Social influence Flashcards

Question

Uniforms for prisoners and uniform for guard in the Stanford prison experiment

Answer 1

Guards- khaki uniform, a baton and had sunglasses Prisoners - one big dress, no underwear, ankle chains and a cap

Answer 2

-To see how readily people would conform to the roles of the guard and prisoner.

Answer 3

-Guards were sadistic and brutal - made prisoners clean toilets with bare hands and hit them with batons -prisoners 'told tales' on eachother in order to act up to the prison guards to be on their good side

Answer 4

To see weather 'Germans are different' based on WW2 atrocities. Wanted to see if other people would obey too.

Answer 5

40 male volunteers who were selected because they responded to a newspaper advert.

Answer 6

Experimenter - told participants to keep going even though they wanted to stop Teacher - Asked questions and gave shocks Learner - Answered questions, if wrong then they get shocked

Answer 7

-All 40 participants went up to 300 volts -65% administered max of 450 volts -35% defied the strong pressure of the experimenter

Answer 8

Supported by research from Hofling (1966). Researchers found that 95% of nurses obeyed orders from a doctor over a phone to administer a lethal dose of a medication, knowing it was dangerous to the patient. This suggests that everyday individuals are still susceptible to obeying destructive authority figures. This is what is consistent with Milgram's findings. This strengthens our acceptance of Milgram's findings as similar results have been extracted in other experiments e.g. Hofling et al.

Answer 9

One strength of Milgram's research is that it highlighted how Hitler was able to achieve what he wanted through authority and obedience. illustrates how obedience results in social change. This suggests that Milgram's findings are representative of real life obedience on a large scale. This strengthens our acceptance of Milgram's findings.

Answer 10

One weakness of Milgram's experiment is that it may have been more about trust than obedience because the study was carried out at Yale university. The participants may have thought that nothing would actually happen to the learner because they are in such a prestigious setting. Furthermore, when the study was replicated in a run down office block, obedience fell to 48%. This suggests the original study didn't investigate what it intended to. Therefore, this weakens our acceptance of the studies findings as there is a lack of internal validity.

Answer 11

One strength is that there is supporting research from Bickman et al. For example, Bickman found that when people in a real life setting were given orders by a milkman, man in a suit and a 'policeman' they were most likely to conform to the policeman as his uniform indicated he was in a position of authority. These findings coincide with Milgram's research into obedience as he found that when the experimenter wasn't wearing a lab coat, obedience fell to 20%. Therefore, the research support from Bickman strengthens our acceptance of Milgram's variation findings as they have been replicated in a similar study in a real life setting in New York.

Answer 12

One weakness is that Milgram completely ignored the influence of dispositional factors on obedience. For example, Adorno found that certain individuals are more likely to obey authority than others as they have a authoritarian personality and score highly on the F-scale. Furthermore, some people have an external locus of control, meaning they are easily influenced by others in society and so are more likely to obey to the orders of the experimenter in the experiment. This questions the validity of Milgram's findings as they could have been down to internal dispositional factors instead of situational factors, making it difficult to establish a causal relationship between obedience and situational variables, thus weakening acceptance of Milgram's findings

Answer 13

-The agentic state occurs when you are following orders from an authority figure so the consequences of your actions are not your responsibility because the responsibility has been deferred to the authority figure as they are giving you orders. However in the autonomous state you are in control of your actions.

Answer 14

One strength of the agentic shift is that there are real world applications of the theory For example, it explains how senior Nazi officials such as Adolf Eichmann said they were just 'taking orders from people above them' and they were told they wouldn't bear the consequences of their actions as they were acting as an agent under the commands of an authority figure. This was used as a justification as to why they did such terrible things to innocent people. Therefore, this indicates that agency theory can be used in real life scenarios to better understand situations of obedience, thus strengthening acceptance of the theory

Answer 15

One weakness is that the theory is incomplete. For example, in Rank et al's study they found that 16/18 nurses disobeyed a a doctor to administer excess drug dose to a patient. The doctor is obviously an authority figure but the nurses all remained autonomous, as did many of Milgram's ppts. This is a weakness as it suggests the agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience.

Answer 16

One strength of legitimacy of authority is that it is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience. For example, Mann et al found that only 16% of Australian women went all the way up to 450 volts in a Milgram-style study. However, Mantell et al found a very different figure for German ppts - 85%.. This indicates that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals. This reflects the ways that different societies are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority

Answer 17

One weakness of legitimacy of authority as an explanation of obedience is that it may be incomplete For example, the theory predicts that everyone will obey authority all of the time, but in Milgram's experiment only 65% of people obeyed the experimenter all the way to 450 volts. If legitimacy of authority was correct, 100% of ppts would have administered the full voltage of 450. Therefore this poses questions regarding the validity of the theory as it has been refuted by research from Milgram. Perhaps there are dispositional factors at play which the theory ignores, such as locus of control and authoritarian personality. Therefore, the lack of detail in the theory raises concerns over the reliability and validity of the theory, thus weakening acceptance of it

Answer 18

When Milgram repeated his study in a run down office block, 48% of participants obeyed the experimenter. When you take away the status and prestige of an environment like Yale then people will obey differently as they dont think it is as legitimate hence obedience levels fall

Answer 19

- Only 20% of participants administered max of 450 volts - When the experimenter has no lab coat it removes authority and legitimacy so more likely to disobey

Answer 20

- Obedience fell to 48% - When you take away the status and prestige of the environment you are more likely to disobey

Answer 21

- Obedience fell to 20% -When you see the consequences of your actions you are more likely to disobey - This example is when the experimenter left the room and gave orders over the phone -When teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience fell to 40%

Answer 22

Social hierarchy is accepted in societies Most of us accept that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power as this allows society to function easily. One of the consequences of legitimacy of authority is that some people are granted the power to punish others

Answer 23

proximity uniform location

Answer 24

The presence of others who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do the same These people give others the confidence to go along with their own opinions as the 'model' has shown it is possible to go against authority is possible.

Answer 25

One strength of LOC is that there is research support For example, Spector et al found that individuals with internal LOC were less likely to conform compared to people with an external LOC, in situations of normative social influence where people want to fit in. This supporting research coincides with the core principles of the theory, thus strengthening acceptance of LOC as an explanation of resistance to social influence

Answer 26

One strength of social support as an explanation for resistance to social influence is that there is research support from Albrecht et al. They evaluated an eight week programme to help pregnant adolescents resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by a slightly older mentor. They found that ppts who had a mentor were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group of ppts who did not have a mentor. This indicates that social support can help young people resist social influence as part of an intervention in the real world.

Answer 27

ASCH -Conformity dropped to 5.5% -Breaks unanimity of the majority -Presence of an ally gives people confidence to go with their own opinion MILGRAM -Obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate

Answer 28

This idea is also supported by a variation of Milgram’s study, where there were two other participants (who were actually confederates) and disobeyed the experimenter. The presence of the other person caused the level of obedience to reduce to 10%. This shows that the social support provided from the other participants gave them the confidence to reject the position of authority.

Answer 29

There is research evidence supporting the link between locus of control and social responsibility. For example, Oliner and Oliner (1988) interviewed two groups of non Jewish people who had lived through the holocaust. They also interviewed 406 people who protected and rescued Jews from Nazis and 126 people who did not. The rescuers were found to have an internal locus of control and also scored higher on measures of social responsibility. However, this also draws doubt over the direct link between locus of control and resistance to obedience - perhaps measures of social responsibility are more important/influential?

Answer 30

Charles holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals did not continue. In other words, internals showed greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation

Answer 31

Twenge et al analysed data from American LOC studies conducted over a 40 year span. The data indicated that people became more resistant to obedience but also more external. If resistance is linked to an internal LOC then we would expect people to have become more internal. This suggests that LOC is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence

Answer 32

Consistency - The minority needs to be persistent with their argument. The majority cant understand why minority have a different view point. This creates conflict which turns into anxiety. To reduce anxiety the minority are examined and the majority try to comprehend the minority's argument Flexibility - The minority have no power so they have to make compromises and negotiate with the majority as they are powerless compared to majority. Commitment - The minority need to go out of their way to influence the majority and show that they are dedicated and stand by their opinions. This can cause majority members to be persuaded by minority argument

Answer 33

Have greater self confidence which in turn leads to them standing by their opinions more and not getting as easily swayed as they dont feel a need for social approval. Internals are more likely to be leaders rather than followers.

Answer 34

One strength is that it is supported by research from Ems and Milgram who found that participants who went up to 450 volts had a scored highly on the F-scale. This is a strength because it indicates that those with an AP are more likely to obey orders from a perceived authority figure . Therefore the theory has been validated by findings from Milgram which coincide with the theory of AP, thus strengthening acceptance of the theory However, the F-scale gathered quantitative data and correlational which doesn't give us any insight into obedience as the data is superficial and we cant establish a causal relationship between the two variables. Furthermore, the obedient ppts didn't display typical characteristics of authoritarians. For example, they didn't glorify their fathers as the theory suggests they would if they had an AP and they did experience unusual levels of punishment in childhood.

Answer 35

One weakness of authoritarian personality is that research was gathered from a questionnaire -This is a problem because participants might lie due to social desirability. E.g. if ppts guess the aim and and not admitted to being authoritarian as it may make them look bad -This suggests the questionnaire lacked internal validity meaning it wasn't a true measure of authoritarian traits Thus weakening our acceptance of AP as it used invalid methods of gathering data

Answer 36

One weakness of authoritarian personality is that there is still evidence to suggest that situational factors are more important. E.g. in Milgram's study was carried out in a run down office block, conformity fell from 65% to 48%. This suggests that obedience is affected by situational factors as well as dispositional factors. Therefore the theory lacks validity as research suggests a more holistic view should be taken when trying to explain obedience.

Answer 37

One weakness of AP is that it cant be applied to real life scenarios. For example, it is very unlikely that everyone in Nazi Germany had an authoritarian personality but rather they displaced their fears about the future onto an 'inferior' group of people. It is unlikely that the whole of Nazi Germany had an authoritarian personality, so perhaps this is better explained by social identity theory as they relate to the common views towards jews. Therefore, the theory lacks validity as it has a limited explanation for some examples of obedience.

Answer 38

Despite giving answers that were clearly wrong, minorities could still influence the judgement of a majority. But minorities had more effect if they were consistent than if they were inconsistent.

Answer 39

To investigate whether a minority could influence a majority in tasks where there was a clear answer

Answer 40

One criticism of Phillip Zimbardo's research was that it was considered unethical For example, prisoners could have been subjected to psychological harm as they were stripped of their clothes, put in solitary confinement and chilled with cold CO2 gas. Moreover, ppts didn't know what they were consenting to. They weren't told they would go through and experience traumatic things This suggests ppts couldn't give informed consent. This weaken our acceptance of Zimbardo's research However, Zimbardo pointed out that he had selected psychologically healthy people and he didn't know that the study would turn violent. Furthermore, he stopped the experiment before it could have gotten any worse

Answer 41

A second limitation of SPE is that Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour. For example, only 1/3 of the guards actually behaved in a brutal way. Another third tried to apply the rules fairly. The rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners. They sympathised, offered cigarettes and reinstated privileges. Most guards were able to resist situational pressures to conform to a brutal role. This suggests that Zimbardo overstated his view that SPE ppts were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors e.g. personality

Answer 42

One criticism of Zimbardo's research is that it has a lack of generalisability For example, Zimbardo only recruited white middle class men as the sample. Perhaps this is only how white middle class men behave. This means we cannot apply his findings to other groups of people in other cultures. E.g. Zimbardo's findings tell us nothing about the conformity of 10 year old Asian girls. Therefore this weakens our acceptance of the findings because we cannot apply them to other cultures/groups of people. Findings lack population validity. However, Zimbardo's findings could be used to explain examples of brutality in the world, suggesting his results are generalisable after all.

Answer 43

One weakness of Zimbardo's research into conformity of social roles is that it has been criticised for lacking realism Perhaps the ppts didn't believe the study was real so they didn't act in a genuine way. This suggests we cannot apply these findings to the real world. For example, Ppts performances may have just been based off of their stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave. One of the guards claimed he had based his role on a brutal character from the film 'cool hand Luke'. This would explain why the prisoners rioted - they thought that was what real prisoners did. This weakens our acceptance of the finding as they tell us little about conformity to social roles outside of prison. However, the participants did show strong emotional reaction to what was going on and 90% of the prisoner's conversations which took place were about life in prison. Amongst themselves they discussed how it was impossible to leave SPE before their 'prison sentences' were over. Prisoner 416 later explained how he thought the prison was a real one, but run by psychologists. This suggests that the SPE did replicate the social roles of prisoners and guards in real prison, giving the study a high degree of internal validity

Answer 44

The legitimacy of authority explanation of obedience says that we obey people when we perceive their authority as legitimate. Some locations carry more authority than others, and in these locations, authority figures appear more legitimate. Therefore, the legitimacy of authority explanation would predict that people are more likely to obey in such locations. This prediction is supported by Milgram’s additional study investigating the effect of location on obedience. In this study, Milgram changed the location of his study from the prestigious Yale University to a rundown office, a location carrying less authority and prestige. He found that participants were less likely to obey in the run-down location. This suggests that people are less likely to obey in location in which the authority figure appears less legitimate.

Answer 45

-Theory suggests all people will obey but only 65% of people did -It ignores dispositional factors affecting obedience such as individual differences / ppts variables

Answer 46

-Participants were more likely to obey when they were nearer to the authority figure -Participants experienced distress when given orders indicating that they experienced moral strain

Answer 47

-Milgram’s finding that some people are more likely to obey than others -Milgram’s finding that the participants’ level of obedience was correlated with their score on the F-scale.

Answer 48

-The theory ignores situational variables that affect obedience -Even though authoritarian personality scores correlate with obedience doesn't mean that authoritarian personalities cause obedience. -Quantitative data was used which lacks detail meaning we cant gain insight into obedience

Answer 49

1. Drawing Attention to the Issue Minorities (individuals or groups) first bring awareness to a social problem. Example: Civil Rights Movement in the US drew attention to racial injustice through protests and media coverage. 2. Consistency The minority must be consistent in their message over time. This can be diachronic (across time) or synchronic (within the group). Consistency makes the group seem more committed and credible. 3. Deeper Processing When a message is consistent and logical, it prompts the majority to think deeply about the issue. This may cause cognitive dissonance and make them question their own beliefs, creating an internal conflict. 4. Augmentation Principle If the minority is willing to suffer or make sacrifices, it increases the perceived commitment and impact of their cause. Example: Suffragettes endured imprisonment and force-feeding, which strengthened public support. 5. Snowball Effect Once a few members of the majority start to adopt the minority viewpoint, the change begins to gather momentum. Eventually, the minority view becomes the majority view. 6. Social Cryptoamnesia Society adopts the new norm but forgets how or why the change occurred or that it originated from a minority.

Answer 50

One strength is that research has shown that social influence processes based on research do work. Jessica Nolan et al aimed to see if they could change people's energy use habits. The researchers hung messages on the front doors of houses in California every week for a month. The key message was that residents were reducing their energy use. As a control, some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy but made no reference to other people's behaviour. There were significant decreases in energy usage in the first group compared to the second. . This suggests that conformity can lead to social change through the operation of NSI, thus indicating the theory is high in validity, thus strengthening acceptance of the theory. However, some studies show that people's behaviour is not always changed via exposing them to social norms. Foxcroft et al reviewed social norms interventions. The review included 70 studies where the social norms approach was used to reduce student alcohol use. The researchers found only a small reduction in drinking quantity and no effect on drinking frequency. Therefore it seems that using NSI does not always produce long term social change.

Answer 51

One limitation is that deeper processing may not play a role in how minorities bring about social change. Mackie et al suggests that it is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you do not share the views. This is because we like to believe that other people share our views. When we find that a majority believes something different, then we are forced to think long and hard about their arguments and reasoning. This means that a central element of minority influence has been challenged, casting doubt on its validity as an explanation of social change

Answer 52

One strength is that it is supported by research from Nemeth et al. For example, Nemeth found that dissenting minorities are valuable as they stimulate new ides ad open minds in a way that majorities cant as they offer a broad rather than narrow thinking, in which the thinker actively searches for information and weighs up more options. Nemeth argues this leads to better decisions and more creative solutions to social issues This indicates that principles from the theory of social change can be used by a minority to effectively change ideologies within a group of people, resulting on social change. Therefore the supporting research strengthens our acceptance of the processes of social change

Answer 53

One weakness of the theory is that there is contradicting research which indicates that there may be barriers to social change For example, Bashir et al found that people were less likely to be environmentally friendly because they didn't want to be associated with 'stereotypical' minority environmentalists. They described environmental activists in negative ways e.g. described them as 'tree-huggers'. This suggests there may be barriers in place which prevent the minority being effective at changing the majorities ideology regarding the environment, as people don't want to be stereotypes with people they hold in a negative light

Answer 54

-192 females. Split into groups of 6. -2 confederates who are the majority giving an incorrect answer and 4 real participants who are the majority. -Shown 36 different shades of blue slides. The 2 confederates said the slides are green when they are clearly blue. -Found that when the confederates were consistent ppts agreed with them 8.2% of the time, compared to when they were inconsistent ppts agreed 1.25% of the time -32% agreed at least once

Answer 55

One strength of consistency is that there is research support for its role. For example, Wendy wood et al carried out a meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and fond that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential. This suggests that presenting a consistent view is a minimum requirement for a minority trying to influence a majority

Answer 56

In Moscovici et al's study, the figure for agreement with a consistent minority was very low, on average only 8%. This suggests that minority influence is quite rare and not a useful concept. But when participants wrote down their answers privately, they were more likely to agree with the minority view. This suggests that the view expressed by people in public was just the 'tip of the iceberg.

Answer 57

Martin et al. (2003) presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants' agreement. One group of participants then heard a minority group agree with the initial view while another group heard a majority group agree with it. Participants were finally exposed to a conflicting view and attitudes were measured again. People were less willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority group than if they had listened to a majority group. This suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect, supporting the central argument about how minority influence works. HOWEVER, real-world social influence situations are much more complicated. For example, majorities usually have a lot more power and status than minorities. Minorities are very committed to their causes - they have to be because they often face very hostile opposition. These features are usually absent from minority influence research - the minority is simply the smallest group. Therefore Martin et al's findings are very limited in what they can tell us about minority influence in real-world situations.

Answer 58

One limitation of minority influence research is that the tasks involved are often just as artificial as Asch's line judgement task. This includes Moscovici et al's task of identifying the colour of a slide. Research is therefore far removed from how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real life. In cases such as jury decision-making and political campaigning, the outcomes are vastly more important, sometimes even literally a matter of life or death. This means findings of minority influence studies are lacking in external validity and are limited in what they can tell us about how minority influence works in real-world social situations.

Social influence Flashcards

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