Social influence Flashcards
(107 cards)
1
Q
What are situational variables?
A
Proximity in kilograms study the teacher could hear the learner but not see him in the proximity varian where they were in the same room the obedience rate dropped from 65 to. 40 in this version the teacher had to force the learner hand on to the electric shock plate if he refused to place it there himself obedience then dropped to a further 30
On the remote version the experimenter left the room and gave the instructions over the phone the obedience rates then dropped to 20
2
Q
What is conformity ?
A
A type of social influence involving a change in belief of behaviour in order to fit in with a group.
3
Q
What is compliance ?
A
Is the most superficial form of conformity and occurs when you publicly change your feeling s, beliefs but not privately.
E.g when I went to uni my flatmate were all vegetarian so didn’t eat meat even though I liked it.
4
Q
What is identification ?
A
Involves both the public and private changing of feelings or belief but only when in presence of a specific social group your private views change.
I am a vegetarian at uni but eat meat at home.
5
Q
What is internalisation?
A
This is the deepest form of conformity. And often results in long term behaviour changes to both public and private feelings beliefs or behaviour it’s usually based on information
I am vegetarian in and out of uni because my flatmate mates told me the benefits of being a vegetarian and why it’s better
6
Q
What is informational social influence ?
A
It is an explanation for conformity that is driven by our wish to be correct. It occurs when we lack information can ambiguous situations about something and look to others for guidance
Sherif 1935
No correct answer to the autokinetic
7
Q
What is normative social influence ?
A
An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval and be liked this may lead to compliance
Asch 1951 very obvious correct answer
They looked to other for approval
Likely lead to compliance
8
Q
ISI has research support
A
Answered easy and difficult math problems greater conformity to incorrect answers when they were difficult most true maths ability was poor
People conform when they feel they don’t know the answer isi we assume others know better then us and must be right
Suggest more people conform when it’s hard
9
Q
ISI affects people differently
A
Asch found that students were less conformist 28 percent than other participant 37 percent per ring and Spencer 1980 similar study with engineering student very little conformity you are less likely to conform when your off expertise of that area this is a weakness as it means you can’t generalise it to other people
People who aren’t a expertise in that area Perrin and Spencer also did a similar study with engineering students and also found little conformity suggest people of expertise conform less
10
Q
ISI and nsi are oversimplified
A
Deutsch two process approach claims that behaviour is either due to nsi or isi but often both processes are involved
E.g Asch conformity reduced with a dissenting participant by reducing nsi social support or Isi more info not always possible to know whether nsi or Isi is at work they may operate independently
This is limitation as it doesn’t show all the processes involved when conforming. Conformity is reduced with a dissenting participant by reducing social support or more info the two process approach claims that behaviour is either due to nsi or Isi.
11
Q
Asch findings
A
On average the real participants conformed to the incorrect answers on 37 of the time.
74 % of the participants conformed on at least one critical trial and 25 of the participants never conformed
In the control group no pressure to conform to confederates less than 1 of participants gave wrong answer
12
Q
Asch procedure
A
The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented the task. The real participant did not known this and was led to believe the other seven participants were also real like them selves. Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line a b or c was most like the target line
13
Q
Group size effect on conformity
A
The bigger the group the more likely to conform however when it got to 15 conformity rate dropped down. Found a curvilinear relationship between group size and conformity. Conformity increased with group size but only to a certain point with three confederates conformity to wrong answers rose to 31.8%
14
Q
Unanimity effect on conformity
A
Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates . Geniune partcipants conformed less often in the presence of a dissenter rate decreased 25 percent
15
Q
Task difficulty effect on conformity
A
The harder the task the more likely to conform. Asch found that the harder the task the greater the conformity he found that in all cases conformity increased
16
Q
Collectivist culture
A
People who are more collectivist view the self as over lapping with interconnected to others. Collectivism emphasises maintaining relationships and social harmony
17
Q
Individualist culture
A
People who are more individualistic view the self as distinct and separate from others individuation emphasis personal goal pursuit and autonomy
18
Q
Generalisabilty
A
All Asch participants were male other research suggest women conform more
19
Q
Study was done in us
A
Don’t know if other culture conform less or more
20
Q
Low ecological validity
A
Line judgement task
Artificial
Which does not reflect conformity in everyday life
Can’t generalise to real life
21
Q
Zimbardos prison experiment method
A
Prisoner daily routines were heavily regulated there were 16 rules to follow enforced by guards working in shifts three at a time
Deindividuation losing a sense of personal identity was created
Prisoners names weren’t used only their numbers
Guards had their own uniform wooden club handcuffs key and mirrors shades they were told they had complete power over the prisoners for instance deciding when they can go to the toilet
After the rebellion happened prisoners became subdued anxious and depressed signs that they were becoming institutionalised. Three prisoners were released early because they showed signs of psychological disturbance.
One prisoner went on a hunger strike the guards attempted to force feed him and punished him by putting him in the hole a tiny dark closet
22
Q
Zimbardo partcipants
A
21 male university students who volunteered in response to a newspaper advert. The partcipants were selected on the basis of their physical and mental stability and were paid fifteen dollars a day to take part. The partcipants were randomly assigned to one of two social roles prisoners or guards.
To increase realism prisoners were arrested in their homes and delivered to prison blindfolded strip searched delisted and issued with a uniform and number.
23
Q
What is meant by internal validity?
A
There was some control over variables. Emotionally stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned to the roles or prisoner or guard. Therefore, findings cannot be due to individual personality differences. It must be due to the pressure of the situation.
24
Q
What is meant by demand characteristics ?
A
Some of the guards figured out the aim of the experiment. It has been argued the partcipants were just play acting. Their performance was based on stereotypes. However zimbardo argued that the situation was very real. 90% of conversations were about prison life.
25
Dispositional influences
Fromm 1973 accused zimbardo of exaggerating the power of the situation. Only a minority of guards behaved in a brutal manner. About a third wanted to apply the rules fairly. The rest tried to help prisoners and sympathised with them . This suggests that some personality influenced that as they didn’t all conform. Zimbardos conclusion were over stated the diffference in the guards behaviour indicated that they were able to decide between right and wrong despite the situational pressures to conform.
26
Some of the guards were hostile and dehumanising towards the prisoners and were not prevented from treating them unreasonably. For example , they controlled when when they could go to the toilet and woke them in the midddle of the night to stand on parade.
This is an ethical problem as they were not protected from harm as this caused some of the prisoners stress.
27
What is obedience ?
28
What was milgrams aim?
Why the German population had followed the order of hitler and slaughtered over ten million Jews gypsies and members of other social groups in the holocaust during the Second World War ?
29
What was milgrams procedure ?
Partcipants drew lots for their role. A confederate mr Wallace was always the “learner “ while the true participant was always the “teacher” . An “experimenter “ another confederate wore a lab coat. Participants were told they could leave at any time .
30
what were Milgram's findings?
300 volts = intense shock - everyone delivered all the shocks up to 300v to partcipants
only 12.5% five partcipants stopped at 300v
450 volts- danger severe shock
65% continued to the highest level of shock
fully obediant
31
what were milgrams other findings?
Milgram also managed to collect qualitive data (observations)
- showed extreme signs of tension
-sweat
- tremble
- grumble
- bite their lips
- stutter
-dig their nails
- 3 of them even had uncontrollable seizures
before the experiment, Milgram asked 14 psychology students to predict participants behaviour. students predicting that no more than 3% of participant's would go up to the maximum voltage. This shows how unexpected the findings of milgrams were.
32
milgrams evaluations
we may assume that the external validity of Milgram's study is low as it was conducted in a lab however, hofling et al 1996 studied nurses on a hospital ward and found levels of obedience to unjustified demands by doctors were very high
21 out of 22 nurses obeyed Dr smith over the phone administering a double does of ' astroten' to confederate patient Mr jones
they broke 3 key nursing rules in order to obey - phone orders, double does , unauthorised drug
there's also reliability as game of death is a French documentary that included replication of Milgram participants believed they were contestants in a pilot for a new game show called la zone xtreme and were paid to give ( fake) electric shocks when ordered by a presenter
80% of participants gave the maximum 460volts to an apparently unconscious man , their behaviour was almost identical to that seen in Milgram's study - nervous laughter, nail biting and other signs of anxiety. this supports Milgram's original findings about obedience to authority and demonstrates that the findings were not just due to special circumstances.
however low internal validity orne and holland 1968 argued that participant's behaved the was they did because they didnt really believe the set up- they guessed the electric shocks werent real .perry 2013 listened to the tapes and stated that may of the partcipants vocalised their doubts about the shocks being real
they claim theresearch therefore wasn't measuring what was intended so lack internal validity. this suggests that particicpants may have been responding to demand characteristics trying to fulfil the aims of the study.
however, sheridan and kings 1972 conducted a similar study where real shocks were given to a puppy.54% of male and 100% of female partcipants delivered what they believed was a fatal shock to the puppy. This supports the internal validity of milgrams research - and milgram himself claims that 70%of his partcipants believed the shocks were real.
this suggests that the effects of milgrams study were geniune because people behaved obediantly even when shocks were real.
33
whats social identity theory?
alternatively Milgram's participants identified with the experimenter the science of the study . participant's gave shocks due to their identification with the experimenter as a scientist
Haslam et al 2014 showed that Milgram's participants obeyed when the experimenter delivered the first three probes. However every participant who was given the fourth prompt disobeyed.
prod 1-3 appeal for help with the science
4th prod demands obedience
when obedience levels fell, the participants identified more with the victim.
another limitation is that Milgram's conclusions about blind obedience may not be justified ever participant in Haslam gave fourth prompts disobeyed the fourth prompts was you have no choice you must go on. According to sit participants in Milgram's study only obeyed when they identified the scientific aims of the research. when they were ordered to blindly obey an authority figure they refused. This shows that sit may provide a more valid interpretation of Milgram's findings especially as Milgram himself suggested that identifying with the science is a reason for obedience
34
ethical evaluation for milgram
some people are surprised that Milgram's baseline study was allowed to go ahead. Ethics refers to the correct rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research. We have a moral responsibility to protect research participants from harm/however important the issue under investigation psychologists need to remember that they have a duty to respect the rights and dignity of research participants.
debriefing is the process of informing the participant's about the purpose of the experiment and about any deception that may have been used, all participant's in the baseline study were debriefed and assured that their behaviour was entirely normal. They were sent a follow up questionnaire whereby 84% said they were glad to have participated.
35
what are situational variable?
uniform
location
proximity
36
what happened when location moved from prestigious yale university to rundown office in nearby town.
obediance lowered to 47.5%
37
whats limited contract?
Leaner agreed to partcipate on the condition that you let me out when i say so
38
what happened with a limited contract?
it lowered to 40%
39
what happened when they increased proximity?
teacher and learner in same room
lowered 40%
40
what happened when they got someone else to do it ?
teacher paired with confederate who threw the switches to give the shock?
obedience was higher
92.5%
41
what happened with physical force?
teacher had to force learners hand onto the plate to receive the electric shocks?
obedience dropped to 30%
42
what happened with support?
teacher given support from two other 'teachers' who were actually confederates who refuse to obey
lower 10%
43
what happened with reduced proximity?
experimentar left the room and gave instruction to 'teacher' by telephone
lower 20.5%
44
what's proximity?
refers to how close you are to someone or something.
in Milgram's original experiment describe the proximity of the learning to the teacher .
the teacher and learner are in adjoining rooms. the teacher can hear but not see the leaner.
45
whats uniform?
refer to the distinctive clothing worn by members of the same organisation.
uniform can be an indication of authority.
in milgrams original experiment he wore a lab coat
46
whats location?
Milgram's original experiment was at yale university a prestigious setting
47
ao3 for situational variables
there is research support Bickman 1974 looked at the effect of authority on obedience confederate dressed in jacket/tie as a milkman or a s a security guard . the confederate asked passers by to provide a coin for a parking meter, pick up litter they hadn't dropped etc.
people were twice as likely to obey the security guard that the jacket tie confederate this supports Milgram's conclusion that a uniform conveys authority and is a situational factor producing obedience
cross culture replicability
Miranda et al 1981found over 90% obedience in Spanish students. Milgram's findings are not limited to American males.
however smith and bond 1998 note that most replications have taken place in western societies e.g. Spain culturally not that different from the USA.
it is premature to conclude that Milgram's findings about proximity location and uniform apply to people everywhere.
there is also low internal validity
Orne and holland 1968 suggest that participants in Milgram's variations were even more likely to realise the procedure was faked because of the extra experimental manipulation
in the variation where the experimenter was replaced by a member of the public even Milgram recognised this was so contrived that some participant's may have worked it out.
so it is unclear whether the results are due to obedience or because the participants saw the deception and ' play acted'.
obedience alibi
Milgram's findings are an 'excuse' for obedience- suggesting that it is the situation not the person who is responsible.
Mandel 1998 claims that this is offensive to holocaust survivors to suggest that the Nazis simply obeyed orders and were victims of situational factors beyond their control
Milgram's situational perspective is dangerous because it ignores the roles that discrimination, racism and prejudice played in the holocaust
48
what does agency theory suggest?
that humans have two mental states:
autonomous
agentic
49
what is meant by the autonomous state?
autonomy means to be free /independent.
so , a person in an autonomous state is free to behave accordingly to their own principles and feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions.
50
what is meant by the agentic state?
a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure i.e. Their agent
this frees us from the demands of our consciousness and allows us to even obey to destructive authority figures
this is called the agentic state - as the person becomes and agent acting on behalf of someone else.
51
what is the shift from agency to autonomy known as ?
agentic shift
Milgram 1974 suggested this occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority .This other person has greater power because of their position in a social hierarchy.
52
what is moral strain and binding factors ?
Milgram argued an agent is not an unfeeling puppet -they experience a moral strain ( high anxiety) when they realise what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey.
Milgram raised the question of why individuals remain in the agentic state. The answer is binding factors - aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore the effect of their behaviour to reduce moral strain.
strategies that the individual could use are, shifiting the responsibility to the victim or denying the damage they were doing to the victims.
"the learner gave consent to take part so its okay to continue the shocks"
53
what is legitimacy of authority?
This is an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who have a higher position/status in a social hierarchy . we perceive these people to have authority over us which is what would lead us to obey.
most of us accept that authority figures must be allowed to exercise social powers over others because this allows society to function smoothly.
54
what is consequence of legitimacy of authority?
some people are granted the power to punish others.in society we agree that some figures of authority should have the power to punish wrong doers e.g. police officers and law officials.
we willingly hand over some of our independence and hand in control of our behaviour to those we trust will use their authority appropriately.
The problem arises when this authority is used destructively.
55
what is destructive authority?
history has shown all too often that powerful leaders such as hitler stalin, can use legitimate powers for destructive purposes.
56
how was destructive authority shown in Milgram's study?
when the experimenter used prods to order the partcipants to behave in ways that went against their conscience.
57
agency theory evaluation
there is research support for agentic state blass and schmidt 2001 showed students a film of Milgram's study and asked them to identify who was responsible for harm to the learner. Students blamed the experimenter rather than the participant. This responsibility was due to legitimate authority the experimenter was top of the hierarchy but also to expert authority he was a scientist. the students recognised that a shift from autonomy to being an agent of a legitimate authority figure had been taken place supporting the agentic state explanation of obedience.
agentic shift doesn't explain research findings some partcipants did not obey- humans are social animals hierarchies and therefore should all obey. also, in holfiet als 1966 study nurses should have shown anxiety as they gave responsibility over to the doctor because they understood their role in a destructive process ;but this was not the case. so the agentic shift can only account for some situations of obediance.
the agentic state cannot account for nazi behaviour mandel 1998 described german reserve police battalion 101 - men shot civilians in a small town in poland ww2. they did this even though they were not directly ordered to they were told they could be assigned other duties. this challenges the agentic state explanation because the reserve police were not powerless to disobey.
58
what is the dispositional explanation?
-a dispositional explanation of behaviour highlights the importance of an individuals personality.
such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations as these focus on the external circumstances rather than the personality.
59
what is the authoritian personality?
like Milgram , Adorno et al wanted to understand the anti- semitism of the holocaust
they believed that a high level of obedience was a psychological disorders and that
the cause for such disorder lies in the personality of the individual not the situation
an authorities personality is an attitude where a person follows orders of those who they perceive to be authority in a social hierarchy.
60
what did Adorno et al argue ?
- Argued that people with the authoritarian personality show an extreme respect for submissiveness to authority
such people also view society as weaker than it once as and believe that we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values such as love of country and family.
these characteristics make people with ap more likely to obey authority.
61
what is characteristics of authoritarian personality and obedience?
rigid beliefs in conventional values
general hostility towards other groups
intolerant of ambiguity- anything that cannot be defined in clear cut way
submissive attitudes towards authority figures.
62
what is associated behaviour?
very traditional ideas - dislike of change and disorder
has a dominating and bullying manner
cannot tolerate behaviour that is wrong in any way
respectful to authority figures.
63
what are the origins of the authoritarian personality?
according to Adorno this forms in childhood as a results of harsh parenting
- extreme strict discipline
- expectation of absolute loyalty
- impossibly high standards
- severe crictism of perceived failing
- parents give conditional love - affection given depending on how the child behaves
these experiences create resentment and hostility in a child but cannot express this to their parents as they fear punishment
- fears are displaced on to those who they perceive 'weaker 'scapegoating
- explains the hatred towards those that are socially inferior
or who belongs to other social groups
psychodynamic explanation
64
what was adorno et al's procedure 1950?
- studied more than 2000 middle class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups
- developed the f scale which measures the relationships between a persons personality type and prejudicied beliefs
- obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn
there is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel great love gratitude and respect for his parents.
65
what were Adornos findings?
people who scored high on the f scale identified with strong people and generally contemptuous of the weal
- very conscious of status
- showed extreme respect , deference and servility to those of higher status these traits are the basis of obedience
authoritarian people had a certain cognitive style
they had fixed and distinctive stereotypes about other groups
a strong positive correlation between authoritarian personality and prejudice
no grey areas between categories of people
66
Dispositional ao3
there is social desirability as its a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favourably by others. it can take the form of over reporting 'good behaviour' or under reporting bad behaviour or undesirable behaviours.
Authoritarianism cannot explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a country's population
in pre war Germany, millions of people displayed obediant,anti semitic behaviour - they cannot have all had the same personality
Adornos theory is limited as alternate explanations are more realistic
An alternate view is that the majority of the German people identified with the anti semitic Nazi state and scapegoated the outgroup of jews. People identify themselves as belonging to particular social groups. we favour our in group over any group to which they don't belong out -group
we maximise the similarities within the group and the difference between our group and others.
political bias
f scale only measures the tendency towards and extreme right- wing ideology
christie & Jahoda argued that the fscale is a politically biased interpretation of ap. they pointed out the reality of left wing authoritarianism in the shape of Russian bolshevism or Chinese Maoism.
there is also flawed evidence provided the basis of an explanation of obedience based on authoritarian personality. However it has been criticised to be extremely flawed. it is possible to get a high score if you just select agree anyone with this response bias would be assessed as having an authoritarian personality
Elms and Milgram found that obedient participants scored higher on the fscale in comparison to disobedient participants.
however, whilst Adorno found high correlations for authoritarian personality and prejudice, and the authoritarian personality and harsh parenting he cannot claim to know the cause and effect, as his research merely points to a relationship. Even supporting research by Milgram's and elms was correlational.
67
What is resisting social influence ?
Independent behaviour refers to the ability of people to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey to authority. The ability to resist social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.
68
What are the two explanations for resisting social influence ?
Locus of control
Social support
69
What is locus of control ?
In some cases people can resist the pressure to conform or obey because of their personality .
Rotter 1966 proposed the idea of locus of control which is the extent to which people believe they have control over their own lives.
70
What is an internal locus of control?
People believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves. It describes the extent an individual feels in control of what happens to them and the extent to which they as an individual can affect their life .
71
What’s an external locus of control ?
People tend to believe the things that happen to them are outside of their control . It describes what happens to them is down to luck or fate and that they are not in control of their life . It is due to external forces in their environment for example other people.
72
What’s the loc continuum ?
People aren’t just either internal or external . Loc is a scale and individuals vary in their position on it.
73
How does loc lead to resistance to social influence ?
High externals are more likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal control over their lives. People who have an internal locus of control are more likely be able to resist pressure to obey and conform as they take personal responsibility of their actions. They tend to base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the opinion of others. People with a high internal locus of control tend to be more self confident more achievement orientated and highly intelligent and have less need for social approval. These personality traits lead the greater resistance to social influence.
74
Ao3 for resisting social influence loc
One strength of locus of control as an explanation to resistance of social influence is that there is research evidence to support the link between locus of control and resistance to social influence. Holland 1967 repeated milgrams baseline study and measured whether pps had an internal or external loc. he found that 37% of those with an internal locus of control did not continue to the highest shock level which showed some resistance whereas only 23% of those with external locus of control did not continue . This is a strength as this shows that resistance to social influence is at least partly related to locus of control. Research support of this nature increases the credibility of the locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
However although there is evidence supporting loc as an explanation to resisting social influence, there is also evidence that challenges the link between locus and resistance to social influence. Twenge et al2004 analysed the data from American locus of control studies that were conducted over a 40 year period. They found that over the years people became more resistant to social influence but at the same time became more external. This is a limitation as according to loc, individuals who are internal are more likely to resist social influence therefore you would expect the results of twenge et al to show that more individuals became more internal than external. This suggests that loc is not a comprehensive explanation of how people resist social influence.
Another limitation is that locus of control has a limited role. Although there is evidence supporting loc as an explanation to resisting social influence , rotter 1982 points out that loc is not necessarily the most importance factors in determining whether someone resists social influence. He claims the role of loc depends on the situation and that it only significantly affects behaviour in new situation. In other words if you have previously conformed or obeyed in a specific situation in the past chances are you will do again in the future regardless of what loc you have. Therefore this limits the credibility of loc explanation because it cannot be used to accurately predict resistance in all situations .
75
What is social support ?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do the same . The people acts as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible. Individuals who have support for their point of view are more likely to disobey orders and also not conform .
76
What is resisting conformity social support ?
The pressure to conform can be resisted if there are other people present who are not conforming dissenter having a dissenter can build confidence and allow individuals to remains independent.
Asch
The confederate who is not conforming may not be giving the right answer however , this still freed the participant from conforming to give the wrong answer.
77
What is resisting obedience with social support ?
The pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to be disobedient.
In one of milgrams variations obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the geniune ppt was joined by a disobedient confederate. Partcipants may not necessarily follow the disobedients person behaviour however , the disobedience of that person behaviour acts as a “model” of dissent for the participant to copy .
78
Ao3 for resistance to social influence social support
Gameson et al 1982 research supports the link between social support and resistance to obedience as there is high rates of resistance in comparison so milgrams they argue these high rates are because participants had to work in groups 29 out 33 or partcipants rebelled 33% . Peer support linked to grater resistance
Allen and Levine 1972 supports the link between social support and resistance to conformity conformity decreased when there was a dissenter in the Asch type study this was even the case when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficultly with his Vision as they become an ally. Resistance is not just motivated by following someone else, but by enabling someone to be free from pressure from the social group.
79
What is minority influence?
Minority influence is a form of social influence where a persuasive minority changes the attitudes and behaviours from the majority . In both cases the people being influenced may just be one person small group or large group of people . Minority influence is most likely going to lead to internalisation.
80
How is minority influence different from conformity?
In conformity the majority is doing the influencing.
81
What was moscovici aim ?
Moscovici investigated the effects of a consistent minority on a majority.
AIM to see if a consistent minority can influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task . He concluded that consistency is vital for minority influence to occur.
82
What was moscovici blue - green experiment?
127 female participants in total. All partcipants were first given eye test to ensure they were not colour blind. Divided into groups that included 4 partcipants and two confederates.36 slides with shades of blue . Partcipants had to state whether the colour was blue or green out loud.
83
What was the role of confederate in the moscovici experiment?
Condition one confederates were consistent and answered green on every slide on all the trials
Condition two confederates were inconsistent and answered green 24 times and blue 12 times
84
What were moscovici findings?
Consistent minority influenced the majority 8.4 % compared inconsistent minority only 1.25% said green . A third 32% of all partcipants judged the slide to be green at least once. In A third control group there were no confederates , partcipants got the trial wrong only 0.25% of the trials.
85
How does minority influence occur ?
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
86
what is consistency?
minority influence is the most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all individuals that form the minority. over time , consistency increases the amount of interest from other people.
87
what are the two types of consistency?
can happen independantly or together
synchronic consistency
diachronic consistency
a consistent minority makes other people start to rethink their own views
88
what is synchronic consistency?
people in the minority are all saying the same thing
89
what is diachronic consistency?
describes the consistency of ideas over time
90
what is a real world example of consistency?
the suffragette movement
important real life example of a minority influening a majority. The aim of the suffragettes was to achieve the right to vote for women through peaceful means. the hard work of the suffragettes combined with the justice of their case, finally led to the majority to accept their point of view.
91
what is commitment?
minority influence is more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position. sometimes minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views. it is important that these activities present some risk to the minority because this shows greater commitment.
92
what is the Augmentation principle?
these extreme activities may make the majority group pay even more attention to the cause that is being raised by the minority. ' wow she must really believe in what shes saying so perhaps i should consider her view' this is known as the augmentation principle
93
what is flexibility?
moscovici demonstrates that consistency is an important factor for minority influence, however research also suggests that minorities require a degree of flexibility to remain persuasive and that rigid minorities are less effective. Therefore minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.
94
what does Nemeth's research highlight?
Nemeth's research highlights the importance of flexibility but questions the idea of consistency. moscovici shows that minorities need to be consistent, whereas nemeth shows that minorities need to be flexible. This shows that the minority should balance consistency and flexibility so they do not appear rigid and have a greater influence on others.
95
what is the process of change?
consistency , commitment and flexibility all make people think about the minority's view or cause. Hearing about something that you already agree with will not make you stop and think however hearing something new might make you think more deeply about it. especially if the source of this view are consistent committed and flexible. over time, people switch from the majority position, this is known as 'conversion'. People become converted when deeper processing f the minority view occurs.
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what is the occurrence of social change?
The more deeper processing occurs the faster the rate of 'conversion 'from majority view to minority view ( snowball effect). over time the minority view will become the majority which is what leads to social change.
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minority influence ao3
a strength is that research evidence demonstrates the importance of consistency. wood et al conducted a meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential, moscovici et al 1969 found that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion. This confirms that consistency is a major factor in minority influence.
Another strength is that research evidence shows that change to a minority position involves deeper thought. martin et al 2003 gave participants a message supporting a particular viewpoint and attitudes measured. Then they heard an endorsement of the view from either a minority of a majority. Finally they heard a conflicting view attitudes measured again. people were less willing to change their opinions to the new conflicting view if they had listened to a minority group than if they listened to a majority group. This suggest that minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect.
a limitation is that minority influence research often involves artificial tasks. moscovicis task was identifying the colour of a slide far removed from how minorities try to change the opinion in real life.in jury decision making and political campaigning outcomes are vastly more important maybe a matter of life or death. findings of studies lack external validity and are limited in what they tell us about how minority influence works in real life situation.
the power of minority influence has been questioned. moscovicis figure of agreement was very low on average 8% this suggests minority influence is rare and not a useful concept. moscovici varied his study participants wrote their answer down so their responses were private. agreement with the minority was greater. this shows that people may be influence by a minority but dont admit it therefore the effect of the minority is not apparent.
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what is social change ?
when society adopts a new way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm.It is the process of bringing about significant societal changes which usually results in a conflict with those in authority or power. it always starts with a small group or a minority trying to win over the rest of society.
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how does minority influence create change?
1 drawing attention- drawing attention to the problem by providing social proof
2 consistency- the argument never changes arguments are expressed consistently
3 deeper processing- a cognitive conflict occurs and people thinks more deeply about the issue
4 augmentation principle- if a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and so taken more seriously
5 snowball effect - more and more people adopt the minority opinion until gradually the minority becomes the majority leading to wide spread social change
6 social cryptomnesia - people have a memory that change has occurred but don't remever how it happened
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what is meant by drawing attention?
This was done through social proof - in the 1950s and 60s in America black separation applied to all parts of America. there were black neighbourhoods and in southern states of America places such as schools and restaurant were exclusive to whites. the civil right marches of this period drew attention to the situation by providing social proof of the problem.
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an example of consistency in social change?
there were many marches and may people taking part. Even though they were the minority of the American population, the civil rights activists displayed consistency of message and intent.
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what is deeper processing in social change?
This attention meant that many people who just accepted the status quo began to think about the unjustness of it.
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What’s the augmentation principle for social change ?
There were a number of incidents where individuals risked their lives. For example freedom riders were mixed racial groups who got on buses in the south to challenge the facts that black people had to sit separately on buses. Many freedom riders were beaten and there were incidents of mob violence.
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What is the snowball effect in social change?
Civil rights activists such as Martin Luther king continued to press for changes that gradually got the attention of the us government. In 1964 the us civil rights acts were passed which prohibited discrimination. This represented a change from minority to majority support for civil rights.
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What is social crypto amnesia?
There is no doubt that social change occurred and the south is quite a different place not but some people have no memory of the events that led to change.
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How does conformity create change?
Normative social influence when a person conforms in order to be accepted and belong to a group. They do this because it is socially rewarding and or to avoid social rejection e,g ridicule for not fitting in. This approach is often used by environmental or health campaigns they provide information about what others are doing to convince them to do the same, e.g to reduce litter they might put stickers on bins that say bin it others do. Preventing young people from smoking you would tell them most other young people don’t smoke.
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