social influence Flashcards
(107 cards)
1
Q
conformity
aschs baseline procedure
A
- soloman asch (1951)
- 123 american men
- each one in a group with other apparent participants
- each participant saw two large white cards- line X of first card is the standard line. lines A B C on second card are three comparison lines
- one clearly same length, other two obviously wrong
- tested in groups of 6-8 1 naïve participant last or second to last
- each time had to say out loud the match
2
Q
conformity
variables investigated by Asch
A
- group size
- unanimity
- task difficulty
3
Q
conformity
how did asch investigate group size and what did it show
A
- varied the number of confederates from 1-15 in a group of2-16
- found a curvilinear relationship between group size and conformity rate. conformity increased to 31.8% with 3 confederates, however this levelled off
- people are very sensitive to the view of others
4
Q
conformity
how did unanimity effect aschs research
A
- variation 1 dissenter gave correct answer
- variation 2 dissenter gave incorrect answer
- genuine participant conformed less
- less than 1/4 conformed in the presence of a dissenter
- free naïve participant
- non-conformity more likely when cracks are percieved
5
Q
conformity
how does task difficulty affect conformity
A
- asch increased difficulty of line judging- harder for genuine participants to see the difference
- conformity increased- natural to look to others for guidance (informational social influence)
6
Q
conformity
evaluation: limitation of aschs research being artificial
A
- knew they were in a study- wouldve gone along with what expected (demand characteristics)
- not important so they had no real reason to conform (may be different in real life situation)
- didnt represent groups of every day life- cant apply to all
7
Q
conformity
evaluation: why is aschs research a limited application
A
- all american men- women may conform more
- usa is individualistic culture unlike collectivists cultures e.g. china
8
Q
conformity
evaluation: other research support
A
- Todd Lucas et al 2006
- participants conformed more when maths questions were harder
9
Q
conformity
evaluation: weakness to aschs research according to lucas et als study
A
participants with higher maths abilities conformed less, shows that there is an individual factor that can influence conformity through situation variables, asch didnt research the roles of individual factors
10
Q
conformity: types and explanations
evaluation: ethical issues with aschs research
A
- naive participants were decieved
11
Q
conformity: types and explanations
what is internalisation
A
a deep, genuine type of conformity where we take on the majority view as we believe it to be correct, leading to a far reaching and permanent change in behaviour, even when group is absent.
12
Q
conformity: types and explanations
what is identification
A
we conform to the behaviours of a group as we value something about the group, wanting to be part of it, even if we dont agree privately
13
Q
conformity: types and explanations
what is compliance
A
ttype of conformity that involves going along with others in public, but as soon as group pressure stops, so does conformity.
14
Q
conformity: types and explanations
what is ISI
A
- genuinely conforming and accepting something because you believe it is right
15
Q
conformity: types and explanations
what is NSI
A
- conforming because they want to be accepted in order to gain social approval
16
Q
conformity: types and explanations
why is unclear whether NSI or ISI is at work
A
e.g. dissenter in aschs research may reduce power of NSI (provide social support) or could increase power of ISI (provides another source of social influence)
17
Q
conformity: types and explanations
how do individual difference affect the effect of NSI
A
- some people of nAffiliators (want to be liked/relate to others) so would be more likely to conform
18
Q
conformity to social roles
what are social roles
A
- the parts people play as members of various social groups accompanied by expectations of the appropriate behaviour for that role
- w
- e.g. parent, child, student, passenger
19
Q
conformity to social roles
what is the stanford prison experiment (SPE)
A
- zimbardo et al
- 1973
- mock prison in the basement of stanfords psychology department
- 21 emotionally stable male volunteers
- randomly assigned to play prisoner or officer
20
Q
conformity to social roles
uniform and the impact it had on the stanford prison experiment
A
- prisoners- loose smock, cap and identified by a number.
- guards- mirrored shades, uniform, wooden club, handcuffs
- created a loss of identity and a physical divide
21
Q
conformity to social roles
how was each role instructed to behave
A
- prisoners- follow procedures, e.g they couldnt just leave but had to apply for parole.
- guards- reminded they had complete power over prisoners
22
Q
conformity to social roles
how did most of the guards react to their role in SPE?
A
took it up with enthusiasm, treating prisoners harshly
23
Q
conformity to social roles
when did the prisoners first rebell and what happened?
A
- within 2 days
- ripped uniform, shouted and swore at guards
- guards retaliated with fire extinguishers
24
Q
conformity to social roles
what were some of the things in the SPE that left prisoners feeling anxious, depressed and subdued?
A
- divide and rule tactics (playing prisoners off against eachother)
- harassed constantly
- reminded of their powerlessness
- conducted frequent headcounts (had to shout out their number)
- guards created opportuities to enforce punishment
- put rebellion down
25
# conformity to social roles
why was one of the SPE prisoners released? and then how many more on the fourth day?
* he showed signs of psychological disturbance
* 2
26
# conformity to social roles
how did guards react when a prisoner went on hunger strike?
* tried to force feed him
* punished him by putting him in "the hole" (a tiny dark closet)
27
# conformity to social roles
how did the guards show that they identified closely with their role?
* became more brutal/ agressive
* appeared to enjoy the power they had over prisoners
28
# conformity to social roles
when did zimbardo end the study?
after 6 days, rather than the intended 14.
29
# conformity to social roles
conclusions on social roles related to zimbardos study
* social roles have a strong influence on an individuals behaviour, guards became brutal, prisoners became submissive
30
# conformity to social roles
what did Norma Jean Orlando's study in 1973 of a mock psychiartric ward show
* staff at psychiatric hospital pretend to be patients
* loss of self identity within 2 days lead to psychological break down
31
# conformity to social roles
evaluation: what did the degree of control increase in the SPE?
internal validity
32
# conformity to social roles
evaluation: in what way did the SPE not have the realism of a true prison
* merely play acting than genuinely conforming to a role
* perfomance based on stereotypes or from films
33
# conformity to social roles
evaluation: arguments against the lack of realism in the SPE
* prisoners conversations mainly about prison life
* prisoner 416 said he thought it was a real prison just run ny psychologists instead
34
# conformity to social roles
evaluation: how did zimbardo exagerate the power of roles in the SPE
* only 1/3rd of the guards acted in a brutal way, 1/3rd applied rules fairly, rest tried to actively help prisoners.
35
# obedience
who assessed obedience levels?
Stanley Milgram
36
# obedience
Why did Milgram want to asses obedience levels?
wanted to find out why german population followed hitlers orders to murder and if it was because germans were different from others
37
# obedience
what was Milgrams baseline procedure?
* 40 american men
* yale university
* study on "memory" (not really)
* drew lots with a confederate to see who would be teacher/ learner
* confederate was actually fixed as learner
* experimenter also in room
* teacher couldnt see learner but could hear
* teacher gave learner an elctric shock every time made a mistake going up in 15 volt steps (fake) up to 450
38
# obedience
findings from milgrams baseline procedure
* every participant delievered shocks up to 300 volts
* 12.5% stopped at 300
* 65% continued to 450 (fully obedient)
* participants showed signs of extreme tension - sweat, tremble, dig finger nails into hands, bite lip, groan, seizures
39
# obedience
evaluation: when were Milgrams findings replicated
* french documentary about reality TV
* Beauvois et al 2012
* participants believed they were in a game show "le jeu de la mort"
* paid to give fake electric shocks to other participants (actually actors) in front of studio audience
* 80% delivered maximum shock of 460 volts to an apparently unconscious man
* participants showed signs of distress
* identical to milgrams findings, shows they were valid and not just a special circumstance
40
# obedience
evaluation: how may milgrams procedure not have been testing obedience
* milgram said 75% believed the shocks were genuine however it was only about 50%
* participnats ay have been respondng to demand characteristics
41
# obedience
evaluation: sheriden and kings research and what does it show
* real electric shocks to a puppy
* 54% men and 100% women delivered what they thought was a fatal shock
* milgrams study is accurate- people obeyed even when shocks were real
42
# obedience
evaluation: how does social identity theory contrast Milgrams study
* people only obeyed when they identified with the aims of scientific research
* when experimenter demanded "you have no other choice you must go on" they disobeyed
43
# obedience
evaluation: ethical issues with Milgrams research
* partcipants decieved- believed role allocation was random and thought the shocks were real
* he dealt with this by debriefing participants
* deception in psychological research can have consequences
44
# obedience
The theory that says that people with a particular personality type are more likely to obey
authoritarian personality theory
45
# obedience
migrams aims
* To test if any individual could be made to go against their moral code and obey
* To test if there was something different about Germans that made them obey
46
# obedience
evaluation: strength of milgrams experiment being a laboratory experiment
had good control of extraneous variables e.g kinds of orders given and who gave them. then able to establish a cause and effect relationship
47
# obedience
how do we know milgrams study wasnt effected by demand characteristics
* participants showed signs of extreme tension: tremble, stutter, bite lips, sweat, seizures
48
# obedience
evaluation: how does milgrams experiment lack ecological validity
* completely unfamiliar situation- didnt know how to behave
* knew it was an experiment- behaved differently
49
# obedience
evaluation: problem with milgrams study being adult men, mainly middle-class and white, and all american
* cant be generalised
* the study suffers from androcentric bias
50
# obedience: situational variables
Four situational variables affecting obedience
1. proximity of authority figure
2. proximity of victim
3. location
4. uniform
51
# obedience: situational variables
how did milgram alter proximity of the authority figure and what were the results?
* experimenter left the room and gave instructions by telephone
* obedience dropped to 20.5%
* experimenter forced hand onto button
* obedience dropped to 30%
52
# obedience: situational variables
how did milgram alter proximity of victim and what were the results?
* teacher and learner in same room
* proximity fell to 40%
* cant mentally distance themselves from th3e consequences
53
# obedience: situational variables
how did milgram alter location and what were the results?
* conducted experiment in run down office block rather than yale
* obedience dropped to 47.5%
* yale provides legitimacy and authority, obedience still high as people agreed with scientific nature of experiment
54
# obedience: situational variables
how did milgram alter uniform and what were the results?
* role of experimenter was taken over by "ordinary member of the public"
* obedience dropped to 20%
* uniforms encourage obedience as they are symbols of authority and entitled to expect obedience
55
# obedience: situational variables
evaluation: what research support comes from Leonard Blackman's research in new york?
* on street
* milkman,jacket and tie, security guard
* all asked mop to perform tasks like picking up litter
* 2x more likely to obey security guard than jacket and tie (uniform)
56
# obedience: situational variables
how is milgrams research cross cultural and how is it not?
* is:
* dutch participants
* asked to interview participants asking stressful questions
* experimenter present- 90% obedience
* experimenter absent- decreased dramatically
* isn't
* just 2 replications of experiment in non-western countries
* most others were western countires which were very culturally similar to usa
57
# obedience: situational variables
evaluation: what made milgrams experiment have low internal validity
* many would have believed the procedure was fake so just gone along responding to demand characteristics
58
# obedience: situational explanations
what are the three explanations of obedience?
1. legitmacy of authority
2. agency theory
3. authoritarian personality
59
# obedience: situational explanations
what is a social hierarchy?
when one person has authority over others in a social group, so the power structure is unequal
60
# obedience: situational explanations
how does legitmacy of authority explain obedience?
* we spend our whole lives living in social hierarchies
* and as a result we learn to respect those higher up in the social hierarchy and to not question their authority
* respect their authority= seeing it as legit
61
# obedience: situational explanations
how does agency theory explain obedience to distructive orders?
* When people obey orders,they make an agentic shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state.
* the agentic state being the state in which the obeyer feels like an "agent" to the order and have a high moral strain, however this is reduced as they feel powerless and are freed from the demand of their consience as they're acting for someone else
62
# obedience: situational explanations
what is moral strain?
When someone feels they need to obey the authority figure, but they don’t want to be responsible for the horrible consequences.
63
# obedience: situational explanations
If a person takes responsibility and is acting from free will we call this...
autonomous state
64
# obedience: situational explanations
how does milgrams study support his theory of the agentic state?
* when the participant learned that the experimenter was responsible for the shocks, they were more likely to do it
65
# obedience: situational explanations
why does the agentic shift only explain some acounts of obedience?
* Ranks study- 16 out of 18 nurses disobeyed orders to administer excessive drug dosage to patient
66
# obedience: situational explanations
what makes the legitimacy of authority a good account for cultural differences in obedience?
* in milgram style experiment- 16% australian women went to 450 but german women 85%
* different cultures- authority more or less likely to be identified as legitimate
67
# obedience: situational explanations
how come the legitimacy of authority doesn't explain all cases of (dis)obedience?
* Ranks study
* milgrams study, some rejected depite scientific authority
* some people are just more or less obedient
68
# Obedience: Dispositional explanation
weakness of the agency theory
doesnt expalin why some people are more likely to obey than others, it ignores individual variables
69
# Obedience: Dispositional explanation
features of the authoritarian personality
* is submissive and shows extreme respect to authority
* likes rules
* doesn't like people who dont conform
* doesn't like "others" and believe they're responsible for the ills of the world
* show contempt for those with inferior status
* believes in a strong society based off of traditional values (like respect for country and family)
* black and white in their beliefs, inflexible outlook on the world
70
# Obedience: Dispositional explanation
what is adorno's explanation for obedience?
* because they have an authoritarian personality:
* came from over strict parenting:
* makes children obey unquestionably, and leaves them fustrated because they have no freedom, however are too scared to express this anger to parents due to punishment, so instead take it out on those who can't punish them (those socially inferior, with less power)
71
# Obedience: Dispositional explanation
what was the process of the research adorno et al did?
* used a personality questionnaire to measure how much people show an authoritarian personality
* called the F(fascism)-scale
* asked questions like, "obedience and respect for authority are the most important values for a child to learn"
* nazi war criminals scored highly (authoritarian personality)
72
# Obedience: Dispositional explanation
evaluation: problem with adorno's theory of the authoritarian for obedience
not every one who obeys has an authoritarian personality
e.g not all nazi officers scored highly
73
# obedience: situational explanations
evaluation: how does milgrams study support the legitimacy of authority?
participants were more likely to obey when:
-the researcher was dressed in a lab coat, than shabby, normal looking clothes (people are more likely to obey when the authority figure appears more legitimate)
-at the prestigious location of Yale university people were more likely to obey orders than in a run down office building
74
# obedience: situational explanations
evaluation: limitations of the legitimacy of authority explanation
-doesn't account for individual variables (e.g. personality) for instance:
-35% of participants didn't obey in milgrams study, despite the authority figure being legitimate
75
# obedience: situational explanations
evaluation: how is the agency theory supported by milgrams research
participants experienced distress while following the orders of the research
* participants who were told that the researcher would take full responsibility and not them: obedience was higher
* when the victem was further away from the participant, participants were more likely to obey
* (people obey more when they are able to avoid the consequences of their actions)
76
# obedience: situational explanations
evaluation: what are the limitations of the agency theory
* it ignores individual variables that effect obedience
77
# obedience: dispositional explanation
evaluation: weaknesses of authoritarian personality
* not all obedience can be explained by having an authoritarian personality
* just because authoritarian personality traits correlate with obedience, doesn't mean they cause obedience
* theory cant account for effect of situational variables
78
# obedience: situational explanations
evaluation: support for the authoritarian personality theory
* milgram and elms-
* 20 people who scored high on F-scale were obedient
79
# Resistance to social influence
what is resistance to social influence?
the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. this ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.
80
# Resistance to social influence
social support definition
the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.
81
# Resistance to social influence
Locus of control definition
the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives.
internals- believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them
externals- believe it is mainly a matter of luck/outside forces
82
# Resistance to social influence
how does social support explain resisting conformity
* Asch's research- the confederate
the fact that someone is not following the majority is social support (even if it isnt the right answer) and enables the naive participant to follow their own conscience.
* the confederate acts as a model of idependent behaviour- encouraging dissent as the majority is no longer unanimous
83
# Resistance to social influence
how does social support explain resisting obedience
* if there is another person seen to disobey, the prssure to obey can be resisted
* milgrams variation-obedience fell form 65% to 10% when participant was joined by disobedient confederate
* may not follow the disobedient persons behaviour but the other persons disobedients acts as a model of dissent which frees him to act from his own conscience
* disobedient model challenges the legitimacy of authority of the authoritry figure (making it easier to disobey)
84
# Resistance to social influence
what is the LOC continuum
* people arent just either internals or externals, they vary in their position on this scale
* high internal LOC on one end and high external LOC at the other
85
# Resistance to social influence
how does having a high internal LOC explain resistance to social influence
* high internal LOC- more able to resist social pressures to conform/obey
- they tend to take personal responsiblity for their actions
- they are also more self confident, more achievement oriented and have higher intelligence
86
# Resistance to social influence
evaluation: how does susan albrecht show that social support can help teens to resist social influence?
* 8 week programme to help pregnant teens aged 14-19
* to help resist peer pressure to smoke
* social support from older mentor/buddy
* buddy group were significantly less likely to smoke than control group with no buddy
87
# Resistance to social influence
evaluation: william gamsons research that shows peer support can lead to disobedience, what was his procedure?
* participants were told to produce eveidence to help an oil company run a smear campaign (ruining someones reputation)
* high levels of resistance
* because participants were in groups (could discuss answers)
* 88% rebelled against their orders
88
# Resistance to social influence
Holland replicated milgrams study, what percentage of internals/externals did not continue to the highest shock level?
* 37% internals
* 23% externals
* (internals have higher resistance to authority)
* increased validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience
89
# Resistance to social influence
evaluation: what did an American LOC study by Jean Twenge over 40 years show?
* over 40 years, became more resistant to obedience however more external
* suggests that LOC isnt a valid explanation of resistance to social influence
90
# Minority influence
what is minority influence?
where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people
91
# Minority influence
what is the difference between minority influence and conformity?
conformity- the majority is doing the influencing not the minority
92
# Minority influence
what type of conformity is minority influence most likely to lead to?
internalisation
where both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed in the process
93
# Minority influence
3 ways minority influence succeeds
* consistency
* commitment
* flexibility
94
# Minority influence
95
# Minority influence
how does consistency help minority influence?
more likely to draw the majorities attention to this issue/problem/ belief
96
# Minority influence
how does commitment help minority influence?
shows the majority how important their belief is to the minority, making the majority process it more deeply
97
# Minority influence
how does flexibility help minority influence?
by being reasonable, the majority take them seriously
98
# Minority influence
how does the snowball effect apply to minority influence.
if consistency, commitment and flexibility are used by a minority, more and more people will have their minds changed and will convince their family and friends to do the same.
99
# Minority influence
how many women did moscovici use in his study?
192
100
# Minority influence
how many confederates were there in moscovici's study oer group
2 out of 6
101
# Minority influence
what were the 2 conditions in moscovici's study and what were the results?
* confederates said that the different shades if blue were green each time- majority agreed 8.2% of time, 32% agreed atleast once
* confederates sometimes said that the shades of blue were green sometimes- agreed 1.25% of time
102
# Minority influence
evaluation: weakness of moscovici's study
* low population validity
* lacks ecological validity
* deception = unethical
103
# Social influence and social change
what is social change?
when whole societies adopt new attitudes/beliefs/behaviours e.g. womens suffrage, homosexuality, ethnicity
104
# Social influence and social change
what is social cryptoamnesia?
when the population doesn't know how/when the change happened because it has been accepted as the norm.
105
# Social influence and social change
research on conformity and the impact a dissenter can have on social change.
* breaks the power of the majority, leading to social change
* This shows the importance of a dissenter, who encourages other people to not conform and therefore lead to social change
106
# Social influence and social change
research on conformity and the impact normative social influence
suggesting that others are acting in a certain way, drawing attention to what the majority are doing to make someone else do it
107
# Social influence and social change
what is the importance of obedience/disobedience on social change?
* milgrams research-
