Social Influence Flashcards
(38 cards)
Conformity
changes in individuals behaviours and or beliefs because of real or imagined group pressure
Compliance
most superficial and least permanent
publicly change beliefs and behaviours
privately revert back when group pressure stops
linked to NSI
Identification
possible private aswell as public acceptance
look to group for guidance and adjust their behaviour and belief systems because membership of group id desireable
when the group is no onger seen as valuable may revert back
Internalisation
deepest and most permanent change
publicly and privately change behaviours and beliefs
accept groups attitudes into own cognitions (internalise them)
behaviour lasts when majority no longer present.
linked to ISI
Explanations of conformity- ISI
Driven by desire to be right
individual lacks knowledge about how to behave, seeks info from group about how to behave and assumes this is right
cognitive process
leads to internalisation
Explanations of confomity- NSI
desire to be liked
individual goes along with groups behaviour to avoid ridicule and gain acceptance from them and fit in
emotional process
leads to compliance
AO3 of explanations of conformity
-lacks ecological validity, artificial environment
RTS- gender bias, onky males tested
-RTS ISI- Jenness, jelly beans
RTS- NSI- Asch (a,b,c closest to x, confederates answer first with wrong answer, ppts conformed 37% of time)
Asch’s conformity research
-lab experiment
-123 american male students
-ppts individually placed into groups with 7-9 confederates
shown two cards, one with standard line x and other comparison lines abc
-one line was the same, others clearly different
-ppts always last or second to last to answer
-37% of time conformed
supports NSI- public not private
Variables affecting conformity
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
Variables affecting conformity- Group size
Conformity rates increase as majority group increases
In variation study:
-one real ppt, one confederate- conformity 3%
-two confederates, one ppt- conformity 13%
-three confederates, one ppt- conformity 32%
size of majority has an effect up to a certain point
Variables affecting conformity- Unanimity
Complete agreement from a group about an answer or viewpoint
In variation study:
-one confederate gave correct answer, conformity dropped to 5.5%
-‘lone’ confederate diff answer to majority and correct, conformity dropped to 9%
Variables affecting conformity- Task difficulty
Conformity increases when difficulty of a task increases
In variation study:
-difficulty increased, conformity increased
-ISI plays a greater role when task is harder
-right answer less obvious lose confidence in ability,
Variables affecting conformity AO3
RTS- Lucas et al, easy and hard maths questions
-gender bias
-culture bias
Conformity to social roles- Zimbardo
volunteer sample of 24 ‘emotionally stable’ US male university students
-randomly allocated to prisoners and guards
-prisoners arrested at homes, taken to prison, searched, deloused and dressed in smock, referred to by number
-guards given uniforms, a night stick, mirrored glasses
Conformity to social roles- Zimbardo findings
day 1 riot- prisoners rebelled and pulled numbers off, guards locked them in cells and confiscated blankets
-punishment by guards escalated as experiment continued, prisoners were humiliated and deprived of sleep
-prisoners referred to each other and themself by their numbers
-prisoners became subdued, depressed and stressed, 3 were released early due to psychological disturbance
Zimbardo and conformity to social roles AO3
-high control over extraneous variables
-gender bias male only sample
-major ethical issues
-prone to demand characteristics
Obedience - Milgram
lab experiment at yale uni
40 american males aged 20-50
Advert in newspaper for experiment on ‘memory on learning’
Teacher (ppt)- administrate learning task and deliver electric shocks to learner if they got question wrong
Shocks began at 15V - 450V
Researcher used promps if teacher refused:
‘please continue’
‘experiment requires you continue’
‘absolutely essential you continue’
‘you have no choice you must go on’
Milgram- obedience research findings
-All ppts went to atleast 300V
12.5% stopped at 300V
- 65% continued to 450V
Situational variables affecting obedience
proximity, location, uniform
Situational variables affecting obedience- Proximity
Variation:teacher and learner in same room, teacher forces learner to touch electric shock, researcher over phone
-obedience fell to 40%
-when forced to put learners hand on shock, fell to 30%
-researcher over phone, 20.5%
Situational variables affecting obedience- Location
Variation: run down office
-obedience fell to 48%
legitimate authority of experimenter reduced
Situational variables affecting obedience- Uniform
Variation: researcher wears normal clothes
-original wore grey lab coat
-when original researcher called away by phone call and ‘ordinary member of public’ took over, obedience dropped to 20%
Situational variables affecting obedience AO3
RTS- field experient by Bickman
- confederates dress diff outfits; security, milkman and business man
-ask passers to give money to pay for parking or pick up litter
-ppts twice as likely to follow security guards instructions than business man
-Gender bias
-alternative explanation- dispositional factors
Explanations for obedience
Legitimacy of authority
Agentic state
