Social influence

Question 1

What variables affect conformity according to ASCH?

Answer 1

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

Question 2

How does group size affect conformity according to Asch?

Answer 2

Varied number of confederates
Conformity increased with group size
Conformity stopped increasing at 3 confederates (31.8% conform)

Question 3

How does unanimity affect conformity according to Asch?

Answer 3

Presence of non conforming person either giving correct answer or a different wrong answer

Conformity was less

Question 4

How does task difficulty affect conformity according to Asch?

Answer 4

The harder the task, the more likely the participant to conform

Question 5

What are some strengths into investigating variables affecting conformity?

Answer 5

Research support - Lucas et al asked participants to do easy and hard math problems, found results similar to those of Asch, but found conformity is more complex than he thought

Question 6

What are some limitations into investigating variables affecting conformity?

Answer 6

Artificial situation and task - Lead to demand characteristics

Limited application - participants were american men. Americans are part of an individualist culture

Ethical issues - Deception

Question 7

What are types of conformity according to Kelman?

Answer 7

Internalisation
Identification
Compliance

Question 8

What is internalisation according to Kelman?

Answer 8

Person genuinely accept group norms, private + public change, it is permanent

Question 9

What is identification according to Kelman?

Answer 9

Conform to group because there’s something they value about the group - publicly change, don’t privately agree with everything

Question 10

What is compliance according to Kelman?

Answer 10

Going along with others in public, but not privately changing personal opinions. Only results in a superficial change

Question 11

What are the two explanations of conformity according to Deutsch and Gerard (Two-process theory)

Answer 11

Informative social influence
Normative social influence

Question 12

What is informative social influence according to the two-process theory?

Answer 12

It is about who has better information you or the rest of the group. Permanent change in opinion/behaviour

Question 13

What is normative social influence according to the two process theory?

Answer 13

People agree with the opinions of others because they want to gain the social approval to fit in. Temporary change in behaviour

Question 14

What are some strengths of the two process theory?

Answer 14

Research support for NSI - Asch
Research support for ISI - Lucas et al

Question 15

What are some limitations of the two process theory?

Answer 15

Individual differences in NSI - Does not predict conformity in every case

Question 16

What is Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment?

Answer 16

75 people applied - given tests to find out their personality and history of crime before being picked

Participants were paid $15 a day to take part

10 prisoners + 11 guards

Prisoners got arrested at their own homes with no warning - invasion of privacy, they were referred to by a number

If a prisoner wanted to leave they had to apply for parole

Question 17

What were the findings of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

Answer 17

Guards took up the roles with enthusiasm - used divide and rule tactics and harrassed prisoners constantly

Prisoners rebelled after two days - after it failed they became depressed and anxious with one going on hunger strike

Guards identified more and more closely with their role and their behaviour became increasingly brutal and aggressive with some enjoying the power they had

Question 18

What are some strengths of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

Answer 18

Control - ZImbardo and his colleagues had control over key variables - selection of participants

Question 19

What are some limitations of Zimbardo’s prison experiment?

Answer 19

Lack of realism - Did not have the realism of a true prison - Psychologists argue they were merely play acting - Demand characteristics

Exaggerates the power of roles - Power of social roles to influence behaviour is exaggerated - only one third of guards actually behaved in a brutal manner

Ethical issues - Informed consent, Deception, right to withdraw

Question 20

What was Milgram’s investigation into obediance?

Answer 20

Procedure - 40 american men volunteers who became the teacher, they assess obedience to legitimate authority

Findings - 12.5% stopped at 300V, 65% continued all the way to 450V All participants continued to 300V

Conclusions - Milgram concluded american participants were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person

Question 21

What were some strengths of Milgrams study?

Answer 21

Research support RWA - Milgram’s findings were replicated in a French documentary made about reality TV, deception, results were identical to those of Milgram

Sheridan and King conducted a study using a procedure like Milgram’s - they gave real shocks to a puppy in response to an experimenter - behaved the same 54% men and 100% of women gave the shock

Question 22

What were some limitations of Milgrams study?

Answer 22

Low internal validity - Milgram’s may not have been testing what he intended to test, reported 75% of participants said they believed the shocks were genuine, Orne and Holland argued that participants behaved due to play acting and Perry’s research confirms this by listening to the tapes of the study - participants responding to demand characteristics

Alternative interpretation of findings - Milgram’s conclusion about blind obedience may not be justified, Haslam et al showed milgram’s participants obeyed when the experimenter delivered the first three verbal prods no more. Shows that social identity theory may provide a more valid interpretation of milgrams findings (Social identity theory participants in milgrams study only obeyed when they identified with the specific aims of the research

Question 23

What were the situational variables of obedience as investigated by Milgram?

Answer 23

Proximity - Touch proximity, the teacher had to force the learners hand onto an electroshock plate, remote instruction, the experimenter left the room and gave instructions to the teacher by the phone, obediance reducted to 20.5%

Location - Conducted a variation in a run down office block - obediance fell to 47.5%

Uniform - Baseline - grey lab coat, Experimenter called away - experiment taken over by an ordinary member of public, obediance dropped to 20%

Question 24

What are some strengths of Milgram’s investigation into situational variables

Answer 24

Research support - Bickman had three confederates dress in different outfits and asked passerbyers to do tasks, supports uniform as an effect on obedience

Cross cultural replications - findings have been replicated in other culture

Question 25

What are some limitations of Milgrams investigation into situational variables?

Answer 25

Participants may have been aware the procedure was faked - due to the extra manipulation of variables so behaved in response to demand characteristics

Question 26

What are the two situational explanations for obediance?

Answer 26

Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority

Question 27

What is the agentic state in investigating situational explanations for obedience?

Answer 27

No personal responsibility for behaviour, acting for an authority figure

Question 28

What is legitimacy of authority in investigating situational explanations for obedience?

Answer 28

More likely to obey to those of authority, they have more power over us. an individual position in social hierarchy

Question 29

What is a limitation of the agentic state explanation for obedience?

Answer 29

Does Not explain research findings about obedience, why the participants in milgram’s study obeyed in some situations but not in others. Participants felt powerless, bindings factors to ignore the effect of their behaviour

Question 30

What is the authoritarian personality in explaining obedience?

Answer 30

Adorno argued that people with an authoritarian personality show an extreme respect for authority and are more likely to obey them

Question 31

What was Adornos research into the authoritarian personality?

Answer 31

Procedure - studied 2000 MC white americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups and used the F scale to find out personality

Findings - people with authoritarian learnings identified with strong people and were generally contemptuous of the weak - they were very conscious of status and showed extreme respect, deference and servility to those of higher status

Question 32

What are some limitations of Adornos research into the Authoritarian personality?

Answer 32

Lacks ecological validity - limited explanation as it cannot explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a country’s population

Political bias - The F-scale only measures the tendency towards an extreme form of right wing ideology

Question 33

What are the two explanations of resistance to social influence?

Answer 33

Social support
Locus of control

Question 34

What is social support in explaining resistance to social influence?

Answer 34

Presence of people who resist pressure 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

Question 35

What is locus of control in explaining resistance to social control?

Answer 35

Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives

Internal locus of control believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them

External locus of control believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces

Question 36

What is a strength of social support?

Answer 36

RWA for social support - Social support given to teens who smoked, those with one were less likely to smoke than a control group

Research support for dissenting peers - Gamson’s participants were told to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign, they were in groups so could discuss what to do - he found higher levels of resistance

Question 37

What is a strength of locus of control

Answer 37

Holland repeated milgrams baseline study and investigated what personality type the participants were - internal LOC 37% did not continue to the highest level - external LOC 23% did not continue

Question 38

What is minority influence?

Answer 38

A form of social influence where the minority people persuade others to adopt their beliefs or attitudes - leads to internalisation

Question 39

Who investigated the process of minority influence and in what study?

Answer 39

Moscovici and in his study ‘blue slide,green slide’

Question 40

What do the minority have to be in order for the majority to convert?

Answer 40

Consistent
Committed
Flexible

Question 41

What does the minority being consistent in minority influence lead to?

Answer 41

Leads to increased amount of interest from other people as it makes them rethink their own views

Question 42

What does the minority being commited in minority influence lead to?

Answer 42

When the minority participate in extreme activity it draws attention to their views and makes the majority look at their views

Question 43

What does the minority being flexible in minority influence lead to?

Answer 43

The minority must be open to adapting their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counterarguments

Question 44

What are some strengths of investigating minority influence?

Answer 44

Research support for consistency - Moscvici

Research support for deeper processing - Martin et al presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants agreement, one group heard minority agree, another heard a majority group agreed then they both heard conflicting views

Question 45

What are some limitations of investigating minority influence?

Answer 45

Artificial tasks - Tasks involved in minority influence are often just as artificial as Asch’s line study