Social Influence AO3 Flashcards
Normative Social Influence
:) - Empirical evidence- Asch 32% of ppts conformed and said wrong answer- post experiment interviews ppts said they changed to fit in with group- increases validity of NSI
:) - Empirical evidence- Linkenbach and Perkins (2003) smoking study 10% start smoking when told friends don’t, 41% when friends do- increases validity
:( - individual differences- McGhee et al (1967) high need for affiliation more likely to conform- not everyone is affected in the same way- decreases validity
Informational social influence
:) -Empirical evidence- Jennes (1932) guess number of beans, conferred with others then changed answers- changed due to fear of being wrong- increases validity of ISI
:) -Empirical evidence- Lucas at al (2006) gave maths problems to students, greater conformity on harder questions- shows when they doubt the answer will change to what others say- increases validity
Asch’s conformity study
:( temporal validity- Perrins and Spencer (1980) only 1/396 trials someone conformed- very different to Asch- in 1950s strong anticommunism so more conformist- can be related throughout time
:( mundane realism- artificial task- not representative of real life- lacks ecological validity so cannot be generalised to real life
:( population validity- only tested on us males of same age- Neto (1995) found females are more conformist- Bond and Smith (1996) found conformity is greater in collectivist societies-cannot be generalised to whole population
Zimbardos prison study
:( investigator effects- Fromm (1973) said Zimbardo based conclusions on results he expected to see- only 1/3 of guards were brutal not the majority- shows he was bias which decreases internal validity
:) high experimental realism- 90% of pots convos were about prison life. Prisoner 416 thought it was a real prison tan by psychologists- pots believed situation so actions are ‘real’- higher ecological validity
:( temporal validity- BBC reconstruction (2006) found very different results to Zimbardo where prisoners took control- doesn’t have reliability and cannot be generalised
:( ethical issues- subjected to emotional harm- were t told all aspects of study like being arrested at home- results may be different due to psychological stress and caused long term trauma
:) real life application- 2004 Abu Ghraib prison, us soldiers abused prisoners- same results as Zimbardo found- being in the environment causes their actions and conformity to social roles
Milgrams Obedience Study
:( demand characteristics- Perry (2012) found many ppts didn’t believe shocks were real but where just doing what they thought they should- 65% may not be accurate as ppts knew the aim- decreases internal validity
:) high experimental realism- Sheridan and King (1972) gave puppy shocks to make it jump then die (anaesthetic)- 54% obedience similar to Milgri
:) real life application- Hoffling (1966) doctor told nurse to administer lethal dose of drug- 21/22 obeyed- similar results to milgram
:( ethical issues- caused psychological harm, seizures and anxiety- may hurt people more than it benefit society
Agentic State
:) empirical evidence- Blass + Schmitt (2001) video of milgrim to students and they said it was experimenters fault- shows people justify actions if there’s an authority figure
:( individual differences- In Milgram 35% didn’t obey when in theory should all be in Agentic state- dispositional factors must play a role
:( methodological issues- only 15 males in Milgram- lacks population validity- cannot be generalised to all people
Legitimate authority
:) real life application- Tarnow (2000) found lack of monitoring the captain of an aeroplane caused 19/37 accidents- no one challenges captains authority even when it had bad consequences
:) empirical evidence- Bickman (1974)- changed uniform- guard 76% vs civilian 30%- more likely to obey what is seen as legitimate authority
Authoritarian Personality
:) empirical evidence- Milgram and Elms (1966) - post experiment interviews found ppts scored higher on f scale where more obedient- adds validity to theory
:( methodological issues- f scale has response bias or social desirability- may chose answer they don’t actually believe- internal validity is reduced
:( political bias- Christie and Jahoda (1954) said f scale only measures extreme right wing ideology not left wing authoritarianism- cannot be used for all political structures
Social Support
:) empirical evidence- Asch (1951)- conformity dropped to 5% when the ppts had someone else who gave the correct answer- lowers group pressure
:) empirical evidence- Milgram (1974)- two other confeds with ppts who disobeyed- obedience rate dropped to 10%
Locus of control
:) empirical evidence- Spector (1983) 157 students- found high internals less likely to conform- no difference for ISI- need to fit in is stronger for Locus of control
:( contradictory evidence- Twenge et al (1967) meta analysis of studies over 40yrs- found people are now more external but also more resistant to obedience- challenges link between the two
Minority Influence
:( population validity lacking-172 US females- don’t know if males would respond the same way- females more likely to conform studies say anyway
:( ethical issues- deception and did not gain informed consent as ppts were told false aim- however was needed to avoid demand characteristics
:( methodological issues- lacks mundane realism- judging colour of a a slide- doesn’t show how it would be in real life- lacks external validity
Social change
:( minority influence can act as barrier to social change- Bashir et al (2013)- minority groups of feminists or environmentalists can live up to negative stereotypes- majority doesn’t want to be associated with minority- no social change
:) empirical evidence for role of NSI in social change- Nolan et al (2008) leaflets to reduce energy by saying neighbours were already doing it- experimental group significantly lowered w every to control
:( methodological issues- social influence process studies are lab- low external validity- different to establish link between these and social change in real life setting
