Social Influence

Question 1

What is internalisation and where might it happen

Answer 1

Internalisation is going along with the majority and believing in their views - you’ve accepted and internalised them so they’re now your own too
This might happen if you’re in an unfamiliar situation, where you don’t know what the ‘ correct ‘ way to behave is
In this situation, you’d look to others for information about how to behave
This type of influence is called informational social influence

Question 2

What is compliance and where might this be used

Answer 2

Where you go along with the majority, even if you don’t share the views
This can be done to appear ‘ normal ‘ - going against the majority might lead to exclusion or rejection from the group
This type of influence is called normative social influence

Question 3

What is identification and where might it be used

Answer 3

Identification is conforming to what’s expected of you to fulfil a social role
This means changing your behaviour because you want to fit a specific role in society (e.g. a nurse), or trying to imitate the behaviour of a role model

Question 4

Method of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 4

Laboratory experiment where a visual illusion called the autokinetic effect was used
Stationary spot of light, viewed in a dark room, appeared to move (participants were told the spot of light was moving)
They had to estimate how far it had moved
First tested individually, then in groups of three, then retested individually

Question 5

Results of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 5

When alone participants developed their own estimates (personal norms), which varied widely between participants
When participants were in a group, the estimates converged and become alike
When the participants were then retested on their own, their estimates were more like the group estimates than their original guesses

Question 6

Conclusions of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 6

Participants were influenced by the estimates of other people, and a group norm developed
estimates converged because the ppts used information from others to help - they were affected by informative social influence

Question 7

Evaluations of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 7

Laboratory experiment, strict control of the variables
Meant that the results were unlikely to have been affected by a third variable, so it should be possible to establish cause and effect
Also means the method could be replicated
Repeated measures designed meant that the participant variables that could have affected the results were kept constant

However, the method is flawed, the ppts were being asked to judge the movement of a light that wasn’t moving - this rarely happens in real life
Because it created an artificial situation, the study can be criticised for lacking ecological validity
Sample used was quite limited - all of the ppts were male, so results can’t be generalised to everyone
An ethical problem with this study was deception - the ppts were told the light was moving when it wasn’t

Question 8

Method for Asch’s experiment

Answer 8

Laboratory experiment with an independent groups design
in groups of 8 ppts judged line lengths by saying out loud which comparison line (1, 2 or 3) matched the standard line
Each group contained only one real ppt - others were confederates
The real ppt always went last or last but one, so that they heard the other’s answers before giving theirs
Each ppt did 18 trials
On 12 of these (critical trials) the confederates all gave the same wrong answer
There was also a control group, where the ppts judged the line lengths in isolation

Question 9

Results for Asch’s experiment

Answer 9

In control trials, ppts gave wrong answer 0.7% of the time
In critical trials, ppts conformed to the majority (gave the same wrong answer) 37% of the time
75% conformed at least once
Afterwards, some ppts said they didn’t really believe their answers, but want to look different

Question 10

Conclusion for Asch’s experiment

Answer 10

The control showed that the task was easy to get right
However 37% were wrong on the critical - they conformed to the majority due to normative social influence

Question 11

Evaluation for Asch’s experiment

Answer 11

Laboratory experiment - good control of variables
Minimises the effects of extraneous variables
Strict control of variables also means that you could easily repeat study to see if you get same results
However, because participants weren’t in a natural situation, study lacks ecological validity

Question 12

What are situational factors caused by

Answer 12

Situational factors are due to the social situation a person is in

Question 13

What are dispositional factors caused by

Answer 13

Dispositional factors are due to the person’s internal characteristics

Question 14

How did Asch investigate group size affecting conformity

Answer 14

Asch conducted his conformity experiment with different numbers of confederates
With 2 confederates, the real ppt conformed 14%
With 3 conformity rose to 32%
There was little change in rates after that - no matter how big the majority group got
This means that smaller majorities are easier to resist than larger ones but influence doesn’t keep increasing with the size of the majority

Question 15

How did Asch investigate unanimity/ social support

Answer 15

Rather than the confederates forming a unanimous majority, one agreed with the ppt
Having a fellow dissenter ( someone that disagrees with majority ) broke the unanimity of the group, which made it easier to resist pressure to conform - rate fell to 5.5%

Question 16

How did Asch investigate how task difficultly affected conformity

Answer 16

When the task was made more difficult, the conformity levels increased
People are more likely to confirm if they’re less confident that they’re correct

Question 17

How does confidence and expertise affect conformity

Answer 17

If someone felt confident in their answer, they were less likely to conform
Wiesenthal found that if people felt competent in a task, they were less likely to conform
Perrin and Spencer replicated Asch’s study with engineering students and conformity levels were much lower
This may have been because the engineers had confidence in their skills

Question 18

How might gender be a factor in conformity

Answer 18

Eagly and Carli re analysed data from studies
They did find some sex differences in conformity, but these were inconsistent
Clearest difference in men and women was in Asch type studies were there was group pressure from an audience
Eagly argued men and women’s different social roles explain the difference in conformity - women are more concerned in group harmony so conform more
Assertiveness and independence are valued male attributes, so maintaining your own opinion under pressure fits with perceived male social roles

Question 19

How do social roles affect us

Answer 19

People hold different positions in society e.g. grandparent, manager, priest
Most people occupy several at once e.g. student, brother, son
Social roles are the sets of behaviours and expectations that come with holding these positions
E.g. a women who as a baby might be expected to care for and love it - these behaviours fit the social role of mother
The expectations of a role are held by society, when we accept a role, we internalise these expectations so they shape our behaviour

Question 20

Method for Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Answer 20

Male students recruited to act as either guards or prisoners in mock prison
Randomly given roles and behaviour was observed
Prisoners were arrested as they about their day, taken to prison and given uniform and numbers
Guards also wore uniforms and mirrored sub glasses

Question 21

Results for Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Answer 21

Initially guards tried to assert their authority and prisoners resisted by sticking together
Prisoner became more passive and obedient while guards invented nastier punishment
Experiment abandoned early because some prisoners became distressed

Question 22

Conclusions for Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Answer 22

Guards and prisoners adapted their social roles quickly
Zimbardo claims this shows that our social role can influence our behaviour - seemingly well-balanced men became unpleasant and aggressive in the role of guard

Question 23

Evaluation for Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Answer 23

Controlled observation so there was good control of variables
However, it was an artificial environment so results can’t be generalised to real life situations
Not good ethics as some ppts found situation distressing
Observer bias as Zimbardo ran prison himself, and later admitted he became too personally involved in the situation
Conclusion reached doesn’t explain why only some of the ppts acted according to their assigned roles

Question 24

How did Orlando’s experiment give an insight into assigned roles

Answer 24

Orlando set up a mock psychiatric ward for 3 days in a hospital
29 staff members of the hospital volunteered to be patients and were held in a ward
Another 22 staff members were involved, but they carried out their normal daily roles
Patients starting behaving like real patients of the hospital within a short time
They were conforming to the roles that had been assigned to them
Many showed signs of depression and withdrawal and six tried to escape
After the experiment, the mock patients reported they had felt frustrated, anxious and despairing
Some felt they had lost their identity and felt they weren’t being treated as people

Question 25

What were the theories by psychologists on the Holocaust

Answer 25

Some thought they may be evil
Others thought they were norm al people who’d committed atrocities because of their social role
Behaviour was situational rather than dispositional

Question 26

Method of Reicher and Haslam’s BBC prison study

Answer 26

Controlled observation in mock prison filmed for TV
ppts were 15 male volunteers and were randomly assigned to 2 groups
5 were guards and 10 were prisoners
Had daily tests to measure for depressions, compliance with rules and stress
Prisoners knew that one of them would randomly become a guard in 3 days
Independent ethics committee could stop study to protect ppts

Question 27

Results of Reicher and Haslam’s BBC prison study

Answer 27

The guards failed to form united group and identify with their role
Didn’t always exercise their power and felt uncomfortable with the inequality of the situation
In first 3 days, prisoners acted in ways to get them promoted to guard
After the promotion, they became a stronger group since there were no more chance of promotion
System collapsed due to unwillingness of guards and strength of prisoner group
Day 6, prisoner’s rebelled and ppts decided to live in democracy which collapsed due tom tensions
Former prisoners wanted to set up stricter regime with them as leaders but study stopped due to ethics concerns

Question 28

Conclusions of Reicher and Haslam’s BBC prison study

Answer 28

Ppts didn’t fit their expected roles which suggested the roles were flexible

Question 29

Evaluations of Reicher and Haslam’s BBC prison study

Answer 29

Contrasting Z’s findings, R and H’s prisoners were a strong group with weaker guards
This is due to guards not being encouraged to maintain order unlike Z’s
Criticised for being on TV - people argued elements were staged and ppts acted for cameras
Artificial situation so results can’t be generalised to real life

Ethics were good - ppts were not deceived - were able to give informed consent
Ppts were protected by ethics committee and study was abandoned as soon as they became stressed
Were also debriefed and offered counselling after

Question 30

Method for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 30

Laboratory experiments to test factors thought to affect obedience
this tested whether people would obey orders to shock someone in a separate room
took place at prestigious Yale university
40 men, responded to newspaper advert seeking volunteers for a study on learning and memory
received payment for attending - didn’t depend on them proceeding on the experiment
Experimenter wore grey technician’s coat
Each ppt was introduced to confederate (acting like ppt but was part of experiment)
drew lots to see who would act as teacher and learner - was fixed so ppt always became teacher
The ppt witnessed confederate being strapped into chair and connected to a shock generator
generator didn’t give shocks but ppt thought it was real
Switches ranged from 15V (labelled slight shock) to 450V (labelled XXX)
The ppt taught learner word pairs over intercom and when learner got answer wrong, they were shock with the volts increasing each time
After 300V, learner pounded on wall and gave no more responses
If ppt hesitated then experimenter told them to continue
Debriefing included an interview, questionnaires and being reunited with the learner

Question 31

Results for for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 31

26 ppts (65%) administered 450V and none stopped before giving 300V
Most ppts showed signs of stress like sweating , groaning and tembling

Question 32

Conclusion for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 32

Ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else, even if it means acting against their conscience

Question 33

What was the negative evaluation for the internal validity for Milgram’s experiment?
What specifically did the participants believe?

Answer 33

Possible that ppts didn’t believe they were giving electric shocks - they were just going along with the experimenter’s expectations (showing demands characteristics)
Milgram claimed ppts’ stressed reactions showed they believed it was real

Question 34

What was the ecological validity for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 34

Ppts did a task that they were unlikely to encounter in real life
Study lacks ecological validity
But because it was a laboratory experiment there was good control of variables, so it’s possible to establish cause and effect

Question 35

what were the ethical issues for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 35

Ppts were deceived as to the true nature of the study
They couldn’t give informed consent
They were informed of the right to withdrawal from the experiment but were prompted to to continue when they wanted to stop
The ppts showed sign of stress during experiment so they weren’t p[protected
They were extensively debriefed and 84% said they were pleased to have taken part
Milgram didn’t breach any ethical guidelines since they weren’t in place yet

Question 36

How did presence of allies affect the results for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 36

When there were 3 teachers (1 ppt and 2 confederates), the ppt were less likely to obey if the others refused
Having allied makes it easier to resist orders

Question 37

How did the proximity of the victim affect the results for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 37

Milgram’s results suggested an important factor was the proximity of the learner
In normal condition, 65% gave the maximum shock
This dropped to 40% with the learner in the same room
Dropped to 30% when ppt had to put learners hand onto shock plate
Proximity made the learner’s suffering harder to ignore

Question 38

How did proximity of the authority affect the results for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 38

When the authority gave prompts by phone from another room, obedience dropped rates dropped to 23%
When the authority wasn’t close by, orders were easier to resist

Question 39

How did location of the experiment affect the results for Milgram’s experiment

Answer 39

When ppts were being told study was being run by private company and experiment was moved to run-down offices, amount of people giving maximum shock fell to 48%
When the association with a prestigious university was removed, the authority of the experimenter seemed less legitimate so ppts were more likely to question it

Question 40

Difference between acting agentically and autonomously

Answer 40

When people behave on behalf of external authority (do as they’re told), They said to be in an agentic state
This means the active someone’s agent, rather than taking personal responsibility for their actions
This is the opposite of behaving autonomously – not following orders 

Question 41

How does Milgram’s agency theory explain obedience

Answer 41

This theory stated that when we feel we are acting out the wishes of another person, we feel less responsible for actions
This effect is seen in Milgram studies:
Some participants were concerned for the welfare of the learner and asked who would take responsibility for learner was harmed.
When the experimenter took responsibility, often the participant would continue
This agentic state was also encouraged by the experiment set up.
The participants voluntarily entered a social contract with the experimenter to take part and follow the procedure of the study

Question 42

How can the state of obedience switch according to Milgram

Answer 42

People can start off acting in an Autonomous way, but then become obedient
This is known as an agentic shift
When Milgram’s participants arrived for the experiment they were in an autonomous state, but as soon as they started following orders they underwent agentic shift, and entered an agentic state

Question 43

What were the binding factors that kept the ppts in the agentic state in Milgram’s study

Answer 43

Reluctance to disrupt the experiment – participants had already been paid, so may have felt obliged to continue
The pressure of the surroundings – the experiment took place in a prestigious university
This made the experiment to seem like a legitimate authority
The insistence of the authority figure – if the participants hesitated they were told that they had to continue the experiment

Question 44

Evaluation of the agency theory by Milgram

Answer 44

There’s lots of experimental evidence to support the agency theory – Milgram’s ppts often claimed they wouldn’t have gone this far by themselves, but it was just following orders
Sometimes people resist the pressure to obey authority
This could be because of the situation, or because of individual differences
Agency theory doesn’t explain why some people are more likely to exhibit independent behaviour ( resisting pressure to conform or obey ) than others

Question 45

How can obedience depend on the legitimacy of the authority

Answer 45

We are socialised to recognise the authority of people like parents, as police officers, is doctors or teachers
These kinds of people are legitimate authorities – they given the right to tell us what to do
This means I’m more likely to obey them
Legitimate authority comes from having a define social role which people respect – usually because it implies knowledge or comes legal power
With Milgram re-ran his study In rundown offices, obedience rates are lower than when the study was in the University
He argued that the experiment of authority was higher in the University situation because of the state of the University

Question 46

Positive evaluation of Milgram’s study: Bickmans field experiment to investigate on how authority affects obedience? What was his experiment about ?

Answer 46

Bickman conducted a field experiment where research is ordered passers-by to do something like pick up a bit of letter.
They were dressed either in a guard uniform, as a milkman, or just in smart clothes
People are much more likely to obey the person in the guard uniform
This is because he seemed to be the most legitimate authority figure

Question 47

Positive evaluation of control on Zimbardo’s study
What control did zimbardo have on the experiment?
And what were the good or bad things about that ?

Answer 47

Zimbardo and colleagues had some control over situation
This is seen in the selection of ppts:
Emotionally stable ppts were chosen and randomly assigned roles
Behaviour must have been due to pressure of situation because of this
Increases internal validity of study - different parts of test gave different results

Question 48

Negative evaluation of lack of realism on Zimbardo’s study
What were the arguments against the experiment?

Answer 48

Arguments were made that ppts were acting rather than conforming to role:
Based on stereotypes
One guard claimed to base role off brutal character in a film
Prisoners rioted because they believed that’s what real prisoners did

Question 49

Negative evaluation of the role of Dispositional influences in Zimbardo’s study
What did zimbardo do in the experiment that might of effected the experiment?

Answer 49

Zimbardo accused of exaggerating the power of situation to influence behaviour and minimising role of personality factors
About 1/3 of guards behaved brutally
Another 1/3 applied rules fairly and rest actively tried to help and support prisoners
Conclusion was drawn that ppts were conforming to social roles could be over stated
Guards were able to exercise right or wrong choices, despite situational pressure to conform to a role

Question 50

Negative evaluation of the BBC replication of Zimbardo’s study

Answer 50

Findings showed roles reversed to Zimbardo’s results
Social identity theory: guards failed to develop shared social identity as a cohesive group but prisoners did
Prisoners actively identified themselves as members of social group and refused to accept the limits of their assigned role

Question 51

Negative evaluations of Asch’s study

Answer 51

Engineering students did not conform ( profession has an effect on conforming)
Gender differences
Nationality differences in conformity rates ( people from china more likely to conform than USA)
Asch’s findings cannot be generalised to everyone

Question 52

Reasons people conform

Answer 52

Distortion of perception: people saw the lies the same way as majority
Distortion of judgement: felt doubt about accuracy of their judgement so sided with majority
Distortion of action: continued to trust own judgment and perception but changed behaviour to avoid disapproval

Question 53

Positive evaluation for ISI ( maths problems )

Answer 53

Students asked to answer math problems, some easy some difficult
More conformity to incorrect answers when Qs were difficult than when they were easy
Students who rated their ability poorer would conform more
People conform when they feel they don’t know the answer

Question 54

Negative evaluation against NSI ( affiliation )

Answer 54

People who are less concerned with being liked less likely to be affected by NSI
These are people who have a greater need for affiliation
Students high in need for affiliation were more likely to conform
Criticism of NSI: individual differences in the way people respond
ISI doesn’t always affect everyone’s behaviour

Question 55

Positive evaluation for ISI and NSI working together

Answer 55

Two process approach suggests that behaviour is either due to NSI or ISI
Conformity is reduced when no one is dissenting
Dissenter might reduced power of NSI because dissenter provides social support
Or may reduced power of ISI because there is alternative source of information
Doubts over the view of ISI and NSI as two process operating independently in conforming behaviour

Question 56

Evaluation to support NSI ( Asch’s experiment)

Answer 56

After Asch’s experiment, students said they didn’t say correct answer for fear of disapproval and conformed for wrong answer
When asked to write answer instead of say out loud, conformity rates fell to 12.5%
Shows people were more prepared to give wrong answer to fit in rather than give right answer to be right - suggested by NSI

Question 57

Negative evaluations of Milgram’s study ( ethical issues )

Answer 57

Ppts were deceived
Believed they were randomly allocated roles
Believed electric shocks were real
This level of betrayal of trust could damage reputation of other psychologists

Question 58

Positive evaluation for Milgram’s study: cross cultural replications

Answer 58

Both Milgram’s original study and variations were repeated in other countries
Spanish students: 90% delivered maximum shock
This means findings are valid across cultures and genders
Most replications are in western societies

Question 59

Negative evaluation of the obedience alibi

Answer 59

Some people consider a situational perspective on the Holocaust offensive because it removes personal responsibility from the perpetrators
Suggesting nazi executioners of Jews were only doing their job implies they were victims of situational pressures, and anyone in a similar situation would’ve done the same
This risks trivialising genocide

Question 60

Positive evaluation for Milgram’s agentic shift: research support for legitimate authority

Answer 60

Students who were shown a video of Milgram’s experiment, blamed the experimenter, rather than the teacher.
Responsibility is due to legitimate authority

Question 61

Negative evaluation for Milgram’s agentic state and real life obedience

Answer 61

Milgram claimed people shift between autonomous and agentic state.
Evidence against agentic state: doctors in the concentration camps in Auschwitz – carried out vile and lethal experiments on victims.
Carrying out acts of evil over extended period of time can change the way people think and feel.
German Reserve Police Battalion 101- no direct orders

Question 62

Mixed evaluation for agentic state ( different cultures )

Answer 62

Replication of Milgram’s study
Australia – 16%
Germany – 85%
In some cultures authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience

Question 63

Positive evaluation for agentic state: real life examples

Answer 63

My Lai massacre: innocent people killed and soldiers were “ just following orders “ in agentic state
Air Asiana crash: airline crashed as second pilot did not want to question authority of first pilot

Question 64

What type of explanation is Adorno’s theory

Answer 64

Adorno’s theory of authoritarian personality is a dispositional ( personality ) explanation of obedience

Question 65

How is Adorno’s theory caused

Answer 65

Adorno said strict parenting causes authoritarian personality due it causing prejudice:
Strict parenting means the child feels constrained, which creates aggression
But the child is afraid they’ll be disciplined if they’re aggressive towards parents
Instead they are hostile to people they think are inferior to them - usually minority groups

Question 66

What are traditional traits of a person with an authoritarian personality

Answer 66

Aggression to people with a perceived lower status
Blind obedience
Conformist
Having rigid moral standards

Question 67

What is the F-scale

Answer 67

Stands for Fascism scale
A scale to measure how strongly people express authoritarian traits
Adorno was trying to find out if there are characteristics which could explain the Nazis’ treatment of Jews

Question 68

Positive evaluation for authoritarian personality ( f-scale)

Answer 68

Study found people high on F-scale were willing to administer bigger shocks in Milgram’s experiment

Question 69

Negative evaluation for authoritarian personality theory: Hyman and Sheatsley

Answer 69

Study found that the Authoritarian Personality is more likely to exist among people who are less well educated and are of low economic social status
However these people should surely be considered the subordinates and rebellious, not strict and oppressive?

Question 70

Negative evaluation for authoritarian personality theory: methodological problems

Answer 70

F-scale relies on self report which may be invalid due to social desirability bias ( like to be presented in a better light by the researcher )
Every Q is the survey is worded in same direction so someone could put “ agree,agree,agree “

Question 71

Negative evaluation for authoritarian personality: political bias

Answer 71

F-scale measures tendency towards an extreme right wing ideology
There may be politically biased interpretations of authoritarian personality
Could there be a left wing equivalent - Maoism or Bolshevism

Question 72

Positive evaluation for authoritarian personality: dispositional explanations ( milgram’s experiment)

Answer 72

Evidence shows that the situation plays a role in obedience- demonstrated in Milgram’s research
Situational factors, eg proximity and uniform may have greater influence on obedience

In comparison to Adorno and the use of the F Scale, Milgram’s results on the situational variables ( rigorous and controlled experiments ) are more reliable and valid

Question 73

How does having social support make people more resistant to social influence (Milgrams study)

Answer 73

More of Milgram’s ppts resisted orders if there were other ppts present who refused to obey
This suggests that people find it easier to stand up to authority if they have support from others, because they no longer have to take full responsibility for rebelling

Question 74

How does having social support make people more resistant to social influence (Asch’s study)

Answer 74

Asch found that people conformed less if one of the confederates agreed with them
People are more likely to display independent behaviour if they have support from others

Question 75

How might aspects of personality influence independent behaviour

Answer 75

Resistance to social influence may also be affected by a personality characteristic called locus of control
People who feel they’re generally ibn control of what happens in their life are more likely to resist - this is a dispositional explanation

Question 76

How did Rotter test for locus of control

Answer 76

Developed a questionnaire to measure locus of control
Questionnaire involved choosing between two statements e.g.
A: Misfortune is usually brought about by people’s own actions
B: Things that make us unhappy are largely due to bad luck

Question 77

what Locus of control would you have if you agreed with:
A: Misfortune is usually brought about by people’s own actions

Answer 77

You have an internal locus of control
This is categorised by a belief that what happens in you life results from you own behaviour of actions
e.g. if you did well in a test you might put it down to how much work you did for it

Question 78

what Locus of control would you have if you agreed with:
B: Things that make us unhappy are largely due to bad luck

Answer 78

You have an external locus of control
This is a belief that events are caused by external factors like luck or the actions of others
e.g. if you did well in a test you might put it down to goof questions coming up, or a lenient examiner

Question 79

What the different loci of control says about you

Answer 79

People with an internal locus of control feel a stronger sense of control over their lives than people with an external locus of control
This means that they’re more likely to exhibit independent behaviour
They are less likely top conform or obey
People with an external locus of control may be more likely to conform or obey

Question 80

How is minority influence powerful

Answer 80

Small minorities and even individuals gain influence and change the way the majority thinks
In minority influence, it seems that a form of internalisation is taking place
Members of the majority actually take on the beliefs and views of a consistent minority - rather than just complying

Question 81

Method of Moscovici’s experiment

Answer 81

Laboratory experiment using 192 women
Groups of 6 at a time
Ppts judged colour of 36 slides
All slides were blue, but the brightness of blue varied
2 of 6 ppts in each group were confederates
In one condition the confederates called all 36 slides ‘ green ‘ ( consistent )
In another they called 24 slides ‘ green ‘ and 12 ‘ blue ‘ ( inconsistent )
A control group was used with no confederates

Question 82

Results of Moscovici’s experiment

Answer 82

In control group, ppts called the slides green 0.25% of the time
In consistent condition ppts adopted minority position 8.4% of the time and called the slides green
32% called the slides green at least once
In the inconsistent condition the ppts moved to minority position of calling slides green 1.25% of the time

Question 83

Conclusion of Moscovici’s experiment

Answer 83

Confederates were in minority but their views appear to have influenced the real ppts
The use of two conditions illustrated that the minority had more influence when they were consistent in calling the slides green

Question 84

Evaluation of Moscovici’s experiment

Answer 84

Laboratory experiment
Lacked ecological validity because task was artificial
Ppts may have felt that judging t(e colour of the slide was a trivial exercise - they might have acted differently if their principles were involved
Study was carried out on women, so results can’t be generalised to males
However, owing to the use of a control group, we know ppts were actually influenced by minority rather than being independently unsure of the colour

In similar experiment, ppts were asked to write down the colour rather than saying it out loud
In this condition, even more people agreed with the minority, which provides more support for minority influence

Question 85

What three things must minority influence be to be stronger

Answer 85

Consistent
Flexible
Committed

Question 86

How did Nemeth show minority influence must be flexible to be stronger

Answer 86

Repeated Moscovicis experiment but told pots to answer with all the colours they saw on the slide, rather than just a single colour (e.g. they could say green- blue rather than green)
Ran 3 variations where the 2 confederates said:
All the slides were green
The slides were green or green-blue at random
The brighter slides were gree-blue and duller slide were green or vice versa

Question 87

Results for Nemeths experimend

Answer 87

When confederates always answered green, or varied their response randomly ( so were inconsistent), they had no effect on ppts’ responses
In the condition where confederates responses cared with a feature of the slides (brightness), te confederates had a significant effect on ppts’ responses

Confederates had most influence when they were consistent but flexible - Nemeth proposed a rigid consistency wasn’t effective because it seemed unrealistic when more subtle responses were allowed

Question 88

Definition of consistency for minority influence with different types/ stages

Answer 88

If the minority take a consistent approach people start to consider the issue more carefully.
- Synchronic consistency: they’re all saying the same thing
- Diachronic consistency: they’ve been saying the same thing for some time

Question 89

Definition of commitment for minority influence

Answer 89

When a minority adopts a committed approach to its position it may become difficult to ignore.
E.g. the green party – core principles still the same
Because joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual, they need to know the serious nature of the campaign or issue

Question 90

Definition of flexibility for minority influence

Answer 90

They must negate their position with the majority – have some flexibility / compromise to make changes.
Balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 91

Positive evaluation of research support for consistency

Answer 91

Meta analysis of 97 similar studies
Showed consistent minorities were the most influential
Consistency is key

Question 92

Positive evaluation of research support for depth of thought

Answer 92

Change to the minority position does involve deeper processing of ideas
Participants were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to a minority group than a majority.
Suggested that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect

Question 93

Positive evaluation of the real value of minority influence

Answer 93

Found that dissent, in the form of minority opinion ‘opens’ the mind.
Dissenters liberate people to say what they believe and they stimulate divergent and creative thought even when they are wrong.
Groups had improved decision quality when exposed to a minority influence

Question 94

What does moscovici’s conversion theory suggest

Answer 94

Suggests that majority and minority influences are different processes

Question 95

What is majority influence according to moscovici’s conversion theory

Answer 95

People compare their behaviour to the majority and change their behaviour to fit in without considering the majorities views in detail
Majority influence involves compliance - it doesn’t always cause people to change their private feelings, just their behaviour

Question 96

What is minority influence according to moscovici’s conversion theory

Answer 96

When a minority is consistent people may actually examine the minorities beliefs in detail because they want to understand why the minority sees things differently
Can lead to people privately accepting the minority view - the convert to the minority position
Social pressure to conform may mean their behaviour doesn’t change at first

Question 97

According to moscovici’s conversion theory, why is consistency so important for minority influence

Answer 97

Minority views can be seen as wrong as they don’t match the norm
By being consistent the minority shows it has a clear view which it’s committed to, and isn’t willing to compromise
This creates conflict - when faced with a consistent minority you have to consider they might be right, and if you should change your view. Moscovici called this the validation process
If there’s no reason to reject the minority view, then you begin to see things as they do

Question 98

What is the social impact theory

Answer 98

Social influence occurs when the combined effects of three factors are significant enough:
Strength: how powerful, knowledgeable and consistent the group appear to be
Numbers: how many people in the group
Immediacy: how close the source of influence is to you ( physically or in terms of a relationship)

Question 99

What does Latané and wolfe’s theory say about minority influence ( social impact theory )

Answer 99

Minority influence happens through the same process as majority influence – it’s just The balance of factors that create the social influence is different
The number of people in a minority is relatively small, but if the minority has strength and immediacy they can still exert social influence – a majority doesn’t need as much strength or immediacy, because they have the numbers

Question 100

Mullen’s experiment to disprove social impact theory

Answer 100

Mullen conducted a meta analysis of studies investigating social impact theory
Found that lots of the relied on self report rather than observable behaviour
Argued that support for social impact theory could be a result of demand characteristics
However, a field experiment did provide support for social impact theory which contradicts these findings

Question 101

What is the snowball effect

Answer 101

If some people in the group start to agree with a minority view in the minority becomes more influential
This results in more people converting to the minority view
Eventually the minority becomes a majority – this is the snowball effect
For this to happen people need to go from privately accepting the minority view to public ally expressing it
One explanation of why this might happen is social cryptoamnesia - this means public opinion changes gradually over time, until minority view is accepted as normal, but people forget where the view originally came from

Question 102

Negative evaluation against the role of deeper processing

Answer 102

Different cognitive processes for minority and majority influence
(Moscovici)
People disagreed and presented evidence that it is majority influence that creates deeper processing, if we do not share their views.
We like to believe other people share our view and think in the same way as us.
If the majority think differently, we are forced to think about their argument and reasoning

Question 103

Positive evaluation for resistance to social influence: response order

Answer 103

The order of response is important
All participants went last. People were more likely to conform when the confederate with the right answer went first as they make a social commitment to the answer.
Less likely when confederate went 4th – did not have enough time to socially commit