Social Influence P1

Question 1

what is NSI?

Answer 1

. where people comply to be liked and to gain approval from a social group.
. can happen with friends and strangers due to fear of being rejected.
. produces compliance

Question 2

what is ISI?

Answer 2

. where behaviour is changed to try and be right
. following behaviour of a group due to uncertainty
. thinking others are right especially in new or ambiguous situations where the correct answer is unclear
. produces internalisation

Question 3

what is internalisation conformity?

Answer 3

. a deep kind that involves a change in private views to match those of a group
. beliefs persist in the absence of the group as well
. attitudes become part of the way the person thinks

Question 4

what is identification conformity?

Answer 4

. a moderate kind that involves a change in public opinion to fit that of a group with something we value, even if we don’t agree

Question 5

what is compliance conformity?

Answer 5

. a superficial kind where you publicly conform but privately your views stay the same
. ends as soon as group pressure stops

Question 6

What is an example of supporting evidence for NSI and why?

Answer 6

. Asch’s experiment where the majority of p’s went along at least once with an answer they could obviously see was incorrect
. this was done due to self conscious and fear of disapproval thus supporting NSI

Question 7

What’s a limitation of NSI and why?

Answer 7

. It may ignore individual differences e.g. it affects some people more than others due to some having a greater need to be liked and converse
. this is supported by McGhee and Teevan (1967) who found students who have a greater need to be liked are more likely to conform
. this is a limitation

Question 8

What’s some supporting evidence for ISI and why?

Answer 8

. Lucas et al (2006) asked students to answer maths questions with varying difficulty.
. a greater conformity rate was found in incorrect answers when the questions were difficult rather than easy
. this was especially high in those who ranked their maths skills as poor
. this is a strength

Question 9

What year was Asch’s study in?

Answer 9

1956

Question 10

What was the aim of Asch’s study?

Answer 10

to see if p’s would conform to majority social influence and give incorrect answers in situations where the correct answer was clear

Question 11

What was the procedure for Asch’s study?

Answer 11

. told p’s they were taking part in test of vision relating to perception of line length
. 123 male American college students volunteered
. groups of 6 and 7 asked to take turns calling out which line they thought matched the length of the subject
. only one p was real, rest were all confederates
. real p always seated last or second to last
. confederates always gave wrong unanimous answers in 12 of the 18 trials

Question 12

What were the findings in Asch’s study?

Answer 12

. in 12 critical trials, mean conformity was 33%
. 75% conformed at least once
. in control trial with no confederates incorrect answers only given 1% of the time

Question 13

What was the conclusion of Asch’s research?

Answer 13

. a majority can influence a minority even in an unambiguous situation where answers are obvious demonstrating NSI

Question 14

What 3 variables were used in Asch’s research?

Answer 14

. group size
. unanimity of confederates
. difficulty of task

Question 15

How did group size effect conformity in Asch’s experiment?

Answer 15

. 1 p with 1 c 3%
. 1 p with 2 c 13%
. 1 p with 3 c 32%
. further increases didn’t lead to a change in rate of conformity

Question 16

How did unanimity affect conformity in Asch’s experiment?

Answer 16

. Asch broke unanimity by introducing 1 confed who gave the right answer 5%
. confed then gave wrong answer 9%
. this suggests unanimity is a major factor in conformity

Question 17

How did difficulty of task affect conformity in Asch’s experiment?

Answer 17

. they made the differences in line length smaller
. led to an increase in conformity
. likely due to ISI

Question 18

Who replicated Asch’s research and what did they find?

Answer 18

. Pernh and Spencer replicated in 1980 in the uk and found only 1 conforming response out of 396 trials
. this suggests cultural change and change in the importance of conformity
. this is a limitation as it means Asch’s research lacks temporal validity
. this suggests Asch’s research is a child of its time and it was conducted in a time in America where conformity was extremely important

Question 19

What where the issues with Asch’s method?

Answer 19

. p’s may have been aware of true aims of study and responded to demand characteristics
. the way they responded may not be accurate so findings cant be generalised
. the task lacked mundane realism, the task as trivial so there was no real reason not to conform

Question 20

What limits the application of Asch’s research?

Answer 20

. an all male sample was used
. research suggests women may have conformed more as they care more about social relationships (Neto 1995)
. men were all from the United States
. Studies in China found a much higher rate of conformity
. Asch’s findings may not apply to all

Question 21

What was the aim of the Stanford prison experiment (1971)?

Answer 21

. to find out if guards behave brutally due to their own sadistic personalities or if there was something in the environment causing it

Question 22

What procedure was used in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Answer 22

. Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university
. advertised the research in a paper and selected 24 students with no criminal records who were deemed emotionally stable
. the roles of prisoner and guard were randomly assigned
. prisoners were arrested in their homes and delivered, they were blindfolded, strip searched, delouse, issued a uniform, and given a number
. prisoners daily routines were regulated, they had 16 rules enforced by guards who worked in shifts
. the prisoners were referred to only by number
. guards had uniform, clubs, handcuffs, and shades
. they were told they had complete power over the prisoners

Question 23

What were the findings of Zimbardo’s research?

Answer 23

. guards became increasingly tyrannical, they enjoyed the harsh treatment and did things like make the prisoners clean toilets with their bare hands
. after 2 days of strict rule from guards, p’s rebelled
. g’s put down rebellion with fire extinguishers, p’s became depressed and anxious
. meant to last 2 weeks but had to end after 6 days after intervention from a postgraduate student

Question 24

What was the conclusion drawn from Zimbardo’s research?

Answer 24

. power of the situation can influence a persons behaviour, Guards and pp’s both conformed to their social roles

Question 25

What were the ethical issues involved in Zimbardo's research?

Answer 25

. right to withdraw - Z spoke to one man who wanted to leave as a superintendent rather than a researcher and stopped him leaving . protection from harm - both physical and mental

Question 26

How did demand characteristics affect Zimbardo's study?

Answer 26

. its speculated that Jaffe, another researcher, suggested to the guards to behave in immoral ways . this makes the research invalid . the study lacks internal validity

Question 27

Why do Zimbardo's findings lack reliability?

Answer 27

. Reicher and Haslam (2006) conducted a modern replication of the study in the UK . findings were different, instead the p's took charge, disobeyed and harassed the guards . limitation as findings aren't consistent

Question 28

What is one strength of Zimbardo's experiment?

Answer 28

. Abu Gharib, military prison in Iraq, known for its torture and abuse of prisoners from US military soldiers in 2003 and 2004 . Zimbardo states that guards were abusive due to situational factors rather than because they were sadistic themselves

Question 29

What is obedience?

Answer 29

a form of social influence involving acting on the orders of an authority figure

Question 30

What was the aim of Milgram's (1956) study?

Answer 30

. to find out whether ordinary Americans would obey to unjust orders from a person in authority

Question 31

What was the procedure of Milgram's (1956) study?

Answer 31

. 40 male American volunteers were recruited with newspaper ad . deceived to believe they were researching punishment and learning . real p's always had the role of teacher. confed was learner though p's thought roles were randomly allocated . learner was to memorise word pairs, teacher administered shock if word pair repeated wrong . teacher watched l get strapped to a chair and received a practice shock . confed began to make mistakes , shocks increased with each one up to 450V from 15V . would continue until 450V given 3 times or t refused to go on . p then debriefed and taken to meet learner

Question 32

what are the findings of milgrams study

Answer 32

. all p's went to atleast 300V . 65% went up to 450V

Question 33

What was the conclusion of Milgram's (1956) research?

Answer 33

. under certain circumstances people will unwillingly go against their morals to obey a perceived authority figure

Question 34

Why were demand characteristics a limitation of Milgram's research?

Answer 34

. Orne and Holland (1968) argued p's gave high shocks because they knew it wasn't real . supported by Percy (2012) who found many p's were sceptical at the time . study lacks internal validity

Question 35

Why is replication a strength of Milgram's research?

Answer 35

. Blass (1999) carried out a statistical analysis of Milgram's research into obedience, the results stayed mostly the same . Burger (2009) also found obedience levels to be mostly the same

Question 36

Why was Milgram's sample a limitation?

Answer 36

. only male Americans were used . this was an unrepresented sample . this makes it difficult to generalise the findings

Question 37

What were the ethical issues with Milgram?

Answer 37

. p's were deceived, harmed psychologically . this questions the integrity of the researchers though the issues may have been justified as the p's were debriefed and 83.7% of p's said they were happy to have taken part

Question 38

What variations of Milgram cause obedience to fall?

Answer 38

. worse setting - lack of legit authority 47.5% . when p's could see and hear distress - fell even more when required physical force 30% . lack of uniform - lack of legitimate authority 20%

Question 39

what are 2 limitations of Milgram?

Answer 39

. it ignores factors like p's personality and disposotion . Milgram's research supports view that situation is main factor in obedience . both of these make it lack validity

Question 40

What is the authoritarian personality type?

Answer 40

.A personality especially obedient to authority. Shows extreme respect and submissiveness to those in power. Shows contempt for people with lower social status. Has rigid beliefs in conventional values. Believed to originate from harsh parenting and strict discipline. Measured by Adorno et al.’s F-scale. Associated with a tendency to scapegoat weaker groups (prejudice)

Question 41

What causes the authoritarian personality type?

Answer 41

. formed in childhood due to harsh parenting with strict discipline, high standards and severe criticism . these experiences create hostility unable to be expressed by child so fear is displaced into those inferior, called scapegoating

Question 42

what was Adorno et al (1950)?

Answer 42

. attitudes toward racial minorities measured in 2000 white, middle class Americans . F-scale used to measure different components of authoritarian personality . was found that those with authoritarian personality type were contemptuous of weaker, conscious of social status, and had many stereotypes of others . people with authoritarian personality are more obedient because they have respect for authority

Question 43

What supporting evidence is there for authoritarian personality?

Answer 43

. Elms and Milgram found 20 obedient p's from Milgram were questioned with F-scale and found to be authoritarian . supports as Adorno says it makes us obey

Question 44

What are the weaknesses of authoritarian personality type?

Answer 44

. it ignores external causes of obedience - things like uniform . it cant explain group obedience - e.g. Nazi Germany so there must be some alternative explanation playing a bigger part . methodological weaknesses - measured using social desirability scale which are subject to social desirability basis

Question 45

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 45

. the ability of people to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority

Question 46

How does social support effect conformity and obedience?

Answer 46

. pressure to conform is highest when a group is unanimous and pressure to obey is highest when everyone obeys . presence of a dissenter helps others to resist that pressure

Question 47

what is locus of control?

Answer 47

. refers to the extent which people feel as though they have control over the events that influence their lives

Question 48

what do people with internal LOC believe?

Answer 48

. that they control the events in their own life . that things are the consequence of their own ability . they're less likely to rely on the opinions of others . they're more likely to resist social influence

Question 49

what do people with external LOC believe?

Answer 49

. that they're not in control of the events in their own life . that things are the consequence of external factors . they're more likely to rely on the opinions of others . they're less likely to resist social influence

Question 50

what ate the strengths of loc

Answer 50

. Crowne et al (1965)did Asch style e and found that internals conformed less . Holland recreated Milgram and found internals disobeyed more . both demonstrate a relationship between LOC and resistance

Question 51

What contradicts LOC?

Answer 51

. Twenge et al (2004) analysed obedience studies over 40 yrs and found that people resist more but have an increasing external locus of control

Question 52

Why is correlation a weakness of LOC?

Answer 52

. links between LOC and resistance rely on correlational evidence . this fails to establish cause and effect . there could be an unidentified variable

Question 53

What is minority influence?

Answer 53

. a form of social influence where minority persuades majority to believe, behave, or have the same attitude as them . different to conformity as there is a conversion process and isn't done to fit in, links to internalisation

Question 54

What factors are involved in minority influence?

Answer 54

. consistency - involves keeping to and repeating beliefs -synchronic consistency - minority all saying the same thing - diachronic consistency - have been saying same thing time - being overly consistent can be negative, need flexibility . commitment - shows of dedication through extreme, risky actions - brings attention and makes people take it seriously augmentation principle - can be seen as deviant and make majority not want to align . flexibility - the ability to compromise

Question 55

what was Moscovici et al (1969)?

Answer 55

. supporting evidence for consistency . groups of p's were asked to view blue slides . 2 of 6 were confeds who claimed green in all trials . in another condition they claimed green on 24 and blue on 12 . a control group who judged without confeds . in consistent, p's called green 8.42% and 32% of p's called green at least once . inconsistent called green only 1.25% of the time

Question 56

what was Nemeth and Brilmayer (1987)?

Answer 56

. supporting evidence for flexibility . mock jury set up for injury on ski lift . found with flexibility group was influenced

Question 57

why does social change occur?

Answer 57

. occurs when a whole society adopt new attitudes, beliefs or ways of doing things

Question 58

what stages occur in social change?

Answer 58

. drawing attention to the issue . consistency of position . commitment . snowball effect

Question 59

what is the snowball effect?

Answer 59

. when the influence of minority gathers momentum when members of the majority move to their position until a tipping point is reached and social change takes place

Question 60

How can majority change a minority?

Answer 60

. research shows that conformity can play a part in social change so majority can change minority because they want to fit in

Question 61

what is the support for normative (majority) influence?

Answer 61

. Nolan (2008) investigated whether influence would lead to reduction in energy usage . messages hung on doors of homes in Cali . one group said most people are reducing e usage . other group said save e . most sig decline in first group showing conformity and normative influence

Question 62

What is 1 issue for minorities?

Answer 62

. potential for influence limited because seen as deviant so majority may avoid aligning as they don't want to be viewed as social deviants

Question 63

what is agentic state?

Answer 63

. individuals obey as they believe authority is responsible

Question 64

what is augmentation principle?

Answer 64

. if risks involved in demonstrating pov then your cause is taken more seriously

Question 65

what is autonomous state?

Answer 65

. individuals seen as personally responsible for their actions

Question 66

what is commitment?

Answer 66

. minority demonstrating dedication to a cause through extremes

Question 67

what is conformity?

Answer 67

. tendency for people to adopt behaviour, attitudes, and values of a group

Question 68

what is ecological validity?

Answer 68

. extent to which results are applicable to the real world

Question 69

what is flexibility?

Answer 69

. the ability to compromise

Question 70

what is internal validity?

Answer 70

. whether an experiment measures what it aims to

Question 71

what is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 71

. obeying an authority figure cause we think they have power and their authority is justified

Question 72

what is mundane realism?

Answer 72

. extent to which a task reflects real life

Question 73

what is reliability?

Answer 73

. extent to which studies can be replicated with consistent results

Question 74

what is social norms?

Answer 74

. expected ways of thinking or behaving in a social group

Question 75

what is social roles?

Answer 75

. behaviours expected of an individual in a given social role or status

Question 76

what is unanimity?

Answer 76

. agreement by all involved, consensus

Question 77

What is social cryptomnesia in psychology?

Answer 77

Social cryptomnesia is a phenomenon where a society remembers the outcome of a social change (like improved rights or equality) but forgets the contributions or efforts of the group that brought about that change.

Question 78

How is the concept of social cryptomnesia used in psychology or social studies?

Answer 78

It is used to explain why social change often fails to credit the minority groups or activists responsible for it, highlighting issues in collective memory and the marginalization of certain voices in history.