soial influene- only bits erin doesnt know Flashcards
Talk about situational variables of milgrams study
Proximity- There were two variations tested on proximity:
1. Teacher and Learner in the same room- obedience decreased as people feel more guilt- 40%
2. Teacher had to force Learners hand onto plate- obedience decreased as they are more aware of actions and consequences- 30%
3. Experimenter prompts over the phone- obedience decreased as its easier for the teacher to disconnect from the situation- 20.5%
Location- Milgram conducted a variation in a run-down office block rather than yale university. In this location, obedience decreased to 47.5%
This is because the prestigous Yale University campus gave the study legitimacy and authority.
Uniform- In the baseline study, the experimentor wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of authority. In a variation, the experimentor wore casual everyday clothes causing obedience to drop to 20%
Uniform encourages obedience as they are widely recognised as symbols of authority.
Evaluate situational variables of obedience
SUPPORTING RESEARCH- other studies have demonstrated the infuence of situational variables on obedience. Bickmen et al. (see above) shows that uniform does have a powerful effect on obedience
INTERNAL VALIDITY-
Internal validity
altered one variable at a time to see what effect it would have on the level of obedience. All the other procedures and variables were kept the same as the study was replicated over &
over again with over 1000 participants in total. This means We can see cause + effect
A criticism of the original study was that many participants would have worked out that the procedure was faked. It even more likely that porticipants in the variations realised this because of the extra manipulation. A good example. A good example of this is the uniform variation. This could have caused demand characteristics meaning it has low internal validity.
What are the two dispositional explanations of Obedience
THE AGENTIC STATE- The agentic stte is a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we feel we are acting on behalf of the authority figure.This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey ebem a destructive authority figure.
AUTONOMOUS STATE- When individuals direct their own behaviour’s and actions and take responsibility for consequences themselves, therefore we feel guilt for what we do.
Talk about the Agentic Shift
The shift from autonomous to ‘agency’ is called the agentic shift. Milgram suggested that there are 2 conditions that must be present in order to be in an agentic state. The first is that the person who is in charge must be viewed as a legitimate leader. The second is that an individual must fell the leader will take consequence for their actions.
Milgram found that many participants said they wanted to stop but felt powerless to do so. This is due to binding factors- ascpects of a situation of a situation that allow a person to ignore or minimize the damaging effects of behaviour and reduce the ‘moral strain’ theyre feeling.
Evaluate dispositional explanations
SUPPORTING RESERCH- Milgrams own studies support the role of agentic state. Most of Milgrams participants resisted giving the shocks at one point and often asked the experimentor questions about the procedure. When the experimentor replied ‘I’m responsible’, they went through with the procedure with no further objections. This shows they percieved it as being no longer responsible for their own behaviour,
LIMITED EXPLANATION- The agentic state doesnt explain many research findings about obedience. Rank and Jacobson found that 16 out of 18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer an exessive dose to a patient. This shows that the agentic state can only be applied to certain situations.
Talk about the legitimacy of authority
An important factor in the agentic state is legitimacy of authority. This refers to the amount of social power held by the person (authority figure) who gives the instruction. Most societies are orderd in a heirarchical way, with some having high social power and issue instructions to people below. We obey people woith legitimate authority because we trust them and they have to power to punish us. These people may carry authority symbols like uniform or possess status like rank.
Evaluate legitimacy of authority
EXPLAINS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES- Many studies show tat countries differ in the degree to which they are obedient to authority. For example, Kilham and Mann found only 16% of female Australian pp’s went all way however German pp’s 85% went all the way up. This shows that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate
CAN’T EXPLAIN ALL DISOBEDIENCE- legitimacy cant explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy is clear and accepted. the nurses study, most were disobedient accept working in a rigidly hierarchical authority struture. This could mean that some people are more or less obedient than others.
Talk about research into dispositional explanations
Adorno (1950): claims that a particular personality is more likely to obey rather than the situation. He called this the Authoritarian Personality:
These people show extreme respect for authority, view society as ‘weaker’ than it once was and think that we need strong powerful leaders to enforce values . Both of these characteristics make people more likely to obey orders. They also are conventional and conformist so stick to traditions and are suspicious and hostile toward people who don’t obey traditions.
Adorno believed that the Authoritarian Personality type forms in childhood, mostly as a result of harsh parenting. This typically features strict discipline an expectation to be loyal and impossible high standards. It could also seen as conventional love. This means the child cannot express these feelings directly against their parents cause they fear punishment.
F-SCALE- a measure of how factious qualities are measured to see weather a person has an authoritarian personality
Talk about adorno’s research
Studied more than 2000 middle class white americans and their unconscious attitudes toward other racial groups. The researchers developed several measurement scales including the F-scale.
People with authoritarian leanings (high on the F-scale) were identified with strong people and were contemptuous to the weak.
He also found thay authoritarian people had a certain cognitive style with no fuzziness between categories of people and had distinct stereotypes about groups showing a distinct correlation.
Talk about Milgram and Elms
They got 20 participants from milgram original participants with fully obedient personalities and 20 non-fully obedient participants and got them to all complete the F-scale
They found little difference between obedient and defiant participants, however, they did find higher levels of authoritarianism among the participants who were obedient
This supporte Adornos view that obedient people may well show similar characteristics to people who have AP
However, even though there is a positive correlation, we can’t draw causal conclusions due to the fact it could be influenced by external factors alike a poor education. limited reliability
Evaluate Dispositional Explanations
NAME?
Talk about social supports role in resisting social influence
Social support is the presence of other people who resist preassures to social influence and encourage others to do so aswel.
Resisting Conformity- Individuals who have a supporting role for their point of view no longer fear being ridiculed, allowing them to avoid normative social influence. Having a confederate allows them to have a model which can help them build confidence and allow individuals to remain independant.
Resisting Obedience- Disobedience is more likely to occur in the presence of disobedient role models as they provide confidence. It is associated with diffusion of responsibility as the more who obey, the less severe the consequence
Evaluate social support
- Supporting Evidence: In Asches variation of conformity, with a conforming role, conformity dropped to 5%. This shows thag NSI was taking place and social support allows people to be more confident in their answers l.
- Milgrams study also supports this as with two confederate who refused to give shocks, obedience dropped to 10%
Talk about Locus of Control
Ritter proposed the Locus of control which refers to a persons perception of personal control over their own behaviour
Some people have internal locus of control which is when they believe that things happen to them are largely controlled by themselves.
Others have external locus of control which is people that tend to believe things that happen are due to things happening outside of their control.
People with a high internal locus of control are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey. If a person takes personal responsibility for their actions they tend to base their decisions in their own belief rather than depending on the opinions of others. They also tend to be more confident and achievement oriented.
Evaluate Locus of Control
- supporting research: Oliver and Oliver interviewed 2 groups of non-Jewish people who lived through the holocaust. 406 had rescued and protected the Jews from the Nazis and 126 hadn’t. They found that the rescuers were more likely to have an internal LOC which increases validity.
- Teenage et al. analysed data from obedience studies over a 40 year time period. Data showed that over time, people have become more resistant to obedience and more external. This undermines the LOC which decreases validity
What is minority influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of people or persons persuades others to adopt their beliefs and attitudes. This leads to internalisation in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviour.
Talk about consistency
A minority must be stable in their opinion overtime. They have to be diachronic - saying the same thing for some time and synchronic- all saying the same thing. A consistant minority makes other people start to rethink there own views.
Talk about commitment
The minority must demonstrate commitment to their cause or views by showing dedication. It should involve some kind of personal sacrifice which shows personal commitment. majority group members then pay even more attention (argumentation principle).
Talk about Flexibility
Although the minority must be consistent, they must show willingness to compromise when addressing their options. They must be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable counter arguments. not being flexible comes across as rigid and off putting to the majority
How does minority influence work?
All the three factors make people think about the minority’s cause. Hearing something you already agree with doesn’t make you stop and think, but thinking about something new makes you think more deeply about it which is important in the process of conversion. Over time the number of people switching increases. The more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion. This is the snowball effect gradually, the minority becomes the majority.
Evaluate Minority Influence
Consistency- Moscovici et al. (1969) did a study on 6 participants asking them to guess a colour shown on 36 slides out loud. All the colours were different shades of blue, however, when two confederates called the slides green on all trials, 8.4% also called them green compared to 1.3% when they called them green 24 times and blue 12 times. This shows that a consistent minority is more effective than an inconsistent one. Moscovici- diachronic variable being inconsistent, synchronic being consistent. Control study with no confederates and 0.25% said it was green.
Flexibility- Nameth and Brilmayer studied participants in a simulated jury situation about a ski lift accident. When a confederate put forward an alternative point of view and refused to shift, this had no effect on group members. However, a confederate who compromised did exert influence on the rest. However, some people may say this questions other points about consistency as it disproves Moscivici’s research.
Artificial Tasks- The research don could be criticised for having mundane realism and not reflecting real life situations of minority influence. For example with Moscovicis blue slide study. Many minorities in real life deal with harsh backlash in real life such as political campaigns. Therefore, these findings are lacking in external validity and are limited to what they can tell us about real-life.
Moscovici Variatiions
What is social change
Social change is the adoption of new attitudes and ways of doing things in a whole society.
Talk about the role of minority influence in social change
Minority influence is the main cause of
social change. The minority group
manages to persuade the majority to
adopt their point of view by being
consistent, committed and flexible.
However, the minority must have an
internal locus of control to resist
compliance, while also being able to
disobey authority to drive their point into
the limelight. T
