Social Influence Flashcards
(24 cards)
Define conformity
Change in behaviour or beliefs due to real or imagined pressure
Define conformity
Change in behaviour or beliefs due to real or imagined pressure
Types of conformity
Compliance, identification, internalisation
Compliance
The shallowest level of conformity in which the individual changes their behaviour to avoid rejection. Private beliefs don’t necessarily change
Define identification
Individual adopt the behaviour or beliefs of the group as they want to be part of a group or a relationship with it. They may not privately agree
Define Internalisation
Individual accepts the behaviour or beliefs of the majority publicly and privately and it’s let of their belief system
Explanations for conformity
Normative social influence and informational social influence
Define normative social influence
Confirming to the majority to avoid rejection and being seen as an outcast. This is driven by a desire to be liked and social approval
Define informational social influence
Conforming to the majority because of a desire to be correct in situations where right action or beliefs due is uncertain
Key facts about as he study
.36.8% of naïve participants gave a wrong answer in clinical trials
.25% of ppl did not conform on any trials so at least 75% conformed at least once
Pros of aschs study
It had a high level of control as he used experimental method so therefore has high control over extraneous variables. This is because it’s a lab experiment
Negatives of aschs study
Low population validity as only 123 male rodents where used
Historical bias as it was done in Cold War America in the 50s. Perrin and Spencer did an experiment in 1980 and only 1 out of 396 showed unanimous wrong answers
How does group size affect conformity
Increasing number of confederate in the group lead to higher rate of conformity but it levels of when greater than 3. Suggests people are sensitive to views of others as 1 or 2 is enough to sway opinions
How does unanimity affect conformity
When all confederates unanimously picked the same option it lead to a higher rate of conformity. When a dissenter was introduced conformity dropped to less than a quarter
How does task difficulty affect conformity
When like judging task became more ambiguous ppl looked to others for guidance and assume they are right and you are wrong (isi)
How does task difficulty affect conformity
When like judging task became more ambiguous ppl looked to others for guidance and assume they are right and you are wrong (isi)
Define informative social influence
Individual is motivated by the need to be correct and often uses others to identify others in ambiguous situations - leads to INTERNALISATION
Define normative social influence
Individual is motovat d by the need to be accepted by others. They use others to identify behaviours to be accepted. Leads to COMPLIANCE
Internalisation
Person genuinely accepts the group norm publically and privately. It is a part of their own beliefs
Compliance
This is when people change their own opinions/behaviour to fit in with the group. Privately they don’t change
Identification
Someone conforme to the opinions of others as they value something in a group. This does not mean they agree with everything the group stands for privately
Research support for isi
Lucas et al found that people conformed more often when they were given hard maths problems. This is because for ambiguous problems participants did not want to be wrong so they relied on other ppl answers. Strength Isi/internalisation as ppl may conform in a public and private situation in unclear situations
Research support for nsi
Aschs experiment when participants where interviewed some said they conformed because they felt self conciliatory and afraid of disproval
Counterpoint for nsi and Isi
Unclear which one is the reason for conformity. Conformity decreased with a diameter as dissenter may lower power of nsi(social support) or power of Isi (alternative source of social info)
