social influence- conformity

Question 1

what are the two types of conformity?

Answer 1

normative (NSI) and informational (ISI)

Question 2

what is the definition of normative social influence?
(2 marks)

Answer 2

a type of conformity where people ‘go along with’ the behaviour of the group (1)
to avoid rejection/ earn approval from others etc (1)

Question 3

what is the definition of informational social influence?

Answer 3

a type of conformity where people conform in order to be ‘right’, by copying others in order to make a decision as they do not know how to behave in the situation.

Question 4

what are the three types of conformity?

Answer 4

1. compliance
2. internalisation
3. identification

Question 5

what is compliance?

Answer 5

This means to follow other people’s ideas/to go along with the group to gain their approval or avoid disapproval. You publically agree but privately disagree (lowest/weakest level of conformity) An individual’s change of view is temporary and is likely to occuras a result of normative social influence

Question 6

what is internalisation?

Answer 6

Making the beliefs, values, attitude and behaviour of the group your own (the strongest type of conformity, and often occurs as a result of informational social
influence). An individual’s change of view is permanent

Question 7

what is identification?

Answer 7

Temporary/short term change of behaviour and beliefs only in the presence of a group (middle level)

Question 8

what was the aim of Asch’s study?

Answer 8

to investigate conformity and social influence

Question 9

how many ppts took part in Asch’s experiment and how were the groups organised?

Answer 9

123 male American undergraduates in groups of 6; consisting of 1 true participant and 5 confederates

Question 10

what was the procedure of Asch’s study?

Answer 10

Participants and confederates were presented with 4 lines; 3 comparison lines and 1 standard line on two large white cards
* They were asked to state which of three lines was the same length as a stimulus line
* The real participant always answered last or second to last
* Confederates would give the same incorrect answer for 12 (were “critical”) out of 18 trials
* Asch observed how often the participant would give the same incorrect answer as the confederates versus the correct answer

Question 11

what were the finding of Asch’s study?

Answer 11

36.8% conformed
25% never conformed
75% conformed at least once
In a control trial, only 1% of responses given by participants were incorrect (which eliminates eyesight/perception as an extraneous variable, thus increasing the validity of the conclusions drawn)
The ‘ASCH EFFECT’ - the extent to which ppts conform even when the answer is unambiguous

Question 12

what are the three factors affecting conformity in Asch’s study?

Answer 12

1. Group size
2. Unanimity
3. Task difficulty

Question 13

how did group size affect levels of conformity?

Answer 13

Asch found that with 3 confederates the rate of conformity of the wrong answer rose to 31.8%
- A person is more likely to conform if all members of the group are in agreement and give the same answer, because it will increase their confidence in correctness of the group, and decrease their
confidence in their own answer. Conformity does not seem to increase in groups larger than four so this is considered the optimal group size.
This shows that the majority must be at least 3 to exert an influence, but an overwhelming majority is not needed in all instances to bring about conformity

Question 14

how does unanimity affect levels of conformity?

Answer 14

Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others. He was instructed to sometimes give the right answer and sometimes the wrong answer.
The presence of the dissenter made the rate of conformity DROP by a QUARTER
As a result, the naïve ppt behaved more independently

Question 15

how does the task difficulty affect levels of conformity?

Answer 15

An individual is more likely to conform when the task is difficult
For example, Asch altered the (comparison) lines (e.g. A, B, C) making them more similar in length. Since it was harder to judge the correct answer conformity increased.
When the task is difficult, we are more uncertain of our answer so we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task the greater the conformity.
This suggests that informational social influence is a major mechanism for conformity when the situation is ambiguous and the individual does not have enough of their own knowledge or information to
make an informed decision independently, and so has to look towards others

Question 16

AO3- what are the strengths of Asch’s study?

Answer 16

High internal validity - There was strict control over extraneous variables,
such as timing of assessment and the type of task used. The participants
did the experiment before without confederates to see if they actually
knew the correct answer, thus removing the confounding variable of a lack of knowledge. This suggests that valid and reliable ‘cause and effect’ relationships can be established, as well as valid conclusions.

Lab experiment - Extraneous and confounding variables are strictly
controlled, meaning that replication of the experiment is easy. Successful replication increases the reliability of the findings because it reduces the likelihood that the observed findings were a ‘one-off’.

Ethical issues - The researchers breached the BPS ethical guideline of deception and consequently, the ability to give informed consent.
However, the participants were debriefed. Ethical issues do not threaten the validity or reliability of findings, but rather suggest that a cost-benefit analysis is required.
Supports normative social influence - participants reported that they conformed to fit in with the group, so it supports the idea of normative influence, which states that people conform to fit in when privately disagreeing with the majority

Question 17

AO3- what are the weaknesses of Asch’s study?

Answer 17

Lacks ecological validity - it was based on peoples’ perception of lines and so the findings cannot be generalised to real life as it does not reflect the complexity of real life conformity i.e. where there are many other confounding variables and majorities exert influence irrespective of being a large group.

Lacks population validity due to sampling issues - For example, the
participants were only American male undergraduates, and so the study was subject to gender bias, where it is assumed that findings from male participants can be generalised to females (i.e. beta bias).

Ethical issues:- there was deception as participants were tricked into thinking the study
was about perception rather than compliance so they could not give
informed consent.
- There could have been psychological harm as the participants could
have been embarrassed after realising the true aims of the study.
- Such issues simply mean that a cost-benefit analysis is required to
evaluate whether the ethical costs are smaller than the benefits of
increased knowledge of the field. They do not affect the validity or
reliability of findings!

Lacked validity - The social context of the 1950s may have affected
results. For example, Perrin and Spencer criticised the study by stating
that the period that the experiment was conducted in influenced the
results because it was an anti-Communist period in America when people were more scared to be different i.e. McCarthyism. Thus, the study can be said to lack temporal validity because the findings cannot be generalised across all time periods.

Question 18

what was the aim of the SPE conducted by Zimbardo?

Answer 18

To investigate how readily people would conform to the social roles in a simulated environment, and specifically, to investigate why ‘good people do bad things’.

Question 19

how many ppts took part in Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 19

24 male American undergraduate students.

Question 20

what was the procedure of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 20

The basement of the Stanford University psychology building was
converted into a simulated prison.
American student volunteers were paid to take part in the study.
They were randomly issued one of two roles; guard or prisoner.
Both prisoners and guards had to wear uniforms.
Prisoners were only referred to by their assigned number.
Guards were given props like handcuffs and sunglasses (to make
eye contact with prisoners impossible and to reinforce the boundaries between the two social roles within the established social hierarchy).
No one was allowed to leave the simulated prison.
Guards worked eight hour shifts, while the others remained on call.
Prisoners were only allowed in the hallway which acted as their yard, and to the toilet. The guards were allowed to control such behaviour, in order to emphasise their complete power over the prisoners!
No physical violence was permitted, in line with ethical guidelines and to prevent complete overruling.
The behaviour of ppts was observed.

Question 21

what are the findings of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 21

Identification occurred very fast, as both the prisoners and guards
adopted their new roles and played their part in a short amount of time, despite the apparent disparity between the two social roles.
Guards began to harass and torment prisoners in harsh and
aggressive ways – they later reported to have enjoyed doing so and relished in their new-found power and control.
Prisoners would only talk about prison issues (forgetting about their previous real life), and snitch on other prisoners to the guards to please them. This is significant evidence to suggest that the prisoners believed that the prison was real, and were not acting simply due to demand characteristics.
They would even defend the guards when other prisoners broke the rules, reinforcing their social roles as prisoner and guard, despite it not being real.
The guards became more demanding of obedience and assertiveness towards the prisoners while the prisoners become more submissive. This suggests that the respective social roles became increasingly internalised.

Question 22

AO3- what are the strengths of the SPE by Zimbardo?

Answer 22

REAL LIFE APPLICATION-This research changed the way US prisons are run e.g. young prisoners are no longer kept with adult prisoners to prevent the bad behaviour perpetuating. Beehive-style prisons, where all cells are under constant surveillance from a central monitoring unit, are also not used in modern times, due to such setups increasing the effects of institutionalisation and over exaggerating the differences in social roles between prisoners and guards.

DEBRIEFING- participants were fully and completely debriefed aboutthe aims and results of the study. This is particularly important when
considering that the BPS ethical guidelines of deception and
informed consent had been breached. Dealing with ethical issues in this way simply makes the study more ethically acceptable, but does not change the quality (in terms of validity and reliability) of the findings.

The amount of ethical issues with the study led to the formal
recognition or ethical guidelines so that future studies were safer and less harmful to participants due to legally bound rules. This demonstrates the practical application of an increased understanding of the mechanisms of conformity and the variables which affect this.

Question 23

AO3- what are the weaknesses of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 23

LACKS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY-The study suffered from demand characteristics. For example, the participants knew that they were participating in a study and therefore may have changed their behaviour, either to please the experimenter (a type of demand characteristic) or in response to being observed (participant reactivity, which acts as a confounding variable). The participants also knew that the study was not real so they claimed that they simply acted according to the expectations associated with their role rather genuinely adopting it. This was seen particularly with
qualitative data gathered from an interview with one guard, who said that he based his performance from the stereotypical guard role portrayed in the film Cool Hand Luke, thus further reducing the validity of the findings.

LACKS POPULATION VALIDITY-The sample only consisted of American male students and so the findings cannot be generalised to other genders and cultures. For example, collectivist cultures, such as China or Japan, may be more conformist to their prescribed social roles because such cultures value the needs of the group over the needs of the individual. This suggests that such findings may be
culture-bound!
ETHICAL ISSUES-Lack of fully informed consent due to the deception required to (theoretically) avoid demand characteristics and participant reactivity.
However Zimbardo himself did not know what was going to happen, so could not inform the participants, meaning that there is possible justification for a breach of ethical guidelines.
Psychological harm – Participants were not protected from stress, anxiety, emotional distress and embarrassment e.g. one prisoner had to be released due to excess distress and uncontrollable screaming and crying. One prisoner was released on the first day due to showing signs of psychological disturbance, with a further two being released on the next day. This study would be deemed unacceptable according to modern ethical standards.