Social influence Flashcards
(23 cards)
What are the 3 types of conformity?
Compliance: You follow other people’s ideas to along with the group and gain their approval. You publicly agree but privately disagree. This is due to NSI (Normative Social Influence) because you want to fit in. WEAKEST TYPE OF CONFORMITY
Identification: It is a temporary change of behaviour and beliefs are present when with the group. Being more professional in the office for example. MIDDLE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY
Internalisation: Making the beliefs, values or behaviour of the group your own as well. This is due to ISI because you think their knowledge of a particular subject is greater than yours.
What is NSI and ISI?
NSI: Someone conforms because they want to be liked and be part of the group. They want to be part of the majority.
ISI: Someone conforms because they want to be right, and copy others to have the right answer in a situation when their information is more superior than theirs.
What is Asch’s study, list what affected conformity and evaluate
- Investigates conformity and majority influence
- Match the line to a correct answer
- There are 5 confederates and 1 true participants
- Asch wanted to see if the real participant conformed when the answer was obviously wrong.
Findings:
- 75% conformed at least once
Factors affecting the level of conformity:
GROUP SIZE
- Individual is more likely to conform in a bigger group.
- Groups with 3 or less confederates has low conformity
- Bigger group size = more confidence to conform and say the wrong answer
ANOTHER PARTICIPANT ADDED
- Found conformity dipped a lot.
- More unanimity of the answer = more confidence and less likely to conform to the wrong answer.
TASK DIFFICULTY
- PP more likely to conform when the task gets more difficult.
- Similar lengths of line
- Shows ISI, we think others have more superior knowledge over us
EVALUATION
- Lab experiment: variables are controlled and therefore it has high reliability. Can make cause and effects relationships therefore
- Debrief afterwards
- Lacks ecological validity: comparison of lines can’t be generalised to real life as it doesn’t show real life conformity (many confounding variables contribute)
- Androcentric: had men in the experiment but generalised it to both genders
What is Zimbardo’s study, give findings and evaluation.
- University students picked to do a mock prison experiment to see how people conform to social roles
- Guard or prisoner was randomly selected
- The guards had complete control of the prisoner behaviours
- Physical violence was permitted to prevent preaching ethical guidelines
FINDINGS
- Prisoners and guards acted in their social roles quickly, the guards would harass and torment prisoners aggressively and the guards enjoyed it.
- The prisoners showed identification, they would talk about the life of prison and the struggles.
- Guards became more dominant and the prisoners became more submissive.
EVALUATION
- PPs were fully debriefed about the aims and the results of the study increasing the ethical side (even though there was breaches of ethical guidelines when the experiment happened
- Showed us the effects of social roles and identification
- Demand characteristics: pps knew how to act and may change their behaviour to please experimenter. They knew it wasn’t real and would play a character to help the experimenter, one guard said.
- Culture bias: All american males, in China they may conform more because they’re collectivist culture.
What is the agentic state?
Believe that someone else will take responsibility for their own actions. They shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state. (AGENTIC SHIFT).
Links to Nazi Germany officers
What is the agentic shift?
Shift from the autonomous state (taking responsibility of their own actions) to an agentic state (putting their own actions on someone else).
Links to Nazi Germany officers
What is legitimacy of authority?
States how credible the authority is, people are more likely to obey if they are moral and legitimate.
Links to Milgram’s experiment
What is Milgram’s experiment, give factors affecting obedience and evaluation
- Male volunteers
- Wanted to see if people would obey a figure of authority when told to harm another person with an electric shock
- They were fake shocks but advertised to the participants as real shocks
- They would prod the participant, to see if it meant they obeyed.
FINDINGS
- Vast majority of PPs were prepared to give electric shocks to the confederate
FACTORS AFFECTING OBEDIENCE
PROXIMITY
- PPs obeyed more the closer the experimenter was to the participant.
- Decreased when PP and experimenter were in different rooms
LOCATION
- PPs obeyed more when it was done at more prestigious place
UNIFORM
- PPs obeyed more when the experimenter wore a lab coat. It gives a higher status and greater sense of legitimacy.
EVALUATION
- Debriefed on the real aims of the study
- Applicable to real life: Nazi Germany (agentic shift)
- High in reliability
- Signs of psychological harm during the experiment, PPs were visibly concerned
- Social sensitivity: killers can argue that they’re not responsible for their crimes because of the agentic shift
What is a situational factor?
Suggests that changing a factor may influence if the person obeys.
Links to Milgram.
Proximity of authority, location.
What is dispositional factor?
why they obey for example. Individual’s personality, eg authoritarian personality
What is the authoritarian personality?
Collection of traits developed from STRICT parenting.
obedient towards people of higher status
What is Adorno’s study on authoritarian personality?
- Measured 2000 M/C white Americans and their attitudes towards other races
- Used the F(facism)-scale to measure authoritarian personalities.
FINDINGS:
- High on the F scale = authoritarian personality
- Showed ‘blind respect’ to people with power
- Positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
EVALUATION
- Milgram’s study: high obedience = high f-scale
What is minority influence?
The minority persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours.
Leads to internalisation
What are 3 ways to gain support in a minority?
- Consistency
- Commitment
- Flexibility
What is the snowball effect?
Something small gains momentum, suggesting that the minority is gaining more support
What is Milgram’s agency theory?
We feel we’re acting out of someone else’s wishes and therefore don’t feel the responsibility.
What were the binding factors in Milgram study?
- Reluctance to disrupt the experiment
- Pressure of the surroundings (university setting)
- The authority figure asking them to continue the experiment when they hesitated.
What is locus of control?
It suggests how much personal control you believe you have over the events that occur in your life. (similar to freewill-determinism).
Internal LOC ppl = events in life are controlled from your own behaviour or actions
External LOC ppl = external factors like luck may influence events in your life.
Internal LOC are more likely to have control over their lives, meaning that they are LESS likely to conform or obey.
External LOC are MORE likely to conform or obey.
What is Moscovici’s study, findings and evaluation
- Lab experiment to see whether minority influence influenced events
- 192 women
- Participants were in groups of 6, and judged the colour of 36 slides
- All slides were blue, but some of them had different brightness.
- Every group had 2 confederates in 6.
- One condition the confederates would say all slides were green, another was the majority of slides were green and some were blue
FINDINGS
- The consistent green confederates had more influence over the others than the other conditions
- This shows that consistency creates influence even when you’re in the minority.
EVALUATION
- Lack of ecological validity, task was artificial
- Gender bias, only women were used so it can’t be generalised to men also.
What is Moscovici’s conversion theory?
Suggests that when you’re in the majority influence you want to fit in and comply to the views and therefore you don’t agree with the views privately.
In a minority influence, people examine these beliefs in detail and therefore internalise these beliefs.
What is the social impact theory?
Social influence happens when there are
- Strength in power
- High numbers
- How relatable the source of influence is to you
What is social cryptoamnesia?
Private views become public and the norm as the minority turns into the majority.
Real life examples of minority influence?
- MLK
- LGBT rights
