SOCIAL INFLUENCE: Evaluation

Question 1

TYPES OF CONFORMITY

1) Can’t know where compliance/internalisation takes place

Answer 1

Individual may change their view in private because of new or forgotten information
Shows difficulty in determining compliance or internalisation

Question 2

TYPES OF CONFORMITY

2) Research has supported role in normative beliefs in shaping behaviours

Answer 2

‘Most people don’t smoke’, less took up smoking

supports idea people change behaviour to fit in, power of NSI

Question 3

TYPES OF CONFORMITY

3) Studies show how others beliefs can shape your own

Answer 3

Expose negative info about African Americans, more negative attitudes reported
Shows the importance of ISI in shaping behaviour

Question 4

TYPES OF CONFORMITY

4) Individual may not see the behaviour of others affecting their own

Answer 4

Behaviour of neighbours had the biggest effect on individuals change in behaviour surrounding energy conservation

Question 5

TYPES OF CONFORMITY

5) Not always a clear criteria for validation for the informational explanation of conformity

Answer 5

Can’t decide if Bristol is the most fun city becuase that can’t be made using an objective criteria
Majorities should exert a greater influence on social rather than physical issues

Question 6

ASCH

1) Findings were a ‘child of their time’

Answer 6

McCarthyism

If study repeated now, the results would be very different

Question 7

ASCH

Research lacked ecological validity and mundane realism

Answer 7

results less applicable to real life

people questioned the validity

Question 8

ASCH

Study was ethically questionable

Answer 8

involved deceiving participants

justified as lack of informed consent needed and proper debrief was followed

Question 9

ASCH

2) Bond suggests conformity studies have a limited range of majority sizes

Answer 9

no groups were bigger than 9

means we know little about the effect of bigger majority groups

Question 10

ASCH

3) In the study only 1/3 of trials where majority gave wrong answer produced conforming response

Answer 10

means 2/3 stuck to their original judgement

not an overly conformist representation of humans

Question 11

SPE

3) Study was unethical even though it followed guidelines

Answer 11

admits it should have been stopped much earlier

Question 12

SPE

5) People quickly descend into tyrannical behaviour

Answer 12

because they unthinkingly conform to roles

BBC study says the conformed to their own norms and values

Question 13

SPE

4) Explains events in Abu Ghraib

Answer 13

suggested guards acted this way due to situational factors

led to tyrannical behaviour in both cases

Question 14

SPE

1) BBC study challenged idea that guards behaviour was due to role of SPE

Answer 14

argued that the guards behaviour varied

therefore they chose their behaviour and actions

Question 15

SPE

2) Behaviour due to demand characteristics

Answer 15

students guessed the aim of the study correctly

behaviour not due to situational factors

Question 16

MILGRAM

1) Participants distrusted experimenters

Answer 16

most didn’t believe the shocks were real

shows study lacks internal validity

Question 17

MILGRAM

2) Questioned if the same thing would happen today

Answer 17

found no relationship between year and obedience levels when looking at correlational analysis
study would still hold the same amount of validity today

Question 18

MILGRAM

3) Mandel aruged conclusions aren’t based on reality

Answer 18

police ordered to kill village of Jews and nearly all agreed to
therefore using obedience as an explanation for real life events masks the real reasons for behaviour

Question 19

MILGRAM

4) Participants knew they were a part of a study as they were in a university

Answer 19

increases the obedience as it’s a prestigious place, but might not in a different location
need to be careful generalising results

Question 20

MILGRAM

5) Authoritative figure in uniform may increase validity

Answer 20

in one study children chose a civillian wearing a police uniform as the most suitable to make an arrest
suggests children base authority on uniform and appearence

Question 21

AGENTIC STATE/LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY

1) The shift doesn’t explain behaviour of German doctors in Auschwitz

Answer 21

doctors stopped caring and carried out lethal experiments on patients
concluded carrying out many evil acts changes behaviour

Question 22

AGENTIC STATE/LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY

2) Other ways too explain the results other than the agentic shift

Answer 22

anxiety in participants can explain cruelty in SPE

suggests obedience explained by agentic shift or obedient behaviour

Question 23

AGENTIC STATE/LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY

3) Legitimate authority used to justify inflicting pain on others

Answer 23

more willing to take part in immoral actions

therefore more obedient to legitimate authority

Question 24

AGENTIC STATE/LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY

4) Agentic shift is more likely if individual has less personal control

Answer 24

leads to increase in obedience to legitimate authority, bystander apathy and increased compliance
process of agentic shift could extend to other forms of social influence

Question 25

AGENTIC STATE/LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY | 5) Tarnow supported power of legitimate authority

Answer 25

they found crews actions were contributing factors to airplane crashed in Milgram's study they relied on the experimenter

Question 26

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY | 1) Participants doubted if shocks were real

Answer 26

2 psychologyis repeated the study but told them shocks were't real, all participants acted as though they were they displayed high RWA and supported link between authoritarianism and obedience

Question 27

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY | 2) Agreed that there are dispositional reasons for obedience

Answer 27

Variations the main cuase of difference in levels and specific social situations cause participants to obey or resist therefore explanations of obedience based on authoritarianism lack flexibility to account for variation

Question 28

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY | 3) Elms and Milgram showed difference in characteristics of obedience and authoritarian personality

Answer 28

obedient participants reported a good relationship with parents unlikely all obedient participants grew up in a harsh family environment

Question 29

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY | 4)Less-educated people are more likely to have authoritarian personality

Answer 29

Milgram found similar results in his study therefore lack of education responsible and any causal relationship between authoritarianism and obedience likely to be an illusion

Question 30

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY | 5) Those on the right of the political spectrum are more likely to obey authority

Answer 30

On a mock gameshow, participants on left of spectrum gave lower intensity shocks suggests situational context doesn't exclude individual differences as influencing obedience

Question 31

SOCIAL SUPPORT | 1) Studied the effectiveness of response from social support

Answer 31

more effective when real participant answered last | suggests when an answer agrees with theirs it reinforces judgement

Question 32

SOCIAL SUPPORT | 2) Helps resist conformity if social support are friends

Answer 32

drink less if one friend in a group also doesn't drink | shows that social support from friends decreases conformity

Question 33

SOCIAL SUPPORT | 3) Rosentrasse protest illustrates Milgram's study

Answer 33

the women were threatened with open fire, but Jews were eventually set free backs Milgram's theory that disobedient peers give courage to resist orders

Question 34

LOCUS OF CONTROL | 1) Spector measured control and predisposition to ISI/NSI in students

Answer 34

found a correlation between locus of control and predisposition to NIS, not ISI concluded that external individuals conform more to NSI situations

Question 35

LOCUS OF CONTROL | 2) Trend between locus of control and external young people

Answer 35

more young Americans believed their fate was due to luck and powerful people suggested it was due to alienateion experienced by young people

Question 36

LOCUS OF CONTROL | 3)A meta-analysis study looked at relationship between locus of control and social influence

Answer 36

showed a positive correlation | suggests external individuals are more easily persuaded and more conforming

Question 37

MINORITY INFLUENCE | 1) Nemeth and Brilayer supported this using a fake jury system

Answer 37

no effect if jury presented with alternate POV, big effect if confederate compromised suggests flexibility sometimes good for changing majorities opinion

Question 38

MINORITY INFLUENCE | 2) Dissent in form of minority opinion opens the mind

Answer 38

encourages person to search for more information and therefore they will make better decisions supported by other psychologists who saw improved decision quality

Question 39

MINORITY INFLUENCE | 3) Majority create greater message processing

Answer 39

if majority have different views we are forced to consider why but we often don't waste time on the minority

Question 40

MINORITY INFLUENCE | 4) 'Tipping point' where minority hold majority opinion

Answer 40

on chat rooms if the listener heard a new opinion they considered it then moved on, if new opinion the same as last they adopted it and shifted 10% holding minority opinion needed to tip

Question 41

MINORITY INFLUENCE | 5) It's difficult to convince people of the value of dissent

Answer 41

they quickly accepts it but then become irritated by the persistent views therefore if minority view persists then innovative thinking associated with minority influence is lost

Question 42

SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE | 1) Takes a long time to bring about social change

Answer 42

more likely to conform to majority as its easier | therefore minority are more latent than direct

Question 43

SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE | 2) It's hard to influence majority without being seen as 'deviant'

Answer 43

majority tend to focus on source of message | added challenge for the minority

Question 44

SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE | 3) Limitations to social norms intervention

Answer 44

social norms didn't reduce alcohol intake during one study | not all social norms interventions produce socal change

Question 45

SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE | 4) Social norms interventions can also help people with desirable behaviours

Answer 45

normative messages can increase aspects of behaviour, this is known as boomerang effect e.g. found that it decreased some electricity used and increased it in some cases

Question 46

SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE | 5) Minorities need to avoid being seen as 'deviant'

Answer 46

early communists avoided this by making it clear they were part of the majority this created the impression that they had potential to overthrow majority and create social change