Chapter 10- Conformity

What is conformity?

Changing behaviour to align with that of a group due to real or implied pressure

Occurs between people of same social status

When explains own. Behaviour ppl tend to take personal responsibility rather than admit they conformed

What do normative and informational influences explain?

They suggest why people conform

What are Normative influences?

A form of influence where people conform because they want to be accepted by the group and not stand out

Don’t necessarily share same belief as majority but choose to disregard this fact to fit in.

What is Informational influence?

A from of influence where people conform because they would like to be correct and currently lack the information needed to be sure of their opinion or belief

Individuals seek knowledge held by those in the group when deciding how best to behave.

What are individualistic cultures?

Societal structure where people value standing out as an individual and individual needs over group needs, and believe independence and self-reliance are important.

People less likely to conform to group norms than people from collectivist cultures

What is a collectivist culture?

Societal structure where people value the needs of the group over individual interests

Conformity more likely to be seen and is viewed favourably.

How does group size influence conformity?

Rates of conformity increase as the group size increases with groups of 3-5 members having the highest conformity level

Once group size ^ beyond 5, little impact to degree of conformity between members

What is unanimity?

When people all agree about the same thing

How does unanimity affect conformity?

When all members of a group behave a certain way, or share the same attitude, individuals within the group more likely to conform

When group lacks unanimity, level of conformity, specifically normative conformity, decreases because individuals no longer feel desire to be accepted by the group.

What is deindividuation?

Process whereby people have reduced self-awareness and feel less inhibited in group situations

Self-awareness shifts away t from self to the group situation and mentality of “everyone is doing it so i can do i too“ occurs

How does deindividuation affect conformity?

excitement of a situation leads individuals to feel anonymous and less self-conscious

Individual Responsibility decreases as group responsibility is considered.

Individuals likely to conform to group norms if they experience deindividuation in that situation.

What does the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) seek to investigate?

Ways on which the perceptions and behaviour of individuals are influences by group pressure

What is the aim for the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

To explore the conditions that would cause individuals to either resist or succumb to group pressures

Who were the participants in the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

87 male college students, convenience sampling

What was the independent variable for the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

IV- wether or not there was group pressure caused by unanimity

What was the dependent variable for the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

DV- level of conformity measured by the number of errors made

What was the general procedure of the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

50 experimental participants, 37 in control group

6 male college students (1 participant, 5 confederates)

Showed series of cards that had a standard line on left and 3 comparison lines on right. Students asked which line was the same length as the standard publicly.

Repeated 6x confederates giving correct answers, last 12 trials (critical trials) gave incorrect answers.

Control= wrote down their response

Individuals interviewed on their responses and debriefed.

What were the key findings of the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951)?

All the errors made were in the direction of the majority estimates

In experimental groups, 37 participants conformed on at least one of the critical trials (74%)

13 participants did not conform in any of the critical trials (26%)

Control group, 2 of 36 conformed on one critical trial (5.4%)

What reasons did the participants give to conforming? Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951)

Very small group of participants experienced a distortion of perception and conformed, but they did not believe they had done so.

Most recognised that they conformed because they believed te Group correct and their perception was wrong- INFORMATIVE INFLUENCE

Other participants sure group incorrect but gave same response to avoid standing out - NORMATIVE INFLUENCE

When experiment re-conducted and group was not unanimous and conformity levels dropped significantly

What did the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) contribute to psychology ?

Provided insight into conditions in which people conform, reason why they conform

Previous theories about conformity had not been scientifically tested, Asch’s study addresses gap by providing empirical evidence via direct observation of how group dynamics influence behaviour

What were some criticisms and limitations of the Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) ?

Used a bias sample (male college students in same age group)

Limits ability to generalise results to wider population

Deception used, some participants may have been embarrassed after finding out they conformed to majority view

May be considered a breach of the participant right to be protected from psychological harm.

What is Social influence?

Process whereby the real or implied presence of people influences the behaviour and attitude of others

What is the Social Influence Theory (Kerman, 1958) ?

According to Kerman, ppl change their attitudes and beliefs, and consequently their behaviour, due to social influence

What are the three social influence processes?

All types of conformity

Compliance, Identification, Internalisation

→ terms of the reasoning people give for being influenced, the influencing agent acts as power source.

What is an influencing agent?

Person, group, or authority who alters the behaviours, beliefs and attitudes of others

What does compliance mean?

A form of social influence where behaviour is changed in response to a direct or indirect request by another person

How does compliance work as a social influence process?

Individual changes attitudes or behaviour with aim of being reward or avoid punishment from influencing agent, to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Desire is worth accepting influence, even if individual does not believe themselves

Any change is superficial and temporary

What is Identification?

Form of social influence where behaviour is changed in response to a direct or indirect request by another person

How does identification work as a process of social influence?

Arises when people change their attitudes or behaviours because they want to establish or sustain a relationship with another person (aspire)

Suggest people conform to ideas of group members though they may not fully agree with them.

As soon as the relationship’s purpose ceases to exist, the conforming behaviour/attitude ceases to exist as well

What is Internalisation>

A form of social influence whereby individuals adopt the attitudes or behaviours of a person or group because they align with their own values

How does internalisation work as a process of social influence?

internalise the attitude or behaviour because they are intrinsically satisfied with it

Influence is due to rational persuasion, behaviour performed whenever relevant issue rises

Influencing agent: person or people who have credibility due to being trustworthy and an expert in their filed

Any change is PERMANENT

What is obedience?

Describes the changing of behaviour in response to a direct order y an authority figure

How does obedience change in front of an authority figure?

Obedience occurs within hierarchy

-< authority figures higher than those who follow their command

Ppl who obey authority figure usually do so to avoid punishment, or because they have a strong belief in the authority figure

What is the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Sought to understand how ordinary ppl can commit horrific crimes (holocaust ww2)

To determine wether ppl obey authority figure bcs their attitudes align (internalisation) or to avoid punishment (compliance)

What is the aim of the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Investigating the lengths to which people will go to obey direct commands from an authority figure

Who were the participants in the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Volunteer stamping: 40 males 20-50 Newspaper ad

Each t rial: man in lab coat, confederate pretending to be fellow participant

What is the variables of the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Non-experimental research

No IV

Participant was observed performing same task under same conditions

DV- extent to which participants obeyed the experimenter (measured by voltage participants believed was administered)

What was the general procedure of the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Participants decided, “chose” role of teacher, administered real 45-volt sample shock

Participant asked to read a series of word pairs to be repeated by the learner, every mistake = volt (increasing by 15)

Confederates gave pre-determined responses, grunting, screaming and pleading to stop (heard)

If participant was reluctant to continue, experimenter urged them to continue

Experiment finished when participants no longer continued after being pushed by experimenter.

Had extensive debriefing sessions after (true purpose, no shock administered)

Also interviewed for any oral dilemmas and emotions felt

What were some key findings in the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

All participants administered MIN 300 volts

Majority 65% participants obeyed orders to MAX 450 volts

Only 14 35%, refused to obey experimenter and stopped.

→ some were very angry, others highly agitated, some stood up and said they wanted to leave

What did the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) contribute to psychology?

Study inspired researchers to develop their own studies based on obedience

Due to standardised procedure used for eac participants study was able to be replicated

What were some criticisms and limitations to the Behavioural Study of Obedience (Milgram, 1963) ?

Participants did not give informed consent (true purpose undisclosed)

Violation of withdrawal rights (participants said they wanted to stop but was urged on)

Many experienced intense stress during study (trembling, sweating stuttering, nervous laughing fits) And anxiety.

Participants led to believe they harmed someone, causes psychological harm

Some believe debrief was not sufficient enough.

Some believe highly unethical