Social Influence Flashcards
(44 cards)
What are the three types of conformity + definitions?
Compliance - Publicly go along with majority view but privately disagree. Most superficial and temporary.
Indetification - Adopt behaviour of a group because they value the group membership, not agree with everything they believe in. Moderate, as long as group lasts.
Internalisation - Take an expressed view publicly and privately. Deepest level of conformity, permanent change
When was Asch’s conformity study and what was it’s aim?
Asch’s conformity study (1951;1956) aimed to investigate whether a majority opinion can influence and minority.
Outline the procedure of Asch’s conformity study (1951;1956)
- 123 Male US undergraduates were tested in 18 trials
- Participants were put in groups of 7 and asked to look at 3 different lengthen lines and say which line matches the standard line
- However there was only one real participant in each group, the rest were confederates
- The real participants were always asked second to last
- The confederates gave the wrong answers on 12 of 18 trials
- Asch was investigating to see if the participants would give the wrong answer (same as confederates)
What were Asch’s findings on his conformity study?
- Over 12 trials the average conformity rate was 33%
- In the control group they only gave the wrong answer 1% of the time
- 25% of participants never conformed
- 50% conformed on 6 or more of the trials
- 1/20 conformed on all
- Asch interviewed the PT’s and found that they conformed even when they knew it was wrong to avoid dissaproval
Describe Asch’s variation study on how the difficulty of the task affects conformity.
- Asch made the differences between the lines smaller.
- In these circumstances conformity increased
- If there is high self efficacy there will be less conformity
Describe Aschs variation study into how the size of the majority affects conformity.
- Asch found little conformity in groups of 1 or 2.
- 1 PT and 1 confederates =13%
- 1 PT and 2 confederates =20%
- 1 PT and 3 confederates =33%
however further increasing the majority after this does not increase conformity. Asch said the optimal group size is 4 as it allows social influence the have an impact.
Describe Aschs variation study into unanimity.
- When PTs had the support of others conformity dropped to 5.5%
- When confederates gave a different wrong answer conformity dropped to 9%.
- Breaking the groups unanimous positing led to a conformity reduction.
What are the strengths of Asch’s study? (3)
1) It’s reliable, since it’s a lab experiment it can be replicate. It involved clear standardised procedures, such as using 6 or 7 confederates and 18 trials. Meaning the results can be checked for consistency.
2) It has practical applications. Jurors are warned against conformity during their briefing so they don’t feel pressure to give a specific verdict. Therefore the study has practical applications.
3) Since it was a lab experiment there are high levels of internal validity. Allowing Asch to establish cause and effect relationships. Meaning the findings are credible.
What are the weaknesses of Asch’s study? (3)
1) Generalisability - the high levels of conformity may be due to the time of the study, modern day replications found lower levels, meaning that the study lacks Temporal Validity.
The PT’s were all male, making it hard to generalise the findings to females as the sample is unrepresentative - It’s Androcentric.
The study was conducted in America, so may not be the same for all cultures and societies. Therefore it is ethnocentric.
2) The lab experiment has low external validity (artificial environment). Therefore the study of the value is reduced.
3) The experiments have ethical dilemmas, the participants were deceived as the didn’t know the true nature of the study, and so informed consent was violated.
When was Zimbardo’s prison study and what was its aim?
Zimbardos (1973) simulated prison experiment aimed to see how far people would conform to the roles pf guards and prisoners in simulated prison life. To see whether prison violence was due to the guards and prisoners or the environment.
Describe the procedures of Zimbardo’s study.
- The PT’s were chosen via volunteer sampling. They were all male college students. 11 prisoners and 10 guards.
- The prisoners were arrested without warning from their homes and were taken to a prison set out in Stanford.
- The prisoners were stripped, deloused, removed of personal possessions, issued a uniform and a number.
- They were dehumanised, no underwear, covered hair and chain around ankle.
- The guards were dressed in the same unforom, carried a whistle, billy club and wore reflective sunglasses.
- The guards worked 8-hour shifts, 3 at a time and were allowed to do whatever means necessary to keep the order.
Outline the findings of Zimbardo’s prison study.
- Within hours the guards were harassing the prisoners in a sadistic manner, and others joined in.
- The prisoners were dependent on the guards and submissive. They also told tales on each other.
- Only 10% of prisoners conversations were about life outside.
- Prisoners rioted, the guards responded by stripping them and putting in solitary confinement.
- The study was cut short after 6 days and 5 prisoners were released early.
What were the weaknesses of Zimbardo’s study? (3)
1) Generalisability - study used 21 male students from America, which does not represent all in society. It is androcentric and ethnocentric.
2) The prison environment could not be totally replicated and so the study lacks aspects of realism. Particular aspects were absent e.g. racism, beatings, involuntary homosexuality, and max sentence = 2 weeks. Therefore results cannot be easily replicated to check for consistency.
3) Ethical dilemmas - The prisoners were deceived as they did not know that they were going to be arrested, and the 11 prisoners may have experienced some phycological harm.
What are the strengths of Zimbardo’s study? (3)
1) Practical applications - the knowledge from the study has helped society. We can suggest that prison troubles and aggression are largely a result of prison conditions.
2) Validity - the study did have some mundane realism. Zimbardo went to the extreme to make the study realistic and as true to life e.g. arrested prisoners. And there is evidence that the PT’s reacted as if it was real, 90% of conversations were about prison life. Therefore the study has some levels of credibility.
3) The only deception was to do with the arrest of the prisoners. The PT’s were not told because final approval from the police was given until minutes before.
What is the Dual Process Dependency Model? (explanations of conformity)
It’s a two-part model put forward by Deutsch and Gerard (1955) explaining why people conform. The model distinguishes between Normative Social Influence and Informational Social Influence.
Describe what Informational Social Influence is. (ISI)
- It’s the need to know what’s right. We conform because we want to be right, and look to others for the information.
- If the situation is ambiguous, or if others are experts, then we go along with them as the have ‘superior knowledge’.
- In this case, it matters who the majority are, we tend to be influenced by those that we admire and respect.
- ISI can lead to Internalisation.
Describe what Normative Social Influence is. (NSI)
- Conformity occurs because of a need to be accepted, and be a part of a group.
- If or when we conform to the majority we will be rewarded with approval and reinforcement.
- NSI can lead to compliance. A person may change their behaviours to be a part of a group, but not change their opinions and attitudes.
What are the strengths of the Dual Process Model of Conformity? (3)
1) There is evidence of NSI, people conform to a majority group opinion even if they disagree.
Asch’s study - 123 male students testing conformity using a line judgment task. 75% conformed on at least 1 trial. When asked why, they said they knew it was wrong but didn’t want to stand out - wanted to be accepted by the group.
2) There is evidence of ISI, Asch’s study into conformity demonstrated at last a 36% conformity level, some PT’s claimed it was because they truly doubted their own judgements i.e. they had a desire to be correct.
3) The Dual Process Model has practical applications. Being aware that we are capable of conforming can help us e.g. jurors are informed about the dangers of ISI and NSI during a briefing.
What are the weaknesses of the Dual Process Model of Conformity? (2)
1) The explanation is reductionist. It does not consider dispositional factors that can contribute to conformity. E.g. having ELOC’s are particularly conformist. Therefore this theory is incomplete.
2) The evidence supporting this may not be valid because of their methodological weaknesses. Asch’s research using a line judgement test does not reflect real life, therefore it has low ecological validity. So this theory does not have convincing support.
Define Obedience and what it involves.
Obedience means following the orders from someone of a high authority. When we obey an order we do as we are told.
It involves:
-A direct requirement to change behaviour.
-People of different social standings (authority figures)
-The direct exercise of power, people in charge have the power to ensure directions are followed.
What is blind obedience/destructive obedience?
When we are ordered to do something immoral we tend to obey, even if it causes us moral strain - we will regret it later.
When was Milgram’s study into obedience to authority and what was its aim?
Milgram’s study into obedience to authority was in 1965, It aimed to see if participants would obey the order of authority figure even when there were fatal consequences. Although the participants though the aim was about the effects of punishment on memory.l
Outline the method of Milgrams Study.
- 40 Males, aged between 20 and 50, all with different occupations, they were fro New Haven and were paid $4.50 to take part.
- Each participant was introduced to another (actually a confederate) at the beginning of the trial.
- They each had to decide their role, learner or teacher (confederate always learner).
- Another confederate played an experimenter in a grey lab coat.
- The learner went into one room, and the teacher in another. The learner was put in an electric shock chair’ and the teacher had the electric generator.
- The teacher read a list of word pairs to the learner, once learnt the teacher tested the learner by having them choose the paired word from a list of four.
- The teacher was told to give the learner an electric shock if they got it wrong (the confederate wasn’t actually strapped in). There were 30 switches, from 15 volts to 450 volts.
- The confederate gave the wrong answer on purpose.
- Anytime the teacher refused to give the shock, the experimenter in the lab coat gave them one of four prompts.
1) Please continue
2) The experiment requires you to continue.
3) It is essential that you continue.
4) You have no other choice but to continue.
What were the results of Milgrams study?
Participants looked uncomfortable and under strain. they were sweaty, had seizures, nervous laughter and wanted to leave.
100% gave 300 volts
65% gave maximum of 450 volts.
