Social influence Flashcards
(30 cards)
How did Milgrams study into obedience provide evidence for legitamacy of authority ?
Unifrom variation. levels of obedience dropped when the researcher who was wearing a lab coat was called away and a person in ordinary clothes took charge and played the role of the experimenter giving instructions. obedience dropped from 65% to 20%.
What was Bickmans study and what did it support
The new york unifrom study provides supporting evidence for the legitamcy of authority as an explanation for obedience.
Whats the authoritarian personality?
dispositional explanations
An authoritarian personality is thought to develop as a result of strict authoritarian parenting which leads to resentments towards the parents. However due to an inability to express the resentment it leads to displaced hostility towards individuals of subordinate positions or non-conventional individual.
what are the three factors which increase the likelihood of social change
flexibility, consistency and commitment
explain the role of flexibility in social change
refers to the minority group being seen as ‘flexible’ in their views and willing to compromise. Although consistency is important minority groups it must not appear to be unbending or too rigid Just repeating a message without reflecting on others beleifs or being willing to debate suggests an inability to compromise. Minorities need to be prepared to adapt to the viewpoint and accept a reasonable counter argument
Who provides supporting evidence for Flexibility in minority influence
Nemeth created groups of 3 ppts and 1 confederate who had to decide on a compensation for a ski lift accident. When the confederate acting as consistent minority argued for a low amount and refused to change his opossition he had no effect on the majority. however when the confederate portrayed flexibility and compromised by showing willingness to propose a slightly higher amount the majority changed their view to a slightly lower amount
What did Moscovici provide supporting evidence for
Provided supporting evidence for the role of consistency in minority influence. Created a group of 4 naive ppts and 2 confederate they were asked to state the colour of a series of cards(36). they were all blue coloured. The confederates who acted as minorities consistently stated that the 36 slides were green and they managed to influence the majority- 8% stated that the colour was green . however in a variation when the consistency was broken and the confederates stated the colour green on 24/36 they influenced the majority to say green only 1%
what’s the supporting evidence for the authoritarian personality
AO1 for resistance to social influence- Locus of control
Locus of control is a personality dimension proposed by Rotter. Its measured by a questionnaire. It refers to the extend to which people percieve themselves as being in control over their own lives.
An internal locus of control- will beleive they have significant influence over events in their live. They feel in control of situations and therefore feel free to either confrom or not through their own choice. During stressful situations they strive for sucess. these individuals are more likely to resist social influence-less likely to obey
external locus of control- they beleive that outside factors have a significant influence over events which happen in their life (like star signs,fate and luck) they beleive that things that happen to them are largely uncontrollable and so face stressful situations with a fatalistic and passive attitiude. they believe things will turn out a certain way regardless of their actions. these individuals are less likely to resist social pressure
Whats a weakeness of locus of control as an explanation to resisting social influence
a limitation of loc is that its a subjectively assesed concept. this is because its assesed via a self repot method like a questionnaire . therefore its difficult to know whether the individuals score of self control truly reflects their actual sense of control over their life as ppl mat not be answering accurately
Who provides supporting evidence for LOC
Holland-as they repeated milgrams study and measured the ppts locus of control. They found that 37% of ppts who had an internal locus of control didnt continue to 450v (highest voltage whereas only 23% of those with internal locus of control didnt continue to 450v thereby showing that those with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social pressures. thereby validating the claim
What did Oliner do?
Oliner also supported the role of Loc in resisting social influence- he compared two non jewish groups who lived in germany during the holocoust. Used an interview technique to study the two groups and measure their locus opf control. One 406 ppl had helped to save and rescue the jews and the other 126 didnt.The results showed that those who had helped to protect and rescue the jews scored higher on measures of social responsibility and stronger internal locus of control. These findings suggest that independant behaviours are much more likely to be carried out by those with an internl locus of control again validating the idea that personality traits can influense resistance to social influence.
Describe ISI- conformity is due to cognitive reasons
Informational social influence is an explanation for conformity. it relates to an individuals experiences of uncertainty. therefore this explanation claims that we conform due to a need to be correct/right ISI most common in ambiguous situations as individuals we like certainty and look to others to provide us with info on how to behave we believe others have superior knowledge to us
What does ISI lead to
permanent changes- internalisation. we fully adopt the groups behaviours. resulting in permanent change of private and public beliefs
explain social support as an explanation to resistance to social change
the presence of a disobedient model helps encourage others to disobey as they have seen that its possible. the presence of at least 1 other person/ally who resists pressures to conform can help others do the same this is because when ne person refuses to conform it breaks the unanimity of the majority therefore the power of group pressure is reduced. also the presence of social support help provide confidence to feel like they could successfully disobey the authority figure too.
How did Asch provide research evidence for social support
this is because in the variation where one confederate went against the majority and gave the correct line length conformity in naïve ppts dropped to 5.5 and when the confederate went against the majority and provided an alternative wrong answer obedience dropped to 9%. this suggests that an unanimous majority can mean its very hard to resist the pressure to conform but when its broken it becomes easier to resist the pressurs to conform
how does Milgram provide evidence for social support
In a variation where the naive ppts watched two confederates successfully ‘disobey’ so receiving social support. In this variation obedience dropped to 10% showing how watching overs disobey helps peple feel more confident in their ability to act in accordance to their own beleifs and therefore more able to disobey.
whats a weakeness of social support as an explanation for conformity
despite all ppts having experienced social support their was still some small number of ppts who still chose to conform/obey. this indicates that some people who have certain individual differences in their personality traits which make them more likely to conform/obey despite the presence of an ally. for example authoritarian personality whereby they beleive obedience must be performed and may feel hostility towards dissenters .
Briefly outline 3 findings of Aschs study into conformity
32% was the average conformity on the 12 critical trials.
75% conformed on at least 1 critical trial
5%conformed on all critical trials
The presence of a dissenter reduced conformity
increasing the size of the majority increased conformity
whats meany by social change
when whole societys not just individuals change their beleifs. they adopt new beleifs,attitudes or behaviours. this occurs though minority influence processes for example the snowball effect. for example gay rights
WHATS THE PERCENTAGE FOR GROUP SIZE WHEN 1 CONFEDERATE
3% conformity
what was the percentage for group size Asch when 3 confederates
32%
percentage unanimity asch- when a dissenter went against the majority and gave correct line length
5% conformity
9% when dissenter went against majority to propose an alternative incorrect answer
