social influence Flashcards

Question

what did asch find from his research into the effect of group size on conformity

Answer 1

conformity increased as the number of confederates increased from 1-3 but after group size made no difference in some conditions group sizes of 15 confederates led to lower levels of conformity- maybe as ps become more suspicious when faced with a larger majority

Answer 2

replications supported asch group size rapidly reached a plateau meta analysis by Bond (2005) found conformity was similar with majority sizes of 3,4,5,6, or 7

Answer 3

Bond 2005 found when ps could give their response privately there was a small negative relationship between conformity and group size

Answer 4

conformity most likely when confederates are unanimous in their answers asch found one confederate is instructed to disagree with the majority judgement and give the correct answer on every trial conformity decreased from 37% of critical trials down to 5.5%

Answer 5

the dissenter provides useful information about the correct response and reduces the need for group social approval

Answer 6

if the task is difficult- comparison lines all similar in length to the standard line then conformity increases

Answer 7

gave students easy and hard maths problems and found greater level of conformity when problems were hard especially if participants doybted their mathematical abilities

Answer 8

conformity high for people who have low self esteem, are concerned about social relationships, have a strong need for social approval and are attracted towardss other group members conformity lower for those with high levels of self efficacy (confidence in own abilities) and higher for those with low self efficacy

Answer 9

laboratory experiments situation is artificial and tasks are unreal so can results of experiments be generalised to everyday life lacks ecological validity- extent to which research findings can be generalised to other settings

Answer 10

experiments conducted in early 1950s USA high levels of cinformity in aschs research was seen as a reflection of 1950s american society by some was a time when non conformity was discourafed

Answer 11

replicated aschs experiment and found lower conformity levels may be due to changes in american society but also differences in samples

Answer 12

deception as they arent informed about the real aim of the task- were told it was about visual percpetion- means ps didnt really consent confidence could be affected embarrasment

Answer 13

if ps told real aim and procedure there wouldve been a lack of internak validity debriefed ps after

Answer 14

the correct answer was obvious- yet indivudals conformed to the wrong answer confirmed in debriefing interviews they knew they were giving the wrong answer but didnt want to be in minority of group and stand out indicated compliance and desire to fit in and therefore suggests NSI

Answer 15

sherifs study was an ambigous task with no obvious right answer in ambigous situations individuals look to others as a guide- likely to show informational social influence

Answer 16

presence of in group results in higher conformity than outgroup presence supports nsi- as would have greater desire for acceptance from in group if it was isl- would be no difference between in group and out group

Answer 17

when group membership is important to us Perrin and Spencer 1981 found unemployed black youths from a racially tense part of London were more likely to conform to a majority if other black youths when experimenter was white

Answer 18

give insight to why isome children begin bullying other children when they are uncomfortable with the behaviour Garandau and Cillessen 2006 found children who had greater need for social acceptance were the most likely to comply to pressure exerted by a bullying group to victimise another child by conforming to the actions of the bullying group, these children believed they would be accepted by other group members and so could maintain friendships regardless of how they felt in private about bullying

Answer 19

situational ambiguity in an emergency we might not have time to think calmly so we look to others for the best course of action we are more likely to conform if we believe the majority has more expertise or knowledge about the task

Answer 20

suggested intelligence was a major determining factor of conformity to informational social influence with intelligent individuals being more self confident and less likely to conform

Answer 21

the behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a given social position or status

Answer 22

Zimbardos stanford prison study

Answer 23

the dispositional (personality) vs situational hypothesis to explain prison behaviour

Answer 24

the process of loosing ones sense of self, often associated with group/mob behaviour

Answer 25

the denial of full humaneness to others- enables aggression and mistreatment of others

Answer 26

to investigate whether brutality reported among guards in american prisons at the time was due to sadistic personalities of the guards (dispositional hypothesis) or to do with the power structure in the prison environment (situational hypothesis)

Answer 27

male ps recruited through newspaper advertisements psychological tests used to select those who appeared most stable with no voilent or antisocial tendancies from 75 volunteers, 24 well adjusted healthy male students were selected study was a two week role play simulation study of prison life in a mock prison participants observed by hidden cameras randomly allocated to guard or prisoner role prisoners ''arrested'' at homes without warning, charged, read their rights, searched, handcuffed and taken to police station stripped, deloused and given prison number confined to cells apart from meals, work and toilet privelages guards whore military style khaki uniforms reflector sunglasses, carried wooden batons guards on duty 24 hours a day working 8 hour shifts instructed to keep prisoners under conrtol but no physical aggression permitted

Answer 28

prisoners rebelled against guards after two days, guards quelled rebellion using fire extinguishers after this prisoners became submissive and subdued some prisoners had to be released early due to extreme reactions (severe emotional disturbance, rage, disorganised thinking, acute anxiety and depression) eg one prisoner had ro be released after less than 36 hours

Answer 29

use of force, harrassment and aggression by guards increased steadily guards conformed to percieved roles with zeal, harrassing the prisoners so much the study had to be discontinued after 6 days individual differences in guards behaviour 1/3 became tyrannical in arbitrary use of power some were 'good guards' who didnt degrade or harrass prisoners

Answer 30

behaviour observed was due to situational variabes rather than individuals personalities (disposition) with participants conforming to expected forms of behaviour for the roles of prisoner and guard, demonstrating conformity by identification some findings could be explained as a result of deindividuation as some features of experiment eg uniforms, reflector sunglasses would encourage deindividuation by increasing feelings of anonymity and aggression

Answer 31

zimbardo assumed the guards drift into sadistic behaviour was an utomatic consequence of them conforming to their role however there were individual differences between guards- some guards became tyrannical whilst others didnt individual differences are inconsistent with an entirely situational explanation for guards behaviour and suggest conformity to roles isnt automatic with participants choosing how to respond to the situation rather than blindly conforming to their social role

Answer 32

argued behaviour of zimbardos guards and prisoners wasnt due to the 'prisoner environment' but was a response to the powerful demand charachteristics in the experimental situation this can result in participant effects/reactivity where ps change their behaviour as a result of these percieved expectations the mock prison was v different from a real prison ps knew they hadnt committed a crime and were free to leave led to researchers suggestibf the artifical setting resulted in ps demonstrating participant reactivity with prisoners and guards play acting

Answer 33

those aspects of a study that lead ps to guess what the experimenters expect of them or how they want them to behave

Answer 34

the type of social influence where an individual complies witj a direct order from a figure with percieved authority it is implied that the person receiving the order responds in a way they wouldnt have done without the order

Answer 35

to find out whether ordinary americans would obey an unjust order from an authority figure to inflict pain on another person milgram wanted to discover what factors in a situation led people to obey

Answer 36

40 male volunteers selected and each paid $4.50 ps told the study concerned the role of punishment in learning (not told real aim of testing obediance to authority) roles of experimenter teacher and learner geniune p was always the teacher confederate was the learner teacher decieved into thinking they were giving electric shocks when none were actually administered teacher had to administer a shock evrry time learner made a mistake p watched confederate being strapped to a chair with electrode attached to their arm shocks given started at 15v and rose in 15v to 450v if p hesitated the researcher encouraged him to continue experiment continued until teacher refused to continue or until 450v were reached 4 times p then debriefed

Answer 37

65% of participants went on giving shocks up to and including 450V all ps gave shocks up to 300v only 12.5% of ps stopped at 300v

Answer 38

74% of participants learned something of personal importance as a result of being in the study 84% of participants said they were glad to have participated only 1 person regretted taking part

Answer 39

people will obey an authority fugure even when the order would result in harming someone else they dont demonstrate unquestioning obedience though- they are in a state of conflict- despite this they obey anyway indicates we have a strange tendancy to obey authority figures even when it is against our better judgement

Answer 40

issues with deception- dont have informed consent issues with temporal and cultural validity some people had a seizure as a conseuqnece of the stress-ethical issues, harm to participants

Answer 41

validity ethics

Answer 42

suggested a lack of experimental realism and presence of demand charachteristics anf argued participants couldnt have believed in the investigation- as experiment was carried out at a prestigous uni so participants couldnt have believed they were giving real shocks- would assume the uni wouldnt allow them to harm participants, therefore ps were just demonstrating demand charachteristics

Answer 43

ps didnt obey unqustioningly- they were conflicted ps experienced high levels of stress- would suggest they believed they were giving real shocks

Answer 44

lab study artificial setting- not asked to administer electric shocks every day (lacks mundane realism) yale university- may not be able to generalise to other settings

Answer 45

replication in alternative setting (run down office) still produced obedience field experiments eg hofling still demonstrated high levels of obediance to authority natural settings where harm could be inflicted

Answer 46

deception- werent told the real aim of the experiment, meant they didnt have informed consent if they told them the aim then this may have caused ps to act a certain way

Answer 47

participants experienced high levels of stress such as tremble, sweat, stutter, biting their lips- argues there was 'informed consent'- couldnt properly be informed of this and the long term effects could be detramental loss of self esteem-willingness to deliver electric shocks to helpless fellow participants- participants were debriefed after- make sure they were unharmed and understood

Answer 48

proximity location uniform

Answer 49

milgrams variations teacher-learner proximity original experiment- teacher and learner in separate rooms amd couldnt see each other increased orximity in two variations 1- teacher and learner in same room 46cm apart 2- teacher had to place learners hand on shock plate increasing proximity also serves to remove ''buffers''

Answer 50

milgrams original study had the buffer of the teacher and learner being in seperate rooms- leading to a very high level of obediance 100% went up to 300v 65% went up to 450v increased proximity and and removal of buffers led to lower levels of obedience of those going up to 450v 40%- teacher and learner in the same room (high proximity) 30%- teacher forces hand on the shock plate (high proximity)

Answer 51

milgram carried out a replication of his original study in a run down office obediance rates up to 450v original study-65% run down office-48% drop in obediance occured because of: perception of legitimate authority milgram- in the lab setting the experimenter would seem to have legitimate authority- but in the run down office the legitimate authority may be questioned

Answer 52

bickman 1974 field experiment

Answer 53

bickmans study of obedience found higher rates of obedience to an individual in a guards uniform compared to other types of dress eg the experimenter asked participants to lend money to someone obediance rates when experimenter was dressed in: ordinary clothes-49% guards uniform-92% this occurs because the uniform communicates legitimate authority- a factor associated with encouraging obedience

Answer 54

the perception of the authority figure as being 'legitimate' increases obedience

Answer 55

situational variables-proximity,location and uniform legitimate authority agentic state

Answer 56

milgram argued one explanation for high level of obedience to authority was explanation of participants operating in the agentic state he argued individuals operate at two levels in social situations

Answer 57

autonomous state agentic state

Answer 58

where individual is aware of the consequences of their actions and choose voluntarily tobehave in particular ways, accpeting responsibility for their behaviour

Answer 59

where the individual see themselves as an agent (or subordinate) of another and carries out their orders without accepting personal responsibility for their actions they see the person giving orders as responsibile not themselves

Answer 60

the switch from operating as an autonomous individual to acting as an agent for another person usually an authority figure agentic shift is therefore more likely when there is the perception of legitimate authority

Answer 61

many ps had serious reservations about continuing and asked experimenter who would take full responsibility

Answer 62

found ps who gave the most electric shocks in the milgram situation tended to hold the experimenter and victim responsible rather than themselves ps who gave the fewest shocks accepted personal responsibility and didnt hold the experimenter and victim responsible

Answer 63

authoritarian personality

Answer 64

explanations that emphasise behaviour as being caused by an individuals own personal charachteristics rather than situational influences within the environment

Answer 65

rigid conventional beliefs and values strict adherance to social rules and hierarchies submissive to authority figures politically conservative/right wing

Answer 66

adorno argued some people have an authoritarian personality which makes them more likely to be obedient and prejudiced their adherence to social rules and conventions and their submissiveness to authority makes them more likely to be obedient to an authority figure

Answer 67

the F scale sample statements- indicate whether you agree/disagree eg 'obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn' agreeing with these statements indicates an authoritarian personality

Answer 68

identifying a cluster of three original personality variables and referred to thos as right wing authoritarianism

Answer 69

conventionalism authoritarian agression authoritarian submission

Answer 70

an adherence to conventional norms and values

Answer 71

aggressive feelings toward people who violate these normsu

Answer 72

uncritical submissiveness to authority

Answer 73

adorno argued the authoritarian personality developed as a result of an individuals upbringing he found individuals with an authoritarian personality had been raised by parents with an authoritarian personality style ie strict harsh uprbinging- including use of physical punishment with a string emphasis on obedience

Answer 74

refers to resisting pressures to conform (non conformity) and resisting pressures to obey (disobedience)

Answer 75

when the individual acts in opposition to group norms behaviour is group dependent as individuals actions are determined by those of the group as individual does opposite to the others in the group involves a consistent movement away from social conformity

Answer 76

resistance to social influence and therefore true independent behaviour is when the individual is not influenced by the actions or decisions of others it involves a lack of consistebt movement either towards or away from social expectancy

Answer 77

research demonstratng conformity can be used to illustrate resistance to conformity eg asch- not everyone conformed and those that did conform didnt conform all the time

Answer 78

research that has demonstrated obedience demonstrates resistance to obedience eg milgrams variations

Answer 79

social support

Answer 80

makes it easier to ignore orders or break rules as a group so social support can help resist the pressure to conform can increase the individuals confidence that their position/viewpoint is correct can also present an alternative way to respond to a situation

Answer 81

the presence of a dissenter- more likely to resist group pressure to conform conformity levels dropped from 37% of critical trials to 5.5% when recieved social support from an ally breaks the unanimity as presence of a dissenter was equally effective in reducing conformity when giving a correct or different incorrect response breaking the unanimity indicates there are alternative, legitimate ways of thinking/responding

Answer 82

resisting pressure to obey milgram rebel peers: disobedient models teacher paired with two other teachers- were confederates at 150v the first confederate refused to continue at 210v second confederate refused to continue found complete obedience- those going up to 450v lowered from 65% in the original study to 10%

Answer 83

social support - presence of dissenter - disobedient models

Answer 84

locus of control

Answer 85

personal factors

Answer 86

refers to individual differences in peoples beliefs and expectations about what controls events in their lives it relates to a persons perception of the extent of personal control they have over their own behaviour events and future

Answer 87

people with an internal locus of control believe that what happens to them is largely a consequence of internal factors their own ability, effort and personal decisions- they can therefore control events in their life

Answer 88

people with an external locus of control tend to believe that what happens to them is controlled by external factors such as the actions of others, luck or fate they have a sense that things ''just happen to them'' and and largely uncontrollable they tend to approach things with more passive and fatalistic attitude, taking less responsibility for their actions

Answer 89

carried out a meta analysis of studies considering locus of control and conformity and found those who scored higher on external locus of control were more easily persuaded and likely to conform than those with a low score the average correlation was 0.37 which is statistically significant supports theory that internal locus of control leads to resisting

Answer 90

measured locus of control and predisposition to normative and informational social influence in 157 undergrad students found a correlation between locus of control and predisosition to normative social influence those with external locus of control more likely to show normative si than those with internal locus of control no correlation between locus of control and informational si partial support-depends on nature of si external locus- more likely to have desire to be liked, less likely to resist si

Answer 91

where people reject the established norm of the majority group members and gradually move towards the position of the minority- changing their attitudes and behaviour in line with the minority group members it involves conversion and results in the internalisation of the views of the minority

Answer 92

being exposed to a viewpoint different to our own causes cognitive conflict this causes us to think more deeply about an issue and reappraise our perspective

Answer 93

consistency commitment flexibility

Answer 94

stability in the expressed position over time and agreement between different members of the minority

Answer 95

degree of dedication to a particular cause- suggests, confidence and courage in the face of a hostile majority we may illustrate commitment when our dedication to a cause is at some cost or inconveniance to the individual q

Answer 96

a willingness to compromise when expressing a position flexibility is more effective at changing majority opinion than rigidity of arguments

Answer 97

moscovici calling a blue slide green

Answer 98

two conditions- a consistent minority and an inconsistent minority consistent minority had 4 real ps and 2 confederates- called a blue slide green on every trial inconsistent condition- 4 real ps and 2 confederates called a blue slide green on 2/3 of the trials control group- 6 real ps

Answer 99

consistent minority-persuaded majority to say green on 8% of the trials inconsistent minority- persuaded majority to say green on less than 2% of the trials

Answer 100

supported role of consistency in minority influence- as a consistent minority was more effective than an inconsistent one initial influence of a minority may be more at a private level than a public level

Answer 101

laboratory experiment- high level of control over variables- enabling researcher to establish cause and effect standardised procedure allows replication

Answer 102

artificial trivial task-lack of mundane realism and ecological validity 8% of trials is quite low success rate- so not strong support for the role of consistency

Answer 103

nemeth and brilmayer

Answer 104

simulated jury situation- discussed amount of compensation to be awarded in a ski lift accident

Answer 105

rigid minority- no effect on other group members flexible minority (willingness to compromise)- did influence the majority timings of compromise important- compromising late more influential late compromise shows commitment and flexibility early compromise shows less commitment and percieved as 'caving to the majority'

Answer 106

less artificial task compared to moscovici has greater mundane realism and ecological validity questions moscovici- questions whether consistency necessarily results in minority influence (certainly rigid consistency was found not to be persuasive)

Answer 107

'opens the mind'- to consider alternative opinions and may lead people to think more deeply about their decisions

Answer 108

when a society as a whole adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm

Answer 109

social progress social revolution

Answer 110

introduction of anti discriminatory laws and practices

Answer 111

removal of a tyrannical regime, breakdown of a communist state

Answer 112

role of minority influence role of majority influence- normative social influence role of obedience and disobedience

Answer 113

history shows lots of examples where social change has begun with a deviant minority eg civil rights movement

Answer 114

gender equality- womens right to vote- suffragette movement, equal pay, sex discrimination act- womens rights movement removal of apartheid in south africa racial segregation ended, anti discrimination laws and practices- civil rights movement

Answer 115

creating attention cognitive conflict consistency augmentation snowball effect dissociation model

Answer 116

deviant minorities draw attention to issues that may otherwise have been ignored by the majority eg through protests eg the suffragettes used educational, political and militant tactics to draw attention to their cause

Answer 117

the minority creates conflict between what the majority group members currently believe and the position advocated by the minority we are motivated to reduce this conflict this leads the majority to think more deeply about the issues

Answer 118

minorities are more influential in bringing about social change when they express arguments consistently - both over time (intra individual consistency) and with others (inter-individual consistency) eg the suffragettes maintained their position over a number of years and remained consistent in their arguments

Answer 119

if a minority is seen to be willing to suffer for their views they are seen as more committed and therefore taken more seriously by others through suffering- their impact is increased/ augmented eg suffragettes risked imprisonment or death- hunger strike

Answer 120

minority influence initially has a small effect but this then spreads more widely as more and more people consider the issues being promoted until it reaches a 'tipping point' - leading to wide scale social change eg acceptance of the suffragettes position was gradual

Answer 121

''social forgetting'' (social cryptoamnesia) the majority dont like to associate themselves with a deviant minority as a result minority groups tend to influence the majority over a longer period of time than in majority influence over time the minority ideas become assimilated into the majority viewpoint- but the content and the original source become dissociated eg coming to accept equal rights for men and women- but no longer associating this viewpoint with a feminine perspective

Answer 122

happens through normative social influence

Answer 123

nolan et al- conserving energy goldstein et al- ''towel reusage''

Answer 124

placed door hangers on the doors of san diego residents once a week for a month carried one of four messages- one stated that the majority of the nieghbours regularly tried to conserve energy (information they had learned from a prior survey) (group norm condition) control group-door hanger simply encouraged energy conservation (but no rationale for this) only the group norm condition led to significant decreases in residents energy consumption

Answer 125

attempting to change hotel guest behaviour by encouraging them to reuse their towels compared the impact of 4 door hangers including these three examples: help save the environment help save resources for future generations join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment- followed by information that the majority of hotel guests did reuse their towels when asked (group norm condition) the final ''group norm'' message increased towel reuse by an average of 34%

Answer 126

demonstrated that when individuals were told other hotel guests reused towels they were likely to reuse their towels demonstrating normative social influence

Answer 127

obedience- obeying laws that reinforce social change eg smoking ban, drink driving laws

Answer 128

disobedient models milgram variation- 3 teachers (2 disobedient teacher confederates) can explain civil disobedience- Rosentrasse protest presence of others willing to resist creates confidence to stand up to powerful authority civil disobedience can produce civil change eg rosa parks- civil rights movement

social influence Flashcards

(155 cards)