Social Influence Flashcards

Question

What were the theories by psychologists on the Holocaust

Answer 1

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

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

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

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

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

Answer 7

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

Answer 8

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

Answer 9

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

Answer 10

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

Answer 11

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

Answer 12

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

Answer 13

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

Answer 14

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

Answer 15

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

Answer 16

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

Answer 17

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

Answer 18

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

Answer 19

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

Answer 20

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

Answer 21

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

Answer 22

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

Answer 23

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

Answer 24

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

Answer 25

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

Answer 26

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

Answer 27

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

Answer 28

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

Answer 29

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

Answer 30

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

Answer 31

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

Answer 32

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

Answer 33

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

Answer 34

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

Answer 35

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

Answer 36

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

Answer 37

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

Answer 38

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

Answer 39

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

Answer 40

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

Answer 41

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

Answer 42

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

Answer 43

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

Answer 44

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

Answer 45

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?

Answer 46

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 “

Answer 47

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

Answer 48

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

Answer 49

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

Answer 50

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

Answer 51

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

Answer 52

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

Answer 53

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

Answer 54

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

Answer 55

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

Answer 56

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

Answer 57

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

Answer 58

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

Answer 59

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

Answer 60

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

Answer 61

Consistent Flexible Committed

Answer 62

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

Answer 63

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

Answer 64

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

Answer 65

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

Answer 66

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

Answer 67

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

Answer 68

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

Answer 69

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

Answer 70

Suggests that majority and minority influences are different processes

Answer 71

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

Answer 72

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

Answer 73

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

Answer 74

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)

Answer 75

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

Answer 76

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

Answer 77

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

Answer 78

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

Answer 79

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

Social Influence Flashcards

(103 cards)