Social Influence

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

A Change in a person;s behaviour or opinion as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group

Question 2

What are the types of conformity?
Kelman 1958

Answer 2

Compliance
Identification
Internalisation

Question 3

What is compliance?

Answer 3

Publicly conforming to the behaviour or views of others in a group but privately maintaining one’s own views
(Just going along with it)

Question 4

What is identification?

Answer 4

Adopting the values, attitudes or behaviour of a group both publicly and privately because you value membership with the group
(Wanting to belong)

Question 5

What is internalisation?

Answer 5

A conversion of private views to match the group, the new attitudes become part of your own value system
(Actually agreeing)

Question 6

What are the explanations for conformity?

Answer 6

Deutsch and Gerad
Normative social influence
Informational social influence

Question 7

What is normative social influence?

Answer 7

Agreeing with the majority because we want to be liked and/or do not want to be rejected (leads to compliance)

Question 8

What is informational social influence?

Answer 8

Agreeing with the majority because we believe they know better or are more likely to be right (leads to internalisation)

Question 9

Jenness 1932
(Beans in a jar)

Answer 9

101 psychology students individually estimated how many beans were in a glass bottle and were then split into groups and asked to provide a group estimate
Nearly all participants changed their original answer, males by 256 and females by 382
Participants changes their answers because they believed the group estimate was more likely to be right, thus supporting ISI

Question 10

Asch 1955

Answer 10

123 American men were put in groups of 6-8 and given two cards and asked to identify which line matched x
In each group there was only one genuine participant seated at the end and all confederates gave the same wrong answer
On average the genuine participant conformed 33% of the time and 25% of participants never conformed
Participants changed their answer because they wanted to fit in with the group showing NSI

Question 11

What is a demand characteristic?

Answer 11

Caused by mundane realism and means that participants change their behaviour after becoming aware of the real purpose of the study

Question 12

Perrin and Spencer 1980

Answer 12

They repeated Asch’s study with UK science and engineering students and only 1 participant out of 396 trials conformed (less than 0.3%). This gave Asch’s study the nickname ‘a child of its time’ but times had changed and science and engineering students may have more self efficacy

Question 13

Morí and Arai (2010)

Answer 13

They repeated Asch’s study but with all genuine participants but each wore headsets showing the lines with one having a different answer. It was conducted with 104 Japanese undergrads
The females gave similar results to Asch with 37% conformity however the males was much lower
This partially supports Asch

Question 14

Variations of Asch’s study - group size

Answer 14

The number of confederates were changed
There was very little conformity when the majority consisted of only one confederate, rising to 13% with two, 31.8% with three and further increases up to a majority of 15 before the number of confederates stops affecting conformity showing that the size of the majority is only important to a point

Question 15

Variations of Asch’s study - unanimity of the majority

Answer 15

Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others, sometimes giving the right answer and sometimes giving the wrong answer
Conformity reduced to 5% and 9% when the dissenting confederate gave a wrong answer
This shows that the influence of the majority depends on the group being unanimous

Question 16

Variations of Asch’s study - difficulty of task

Answer 16

Asch made the difference between the lines much more ambiguous and the level of conformity increased
This shows that ISI played a greater role as people were unsure and looked to others for guidance

Question 17

Zimbardo’s research - aim

Answer 17

There had been many prison riots in America and Zimbardo wanted to know why the social role of prison guards created brutal and sadistic behaviour

Question 18

Zimbardo’s research - procedure

Answer 18

Zimbardo’s set up a mock prison in the Stanford university basement and selected 21 emotionally stable male volunteers who were randomly assigned to the role of guard or prisoner. Both groups were encouraged to conform, the guards wore uniforms, shades and were given wooden clubs and the prisoners were identified solely by their number

Question 19

Zimbardo’s research - findings

Answer 19

The guards took on their roles with enthusiasm and treated the prisoners harshly, they constantly harassed, humiliated and degraded the prisoners with some of them seemingly enjoying it
The prisoners began to rebel after only 2 days, ripping their uniforms and swearing at the guards before beginning to show signs of depression and one going on a hunger strike
Zimbardo’s had to end the study after 6 days as opposed to the planned 14

Question 20

Zimbardo’s research - conclusions

Answer 20

Social roles appear to have a strong influence over the behaviour of individuals, the guards became brutal and the prisoners became submissive
The roles were taken on easily by all participants

Question 21

Ethical issues with Zimbardo’s research

Answer 21

Participants felt they couldn’t leave (right to withdraw)
Participants were not protected from harm
They were deceived, participants were not told they would be arrested from their homes
Zimbardo’s dual role as prison warden and researcher

Question 22

Reicher and Haslam (2006)
BBC prison study

Answer 22

Was a televised remodel of the SPE in the UK. The sample consisted of 15 men and conformity was not automatic: the guards authority quickly broke down and the prisoners set up a commune.
These differences may be because it was a different time meaning that culture was different and it was televised

Question 23

Abu Ghraib (2003-2004)

Answer 23

The US military took over an area in Iraq including a prison. They tortured, physically and sexually abused the prisoners and humiliated them. Several soldiers were eventually convicted in 2006 of war crimes.

Question 24

Milgram 1963 - procedure

Answer 24

As a Jew Milgram wanted to assess obedience levels after the holocaust
40 American men aged 20-50 years old volunteered to take part in a paid study they were told about memory. Upon arriving each participant, the teacher was introduced to a confederate (the leaner) and another confederate (the experimenter). The leaner was put in a separate room and had to remember pairs of words. When they made an error the teacher had to give an electric shock ranging from 15V to 450V. When they reached 300V the learner began to bang on the wall before going quiet.

Question 25

Milgram’s research - findings

Answer 25

Every participant delivered shocks up to 300V, 12.5% stopped at 300V but 65% continued to 450V Many of the participants showed signs of tension, stress and anxiousness with 3 having seizures Participants were debriefed and 84% said they were glad they participated

Question 26

Milgram’s research - conclusion

Answer 26

Milgram concluded that ‘German’ people were not different as these American men were just as willing to obey orders when causing harm

Question 27

Milgram’s research - evaluation

Answer 27

It is reliable There may be demand characteristic Participants were deceived and made to feel they couldn’t withdraw Lacks mundane realism Low internal validity Low external validity

Question 28

Variations of Milgram’s research - proximity

Answer 28

When the teacher and learner were in the same room the obedience rate dropped from 65% to 40% In the touch proximity variation the teacher had to put the learner’s hand on a shock plate and obedience reduced to 30% Decreased proximity allows the teacher to psychologically distance themselves from the learner

Question 29

Variations of Milgram’s research - remote instruction

Answer 29

The experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the phone and obedience reduced to 20.5% and the teacher often pretended to give the shock

Question 30

Variations of Milgram’s research - location

Answer 30

Milgram conducted the experiment in a run-down office block instead of the prestigious Yale university and obedience fell to 47.5% The prestigious university gave the study more authority and legitimacy making participants more obedient however the obedience rate is still quite high because of the scientific nature of the procedure

Question 31

Variations of Milgram’s research - uniform

Answer 31

The experimenter was called away and their role was taken on by an ordinary person in everyday clothing and obedience dropped to 20% Uniforms encourage obedience as they are a symbol of authority, someone in uniform is entitled to expect authority

Question 32

What is agentic state?

Answer 32

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure This frees us from the demands of our conscience and allows us to obey a destructive authoruty figure

Question 33

What are binding factors?

Answer 33

Aspects of a situation which allow a person to ignore or minimise the damaging effects of their behaviour They ‘bind’ them to obey an authority figure

Question 34

What is a gradual commitment?

Answer 34

If there was only one level of voltage in Milgram’s research instead of a scale would participants have committed?

Question 35

What is contractual obligation?

Answer 35

Milgram’s participants had to breach the commitment they made to the experimenter

Question 36

What is the autonomous state?

Answer 36

Having control of and acting to one’s own wishes, being personally responsible for our own actions

Question 37

What is the agentic shift?

Answer 37

Shifting responsibility of one’s actions onto someone else (an authority figure)

Question 38

What is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 38

An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual’s position of power in a social hierarchy Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive

Question 39

Airlink flight 5719 disaster

Answer 39

The captain of the plane flew inappropriately and gave incorrect instructions but was not challenged by the co-pilot (a new probationary employee) Further investigation showed that the pilot often flew with mechanical issues and violated company policy but was never challenged by co-pilots

Question 40

My Lab massacre

Answer 40

In 1968 during the Vietnam war 504 civilians were killed by American soldiers Women were gang raped and people were shot and killed, they blew up buildings and killed all the animals

Question 41

What are dispositional explanations?

Answer 41

Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality

Question 42

The F scale

Answer 42

The Californian F scale was used to measure the different components that made up the authoritarian personality

Question 43

What is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 43

A dispositional explanation of obedience

Question 44

Characteristics of the authoritarian personality

Answer 44

It was first identified by Adorno et al (1950) It refers to a person who had extreme respect for authority and is especially likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them

Question 45

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 45

A person’s ability to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority This is influenced by dispositional and situational factors

Question 46

What is social support?

Answer 46

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 it is possible to resist social influence It breaks the unanimity of the majority

Question 47

What is a dissenter?

Answer 47

They reduce the unanimity of the majority and demonstrate that disobedience is possible

Question 48

The Rosen Strasse protest

Answer 48

Non-violent protests in Berlin 1943 where the wives and relatives of 1800 Jewish men who were to be sent to camps refused to move when threatened by nazi soldiers and the prisoners were eventually released

Question 49

What is a locus of control?

Answer 49

A person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour

Question 50

What is an internal locus of control?

Answer 50

The belief that we can control events in our life Everything that happens to us is a consequence of our own ability and effort

Question 51

What is an external locus of control?

Answer 51

Whatever happens to us is determined by external factors, such as the influence of others or luck Things are out of our control

Question 52

Why are people with an internal LOC more likely to resist social influence?

Answer 52

They take personal responsibility for their actions so are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs They tend to be more self confident and have less need for social approval meaning they are more likely to trust their own beliefs They are achievement orientated and so are more likely to become leaders than followers

Question 53

Strengths of Milgram’s study

Answer 53

High internal validity Bickman’s study (field study - high ecological validity) The study has been replicated in other cultures suggesting high external validity

Question 54

Bickman’s study

Answer 54

Three confederates dressed in A jacket and tie A milkman’s outfit A security guards uniform And asked passers-by to perform tasks and people were twice as likely to obey the security guard than the man in the jacket and tie supporting Milgram’s study

Question 55

Weaknesses of Milgram’s study

Answer 55

May have demand characteristic therefore lacks internal validity Replications took place in western countries meaning findings may not be generalisable

Question 56

What is minority influence?

Answer 56

A type of social influence which results in a change of views amongst the majority of member within a group

Question 57

What needs to happen for minority influence to take place?

Answer 57

Consistency Commitment Flexibility

Question 58

How does the majority influence the minority?

Answer 58

Power of the majority is to establish the norms Leads to complaince

Question 59

How does the minority influence the majority?

Answer 59

Consistent minority challenges beliefs leading to reappraisal Leads to conversion

Question 60

What are the two types of consistency?

Answer 60

Synchronic and diachronic

Question 61

What is synchronic consistency?

Answer 61

Consistency between its members

Question 62

What is diachronic consistency?

Answer 62

Consistency over time

Question 63

Advantages of social change

Answer 63

It is based on psychological evidence Charlan Nemeth - social change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire which encourages more creative solutions Jessica Nolan - hung messages on front doors saying that residents were trying to reduce energy usage and people reduced their energy usage When the message asked to reduce energy usage with no reference to other people led to less energy reduction

Question 64

Disadvantages of social change

Answer 64

David Foxcroft - social norms approach was used to reduce alcohol consumption, there was only a small reduction in alcohol consumption and no effect on frequency Diane Mackie - majority influence creates deeper processing if you don’t share their views because we like to believe people think the same way as us If we find out the majority thinks different to us we are forced to listen to their reasoning This means the central element of the minority influence is challenged

Question 65

When does social change occur?

Answer 65

When whole societies, rather than just individuals adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things

Question 66

How does social change come about?

Answer 66

Drawing attention Cognitive conflict Consistency of position The augmentation principle The snowball effect Social cryptoamnesia

Question 67

What is cognitive conflict?

Answer 67

People who previously accepted the norm think about the issue more deeply

Question 68

What it the augmentation principle?

Answer 68

The tendency to attach greater importance to a potential cause of behaviour

Question 69

What is social cryptoamnesia?

Answer 69

People have memory that the change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened

Question 70

Moscovici- procedure

Answer 70

Each group contained 4 naive participants and two confederates. They were shown a series of blue slides that varied in intensity and were asked to judge the colour. In the ‘consistent’ condition the confederates repeatedly called them green. On the inconsistent trial the confederates said green on 2/3 of the trials and blue on the other 1/3. There was also a control condition with 6 naive participants and the slides were called blue throughout

Question 71

Moscovici - findings

Answer 71

The consistent minority influenced the naive participants to say green on over 8% of the trials The inconsistent minority exerted very little influence (1.25%) After the main study was over the participants were asked to individually sort coloured discs into blue and green. Individuals who were in the consistent and inconsistent conditions set their thresholds at different points Those in the consistent condition judges more of the chips to be green especially those who hadn’t gone along with the majority suggesting that the initial influence was on a more private level