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Social Influence Flashcards

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1
Q

What is conformity?

A

A change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.

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2
Q

What are the 3 types of conformity?

A
  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalisation
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3
Q

What is compliance mainly influenced by?

A

Normative Social Influence

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4
Q

What is internalisation mainly influenced by?

A

Informational Social Influence

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5
Q

What are the 2 explanations of conformity?

A

Normative Social Influence (NSI)
Informational Social Influence (ISI)

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6
Q

What is normative social influence?

A

An emotionally driven, non-permanent conformity to a group to avoid rejection.

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7
Q

What is informational social influence?

A

A long-term/permanent internalisation driven by a desire to be correct, occurring in situations of ambiguity where it is believed that the group are correct.

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8
Q

Evaluation of the explanations of conformity?

A
  • Supported by Asch (1951)
  • Difficult to separate NSI and ISI, usually a combination of both.
  • Alternative dispositional factors and locus of control act as opposing theories.
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9
Q

What year was Asch’s study?

A

1951

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10
Q

What were the 3 variables changed in Asch (1951)

A

Group Size
Unanimity
Task Difficulty

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11
Q

What was the procedure of Asch (1951)

A

8 to 10 American college males as participants. Each was placed in a room with confederates who gave the wrong answer.
The task was to say which line was most similar in length to the one shown beforehand.

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12
Q

What percentage of participants in Asch (1951) conformed at least once?

A

75%

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13
Q

What percentage of participants in Asch (1951) conformed every time?

A

5%

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14
Q

What was the overall mean conformity rate in Asch (1951)?

A

32%

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15
Q

When group size was 1 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?

A

3%

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16
Q

When group size was 2 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?

A

13%

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17
Q

When group size was 3 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?

A

33%

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18
Q

When group size was 16 in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?

A

31%

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19
Q

When 1 confederate dissenter was present in Asch (1951), what was the conformity rate?

A

5.5%

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20
Q

When the task difficulty in Asch (1951) was increased, did the conformity rate increase or decrease?
Why was this?

A

Increased significantly.
- due to ISI

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21
Q

Evaluation of Asch (1951)?

A
  • Lacks temporal validity, the high CR may be due to culture in 1950s Cold War USA.
  • Cultural bias, androcentrism
  • Standardised procedure, lab based, increasing internal validity
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22
Q

What year was Zimbardo’s study?

A

1971

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23
Q

What is Zimbardo’s study also known as?

A

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

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24
Q

What is a social role?

A

A socially defined pattern of behaviour expected of persons who occupy a certain social position. Linked to identification

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25
What type of conformity is conformity to social roles linked to?
Identification
26
What was the procedure of Zimbardo (1971)?
Observational study of 24 US male student volunteers, tested for mental stability, for a 7-14 day study. Randomly assigned prisoner or guard and given according uniforms. - Guards instructed to be aggressive.
27
What was Zimbardo's duel role in his study?
Chief superintendent and lead investigator
28
After how many days was Zimbardo's study ended and why?
6 days, due to ethical concerns
29
What were the findings of Zimbardo (1971)?
Participants quickly lost personal identities. - Prisoners after attempting resistance became submissive, anxious and some had emotional breakdowns and were released. - Guards displayed sadistic aggression (1/3). 1/3 also were nice to prisoners.
30
Evaluation of Zimbardo (1971)?
- Zimbardo's duel role allowed for experimenter bias and demand characteristics - Well controlled, random allocation reduces participant variables. - Applications in training for military and law enforcement.
31
What are the 3 explanations for obedience?
Legitimacy of authority Agentic state Authoritarian personality
32
What explanations for obedience are situational?
Legitimacy of authority Agentic state
33
Which explanation for obedience is dispositional?
Authoritarian personality
34
What year was Milgram's study?
1963
35
Why did Milgram conduct his study?
He wanted to know why ordinary Germans obeyed Nazi orders.
36
What was the procedure of Milgram (1963)?
40 US male volunteers, with a lab scientist and learner as confederates. 15V to 450V switches, after 300V no reaction heard. 4 prompts to continue experiment (e.g. 'please continue').
37
What were the findings of Milgram (1963)?
100% went to 300V 65% went to 450V Visible stress 3 people had seizures
38
Evaluation of Milgram (1963)?
- Standardised procedure, replicable, high level of control. - Methodological concerns, mundane realism, demand characteristics, androcentrism. - Highly unethical, right to withdraw? Emotional and physical harm. Deception.
38
What were the 4 situational variables changed in Milgram's study?
- Proximity - Location - Uniform - Presence of dissenters
39
When the authority figure wasn't in the same room but gave instructions via phone in Milgram's study, what did obedience drop to? Why?
65% to 21% Shift from agentic state to autonomous state
40
When Milgram's study was conducted in a run down office block instead of Yale University, what did obedience drop to? Why?
65% to 47.5% Decreased legitimacy of authority
41
When the authority figure in Milgram's study wore regular clothing instead of a lab coat, what did obedience drop to? Why?
65% to 20% Decreased legitimacy of authority
42
When 2 dissenter teachers resisted obedience in Milgram's study, what did obedience drop to? Why?
65% to 10% Social support: 2 non conformist allies.
43
What is agentic state?
When an individual acts on behalf of an authority figure.
44
What is the opposite of agentic state?
Autonomous state
45
What is the shift from autonomous state to agentic state called?
Agentic shift
46
Evaluation of agentic state?
- Milgram as supportive research - Milgram methodological flaws - Dispositional vs situational
47
What is legitimacy of authority?
When through socialisation, people learn their position in the social hierarchy, and therefore are more likely to obey someone who has a perceived higher social status.
48
What is legitimacy of authority communicated through?
Uniform Setting
49
Evaluation of legitimacy of authority?
- Milgram supportive research - Milgram methodological flaws - Dispositional vs situational
50
What is the main study based on the Authoritarian Personality?
Adorno (1950)
51
What questionnaire did Adorno (1950) create?
The F-Scale
52
What is the authoritarian personality?
A personality type which results in high levels of obedience.
53
What are the key characteristics of an authoritarian personality?
- Higher respect for people with a higher social status - Hostile to people of a low social status - Fixed stereotypes concerning minority groups.
54
What is an authoritarian personality shaped by?
Experiences in early life.
55
If people scored highly on the F-Scale in Adorno (1950), what else did they have?
Fixed stereotypes.
56
Evaluation of the Authoritarian Personality?
- Milgram's 35% who didn't obey explained. - Elms and Milgram (1966), found obedient males scored higher on the F-Scale. - Methodological flaws of F-Scale, acquiescence bias and political bias due to agree/disagree questions.
57
What did Elms and Milgram (1966) find?
Those who were more obedient in the experiment scored higher on the F-Scale.
58
Evaluation of the situational variables of obedience?
- Supportive research: Holfing (1966) found that 21 out of 22 nurses were willing to administer a lethal drug because a doctor with legitimacy of authority ordered them to via phone. - Milgram's variations provide supportive research. - Milgram methodological flaws - Dispositional vs situational.
59
What is resistance to social influence?
The ability of individuals to oppose the pressure to conform to a majority group or obey an authority figure.
60
What are the 2 explanations of resistance to social influence?
- Social support - Locus of control
61
Is social support a situational or dispositional explanation?
Situational
62
Is locus of control a situational or dispositional explanation?
Dispositional
63
What is social support?
When the presence of others who defy authority or go against the majority (acting as non-conformist allies or dissenters) makes people more likely to resist conformity.
64

Psychology (10 decks)

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