Social Influence

Question 1

what is conformity?

Answer 1

a type of social influence where a person changes their behaviour or beliefs due to real or imagined pressure.

Question 2

what are the three types of conformity?

Answer 2

compliance, identification and internalisation

Question 3

what is compliance?

Answer 3

conforming to the majority (publicly) but not agreeing privately (internal beliefs) - weakest level of conformity, temporary.

Question 4

what is identification?

Answer 4

where people change their behaviour and their private beliefs, but only in the presence of their identified group - middle level of conformity, temporary.

Question 5

what is internalisation?

Answer 5

involves public and private conformity - deepest / strongest level of conformity, permanent.

Question 6

what are the two explanations of conformity?

Answer 6

normative social influence (NSI) and informational social influence (ISI)

Question 7

what is normative social influence?

Answer 7

conforming to be accepted: ‘wanting to fit in’ - known as compliance / identification, can be socially rewarding, usually short-term.

Question 8

what is informational social influence?

Answer 8

conforming to be ‘right’ - leads to internalisation, involves adapting a new belief system, permanent and usually long-term.

Question 9

when did asch conduct his study and what was it on?

Answer 9

conformity, 1951

Question 10

what was asch’s aim?

Answer 10

to investigate group pressure - majority influence; to assess the extent people will conform.

Question 11

what was asch’s baseline procedure?

Answer 11

123 american male participants, each tested in a group with other ‘fake’ participants (confederates) - in groups of 6 to 8, they were tested with 2 white cards: 1 containing 1 line that needed to match up with 1/3 lines on other card.

Question 12

what did asch find in his baseline procedure?

Answer 12

• 36.8% of the time participants conformed
• 25% of participants never conformed (no wrong answers given)
• 75% of participants conformed at least once.

Question 13

what did asch conclude with his baseline procedure?

Answer 13

that people conformed due to wanting to fit in and avoid rejection (NSI).

Question 14

when did asch conduct variations of his baseline procedure and what were they?

Answer 14

1955, group size, task difficulty and unanimity.

Question 15

what effect did group size have and what were the findings?

Answer 15

group size = adding more confederates from 1-15 which enabled the total group sizes to range from 2-16.

he found that:
- 1 confederate = lower conformity rate (3%)
- 2 confederates = lower conformity rate (12.8%)
- 3 confederates - conformity rate remained the same (36.8%)
- 15 confederates = lower conformity rate (29%).

asch concluded that an individual is more likely to conform when in a larger group.

Question 16

what effect did unanimity have and what were the findings?

Answer 16

unanimity = adding a dissenter (a confederate that disagreed with other confederates)

he found that:
- when 1 of the dissenters gave the correct answer throughout, there was a lower conformity rate (5%)
- when 1 of the dissenters gave different incorrect answers to majority, there was also a lower conformity rate (9%).

asch concluded that an individual is more likely to conform when the group is unanimous (all give the same answer).

Question 17

what effect did task difficulty have and what were the findings?

Answer 17

task difficulty = making the task more difficult - less ambiguous.

he found that when he made it more difficult (by making the difference between the line lengths significantly smaller) there was a higher conformity rate (due to ISI increased).

asch concluded that an individual is more likely to conform when the task is difficult.

Question 18

what are the strengths of asch’s research?

Answer 18

there is research support, lucas et al found that when presented with difficult problems to solve, participants were more likely to conform to the majority answer (due to need for more info - ISI), this is a reliable study and supports asch with his claim of task difficulty being a variable that affects conformity.
-> (counterpoint): however, his study found that conformity is more complex than asch suggested, participants with high confidence conformed less on hard tasks than those with low confidence - lack of reliability.

there is high internal validity, there is strict control over extraneous variables e.g. timing of assessment and type of task used, participants did the experiment before (without confederates) to see if they knew correct answer, removing a confounding variable (lack of knowledge) and the strict control means that replication of experiment is easy which suggests that valid and reliable conclusions can be made.

Question 19

what are the weaknesses of asch’s research?

Answer 19

there is limited application as only men were tested (123 and american) so there is no account for gender or cultural differences, this means there is a lack of generalisability as it doesn’t represent the conformity in women and people from other cultures; it is also subject to gender bias.

there are ethical issues, the participants were deceived as they were tricked into thinking that the study was about perception rather than compliance and they thought the confederated were genuine participants, deception was used to prevent demand characteristics so ethical cost should be weighed against benefits of study.

the study uses an artificial task / situation as it is based on peoples’ perceptions of lines so findings cannot be generalised to real life situations - does not reflect complexity of real life conformity as in the ‘real world’ there would be more diversity, so there is a lack of validity and generalisability.

Question 20

what are social roles?

Answer 20

the parts that people play as members of various social groups, they come with expectations about how people should act or behave in each role.

Question 21

what is the dispositional explanation?

Answer 21

known as the personality factor - belief of someone being evil due to their personality.

Question 22

what is the situational explanation?

Answer 22

known as the environmental factor - the idea that people are evil because of the situation they are placed in - follow norms or social roles in given environment.

Question 23

what is a sadistic personality?

Answer 23

it is gaining pleasure out of seeing someone in pain, can be physical or mental (dispositional explanation).

Question 24

when did zimbardo conduct his study and what was it on?

Answer 24

conforming to social roles, 1973.

Question 25

what was zimbardo's aim?

Answer 25

to figure out how readily people would conform to the social roles in a stimulated environment and what happens to 'good' people when put in bad situations (situational).

Question 26

what was zimbardo's procedure?

Answer 26

- mock prison was set up in the basement of stanford university. - 21 american male participants (paid to take part). - participants were arrested by local PD, stripped and thrown in prison. - participants randomly assigned their social roles and encouraged to follow. - 2 conditions: uniform and instructions about behaviour.

Question 27

what was significant about the uniform condition?

Answer 27

it created a loss of identity (de-individuation) and both guards and prisoners were required to wear a uniform. guards - given uniform, reflective shades (to not make eye contact), hadcuffs (reinforcement) prisoners - given uniform, identified by number (more likely to conform to social role)

Question 28

what was significant about the instructions about behaviour condition?

Answer 28

guards were instructed to run prison without any physical violence but encouraged by being reminded of their power. prisoners were encouraged to identify with their social roles by several procedures.

Question 29

what did zimbardo find in his procedure?

Answer 29

- both the prisoners and guards quickly conformed - guards became increasingly brutal and aggressive. - the prisoners rebelled after 2 days which the guards quickly ended by becoming abusive towards the prisoners; mainly dehumanising them (highlighting their powerlessness). - prisoners became submissive, but some were released early due to responses to torment (crying, hunger strike) - study lasted 6 days and cancelled due to inhumane conditions.

Question 30

what did zimbardo conclude with his procedure?

Answer 30

social roles have a strong influence on individuals' behaviour - people quickly conformed, even if the roles go against their moral principles, each volunteer found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison rather than a study and situational factors were largely responsible for behaviours as none of the participants had displayed any personalities before the study.

Question 31

what are the strengths of zimbardo's research?

Answer 31

there is high internal validity as zimbardo had control over key variables: emotionally stable participants (able to rule out individual personality differences), controlled prison environment (objective). due to the inhumane conditions and the treatment of the participants, ethical guidelines were put in place to stop future issues in psychology.

Question 32

what are the weaknesses of zimbardo's research?

Answer 32

there are ethical issues, participants were deceived as they were unexpectedly arrested and there was too much brutality. there is a lack of generalisability, the small sample used (21 american males) means that the findings are not representative of women or different cultures. the power of social roles were exaggerated as 1/3 of guards were brutal, 1/3 of guards placed fair rules and 1/3 of guards helped prisoners meaning that most guards were able to resist situational pressures to be brutal, this suggests that zimbardo overstated that participants were conforming to social roles and minimised influence of dispositional factors.

Question 33

what is obedience?

Answer 33

it is a form of social influence where people are complying with the demands of an authority figure.

Question 34

who conducted a study on obedience and when?

Answer 34

milgram, 1963

Question 35

what was milgram's aim in his baseline procedure?

Answer 35

his aim was to observe whether people would obey a figure of authority when told to harm another person - evaluating the influence of a destructive authority figure.

Question 36

what was milgram's procedure?

Answer 36

- 40 american male participants (20-50 year olds). - set in the basement of yale university. - teacher (T) = participant, learner (L) = confederate and experimenter (E) - if T refused to shock the L, E gave prods to T: 1 - 'please continue', 2 - 'it is required that you continue', 3 - 'it is essential to continue' and 4 - 'you have no choice, continue'. - L was questioned, if the answer is incorrect, T would have to shock them (each shock increased in voltage - 15 to 450 volts).

Question 37

what did milgram find in his baseline study?

Answer 37

- each participant delivered shocks up to 300 volts. - 65% continued to 450 volts. - 12.5% stopped at 300 volts.

Question 38

what did milgram conclude in his baseline study?

Answer 38

- german people are not 'different'; american participants willing to obey orders even if it causes harm to another person. - the vast majority of participants were prepared to give lethal shocks to another person (confederate).

Question 39

what are situational variables?

Answer 39

features of an individual's immediate environment that might influence their behaviour.

Question 40

what is location as a situational variable?

Answer 40

the place where an order is issued, particularly its status or the prestige.

Question 41

what is proximity as a situational variable?

Answer 41

the physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person that they are giving orders to.

Question 42

what is uniform as a situational variable?

Answer 42

people in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of their authority - entitled to expect obedience.

Question 43

when did milgram conduct variations of his baseline procedure and what were they?

Answer 43

1965, they were proximity, location and uniform.

Question 44

what effect did proximity have and what were the findings?

Answer 44

participants obeyed more when the experimenter was in the same room as them. - proximity variation = T and L in the same room (65% to 40%) - touch proximity variation = T forces L hand on 'electroshock plate' (65% to 30%) - remote instruction variation = E gave orders to T by phone so not in the same room (65% to 20.5%)

Question 45

what effect did location have and what were the findings?

Answer 45

participants obeyed more when study was yale university - clear legitimacy of authority. - variation conducted at a run down office block - low status (65% to 47.5%). suggests that the prestige of yale seems to demand obedience.

Question 46

what effect did uniform have and what were the findings?

Answer 46

participants obeyed more when the experimenter wore a lab coat - more likely to obey due to sense of legitimacy and higher status. - uniform variation: experimenter played by member of public (65% to 20%)

Question 47

what are the strengths of milgram's study?

Answer 47

it is high in validity, he carried out 18 variations and each study was in controlled conditions. it is high in reliability, a similar study was replicated in multiple cultures (same conclusions, sometimes high obedience rates). there is class generalisability due to participants from a range of social backgrounds.

Question 48

what are the weaknesses of milgram's study?

Answer 48

there is low internal validity, orne and holland stated lack of "experimental realism": participants saw through deception and play-acted due to the variations so unclear whether findings are accurate or not. there is a lack of generalisability as replications are only in western cultures, there is no representation for females so there is a gender and cultural bias. there are ethical issues, participants were deceived as they thought it was a learning study and were not aware that the learner was not actually being harmed.

Question 49

what are situational explanations?

Answer 49

concerns the influence of an individual's mental state and social hierarchies on an individual's behaviour.

Question 50

what is the agentic state?

Answer 50

a mental state where individuals feel no personal responsibility for their behaviour because they believe themselves to be acting for an authority figure.

Question 51

what is the autonomous state?

Answer 51

opposite of agentic state - people in this state are free to behave according to their own principles and subsequently feels responsible for their actions.

Question 52

what is the agentic shift?

Answer 52

the shift from autonomy to agentic - this occurs when people perceive someone else as a figure of authority.

Question 53

what is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 53

it suggests that individuals are more likely to obey people who they perceive to have authority over them - this authority is justified by the individual's position of power within a social hierarchy.

Question 54

what is destructive authority?

Answer 54

when people in positions of power manipulate their authority for dangerous, destructive and devastating purposes.

Question 55

what is the strength of the agentic state?

Answer 55

there is research support, milgram's resistant participants continued giving shocks when the experimenter took responsibility, which shows that once participants have perceived that they were no longer responsible for their own behaviour they acted more easily as the experimenter's agent, therefore supporting the theory of the agentic state.

Question 56

what is the weakness of the agentic state?

Answer 56

it is a limited explanation, it cannot explain why some of milgram's participants disobeyed.

Question 57

what is the strength of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 57

it explains cultural differences, in their studies kilham and mann found 16% australian women obeyed and mantell found 85% german participants obeyed, this shows that in some cultures authority is more likely to be legitimate which reflects how different societies are structured.

Question 58

what is the weakness of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 58

it cannot explain all (dis)obedience, in milgram's study a minority of participants disobeyed despite the experimenter's scientific authority.

Question 59

what is a dispositional explanation?

Answer 59

an explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual's personality.

Question 60

what is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 60

a type of personality that was susceptible to obeying people in authority - thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.

Question 61

when did adorno et al conduct their study and what was it on?

Answer 61

authoritarian personality, 1950

Question 62

what was adorno et al's aim?

Answer 62

trying to understand the anti-semitism of the holocaust and looking at the causes of the obedient personality in everyday americans.

Question 63

what was adorno et al's procedure?

Answer 63

- 2000 middle class white american participants. - tested people's unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups. - developed the F-scale to test those with authoritarian personalities.

Question 64

what were the findings and conclusions of adorno et al's study?

Answer 64

those who scored high on the F-scale (authoritarian attitudes) identified more with 'strong' people and were contemptuous of the 'weak', they were also conscious of status showing excessive respect to those of higher status and there is a very strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.

Question 65

what is the strength of the authoritarian personality?

Answer 65

there is research support, milgram used the F-scale on a small group of obedient participants and found that, just like adorno et al, they scored very highly on the scale.

Question 66

what are the weaknesses of the authoritarian personality?

Answer 66

there is political bias, the F-scale measures tendency of extreme right-wing ideologies, despite there being similarities regarding obedience in both extreme right and left wing ideologies. it is a limited explanation, it cannot explain the majority of a country's population like pre-war germany.

Question 67

what is resistance to social influence?

Answer 67

refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority - influenced by situational and dispositional factors.

Question 68

what are the two explanations of resistance to social influence?

Answer 68

social support and locus of control

Question 69

what is social support?

Answer 69

the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same - with support, there is no longer fear of ridicule; helps challenge NSI (situational factor).

Question 70

what are the strengths of social support?

Answer 70

there is research support, albrecht et al stated that have a 'buddy' helps resist peer pressure to smoke and gamson et al found that obedience to an order from an oil company fell when participants were in a group (88% rebelled); peer support for disobedience.

Question 71

what is locus of control?

Answer 71

it is a dispositional factor, it refers to the sense of how much control a person feels they have over the events in their lives.

Question 72

what are the two types of locus of control?

Answer 72

internal LoC and external LoC.

Question 73

what is internal locus of control?

Answer 73

belief that what happens to them is due to their own behaviour, high internal locus of control = more likely to resist pressures.

Question 74

what is external locus of control?

Answer 74

belief that what happens is due to luck or outside forces, high external locus of control = more likely to succumb to pressures.

Question 75

what is a strength of locus of control?

Answer 75

there is research support, holland repeated milgram's baseline and found that internals are less likely to obey.

Question 76

what is a weakness of locus of control?

Answer 76

there is contradictory research, twenge et al found that people are now more independent but also more external, if resistance is linked to internal locus of control, people would be expected to be more internal so locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence.

Question 77

what is minority influence?

Answer 77

a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade a majority group to adopt their beliefs attitudes or behaviours - leads to internalisation.

Question 78

what are the factors that affect minority influence?

Answer 78

commitment, consistency, flexibility and process of change (the snowball effect).

Question 79

what is commitment?

Answer 79

when a minority shows dedication to their position (making sacrifices), also seen as the augmentation principle, to show they aren't doing it for personal gains - adds credibility and respect to minority view.

Question 80

what is the augmentation principle?

Answer 80

doing something risky to draw attention to the group.

Question 81

what is consistency?

Answer 81

consistency increases interest from others.

Question 82

what are the two types of consistency?

Answer 82

synchronic and diachronic.

Question 83

what is synchronic consistency?

Answer 83

consistency throughout group (all saying the same thing).

Question 84

what is diachronic consistency?

Answer 84

consistency over time (saying the same thing for a while).

Question 85

what is flexibility?

Answer 85

more effective if minority show flexibility - being prepared to adapt their point of views and accept reasonable and valid counter-arguments, which will allow for majority opinions to shift more.

Question 86

what is the process of change (snowball effect)?

Answer 86

overtime, people join the minority group - the more people that join, the faster the rate of conversion; gradually the minority view becomes the majority.

Question 87

what is a strength of minority influence (consistency)?

Answer 87

there is research support, moscovici et al (1969) conducted the blue/green slide study and found that in the consistent condition, participants agreed 8.2% of trials and in the inconsistent condition, participants agreed 1.25% of trials which showed consistent minority opinion had greater effect on changing views of other people. wood et al (1994) conducted a meta analysis of 100 similar studies and found that minorities that were consistent were most influential which suggests presenting a consistent view is a minimum requirement for a minority trying to influence a majority.

Question 88

what is a strength of minority influence (process of change)?

Answer 88

there is research support, martin et al measured participants' agreement on a viewpoint, 1 group heard minority group agree and the other group heard majority group agree, then they were all exposed to a conflicting view and attitudes were measured again, the researchers found that people were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to the minority group instead of the majority which suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and more effective.

Question 89

what is a weakness of minority influence?

Answer 89

there is limited application, real world situations are more complicated as majorities usually have more power than minorities, minorities often face hostile opposition and these features are usually absent from minority influence research which means that findings of minority influence studies are lacking in external validity.

Question 90

what is social change?

Answer 90

social change occurs when whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things, it can occur through either minority or majority influence.

Question 91

what are the ways in which social change has occurred in social influence?

Answer 91

minority influence, conformity and obedience.

Question 92

how has minority influence occurred in social influence?

Answer 92

drawing attention through social proof, consistency, deeper processing of the issue, augmentation principle (commitment), snowball effect, social cryptomnesia (people have a memory that change has occurred but do not remember how it happened).

Question 93

how has conformity occurred in social influence?

Answer 93

- in asch's research, the dissenter breaks power of majority influence. - normative social influence (NSI) draws attention to what majority is doing. - informational social influence (ISI)

Question 94

how has obedience occurred in social influence?

Answer 94

- in milgram's research, disobedient role models. - in zimbardo's research, gradual commitment leads to change.

Question 95

what are the strengths of social change?

Answer 95

there is research support, schultz et al (2008) gathered data from 794 hotel rooms, randomly assigned rooms to control (environmental benefits of towels reused) condition or experimental (75% of guests reuse towels, normative info) condition: guests who received normative information reduced use of fresh towels which supports NSI for social change. fein et al (2007) found that when participants were shown reactions to debates, results showed large shifts in participants judgements of candidates which supports ISI in social change.

Question 96

what is a weakness of social change?

Answer 96

it is a limited explanation, foxcroft et al (2015) reviewed social norms interventions (used to reduce student alcohol use) and found a small reduction in drinking quantity and no effect on drinking frequency which suggests ISI doesn't always produce long-term social change.