Social Influence Flashcards
(21 cards)
what’s compliance?
occurs when an individual publicly conforms to a behavior or view of a group whilst privately maintaining own belief / opinion.
short term change = due to desire to fit\ in and avoid rejection
what’s identification?
occurs when an individual adjusts their opinions and behaviors to those of a group as they value membership of the group.
views held publicly and sometimes privately but generally temporary.
what’s internalisation?
the process by which an individual converts their private view to match those of a group = long lasting/permanent change.
evaluate compliance
+ supported by Asch’s research - gave incorrect answers to avoid disapproval
- personality factors e.g strong internsl locus of control may result in less compliance.
evaluate identification
+ Zimbardo’s research: ps embraced their roles as prisoners or guards but didn’t continue beh once left the study.
- identification may only occur if person values membership to the group.
evaluate internalisation
+ Asch: task difficulty by making comparison lines similar to each other.
- may be some overlap between internalisation and identification, difficult to determine if change in beh is short term or permanent change.
evidence supporting the normative social influence explanation of conformity
ASCH
ps conformed on 32% of critical trials- in debrief ps stated they conformed because they didnt want to feel the dissaproval of the rest of the group.
evidence supporting the informational social influence explanation of conformity
ASCH
variation where increased task difficulty - making the conmparaison lines more similar to each other. naive participants = more likely to conform o majority, reduced certainty leads to increased conformity.
name a practical application for explanations of social influence
can shift peoples beh in society to create conditions for social change. such as in covid 19 continuing to follow regulations.
what was the aim of aschs study?
to examine if ps would yield to majority social influence and give incorrect answers in a situation where the correctr answers were always obvious.
what was Aschs procedure?
PROCEDURE:
groups of 7 male students shown 2 cards: 1 had one line and the other had three lines
ps required to state aloud which line matched
- in each group there was only one genuine participant that said the answer second to last. the rest = confederates.
- confeds instructed to give unanimous wrong answers on 12/18 trials = critical trials.
50 american male students from pennsylvannia.
what were Aschs findings?
- 75% conformed on at least one trial
- average conformity rate = 32%
- 25% never conformed
- 5% conformed on all 12 of the critical trials
- control group had an error rate of only 0.04%
what were Aschs conclusions?
- there is a strong group pressure to conform especially when group is a unanimous majority.
- some conformed due to risk of being ridiculed
- some conformed due to belief their judgement was distorted
describe the GROUP SIZE variation of Aschs study
conformity rates increase as the size of the majority increase, but after a certain pont, further increases in size have no effect.
findings:
- 3% conformity- 1 confed
- 12.8% conformity- 2 confeds
- 32% conformity- 3 confeds
conclusion: ppl have strong needs to conform as a majority of just 3 people is enough to create a group pressure to conform.
describe the UNANIMITY variation of Aschs study
conformity rates are higher when the majority is unanimous
og rate = 32%
findings:
- one confed went against majority and gave correct line length, confromity dropped to 5.5%.
- one confed went against other confeds to give alternative incorrect answer, conformity dropped to 9%.
explain conclusions.
whats the third variation of aschs study( other than group size and unanimity)
task difficulty.
evaluate aschs research
- ethical issues
+ practical applications
+ ability to be replicated - low ecol val
- beta and culture bias
- lacks temporal validity
what was Zimbardos study into conformity to social roles aim?
to examine how readily ppl would conform to new roles by observing how quickly ppl adobt to the roles of the guards or prisoners in a role play exercising simulated prison life.
explain Zimbardos procedure.
PROCEDURE:
- controlled, participant observation.
- 24 psychologicallt stable and healthy males paid $15 daily to take part.
- randomnly allocated to the role of a prisoner or a prison guard: 10 prisoners and 11 guards - predominantley white of the middle class.
- PRISONERS: “arrested” at their home and “charged” with armed robbery and were transported to the mock prison and strip searched + disinfected and given a smock + stocking caps to wear.
- allocated a number
- GUARDS: wore khaki uniform, reflective sunglasses, carried a wooden baton
- instructed to enforce the prison rules- not permitted to be physically aggressive with prisoners. worked in shifts
Zimbardo took on role of prison superintendent - study was planned to last 2 weeks.
explain the findings of Zimbardos study.
FINDINGS:
prisoners: adpted to the role
- initially rebelled but became increasingly submissive, passive and accepting
- some experienced depression and anxiety- 5 prisoners had to be released before day 6
- mainly discussed prison life and reffered to them selves and others using their numbers
prison guards: adopted the role
- became increasingly aggressive, cruel and sadistic
- became increasingly tyrannical and abusive towards the prisoners forcing them to do menial tasks.
- guards talked abut problem prisoners
Zimbardo:adopted to role
- “i fell into that role”
- he only stopped physical force
study had to be discontinued afetr 6 days due to the psychologivcal damage of partcipants.
explain Zimbardos conclusion.
ps conformity was believed to be due to situational factors, and type of conformity = identification.
shows attitudes and beh are shaped by the roles we play.
