Flashcards in Social Influence Deck (85):
1
What did kelman argue was the 3 types of conformity
Compliance, identification and internalisation
2
Define compliance as a type of conformity
Public acceptance of a groups behaviour and attitudes but privately the individuals views may not have changed. Social comparison, concentrating on what the group say so they can adjust there behaviour. It's a superficial level of conformity and the effects are on temporary. It's often due to a desire to fit in and avoid social disapproval. It is the lowest form of conformity
3
Define identification as a type of conformity
Individuals adjust there behaviour and opinions to those of the group because membership of the group is desirable. Deeper level of conformity that compliance as it involves private as well as public acceptance. The individual believes the new behaviour is right. The effects are temporary, if they leave the group they are likely to return to there individual beliefs.
4
Define internalisation as a type of conformity
Deepest level of conformity. Individual believes the behaviour and opinion of a group are correct and therefore change there BELIEFS PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY. When changed views the individual is involved in a process of validation examining there own views to determine whether they are right.permanent change as the individual generally believes the group to be correct. The new behaviour will remain even in the absence of the group
5
Define conformity
Conformity is a yelling group pressure, often refused to as the majority influence. It is s form of social influence resulting from the exposure of the majority position. It results in people adopting the behaviour attitudes and values of other members of the group.
6
What where the two reasons Deutsch and Gerard suggested for why people conform (dual-process dependency model)
Normative social influence and informational social influence
7
What is normative social influence
People conform because of their need to be accepted and approves of, a desire to be liked.
8
What is Informational social influence
This is based on our desire to be right. In situations that are ambiguous we look to others who may have a superior knowledge to us In order for us to behave in the correct way.
9
What type of conformity is normative social influence likely to result in
Compliance
10
What type of conformity is informational social influence likely to result in
Internalisation ( beliefs will change because they believe one has superior knowledge to them)
11
What is cognitive dissonance
This is the unpleasant experience causes by two contradictory ideas. Altering to one of these cognitions reduces the cognitive dissonance and makes us feel better. This can be achieved through informing by reducing levels of anxiety.
12
Outline the aim, procedure and findings of the Jeness study (jellybeans)
Aim: to see whether the judgement of the number of jellybeans in a jar changed by discussing In a group.
Procedure: participants made an individual guess of how many jellybeans where in a jar. They where then put into groups and discussed as a group and came up with a group estimate. Participants then made a second individual guess.
Findings: individuals second estimate tended to coverage closer to the group estimate. The average change of opinion was greater in females.
13
What type of influence does the Jeness jellybean study show? What also may be concluded due to the findings ?
This shows informational social influence as participants have a desire to be right, showing internalisation. It may also be suggested from the study that females are more so socially sensitive therefore more likely to conform.
14
Outline the aim of asch's study 1951
To investigate to what degree individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers.
15
What was the procedure of Asch's study
123 male volunteers to take part in a "task of visual perception"
Groups of 7 seated around a table, where they had to say which one of three lines A B or C was the same length as a given stimulus line x.
All but one participant were confederates.
One 12 out of 18 trails the confederates were instructed to give the same wrong answer unanimous.
The one genuine participant Was last or last but one to answer.
The performance of participants exposed to group pressure was compared to a control condition in which there where no confederates.
16
What where the findings of Asch's
On the critical trial where the confederates gave the same wrong answer the genuine participant also gave the wrong answer 32% of the time.
There were large individuals different. 5% conformed on every critical trials while 25% remained completely independent and give the correct answer on all 12 critical trails. 75% conformed at least once.
17
What conclusion was made from Asch's' lines study
A majority can influence a minority even in an ambiguous situation in which the correct answer is obvious. Asch showed convincingly that group pressure to conform in terms of the majority influence are much stronger than had been previously. However on about two thirds of the critical trail the genuine participant gave the correct answer so many managed to resit the pressure to conform
18
What type of conformity did participants in Asch's study show
Compliance: they just wanted to fit in
19
What are four criticisms of Asch's study ( regarding experiment method, bias and ethics)
Experimental method: laboratory experiment- lacks ecological validly- can't generalise the findings to the whole world- la is explanatory power.
Finding may be unique to one culture (culture bias) it was an American study during the McCarthy witch hunt (chasing down last of the communist) people had to fit it or would be questioned- time have changed and people don't conform as much as they used to.
Gender bias- 123 males- can't generalise to females- women have better interpersonal skills.
Unethical- deceiving says it's a visual perception test but is actually testing for conformity- lack of consent.
20
What six factors did Asch's find affected conformity levels when he further researched into his lines study?
Difficulty of task
Starting with a partner and then loosing them to the majority (28.5%)
A non unanimous majority (one other p joined your side) (5%)
Gaining a partner part way through the procedure (8.7%)
The size of the majority (12.8%)
Mode of response- writing the answers in private.
21
What did Campbell and fairey 1989 say about how the group size effects conformity
They suggested that the impact of the group size may vary depending on the type of judgement being made. Where there is no objectively correct answer the bigger the majority the more likely people are to be swayed. However when there is a correct response and the individual is concerned about being correct just one or two others can have a maximum influence.
22
What did bond suggest about how group size effects conformity
Bond criticises the research into the impact of group size. He says that most studies have only investigated with groups sizes between 2-4 with only Asch's study using over 9. We don't k is the impact of very large majorities on conformity levels.
23
What does Lucas et al 2006 say about how the difficulty of the task effects conformity
He found that the influence of the difficulty of the task is moderated by the self- efficacy of the individual. When completing maths problems, high self-efficacy ps remained more independent than low self efficacy ps even under conditions of high task difficultly.
24
What may be found if a group of high status participants completed Asch's study?
Perrin and spencer found 1 conforming response is 396 trails when using a group of engineers, chemist and mathematics- this supports the idea of high self efficacy lowers conformity levels as the participants are more confident
25
What may be found if Asch's study was done in another culture
Smith et al found an average conformity rate in collectivist cultures (Africa) was 37% compared to 25% in individualist cultures (Europe )
26
How might linkenbach and Perkins support the idea of normative social influence
In a campaign aimed at 12-17 years olds in Seven states in the USA, only 10% of non smokers took up smoking after receiving a message that most children in their age group did not smoke compared to 17% of non smokers In Countries that did not the campaign-- this supports the idea that people make particular decisions in order to fit in.
27
How does the study of wittenbrink and Henly support the idea of informational social influence
They found that participants exposed to negative views on African Americans later reported more negative beliefs about a black target individual due to a desire to be right.
28
What are some difficulties in researching explanations for conformity?
- hard to distinguish between normative and informational- people may conform for both reasons.
- people may give socially desirable answers and won't admit that they've conformed.
29
What are social roles
The part individual play as a member of a social group which meet the expectation of that situation.
They are different across different social situations.
Each role has its social norms.
Individuals look the the social roles played by others and conform to these expectations.
30
What type of conformity Is it when conforming to social roles
Compliance- adapting to fit into a situation.
Normative social influence- order and sensibility.
31
What was the aim of zimbardo's study
To investigate the extent to which people would conform to social roles of guards and prisoners In a role playing situation of a prison life.
It was also to test the dispositional versus situational hypothesis that saw prison violence as either due to the sadistic personalities of guards and prisoners or to the brutal conditions of the prison environment.
32
Outline the procedure of the zimbardo study
75 university students
Volunteers
Payed 15 dollars a day
Underwent a series of assessments from which 21 students rated as the most physically and mentally stable where selected to take part.
The participants where the most mature and free from anti social and Criminal behaviour.
Those selected where then randomly allocated to 10 guards and 11 prisoners.
Zimbardo played the role of a prison superintendent .
Basement of a psychological department at Stanford uni -- mock prison
Arrested by local police and finger printed
Wore smocks and a chain around one ankle.
Guards wore khaki uniforms reflective sunglasses and given handcuffs keys and truncheons. Told to maintain order but physical punishment was not permitted.
Prisons where placed in cells and routines of meal times shifts and visiting times.
The study planned to run for 2 weeks.
33
What where the findings of zimbardo's study
Guards and prisons settled quickly into there roles.
One rebel prisoner was beating and out in isolation where he did boring tasks.
After 36 hours one prisoner was released because of fits and crying.
3 more developed similar symptoms and were realised days after.
A 5th prisoner developed a rash and was denied.
The study was cut short after 6 days when zimbardo's realised the extent of the harm that was occurring and increasingly aggressive nature of the guards.
34
What does the zimbardo study say about the dispositional ( personality ) and situational (environment) explanation for prison violence.
Dispositional- the study has a weak dispositional position as the prisoners and guards were both easily swayed and changed their attitudes however guards and prisoners didn't conform and actively went against norms.
Situational- dictated the behaviour
35
Why may zimbardo's study be considered unethical
Guards physically beat prisoners causing physical harm to prisoners. 5 had to leave because of fitting and illness again causing psychological and physical harm to the participants
36
How can we criticise zimbardo's study
Volunteer sample
Male participants (gender bias)
All similar ages ( can't generalise)
Small sample
Deception- said they wouldn't be beaten-Lack of informational content
Lacks external validity - can't be repeated
37
How might zimbardo's study show that the guards chose how to behave rather than blindly conforming to their social roles ( Haslam and reicher) what does this show?
As some guards best the prisoners and some were good guards and did not degrade of harass the prisoners in anyway. Showing that dispositional factors are more influential and individual differences apply.
38
Define obedience
A type of social influence whereby someone acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority. There is also the implication that the person Receiving the order is made to respond in a way that they would not otherwise have done without order.
39
Name 3 differences between obedience and conformity
1.
Obedience- occurs with a hierarchy. Actor feels like the person above has the right to prescribe behaviour. Emphasis is on power
Conformity- regulates the behaviour among those of equal status. Emphasis is on acceptance.
2.
Obedience- behaviour adopted differs from behaviour of authority figure.
Conformity- behaviour adopted is similar to peers
3.
Obedience- prescription for action is explicit
Conformity- requirement of going along with the group is often implicit
40
What was the procedure of Milgrams study
40 Males
20-50
Volunteers
All paid 4.50
Range of social backgrounds
Yale university
Participant assigned the role of the teacher.
Confederate as learner
Task was to remember a list of word pairs each time the learner gave an incorrect answer the teacher was to issue an electric shock.
The levels of shock increased each time
Began at 15 v increased by 15 every time
The level of shock was labelled. Highest was labelled xxx
Learner was strapped into chair and gave an anxious enquiry about the danger of the e pediment where the experimenter replied " the shocks may be painful but not harmful "
The teacher was taking to a different room where they could only hear the learner.
At 150v the learner began to demand to be released and screams became more dramatic.
At 315v he screamed loudly and from 330 he ceased respond.
When the teacher began to object the experimenter used a number of prods such as please continue
41
What were the findings of Milgrams electric shock study
65% of people went to 450v (enough to kill)
100% went to 300v
Participants showed stress and three had a seizure
42
What was concluded by Milgrams study
That ordinary people are capable of inflicting harm on fellow humans beings in the name of obedience. This suggests that crimes against humanity may be explained by situational factors rather than dispositional.
43
What are situational and dispositional factors
Situational - the environment and how it effects are behaviour
Dispositional - personality and the way of thinking
44
What where three variations of Milgrams study and what did the level obedience decrease by and why
1. The learner was in the same room as the teacher so they could see as well as hear everything and the pain they were inflicting
40%- aware of what's going on
2. The teacher and learner where in the same room and the teacher had to place the learners hand onto the shock plate
30% -more responsibility
3. The experimenter gave orders over the phone rather than being in the same room
20% - authority figure is away. Showing more pressure when authority figure is shadowing over your shoulder
45
What was hofling et Al 1966 study about obeying authority figures
What can we conclude from it
Why is it better than Milgrams
How can the study be criticised
He aimed to see whether nursed would obey orders from an unknown doctor to such an extent that there would be a risk of harm.
Confederate phoned 22 nursed and asked to give his patient 20 mg of an unfamiliar drug. The label on the box said their maximum daily dose was 10mg and hospital rules required a doctors sign before medication was given.
21/22 obeyed with hesitation
A control group of 22 nurses then where asked what they would do in this situation and they all said they would not obey.
From this we can conclude that people like to think they wouldn't when they would if a figure of authority asked.
This is better than Milgrams study as it is a real life situation and does not lack mundane realism
The study could be said to lack ecological validity as they pointed out that the drug was unfamiliar to the nurses and they hadn't had the opportunity to consult with other nurses before administering it. When they changed these aspects of the study only 2/18 nurses obeyed.
46
How may it be argues that Milgrams study was not unethical
In a questionnaire 84% of participants said they were glad they'd taken part and it had been an enriching experience.
The APA investigated Milgrams study and said the work was ethically acceptable and was awarded a prize for his outstanding contribution to social psychological research
47
How can it be argued that Milgrams study was internally valid
Milgrams argues that an experiment is a social situation just like any other and therefore the findings can be generalised beyond the research setting.
48
How can it be argued that Milgrams study is not externally valid
Orne and Holland suggest that Milgrams study is specific to the experimenter- participant relationship rather than any authority figure- subject relationship and therefore the findings can't be generalised to other situations of obedience.
49
What are the three explanations for obedience
Legitimate state, agentic state, authoritarian personality
50
What is a legitimate state
An explanation for obedience.
This refers to the amount of social power held by the person who gives the instructions.
Most society's are organised in a hierarchical way.
The legitimate state says we obey because our experience have taught us that those who possess their power are trustworthy and it's at our best interest to behave as instructed. It may also be that we follow orders because we recognise that those with legitimate authority have power to punish us.
Eg- parent child relationship
Milgrams study
51
What is the agentic state
Explanation for obedience. Individuals are aware of their behaviour and the consequences of it and choose to act in certain ways and to take responsibility for doing so. Milgrams suggests that when people obey a figure of authority they surrender some of there free will and enter an agentic state. They begin to see themselves and act agent of others carrying out orders on behalf of someone in authority and do not feel responsible for their behaviour. They change from an autonomous to an agentic state --- agentic shift.
52
Are their similarities between the agentic and legitimate authority
Both suggest people surrender their free will to a person in authority
53
In which studies may the agentic state be used to explain the obedience
Milgrams
Hofling
54
What is the authoritarian personality
A dispositional explanation of obedience as it suggests that the reason for obeying lies within the individual.
Have extreme respect for authority and believe in absolute obedience.
Believe in domination of minorities.
Adorno et al suggest that it is s personality as a result of strict parenting where harsh physically punishment was used.
It creates conflict and anxiety .
55
What is the f scale
Created by Adorno.
A questionnaire which had 30 questions assessing 9 personality dimensions.
56
Which study supports the authoritarian personality
Altemeyer 1988 found that participants with an authoritarian personality type who were order to give themselves shocks, gave higher shocks than those without the personality type
57
What does resistance to social influence include
Disobedience and non conformity
58
What is meant by social support
The perception of assistance and solidarity available from others
59
What do Asch's variations tell us about the role of social support in resisting social influence
1. When the majority consist of two peop,e conforming decreased by 12.8%
2. When gaining a partner party way through conformity decreased by 8.7%
60
What was Allen and Levines study conducted to investigate whether the social support altered how much influence it had.
Two conditions
1. The confederate providing support wore glasses with thick lenses
2. Confederate had normal vision.
Both conditions reduced the amount of conformity it the valid social supporter had much more impact.
61
What was Allen and Levines study on the influence of response order on the extent to which social support enables people to resist pressure to conform
One condition- a confederate responded first and gave the correct answer followed by the other confederates providing the same wrong answer with the genuine participant responding last.
Second condition- 3 co federated providing the wrong answer with the confederate providing the right answer being the fourth to respond followed by the genuine participant.
Support was more effective when they were position one compared to position 4. This suggests that a correct answer first confirms the participants own judgement which produces an initial commitment to the correct response.
62
What did Mullen et al find about jay walking
When disobedient models broke the law by jay walking participants were more likely to jay walk themselves than when disobedient models weren't present. Disobedient models have a greater affect than obedient models however a disobedient model is less likely to produce an increase in jaywalking when the obedient model is of a high status.
Pedestrians jay walking under control conditions- 24.5%
Obedient model- 16.5%
Disobedient model- 44.1%
63
In the rosenstrasse protest how may social support have helped the women to resist the pressure to obey.
The rosenstrasse protest was in Berlin in 1943, non Jewish wife's who were relatives of Jewish men who had been arrested for deportation protested.
Showing how social support helps to resist obeying
64
What is meant by the term locus of control
What did rotter suggest about people who have an internal and external locks of control
Refers to a persons perception of personal control over their own behaviour
1. Internal - they tend to see themselves as in control of events in their lives
2. External- tend to see themselves as at the mercy of external events.
Rotter proposed that people with an internal locks of control are better at resisting social pressures and says that if we feel in control of a situation we are likely to believe we have choice over whether to obey or conform
65
How may locus of control result in independent behaviour
1. High internals are active seekers of information that is useful to them and so are less likely to rely on the opinion of others
2. High internals tend to be more achievement oriented and consequently are more likely to become leaders and entrepreneurs
3. High internals are better able to resist coercion from others
66
What study may support how people resist conformity
Atgris 1998 carried out a meta analysis of studies which considered locos of control and conformity. He found that those who scored higher on external locus of control were more easily persuaded and likely to conform than those with a low score. The average correlation between the the locos of control and conformity was +0.37 which was statistically significant. This suggests that there are genuinely higher rates of conformity in externals than internals.
67
What type of influence does a minority influence have
The minority influence is a type of social influence that motivates individuals to reject the established minority view.
Process of conversion which involved new beliefs or behaviours being accepted publicly and privately.
Type of internalisation
Generally due to informational social influence
68
In terms of conformity how are the minority and majority influence different
People often follow the majority as a type of compliance which is normative social influence ( to fit in) these views are only affected publicly and are temporary.
If people change from the majority to the minority view it is more likely to be a type of internalisation because of informative social influence (desire to be right) these views are changed publicly and privately. It is a permanent change.
69
What two factors highly encourage the majority to change to the minority view
Consistency and commitment
70
How does consistency effect the minority view
If there is stability in the argument presented by the minority over time and between members of the minority then they are more likely to be effective in persuading members of the majority to accept their views.
71
How does commitment affect people agreeing to the minority view
The degree to which members of a minority are dedicated to a particular cause. The more committed the more influence they are likely to have.
72
Outline the aim, procedure and findings of the moscovici et al study 1969
Aim: to investigate the role of a consistent minority on the opinion of a majority in an ambiguous situation
Procedure: female participants were placed into 32 groups of 6. Each group had four genuine participants and 2 confederates. They were told the study investigated perception. Each group was shown 36 blue slides with filters that varied the intensity of the colour. In one condition the minority consistently said the slides were green. In another condition they said 24 of the slides were green and 12 blue.
Findings: in the consistent condition there was an 8.2 agreement with the minority win 32% agreeing at least once. There was a 1.25% agreement in the inconsistent condition.
73
Evaluate the Moscovici study ( green and blue slides )
Laboratory experiment - highly controlled
Independent measures- one person to one condition- less time consuming
Deception - told they were researching perception- breaking the ethics.
The study showed the importance of consistency however the study lacks mundane realism
74
What were the participants asked to do after the Moscovici task
Participants were individual asked to arrange 16 slides into blue or green. 3 slides were obviously blue and 3 were obviously green. The other 10 could of been considered blue or green. Participants had to set a threshold point where everything one side was green and at the other side everything was blue. They found that those who had been in the consistent condition considered more of the cards to be green, this was even greater in those who hadn't gone along with the minority view. Showing that the minority do have an influence as this shows a carry over affect
- internalisation
75
What dies mugny suggest about the role of flexibility
Suggest that flexibility is more effective at changing majority opinion then rigidity of arguments. If minorities are flexible then they will be more likely to be perceived as moderate, cooperative and reasonable. In contrast is a minority is rigid then they may be perceived as dogmatic
76
What study may support the importance of flexibility
Nemeth
Participants were in a group of 4: one confederate in a judiciary situation. The group had to decide how much compensation to pay the victim of a ski lift accident. In condition one the confederate consistently argued for a lower amount and refused to change his position. In the other condition the confederate compromised a little and moved to offering a slightly higher amount.
In the first condition where the confederate was inflexible they had no effect on the majority but when the minority was flexible the majority changed their opinion to a lower amount.
This is a useful study as it is realistic, as it is possible to be called in to do this. It shows that flexibility is important.
77
Give 2 evaluation points of he minority influence.
1. Some may argue that there are many other factors than consistency commitment and flexibility that influence the minority. Research shows that if the majority can identify with the minority then they are more likely to take the views seriously and change there own views. For instance one study shows that a gay minority arguing for gay rights had less influence on a straight majority than a straight minority arguing for gay rights.
2. Edward Sampson would argue that a lot of the research on the minority influence is a laboratory experiment consisting of students who have never met and never will again taking part in an artificial task. Sampson argues that this is much different to the minority in wider society arguing for something they believe in.
For example members of women's and men's rights operate in different settings with different. Constraints.They face much more determined opposition. They are committed to a cause, they often know each other and sometimes devote their lives to changing the view of the majority. Lab experiments are largely unable to represent and simulate the wide difference in power and status that often separates minorities and majorities in the real world.
78
What is social change
The process in which society changes the dominant beliefs attitudes and behaviours to create new social norms.
79
What type of conformity is social change
Give an example of how the content of the minority's argument helps in social change.
Social change is a result of internalisation. This involves the process of conversion where attention is drawn to the content of the minority's message as a result of cognitive dissonance caused by being exposed to beliefs that are contradictory to our own.
Eg- Clark found that a minority juror was more effective in persuading others if they had a high quality argument to support there beliefs. This supports that the content of the minority's message is an important factor in causing social change .
80
What did Hogg and Vaughan suggest that the minority need to appear in Order to cause social change
- act out of principe rather than self interest
- have made sacrifices themselves ( demonstrating consistency )
- be similar to the majority
- advocate views that are consistent with current trends
81
How may resisting social influence be increased give a real life example
May be increased if we are exposed to a non conformist or disobedient models. These individuals show us that it is possible to disobey the power of authority.
Eg- when rosa parks refuse to give up her seat for a white man. This sparked the civil rights movement
82
What is social cryptoamnesia
When the source of the message is forgotten so the majority are able to accept the message without having to identify with the minority group that first proposed it
83
Why is social change a slow and gradual process
It takes time for the majority to examine the views of the minority. It is also easy for the. Majority to dismiss the minority's argument because it is often perceived as deviant and members of an out group with whom the majority do not identify with. The slow and gradual process allows for social cryptoamnesia
84
Apply the idea of social change to smoking
It was once socially acceptable to smoke in public however since the law has changed due to the minority objectifying the ideas of public smoking it is frowned upon.
85