Social Influence Flashcards
done (208 cards)
1
Q
what is conformity?
A
when an individual adheres to group norms and standards
2
Q
what are the 3 types of conformity?
A
internalisation
identification
compliance
3
Q
what is internalisation?
A
a deep type of conformity where we change our public and private behaviour to match a group
4
Q
what is identification?
A
middle level
a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs, but only in the company of the group they are identifying with
5
Q
what is compliance?
A
lowest level
a person changes their public behaviour but not their private beliefs
6
Q
what is social influence?
A
the process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours
7
Q
what are the 2 types of si?
A
informational
normative
8
Q
what is informational si?
A
when someone is influenced because they look to others for guidance - they are uncertain how to behave and believe the group knows more then them
9
Q
what is normative si?
A
when someone is influenced to fit in with social norms and values of a particular group to gain their approval- they conform in order to not stand out or appear different
10
Q
what did Deutsch and Gerard (1955) do?
A
They developed a two-process theory, arguing that there are two main reasons people conform.
11
Q
when does informational si usually occur?
A
in unfamiliar or ambiguous situations
12
Q
what was Jenness (1932) aim?
A
to investigate whether individual judgements of jellybeans in a jar was influenced by discussions in groups
13
Q
what was Jenness (1932) procedure?
A
participants made individual, private estimates of the number of jellybeans in a jar
Participants then discussed their estimates either in a large group or in several smaller groups
group estimates were created
participants then made a second individual, private estimate
14
Q
what was Jenness (1932) findings?
A
individuals second private estimates tended to converge their group estimates
the average change of opinion was greater among females
15
Q
what was Jenness (1932) evaluation?
A
some deception
the research lacks mundane realism
the study tells us little about majority influence in non-ambiguous situations
16
Q
how does normative si occur?
A
when an individual wants to be liked and respected by others and the best way to achieve this is to agree with them
17
Q
what is Asch (1955)’s aim?
A
investigate the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers
18
Q
what is Asch (1955)’s procedure?
A
123 American male student volunteers took part in a study of ‘visual perception’
participants were placed in groups of 7-9 sat in a line or round a table. these were really confederates
the task was to say which comparison line was the same as a stimulus line on 18 different trials.
12 were ‘critical’ trials where confederates gave identical wrong answers and the real participant always answered last or second to last.
there was a control group of 36
19
Q
what is Asch (1955)’s statistical findings?
A
the control group had an error rate of 0.04%
on the 12 critical trials there was a 32% conformity rate
75% conformed to at least one wrong answer
25% never conformed
5% conformed to all 12 answers
20
Q
what is Asch (1955)’s 3 reasons for conformity?
A
distortion of action
distortion of perception
distortion of judgement
21
Q
what is Asch (1955)’s evaluation?
A
Asch’s method for studying conformity became a paradigm
the procedure is uneconomical and time-consuming
the situation lacks mundane realism
it involves deceit
22
Q
What did Perrin and Spencer find?
A
that Asch’s findings were particular to the American culture at the time - participants were all American men and the experiment was conducted in the McCarthyism era
23
Q
what did Perrin and Spencer do and find?
A
replicated Asch’s study with Science students and found that only one student conformed on 369 trials
they then repeated the study with youths on probation and found similar levels of conformity to Asch
24
Q
what are the 3 variables that affect conformity?
A
Group Size
Unamity
Task difficulty
25
How does group size affect conformity?
The larger the group, the larger the conformity rate
26
How does unamity affect conformity?
if one confederate gave the correct answer, conformity would drop from 32% to 5%
27
How does task difficulty affect conformity?
when the task was harder, conformity was higher
28
Give 2 strengths of Asch's research
was conducted in a highly controlled environment (lab) so easily replicated
the controlled environment enabled a cause end effect relationship
29
what are 3 limitations of Asch's research?
he used a biased sample (all male, same age group and American)
may not be generalisable
participants were deceived
30
What are social norms?
The rules and ideas of what's normal within a social group/situation.
31
when was the Stanford Prison Experiment?
1973
32
what did zimbardo focus on in TSPE?
Zimbardo was focused on the power of roles, rules, symbols, group identity and situational validation
33
what was the TSPE intended to measure?
measure the effect of role-playing, labelling and social expectations of behaviour over 2 weeks
34
the aim of TSPE
to investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing simulation of prison life
35
who were the participants of TSPE?
21 male university students who volunteered in response to a newspaper ad
36
how were the participants of TSPE selected?
they were selected on the basis of their physical and mental stability
37
what was the incentive that convinced people to participate in TSPE?
they were given $15 a day for 2 weeks
38
where was the TSPE held?
the basement of Stanford University which was turned into a mock prison (no windows)
39
what were the guards in TSPE given?
uniforms, dark reflective sunglasses, handcuffs and a truncheon
40
what was the guards one rule in TSPE?
to run the prison without physical violence
41
how did the participants find out they had been selected in TSPE?
they were arrested by real police
42
what happened to the prisoners after being arrested in TSPE?
they were fingerprinted, stripped and given numbered smocks to wear, with chains placed around their ankles
43
who was allowed to leave the mock prison in TSPE?
guards were permitted to leave and go home after their 'shifts'
44
what was the punishments guards used on the prisoners in TSPE?
taunted with insults and petty orders
given pointless and boring tasks
generally dehumanised
45
what happened within hours of TSPE beginning?
guards began to harass prisoners
2.30 am prisoners were awakened from sleep by blasting whistles for the first of many "counts"
46
how was the first day of TSPE?
went smoothly, no issues from prisoners
47
how was the second day of TSPE?
prisoners rebelled; removed their stocking caps, ripped off their numbers, and barricaded themselves inside the cells by putting their beds against the door
48
how did the guards put down the rebellion in TSPE?
used fire extinguishers, forced the prisoners away from the doors. they then broke into each cell, stripped them naked and took their beds out
the ringleaders were placed in solitary confinement
49
What were the consequences of the rebellion in TSPE?
prisoners were more dependent and submissive
guards became more aggressive and assertive. they demanded ever greater obedience
50
what happened with prisoner #8612 in TSPE?
36 hours in, he began suffering from acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying and rage
he met with the guards
51
what did the guards tell prisoner #8612 after his breakdown and what did he say to the other prisoners in TSPE?
guards told him he was weak but offered him 'informant' status
he said "You can't leave. You can't quit"
52
what happened soon after with #8612 in TSPE?
began to act 'crazy', to scream, to curse, to go into a rage that seemed out of control
wasn't until this point that psychologists realized they had to let him out
53
why did Zimbardo bring in a Catholic Priest in TSPE?
to evaluate how realistic the prison situation was
54
how did half the prisoners introduce themselves to the Priest in TSPE?
with their numbers
55
how did the Catholic Priest say was the only way out of TSPE?
to get a lawyer
56
what happened when prisoner #819 talked to the priest in TSPE?
broke down and began crying hysterically and priest old him to leave and get some rest and her would get a doctor and not have to return
57
what was going on whilst prisoner #819 was talking to the Priest?
one of the guards lined up the other prisoners and had them chant aloud "Prisoner #819 is a bad prisoner. Because of what prisoner #819 did, my cell is a mess, Mr. Correctional Officer"
58
what happened because of the chants in TSPE?
#819 could hear it and the psychologist went back into the room where they found him sobbing uncontrollably.
the psychologist tried to get him to agree to leave but he refused as the others had labelled him as a bad prisoner
59
what did Zimbardo do after the other prisoners were chanting that #819 was a bad prisoner in TSPE?
Zimbardo said to #819 "Listen, you are not #819. You are [his name], and my name is Dr. Zimbardo. I am a psychologist, not a prison superintendent, and this is not a real prison. This is just an experiment, and those are students, not prisoners, just like you, Let's go"
60
how did prisoner #819 respond to his private conversation with Zimbardo in TSPE?
stopped crying suddenly
replied "Okay, let's go" as if nothing had been wrong
61
who put an end to TSPE?
Christina Maslach, Stanford PhD
she was brought in to conduct interviews with the guards and prisoners, and objected when she saw the abuse
62
What were the conclusions of TSPE?
revealed how people will readily conform to roles they are expected of (stereotyped)
findings support the situational explanation of behaviour
guards and prisoners demonstrated social roles gained from media
63
what did Reicher and Haslam do?
replicated the study by randomly assigning 15 men to the role of prisoner or guard
the participants didn't conform automatically
64
What are some limitations of Zimbardo's study?
broke many ethical guidelines (e.g., protection from harm)
5 prisoners left early due to their adverse reactions to the torment
some guards felt anxiety and guilt
65
what was Zimbardo's hope with TSPE?
for beneficial reforms in the prison system
it did initially improve, but now they are worse then before
66
what does obedience involve?
a hierarchy of power / status
67
when was Milgram's shock experiment?
1963
68
why did Milgram start this experiment?
during Adolf Eichmann's trial, his defence was that he was merely following instructions when he ordered the deaths of millions of Jews
69
what was the aim of Milgram's shock experiment?
how far would people go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person
to investigate whether Germans were particularly obedient to authority figures
70
who were the participants of Milgram's shock experiment?
40 men aged 20-50 from a range of backgrounds, from the new haven America
recruited via newspaper ad
71
what would participants recieve in Milgram's shock experiment?
$4.50
72
what were the roles in Milgram's shock experiment?
two 'participants'
one would be a 'learner' and the other a 'teacher
the learner would be a confederate
there was a researcher wearing a white lab coat
73
where did Milgram's shock experiment take place?
two rooms in the Yale interaction Laboratory
'learner' attached to chair with electrodes in separate room to teacher, however the teacher witnessed this. learner mentioned a heart problem
'learner' given a list of word pairs to learn
'teacher' tests him by naming a word and asking learner to recall the pair
if 'learner' got one wrong he would be electrocuted
74
why was the learner taken to a separate room in Milgram's shock experiment?
so the 'teacher' wouldn't see the pain they "inflicted"
75
what was the shock machine levels in Milgram's shock experiment?
started at 15 volts
many switches labelled with terms including 'slight shock,' 'moderate shock,' and 'danger: severe shock.'
final three labelled 'XXX'
76
what was the learner / confederate instructed to do in Milgram's shock experiment?
purposefully give mainly wrong answers
77
what would happen as Milgram's shock experiment progressed?
the participant would hear the learner plead to be released or even complain about a heart condition
78
what 4 commands would the researcher respond to the participant with?
'please continue'
'the experiment requires that you continue'
'it is absolutely essential that you continue'
'you have no other choice, you must go on'
79
What were the quantitative results in milgrims shock experiment?
100% continued to 300 volts
65% delivered max shocks
26 delivered max shocks, 14 stopped before reaching higher levels
80
what was the qualitative results of milgrims shock experiment?
many subjects became extremely agitated, distraught, and angry at the experimenter
3 participants had uncontrollable seizures
some participants showed little to no signs of discomfort
81
What were the quantitative results?
100% continued to 300 volts
65% delivered max shocks
26 delivered max shocks, 14 stopped before reaching higher levels
82
What did Milgram conclude?
Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being
83
what were the ethical issues?
use of deception
lack of protection for participants involved
interference with participants' right to withdraw
84
what did milgram do that was apart of ethics?
debriefed participants
84
what are the limitations?
lacks ecological validity
lacked population validity
85
what are the strengths?
it is replicable (e.g. Holfing et al 1966)
between 1961 and 1962 he carried out 19 variations of his baseline study
Burger (2009) replicated this and found similar results
86
what did Hofling et al. (1966) do?
arranged for an unknown doctor to telephone 22 nurses and asked each of them (alone) to administer an overdose of a drug that was not on their ward list
87
what were the results oh hofling?
95% went to administer the drug (21 nurses)
88
how did Rank and Johnson (1977) alter Holfings experiment?
used a real drug which nurses had heard of
88
what was Rank and Johnson (1977) procedure?
nurses were told in person to administer an overdose on Valium on a patient
doctors name was known
nurses had opportunity to discuss
89
what were the results of Rank and Johnson (1977)?
2/18 obeyed
89
what are the 6 explanations of obedience?
agentic state
legitimacy of authority
proximity
location
uniform
authoritarian personality
90
what is the Agentic State?
mindset which allows us to carry out orders from an authority figure, even if they conflict with our personal sense of right and wrong
91
what are the 2 levels of the agentic theory that individuals are said to operate on?
autonomous
agentic level
92
what is the autonomous level?
when individuals behave voluntarily and are aware of the consequences of their actions
they are responsible
93
what is the agentic level?
when individuals see themselves as the agents of others and aren't responsible for their actions
an individual has to give up some of their free will
94
what is the agentic shift?
the act of moving from the autonomous state to the agentic level
individuals then attribute responsibility for their actions to the person in authority
95
what two experiments support the agentic shift and why?
Milgram (1974) 'remote authority' saw obedience decline to 20.5%
Milgram (1963) - many participants were under moral strain, during debrief participants admitted they knew what they were doing was wrong but continued to obey
96
what is legitimacy of authority?
the perceived right of an authority figure to have power and control over others.
97
what links legitimacy of authority with the agentic theory?
obedient individuals accept the power and status of authority figures to give orders
98
who holds legitimate social power?
authority figures who are defined by society
98
what does legitimate social power give the individual?
control over the behaviour of others and individuals usually obey
99
how does Milgram (1963) support this?
some participants ignored the learners distress, showing little sign of harm themselves and focused on following the procedure
100
how does Hofling et al (1966) support legitimacy of authority?
reported nurses administering what would have been lethal doses of a medicine because a doctor ordered them to
101
what is Proximity according to obedience?
how far a person is away from the consequences
102
in one variation of Milgram's shock experiment, the experimenter was giving orders by phone. what happened?
obedience dropped to 20.5%
102
in another variation of Migrims shock experiment, the teacher and learner were in the same room. what did obedience drop to?
40%
103
what is location according to obedience?
The less prestigious the environment, the less likely you are to obey
104
in one variation of Milgram's shock experiment, it was moved to a run-down office block. what did obedience drop to?
47.5%
104
in another variation of Milgrims shock experiment, the experimenter was called away to answer an 'important phone call' and was replaced by 'a member of the public' wearing ordinary clothes. what did obedience drop to?
20%
105
what are dispositional factors?
unique characteristics that influence behaviour and actions in an individual.
106
who first proposed the authoritarian personality?
Fromm (1941)
107
What is the authoritarian personality?
a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them.
108
who published the most famous literature on the authoritarian personality after WW2?
Adorno et al (1950)
108
what did Adorno et al (1950) do?
interviewed former Nazi soldiers at the end of WW2 and developed the 'F-Scale'
109
what did the 'F-Scale' do?
measured how authoritarian a person is
110
what did Adorno et al (1950) find a high F-Scale score was linked with when studying Americans?
excessive respect and deference to those of higher status
111
what are the characteristics of the authoritarian personality?
Negative towards those they see as 'beneath' them and obedient towards those of a higher status
rigid in their opinions
belief in 'traditional' values
not willing to accept any new ideas or new situations
likely to categorise people into 'us' and 'them' groups, seeing the 'us' group as superior
112
what did Elms and Milgram (1966) do?
they wanted to see if the obedient participants in Milgram's research were more likely to display authoritarian personality traits
113
what was Elms and Milgram (1966) sample?
20 participants who went to 450v and 20 participants who refused to carry on
114
how did Elms and Milgram (1966) carry out their research?
participants completed several personality questionnaires, including Adorno's F-Scale
participants asked open-ended questions about their relationship with their parents and their relationship with the experimenter and learner
115
what are two main factors in resisting social influence?
disobedience
non-conformity
116
what did Elms and Milgram (1966) find?
obedient participants scored higher on F scale
obedient participants were less close to their fathers during childhood
116
what is independence regarding non conformity?
a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy, which is just doing your own thing
117
what are the two ways non-conformity occurs?
independence
anti-conformity
118
what makes it easier to disobey / not conform?
social support
118
what is Anti-Conformity regarding non conformity?
a consistent movement away from social conformity; for example joining a minority group
119
what is social support?
when another or multiple individuals do not conform / obey
120
what research supports the idea of social support?
Asch's line study
if a confederate begins to give correct answers towards the end, conformity drops to 8.5%
if a confederate gives correct answers from the beginning conformity drops to 5.5%
121
whats another piece of research that supports social support?
Allen and Levine (1971)
recreated Asch with confederate giving correct answers
confederate wore thick glasses and claimed to have poor eye-sight
122
what did Allen and Levine find?
conformity reduced greatly even when the individual giving the correct answer was not reliable
123
what can disobedient individuals reduce in a group and what does it mean?
unanimity
it is easier for individuals to act independently
123
what's another form of social support?
disobedience
124
125
who researched into disobedience?
Mullen et al (1990)
126
what did Mullen find?
when disobedient models broke the law by jay-walking, participants were more likely to also jay-walk
127
what is another explanation of resistance to social influence?
Locus of Control
128
who first proposed the Locus of Control?
Rotter (1966)
129
what 2 questions come from the Locus of Control?
who is responsible for your behaviour?
who has control over your life?
130
how does Rotter define Locus of Control?
the degree to which a person perceives an outcome as being contingent on their own actions or those of external forces
130
what is Locus of Control?
the concept of how much a person believes they control what happens in their lives
131
how can you measure Locus of Control?
on a scale from high internal to high external
132
What is a high internal locus of control?
an individual who believes their life is determined by their own decisions
133
What is a high external locus of control?
individual who believes their life is determined by fate, luck and external factors
134
what is the main research supporting locus of control?
spector (1983)
135
what did Spector do ?
gave the scale to 157 uni students
136
what did shute find?
undergrads with an internal locus of control conformed less than those with an external
137
what did Spector find?
participants with a high external locus of control did conform more but only in situations that produced normative social influence
138
what are the 2 studies that further researched locus of control?
shute (1975)
Avtgis (1998)
139
what did Avtgis find?
that individuals with an internal locus of control were less easily persuadable and less likely to conform
140
what did Holland (1967), Blass (1991) and Schurz research into?
disobedience regarding Locus of Control
141
what did Holland find?
no relationship between locus of control and obedience
142
what did Blass do and find?
reanalysed Holland's data and found that participants with an internal locus were more able to resist obedience
143
what did Schurz find?
no relationship between locus of control of obedience among Australian participants, though participants with an internal locus of control tended to take more responsibility for their actions
144
what was Richardson (2009) Procedure?
84 male and female students were randomly assigned to same sex groups of 3. 2 were confederates
the teams then looked at info about 2 stock companies and decided which one to invest money in
team members gave their opinion, wit the real participant always answering last. the confederates chose the weaker of the 2 companies
145
what did Richardson (2009) conduct research into?
distinction defeats group member deviance. the unlikely relationship between differentiation and newcomer conformity
146
what did Richardson find?
in the teams where the confederates were thought to be of high status, participants conformed to the group decision
the reverse was true when confederates were believed to be low status
147
what does minority influence refer to?
situations where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people.
148
why does minority influence lead to internalisation?
it motivates individuals to reject group norms
149
what does conversion involve?
the new belief or behaviour being accepted both publicly and privately
150
when does conversion generally occur through?
informational social influence where a minority provides new information and ideas to the majority
150
What is the snowball effect?
the gradual process of the minority opinions becoming majority opinions
151
what was Moscovici's aims?
to investigate the view that social influence occurs not just through conformity but through a change to the previously held opinions
152
what was Moscovici's conclusion?
show minorities can influence majority opinion
Consistency is a key element
must be cautious because most weren't affected by it
152
what did Moscovici propose?
that the majority must be consistent in its views and that this consistency will lead others to question and possibly change their views
153
What was Moscovici's procedure?
lab experiment
participants in group - 2 confederates, 4 participants
36 blue slides - different shades
asked to say whether the slide was blue or green
confederates said the slide was green 2/3 of the time
control groups was used, consisted of participants only
154
what were Moscovici's findings?
participants agreed with minority 8.42%
32% gave the same answer as minority at least once
when confederates were inconsistent, agreement with them reduced to 1.25%
155
what's Moscovici's evaluation?
consistent minorities have greater influence on private attitudes
only used females
involves deceit and participants may have endured mild stress
doesn't identify important factors in minority influence (group size)
research studies generally support his findings
156
what are the 3 main processes for minority influence to be effective?
consistent
commitment
flexibility
157
what are the 2 types of consistency?
synchronic
diachronic
158
What is synchronic consistency?
Consistency between its members
all members agree and back each other up.
159
What is diachronic consistency?
consistency over time
160
why must activities to show commitment have to present some risk?
to show their full commitment
161
what is the augmentation principle?
states that if a person or movement is carried out action despite great opposition, obstacles, or difficulties, their beliefs are perceived as 'stronger than those obstacles' and therefore appear more valid
162
who discovered flexibility as one of the main processes?
Nemeth (1968)
163
what is the research support for Moscovici?
Wood et al (1994)
164
What did Wood et al do?
carried out meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were the mist influential
suggests that being consistent is a minimum requirement
165
what is a limitation?
tasks in minority influence are artificial tasks
lacks external validity because they are limited when it comes to what they actually tell us about the real world
166
what does the low agreement rate (8%) in Moscovici's study suggest?
that minority influence is rare and not a useful concept
167
what else is suggested from the low agreement rate?
they were more likely to agree with the minority view
suggests the view expressed by people in public may actually not be the full story
168
how does the process of social change occur?
continually, but at a gradual pace
169
what is social influence and social change?
involves the way in which society develops, through shifts in peoples beliefs, attitudes and behaviour
170
why is minority influence important?
maintains social order
171
why does minority take place over a long time and what does it involve?
generally leads to a long-lasting form of conformity,involving fundamental changes in belief
172
what is a real life example of consistency in MI?
Martin Luther King
173
what is a real life example of commitment?
Rosa Parks
174
what are some examples of being similar to the majority?
class
age
gender
sexuality
174
what is an example of drawing attention?
civil rights marches in 1950s
175
what is an example of consistency?
millions of people took part in many Civil Rights marches over several years, always presents the same non-aggressive messages
175
what is an example of deeper processing of the issue?
the activism meant that many people who had simply accepted the status quo began to think deeply about the unjustness of it
176
what is an example of the argumentation principle?
individuals risked their lives numerous times (Civil Rights)
e.g, freedom riders
176
what is an example of the snowball effect?
Activists (MLK) gradually got the attention of the US government
in 1964 the US Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination
177
what is social cryptoamnesia?
people have a memory that change has occurred but don't remember how it happened
178
what did Maass et al (1982) investigate?
the idea of group membership and found that a minority of heterosexual men were more likely to convince a heterosexual majority about gay rights
179
what did Maass conclude?
that 'straight' men have more persuasive power when discussing gay rights with other straight men
180
what does this support?
the idea that similarity in terms of group membership is an important factor
181
how do environmental and health campaigns which exploit conformity processes appeal to normative social influence?
provide information about what other people are doing
182
what is a strength of normative influences?
research has shown that social influence processes based on psychological research do work
183
what is an example of this?
Nolan et al. (2008)
184
what did Nolan do?
aimed to see if they could change people's energy used habits
185
how did they do this?
hung messages on front doors in San Diego, Californis every week for one month
as a result there were significant decreases in energy usage
185
who done this?
Nemeth (2009)
186
what did Nemeth claim?
social change is due to the type of thinking minorities inspire
187
what does Nemeth argue?
that divergent thinking leads to better decisions and why dissenting minorities is so important
188
who presents evidence for this?
Mackie (1978)
189
what evidence do they present?
that majority influence may create deeper processing if you do not share their views
190
why is this?
we like to believe that other people share our views and think in the same way as us
191
what does this mean?
that a central element of minority influence has been challenged
