social influence Flashcards
paper 1 (73 cards)
1
Q
What is conformity?
A
When a person changes what they do, think or say in response to influences or from imagined pressure from a majority group.
2
Q
Why do people conform?
A
- Scared of not fitting in, scared of others opinions.
- Peer pressure.
- Scared of being judged.
- Change of heart.
3
Q
What are the two explanations for social influence?
A
- Normative social influence.
- Informational social influence.
4
Q
What is normative social influence?
A
When we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval.
Leads to compliance.
5
Q
What is informational social influence?
A
We agree with the opinion of the majority as we believe the information is correct.
Leads to internalisation.
6
Q
What are the three types of conformity?
A
- Compliance.
- Identification.
- Internalisation.
7
Q
What is compliance?
A
- Accept the influence publicly to gain specific rewards or approval but disagree privately.
- Temporary as it stops when there are no group pressures.
8
Q
What is identification?
A
- Conform to the expectations of a social group, but might not always agree ( to establish or maintain a relationship).
- Moderate level.
9
Q
What is internalisation?
A
- The belief of the group becomes part of a persons own belief system.
- Deepest level as it can lead to permanent change.
10
Q
What happened in Asch’s line study?
A
Asch wanted to find out if social pressure would lead to conformity.
11
Q
What was the method of the line study?
A
- A line judgement task.
- 18 trials in total - in 12 of them the confederates gave wrong answers.
- Only 1 real participant - rest were confederates (a person who is actually part of the research team).
- All men (50 male student participants) - cannot be generalised with females.
- Lab experiments.
- Control condition - no confederates.
12
Q
What were the findings of the line study?
A
In the 12 critical trials:
- 25% did not conform.
- 75% conformed once.
36.8% of participants gave a wrong answer.
13
Q
What is meant by the Asch effect?
A
That individuals conform to group pressures and alter their behaviour to fit the majority.
14
Q
What are some evaluation points of the line study?
A
- Lab conditions - high control due to standardised procedure.
- Artificial task - low ecological validity.
- Ethics - real participants were deceived.
- Biased sample - all men = lacks population validity.
- cannot be generalised to women.
15
Q
What are the three variations to Asch’s line study?
A
- Task difficulty.
- Group size.
- Unanimity.
16
Q
What is task difficulty?
A
Made the task more difficult by making the standard line and comparison line similar.
Conformity increases as the group assume the majority is right.
17
Q
What is group size?
A
As the number of confederates increases the rate of conformity decreases.
Three confederates is peak for conformity (32%).
18
Q
What is unanimity?
A
The extent to which all the members of a group agree.
Unanimous conformity decreased to 5% when only one confederate gave a correct answer.
19
Q
Influenced by informational social influence - task difficulty.
A
We are more likely to seek support or guidance from other members of a group when the task is more difficult.
We assume the majority is correct based on the information given.
20
Q
What is a social role?
A
The part a person plays within a social setting.
e.g teacher, mother
21
Q
What are expectations within social roles?
A
What behaviour is deemed appropriate for a social role.
e.g. mother = kind/caring
22
Q
After 2 months of the Stanford prison experiment what did the participants say?
A
No regret whilst in the experiment - takes no personal responsibility as Zimbardo is to blame.
Didn’t believe he could behave that way - “power of the situation”
23
Q
Evaluations of the Sanford prison experiment.
A
- Ethical issues - no protection from harm, lacked inform consent and right to withdraw was not made clear.
- Lacks ecological validity - not reflective of a real prison.
- Good internal validity - control over participant variable = emotionally stable.
- Supported the intro of ethics - studies now have to be reviewed before being implemented - America Psychological Associations (APA).
24
Q
What is obedience?
A
A form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order.
The person giving the order is usually a figure of authority who can publish disobedience.
25
What is the link between Milgram and Nazi Germany?
Milgram wanted to examine justifications for acts of genocide (killing of large groups of people) during WW2 by Hitler (figure of authority).
26
Evaluations of Milgram's study.
-Low internal validity (weakness) - Orne and Holland argued that participants behaved the way they did because they were acting and didn't believe the set up.
They responded to demand characteristics.
- Good external validity (strength) - The relationship between teacher and learner.
This process can be generalised to other situations.
27
What are situational variables?
External circumstance that could influence obedience.
Does obedience alter in different situations.
28
What are the three variables in Milgrams study?
- Proximity.
- Location.
- Uniform.
29
How do the different type of proximity effect obedience in Milgram's study?
- Proximity - Teacher and learner were in the same room - 40% obeyed.
- Touch proximity - Teacher had to physically put the learners hand on the shock plate - 30% obeyed.
- Remote instructions - Experimenter gave the teacher instructions over the phone - 20% obeyed.
30
How does location effect obedience in Milgram's study?
- Lab conditions at Yale University (65%) VS in a run down building.
- 47% obeyed.
- Participants may not believe the set up due to the location.
31
How does uniform effect obedience in Milgram's study?
- Symbol of authority - The presence of an authority figure in uniform, such as a lab coat, gave the impression of expertise and power.
- Legitimacy - The uniform lent credibility to the situation and reinforced the legitimacy of the experiment, making participants more likely to follow instructions.
- Responsibility shift - The authority figure's presence allowed participants to shift the responsibility for their actions onto the authority figure.
Milgram found that the presence of an authority figure in uniform significantly increased obedience levels in his experiments. Participants were more likely to administer higher levels of electric shocks.
32
Why did proximity lower obedience?
- Proximity - felt more responsible.
- Touch proximity - harm felt personal and hard to justify.
- Remote instructions - more control as no authority figure present.
33
Why did location lower obedience?
Participants doubled the legitimacy of the study.
34
Why did uniform lower obedience?
Lacking of a symbol of authority.
No lab coat.
35
What is the dispositional explanation?
An explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individuals personality.
36
Adorno et al.
- Interested in the cause of an obedient personality.
- Created a questionnaire for over 2000 middle class, white Americans - cultural bias.
- Aim was to reveal their attitudes towards other racial groups.
37
What is the F scale?
- Questionnaire.
- To measure the relationship between personality type and prejudice beliefs.
- Still used today.
- Can indicate fascism (authoritarian and right wing movement - e.g. Nazis) = believe in dictatorship - Hitler.
38
What are the findings of the F - scale?
High score = "strong" person who dismisses the weak.
- Conscious of own status.
- Showed respect to those with a high status.
- Believe in stereotypes.
A positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.
39
What are the three explanations for obedience?
- Authoritarian personality.
- Agentic state.
- Legitimacy of authority.
40
What is an authoritarian personality?
A type of personality that Adorno believed was susceptible to obeying authority.
41
What are some characteristics of an authoritarian personality?
- Submissive to authority.
- Dismissive of the "weak" or those with low status.
- Highly obedient.
- Society will fail without one strong and powerful leader.
- Traditional values = religion, family, patriarchy.
42
How does obedience to destructive authority (chaos) occur?
(agentic state)
Occurs because a person does not take responsibility and instead believes they are acting for someone else.
43
What is meant by "agent"?
(agentic state)
Someone who acts for or in place of another.
They experience anxiety when they realise what they are doing is wrong, but they feel powerless to disobey - scared of punishment.
44
What is the autonomous state?
A mental state where we feel we are free to behave to our own principles and feel responsible for our actions.
45
What is the agentic state?
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe we are acting for an authority figure.
46
What is meant by the agentic shift?
The change from autonomy to agency.
47
Why does the agentic shift occur?
We see someone else as a figure of authority.
- legitimate.
48
What is legitimacy of authority?
This suggests we are more likely to obey people who we perceive have authority over us.
49
What are the two explanations for resistance to social influence?
- Locus of control.
- Social support.
50
What is locus of control?
The sense we each have about what directs events in our lives.
Rotter (1966).
51
What is meant by an internal locus of control?
- Belief that life is determined by our own actions.
- "Free will."
- More likely to resist.
52
What is meant by an external locus of control?
- Belief that life is determined by fate, luck and external factors.
- "Deterministic."
- More likely to conform.
53
What are some characteristics of someone with an internal locus of control?
- Self confident.
- Make own decisions based on own beliefs.
- Less need for social approval.
54
What are some characteristics of someone with an external locus of control?
- Easily influenced.
- Seek guidance from others.
- Lacks confidence.
55
What is meant by social support?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey that helps others to do the same.
56
What is the difference between minority and majority?
Minority - one small group or one person that influences the beliefs of others.
Majority - a larger group which influences a smaller group.
57
How does minority influence lead to internalisation?
A minority will try to persuade the majority to move to their view by rejecting the norm of an established group.
58
What are three factors that help to support minority influence?
- Flexibility = can understand others views.
- Commitment = set on a view over time.
- Consistency = message stays the same.
59
In minority influence what are the two types of consistency?
- Synchronic consistency.
- Diachronic consistency.
60
What does synchronic consistency mean?
The message in the group has stayed the same.
"In sync."
61
What does diachronic consistency mean?
The message has stayed the same over time.
62
What is the augmentation principle?
(commitment)
People show commitment to a cause through strong actions and personal suffering are more likely to be believed.
63
What is social change, how does it happen and what are some examples?
Whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs and behaviours.
Starts with a minority to win over the majority.
Can result in conflict with those in power = a minority will fight for their cause.
E.g. Women's right to vote.
Black Lives Matter.
Stop oil campaigns.
64
What are the six stages to social change?
- Drawing attention.
- Consistency.
- Deeper processing.
- Augmentation principle.
- Snowball effect.
- Social cryptomnesia.
65
What does drawing attention mean and what is an example?
(social change)
Exposed to minority views for us to pay attention.
e.g. civil rights marches raised attention to the issue.
66
What does consistency mean and what is an example?
(social change)
Show persistence in the message.
e.g. think more deeply about the issue.
67
What does deeper processing mean and what is an example?
(social change)
Starting to change our views.
e.g. think more about the inequality.
68
What does augmentation principle mean and what is an example?
(social change)
Risks involved cause more people to notice.
e.g. mob violence/challenging of segregation.
69
What does the snowball effect mean and what is an example?
(social change)
Begins small but then spreads more widely.
e.g. 1964 - US civil rights act introduced.
70
What does social cryptomnesia mean and what is an example?
(social change)
We have a memory that change happened but can't remember how/when.
e,g, after social change.
71
What is an explanation for social influence?
Normative social influence.
72
What is normative social influence?
(social change)
Provide information about what others (norm) are doing.
Social change is encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority do.
"everyone does it"
73
What is gradual commitment?
(social change)
Zimbardo (2007) - once a small instruction is obeyed it becomes difficult to resist.
People "drift" into behaviour.
