Social Influence : Types Of Conformity Flashcards
(13 cards)
Who suggested that there are three ways that people conform to the opinion of a majority
Hebert Kelman (1958)
What are the three types
Internalisation
Compliance
Identification
What is internalisation
Occurs when a person genuinely accepts group norms
Private and public change of opinions/behaviour
PERMANENT CHANGE because attitudes have been internalised
The change exists even in absence of other group members
DEEP
What is identification
Conforming to opinions/behaviour because there is something about the group that you value
Identify with the group, want to become apart of it
Pubically change opinions/behaviuour to be accepted by the group even if don’t privately agree with everything the group stands for
MODERATE
What is compliance
Going along with others in public but privately not changing personal opinions/behaviours
SUPERFICIAL CHANGE
A particular opinion/behaviour stops as soon as group pressure stops
Who developed the two process theory
Morton deutsch and Harold Gerard - 1955
What does the two process theory suggest
Two main reasons why people conform
The need to be right - ISI
The need to be liked - NSI
What is informational social influence
Who has the better information - you or the rest of the group
Follow behaviour of others because we want to be right
Cognitive process- to do with what you think
Leads to permanent change in behaviour - INTERNALISATION
Likely to occur in situations that are new to a person
Ambiguity
Crisis situations where decisions have to be made quickly
What is normative social influence
About the norms - what is typical behaviour for a social group
Norms regulate the behaviour of individuals so we pay attention to them
People do not like to appear foolish and so prefer to GAIN SOCIAL APPROVAL rather than be rejected
EMOTIONAL PROCESS
Leads to temporary change in behaviour (compliance)
Occurs in situations where you may feel concerned about rejection
Occurs in stressful situations where people have a greater need for social support
Strength for NSI
Research supports - Evidence supports it as an explanation of conformity
ASCH interviewed some of participants said they conformed because they felt self conscious giving the correct answer and were afraid of disapproval
When participants wrote answers down - conformity dropped to 12.5%
Giving answers privately - no normative group pressure
This shows that at least some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing with them
Strength for ISI
Research support - evidence to support from Todd Lucas
Participants conformed more often to incorrect answers if they were given more difficult maths problems
When the problems were easy the participants ‘knew their own minds’ but when the problems became hard the situation became ambiguous
The participants did not want to be wrong and so relied on answers they were given
Shows that ISI is a valid explanation for conformity because the results are what ISI predict
Counterpoint
It is often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI in research studies
ASCH (1955) found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant
The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI - they provide social support
Or they may reduce the power of ISI - they provide an alternative source of information
Both interpretations are possible
It is hard to separate ISI and NSI and both processes probably operate together in most real world conformity situations
Limitation of NSI
Does not predict conformity in every case
Some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others
Such people are called nAffiliators - they have a strong need for affiliation
Paul McGhee and Richard teevan found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
This shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than it does others
Individual differences to conformity that’s cannot be explained by one general theory or situational process
