitler can use their powers for destructive purposes
68
Strength of agentic state
Research support. Blass and Schmitt showed a film to students of Milgrams experiment and asked them to identify who was responsible. Students blamed experimenter. Also recognised the researcher had the responsibility due to legitimate authority. Recognised legimste authority as the cause of obedience supporting the explanstion.
69
Limitation of agentic shift
Doesn’t explain why some people don’t obey. In Hoflings study the nurses handed responsibility to the doctor and should have shown anxiety but they didn’t. Suggests agentic state can only account for some situations of obedience.
70
Strength of legitimacy of authority (cultural)
Useful account of cultural differences in obedience. Studies show that countries differ in the degree to which people are traditionally obedient to authority. Mann replicated Milgrams procedure in Australia and found only 16% of participants went on the way to 450 volts. Support from cross-cultural research increases the validity of the explanation.
71
Strength of legitimacy of authority (real life)
Help explains real life crimes of obedience. Hamilton argue that the My Lai Massacre can be understood in terms of the power hierarchy of the US army. Soldiers would assume orders given from the hierarchy is legal so being told to kill rape and burn buildings wouldn’t be illegal. Could he argued the legitimacy of authority explanationchas some value in being able to provide reasons why destructive examples of obedience have been committed
72
What is the dispositional explanation for obedience
The authoritarian personality
73
In relation to the dispositional explanations for obedience what is a high level of obedience like
A psychological personality disorder
74
What are the characteristics of someone with an authoritarian personality
Adorno concludes:
extreme respect for authority
- submissive
- contempt for inferior social status
- highly conventional attitudes towards sex, race and gender
75
What does Adorno conclude that authoritarian personality is formed because of
In childhood because of strict/harsh parenting and conditional love
76
What does the parenting style identified by Adorno feature
Extremely strict discipline
Expectation of loyalty
High standards
Severe critism of failing
77
Why is hostility and fear in someone with an authoritarian personality towards parents displaced into those who are socially inferior
They can’t express these feelings directly against their parents in fear of reprisal so the fear is displaced into those who are seen as weaker - this is called scapegoating
78
What kind of explanation is the authoritarian personalities dislike of those socially inferior
Psychodynamic because the ego uses the defence of displacement to deal with conflict
79
What is the key study for authoritarian personality
Adorno et al
80
What is the procedure of Adorno study
Investigated the causes of obedient personality in a study of more than 2000 white Americans as their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
Developed the F-scale to measure this
81
What are some examples from the F-scale
Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn
There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel great love and respect for their parents
82
Findings from Adornos study
People with authority leanings who scored high in the f-scale identified as strong people and were contentious of the weak. Very conscious of their own status showing excess respect to those of higher status.
Steong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice. Found they had a cognitive style with fixed and distributive stereotypes about other groups.
83
Strength of Authoritarian personality
Research supports the link between AP and obedience. Milgram conducted interviews with a small sample of fully obedient participants who scored highly on F-scale. However this is a correlation not causation making it impossible to draw conclusions that authoritarian personality causes obedience. May be a third factor involved like lower levels of education
84
Limitation of the authoritarian personality
Argued that F-scale is politically biased. Measures the tendency towards any extreme form of right-wing ideology making it politically biased. It is not a comprehensive dispositional explanation that can account for obedience to authority because it doesn’t explain obedience to left wind authoritarianism.
85
Limitation of research for authoritarian personality
They found significant correlation between obedience of variables. Found authoritarianism had a strong correlation with measures of prejudice against minority groups. This does not mean they causes the other. Therefore he could not claim that a harsh parenting style caused the development of an authoritarian personality
86
Two explanations for resistance to social influence
Social support
| locus of control
87
How does social support reduce the pressure to confirm
A dissenting peer not following the majority enabled a person to be free to follow their own conscious. The peer acts as a model.
88
In the Asch study once the dissenting peer started confirming again so did the participant. What does this mean
The effect of dissent is not long lasting
89
How does social support reduce the pressure to obey
If another person disobeys independent behaviour increases. In Milgrams study independent behaviour increased from 35% to 90% in the presence of a dissenting peer.
90
What is the concept of locus of control
Concerned with internal control versus external control
91
What do internals believe
Things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves like if you do well in exam it’s because you worked hard
92
What do externals believe
That things happen without their own control.if a person failed an exam they might say it was because they had a bad teacher etc
93
What is the continuum of locus of control
High internal st one end and high external at the other end of the continuum; low internal and low external lie in between
94
Who do people with internal LOC show greater resistance to conform or obey
1. They take person responsibility for their actions and experiences then they are more likely to base their decisions in heir own beliefs
2. They tend to be more self confident, more achievement oriented, have higher intelligence and have less need for social approval
95
Strength of the social support explanation for conformity
Research supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity. Allen found that independence was increased when there was one dissenter in an Asch type study. Even when the dissenter had bad vision. Supports the view that resistance is not motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group.
96
Strength of the social support explanation for obedience
Research supports role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience. Gamson found huh levels of rebellion in his study than Milgram. The participants in his study were in groups and 29/33 rebelled. Shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance
97
Strength of the LOC explanation to do with obedience
Reeeadch supports. Holland repeated Milgrams study and measured whether participants were internal or externals. Found 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level whereas only 23% of externals did not continue. Research support of this nature increases the validity of the LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance
98
Limitation of the role of LOC in resisting social infleunce
May have been somewhat exaggerated. It only comes into play in novel situations and has very little infleunce over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important. Limitation because it means that LOC is only helpful in explaining a limited range of novel situations
99
What is minority influence
Refers to situations where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people
100
How is minority influence different from conformity
The minority is doing the confirming instead of the majority
101
What does minority influence likely to lead to
Internalisation
102
What are the three things needed for minority infleunce
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
103
How does consistency help minority influence
Consistency in the minority’s view increases the amount of interest from other people. This might because of synchronic consistency, diachronic synchrony or to make people rethink their own views
104
What is synchratic consistency
Everyone’s saying the same thing
105
What is diachronic consistency
Saying the same thing for a while
106
How does commitment help minority influence
Commitment helps to gain attention. Sometimes minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views. It is important that these extreme activities are st some risk to the minority because this demonstrates commitment to the cause. Majority groups pay even more attention now
107
What is the augmentation principle
If a person performs an action when there are known constraints, their motive for acting must be stronger
108
How is flexibility used in minority influence
Being extremely consistent and repeating the same arguments and behaviours again and again can be seen as rigid, unbending, dogmatic and inflexible. This is off putting. Instead they need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter-arguments. Key is to have a balance between consistency and flexibility
109
What is the snowball effect
Over time increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minority position (converted). The more this happens the faster the rate of conversion.
110
Key study for minority infleunce
Moscovici and the blue green slides
111
Aims and procedures of Moscovicis study
Groups of six shown 36 blue-green slides that varied in intensity and state whether the slides were blue or green. Minority of confederates either consistently or inconsistently gave the wrong answer.
112
What were the three conditions in moscovicis study
- no confederates
- consistent confederates who said the slide was green
- inconsistent confederates
113
Findings of Moscovicis study
8. 42% conformity rate in the consistent minority condition. 33% confirmed st least once.
1. 25% conformity rates in the inconsistent group.
0. 25% of the control group wrongly identified the colour
114
Strength of minority influence (consistency)
Research supports consistency. Moscovici study showed that a consistent minority had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion. Wood et all carried out a met analysis of almost 100 studies and found consistent minorities the most influential. Suggests consistency is a major factor in minority infleunce
115
Limitation of minority influence research
Involved artificial tasks. Moscovicis involved identifying the colour of a slide. Very different to how minoritird attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real life like political campaigning. Lacks external validity and are limited in what they can tell us about how minority influences works in real-life situations
116
Strength of minority influence involving internalisation
Variation of Moscovicis study, participants wrote their answers down instead of said them out loud. Private agreement with the minority was greater indicating internalisation but reluctance to admit conversion in public perhaps because they don’t want to be associated with a minority position.
117
What are the stages of minority infleunce
```
Draw attention
Cognitive conflict
Consistency
Augmentation principle
Snow ball effect
Social cryptomnesia
```
118
Example of drawing attention for social change
1950 Civil rights marches draw attention to continuing segregation in America by providing social proof of the problem
119
Real life example of consistency in social change
Many marches and many people taking part for civil rights. Even though it was a minority of the American population they displayed consistency or message and intent
120
How did the civil rights movement create cognitive conflict
The attention from the marches meant people who had simply accepted the status began to think about it more
121
How did the civil rights movement show the augmentation principle
People risked their lives. The ‘freedom riders’ were mixed racial groups who got on buses in the South to challenge the fact that black oriole still had to sit separately on buses. Many were beaten
122
How did the civil rights movement show the snowball effect
Civil rights activists like Martin Luther King continued to press for changes that gradually got the attention of the US government. The US Civil RIghts Act was passed representing a change from minority to majority
123
What is social cryptomnesia
People having a memory that a change occurred but don’t remember how it happened. Some people don’t have a memory of the civil rights movement even though they lived through the changes
124
What did Asch’s research highlight
The importance of dissent to lead to social change
125
How can majority influence campaigns appeal to normative social influence
Highlights what other people are doing. Environmental and health campaigns have increasingly exploited conformity process by apparaling to normative social influence. The provide info about what others are doing. Reducing litter by printing ‘bin it- others do’ to draw attention to what the majority are doing
126
What makes social change likely to occur from obedience
Disobedient role models. The rate of obedience in Milgrams study plummeted where a confederate refused to give shocks to the learner.
127
What can be used to drift people into a new kind of behaviour
Gradual commitment. Zimbardo suggested how obedience can be used to create social change through the process of gradual commitment. Once a small instruction is obeyed it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one.
128
Strength for the role of normative social influence in social change
Research supports. Nolan et al investigated whether social influence led to a reduction in energy consumption. Hung messages on doors of houses about how most residents were trying to reduce their energy use. Found significant decrease in energy used in the community compared to a control group. Shows conformity can lead to good social change
129
Weakness for minority influence being only indirectly effective in bringing about social change
The effects of minority influence are likely to be mostly indirect and delayed. It takes decades for attitudes against drink driving and smoking to shift. Social change occurs very slowly. Limitation of using minority infleunce to explain social change because it Shows that it’s effects are fragile and its role in social infleunce may be very limited.!
130
Limitation for research in social influence and social chanfe
Methological issues in this area. Explanation for how social influence leads to social change draws heavily upon the studies of Moscovici, Asch and Milgram. They have artificial nature and the group dynamics don’t reflect real life situations. Criticism are applicable to the evaluation of explanations for the link between social influence processes and social change.
