social influence - conformity

Question 1

conformity

Answer 1

serves as the changing of an individual’s behaviour to match the norms of a group

Question 2

compliance

Answer 2

form of social influence causing a change of behaviour in public, but disagreeing with it in privately. temporary behaviour change that stops when the group is not present

Question 3

internalisation

Answer 3

a change in behaviour in public, and also agreeing with it privately. a deeper level of conformity that occurs when the behaviour is a dominant social value

Question 4

identification

Answer 4

changes in behaviour in order to fit into a social role

Question 5

normative influence

Answer 5

conformity to fit into a group. individuals conform because they’re afraid of being rejected by the group. usually compliance

Question 6

informational influence

Answer 6

conformity because the individual respects the group and believes they have more knowledge than them. occurs when an individual is unsure about a situation. usually involves internalisation

Question 7

asch research - method

Answer 7

sample of 50 male college students. tested groups’ perception of lines, which was closest to the original. one member of the group was a participant, rest were actors. actors deliberately selected the wrong line

Question 8

asch research - findings

Answer 8

if the actors’ wrong answer was unanimous participants conformed ~1/3 of the time. overall, 75% of participants conformed at least once, and the other 25% never conformed. if there were two ‘real’ participants and one answered with the correct answer, conformity levels dropped. conformity also dropped if participants were allowed to answer privately (write answer)

Question 9

asch research - contributions

Answer 9

-demonstrated the power of conformity in groups
-identified factors that influence conformity, such as the size of the majority and the presence of a dissenter
-helped to develop theories of conformity, such as the informational influence model

Question 10

asch research - limitations

Answer 10

-sample not representative of the whole population, therefore hard to generalise results
-lack of external validity as it is not representative of conformity in a real-world setting
-influence of historical context - 1950s USA which was conservative and conformity heightened due to cold war and anti-communist belief
-later replications by carten 70s-90s found
=> lower levels of conformity overall
=> results vary depending on political context

Question 11

deindividuation experiment dodd (1985)

Answer 11

-conducted an experiment on a sample of 230 college students, 203 attended classes on campus and 29 were inmates at a high security prison
-asked them what they’d do (realistically) if their identity was anonymous with no repercussions
-36% were antisocial, 19% nonnormative, 36% neutral and 9% prosocial
-most frequent responses were criminal acts
-no difference between regular college students and prison students

Question 12

factors affecting conformity - culture

Answer 12

in societies where collectivism is emphasised, individuals may conform more strongly to group norms and expectations

Question 13

factors affecting conformity - group size

Answer 13

larger groups often exert more significant social pressure on individuals to conform

Question 14

factors affecting conformity - unanimity

Answer 14

when there is unanimity within a group, meaning everyone agrees on a particular viewpoint or action, it can strengthen conformity as dissenting opinions become less apparent and influential

Question 15

factors affecting conformity - deindividuation

Answer 15

occurs when individuals lose their sense of personal identity and responsibility, leading to increased conformity to group norms and behaviours

Question 16

factors affecting conformity - social loafing

Answer 16

tendency of individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone, leading to conformity to lower group effort levels