social pyschology Flashcards
(48 cards)
what is the definition of conforminty
tendancy to change our views or behaviours in response to the infulence of a larger group
what is compliance
- most superficial type of conformity
- individual agrees with the group publicaly but thier internal private beleifs and views remain in disagreement
- they change their behaviour and opinions to be accepted by the group or to avoid disaproval
- short term change
what is an example of compliance
joining a queue when other windows are available
watching a film you dont want to watch
what is identification
- moderate type of conformity
- person conforms to thei views or behaviours of the group because they identify with the group and want to be a part of it
- mostly privately accepts the views and behaviours but the purpose of conformin is to be publically accepted as a group member
what is an example of identification
smoking because that is what cool kids do - to be accepted by friends who all vape
what is internalisation
- deepest level of conformity
- genuinly accept the groups norms, adopt the group view point both publically and privately
- also known as conversion because the person converts or changes their private ways of thinking
- long lasting change
what is an example of internalisation
veganism- a majority group explain their reasons for being vegan and you accept them as valid reasons and change what they eat as a result
what was the aim of ashs study into conformity
to test whether people would conform to group pressure, even if it meant giving a clearly wrong answer in a straightforward ( unambigous ) line judjement
what was aschs method in his study of conformity
- 123 male american undergraduates
- shown a series of lines
- the standard line and 3 comparison lines, one of which was the same lenght as the standard line
- 7 males - one reall ppt the rest were confederates
- confederates unanimously gave same incorrect answer on 12 out of 18 trials - these were called critical trials
- true ppt was always last but one to answer
what were aschs findings in his study of conformity
- mean conformity rate of 37%
- 5% conformed every trial
- 25% remained completely independant
- in the control group only 1% gave incorrect answer
what was aschs conclusion from his research into conformity
agreed with the majority as the wanted to avoid standing out from the crowd
ppts showed compliance
what were the variables affecting conformity in aschs study
1) unamity = the extent to which sll members of a group agree
when ppt was given a dissenter who sometimes gave the correct answer conformity dropped to 25%
2) group size = when asch changed group size conformity changes
3 conderates conformity was 32%, further increased in size of majority did not increase conformity a great deal and beyond 7 confederates conformity rate began to decrease.
size of majority is important but only up to a point
3) task difficulty = if a situation is more ambigous a person is more likely to conform because they are less confident in their own opinion and therefre more likely to look to others to provide guidance on how to behave.
asch made the line task more difficuly and conformity increased
positive evaluation of aschs conformity research
+ well controlled. lab setting made it easy to control extraneous variables e.g. asch could control the lighting and lines used to make sure the ppts could clearly see them. high internal validity
+ easy to replicate e.g. able to adjust variables
negative evaluation of aschs research into conformity
- lacks temporal validity. when repeated in britain many years later, only 1 person conformed in 396 trials
- low ecological validity. artifical setting does not represent real life e.g. in real life pple might questions why others were giving incorrect answers. does not generalise to real life
- deception misleading ppts making them feel foolish and embarassed. goes against ethical code of conduct.
what are the explanations for conformity
- normative social influence ( NSI ) = changing in order to be accepted and gain approval and not be deceived as deviant by other members of the group – desire to be liked
- fear of rejection
- involves public compliance
evaluation of NSI explanation
+ aschs conformity research. mean conformity of 37%. concluded they conformed to avoid standing out from the crowd. we conform out of a desire to be liked
+ when asch repeated his study but asked ppts to write down their answers instead of saying them out loud conformity fell from 37% to 12.5%. less fear of social dissaproval and rejection as the group did not have to hear thier answers
- struggles to explain indivdual differences. 25% remianed independant going againts the majority. does not consider how different personalities affect how some pple are more suceptible to NSI than others
what is informational social influence
- result of being unsure what to do in a situation
- they look to others with seemingly more info in order to identify correct behaviour
- tend to seek guidance from pple we percieve as having higher intelligence than ourselves
- desire to be right
- involves internalisation
evaluation of ISI
+ aschs variations. when task was made more difficult conformity rate increased as ppts were less confident in their own judjement. group are seen as better informed and we follow out of a desire to be correct.
- however, conducted in artifical lab using a task that doesnt reflect real life. questions external validty
+ ppts given no clear answer in how many jelly beans in a jar. estimates moved towards the estimate of others.
+ students were asked to give mathematical problems that were easy or difficult, there was a greater conformity to incorrect answers when they were difficult rather than easy. this was most true with students who rated their mathematical ability as poor
what was zimbardos aim when researching conformity into social roles
to test whether ordinary people would conform to the social roles of prison guard and prisoner in a mock prison as part of the stanford prison experiment
what was zimbardos method when researching conformity into social roles
- advertised for students to take part
- 24 ppts who were the most emotionally stable
- randomly assigned to prisoner or guard
- prisoners unexpexdally arrested at home by local police and were blindfolded, strip searched, deloused and given a uniform and a number
- guards given uniforms, wooden clubs, handcuffs and wore reflective sunglasses
- told they had complete control over the prisoners ]
- zimbardo was prison superintendant
what did zimbardo find in his research into confromity of sicial roles
- guards grew increasingly abusive towards the prisoners
- forced them to clean the toilets with their bare hands
- within 2 days prisoners rebelled against their harsh treatment by ripping their uniforms shouting and swearing
- guards retalliated with fire extingushers
- prisoners became anxious, depressed and subdued
- 5 prisoners were allowed to leave early
- study terminated after 6 days
- both prisoners and gaurds conformed to social roles
- lost their sense of identity
positive evaluation of zimbardos research
+ high degree of control. controlled who was selected - emotionally stable and randomly allocated them to social roles, this rules out individual differences. high internal validty.
+ practical applications. helps highlight the ways in which ordinary, emotionally stable people can behave extremely differently in the right social context and coube be used to prevent brutality in other prison like contexts.
negative evlaution of zimbardos research
- not all the guards were sadistic. these good guards did not harass the prisoners and even did small favours for them. suggests the gaurds chose how to behave
- demand characteristics. ppts may have been play acting. one of the meaner gaiurds said he based his role on a brutal charcter from the film cool hand luke. reduces internal validity.
- studt replicated by bbc. found it was the prisoners not the guards who eventually took control over the prison. prisoners developed a shared social identity which allowed them to act with a shared purpose whilst the guards did not. other factors play a part
- ethcal issues. severed emotional distress.
what is obediance
someone acts in response to a direct order. This order comes from a percieved figure of authority. There is also an implication that the person receiving the order is made to respond in a way that he or she would not otherwise have done
