Social Influence

Conformity

a type of social influence that involves a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in

-this change is in response to an real or imagined social pressure

What are the three types of conformity

compliance,identification and internalisation

Compliance

going along with the group publicly but not internalising

Identification

when a person changes their behaviour in the present of a group in order to fell apart of it

(they may or may not privately agree)

Internalisation

the deepest type of conformity where the person accepts group norms as their own and changes their private beliefs

How do we explain conformity

the two-process model was developed by deutsch and Gerard to explain why we conform

-this was based on two human need:the need to right and the need to be liked

What are the two explanations for conformity suggested by the two process model

Normative Social Influence

Informative Social Influence

Normative Social Influence

suggest we conform because we want to gain social approval and be right

Informative Social Influence

suggest we conform because we want to appear ‘right’

-we may feel others have more information/knowledge than us and that we ourselves don’t know enough

Aschs Research (aim)

to assess to what extent people will conform to the opinions of other, even when answer is certain(unambiguous)

What was asch’s sample

123 american male undergraduate students

What was the set up of the study

each participant(individually) were put in a group of 8 confederates

Asch’s procedure

Group was shown two card; a standard line and then a card with 3 comparison lines

-confederates told to give wrong answer after a few trials(gave correct answer for first few)

What were Asch’s findings?

the naive participant gave wrong answer 36.8% of the time

75% of participants conformed atleast once

on average , participants conformed on 32% of critical trials(trials where confederates gave the wrong answer)

How did asch change up his study?(variations)

Group size, Unanimity and Task difficulty

What was asch’s group size variation

varied the size of group(confederates) from 1 -15

What did asch’s group size variation show

that as the number of confederates rose, conformity rose

-from 2 to 3 confederates conformity went from 12.5% to 32%

What was asch’s unanimity variation

added a non conforming confederate(dissenter)that gave right answer

what was the effect of asch’s unanimity variation

conformity dropped to a quarter of what it was before

What was asch’s task difficulty variaton

made tasks more diffcult, lines had smaller differences and so more ambigious as to what one it was

what happened when asch increases the task difficulty

conformity increases

-informative social influence;participants were unsure.

Weakenesses of asch’s study

artificial task, lack of population validity and ethicla issues

How was asch study an artificial task

comparing lines, lacks mundane realism it is not something you would usually do

A-cannot apply findings to everyday life

How did asch sample lack population validity

all white american men; doesn’t show if this is the same for women or other cultures

e.g collectivist cultures are seen to have higher conformity rates

A-not generalisable and doesnt’ tell us information about other

How does asch study have ethical issues

Deception

-participants thought it was an eye test

-also didn’t know other people were conferderates

strenght of asch study

Research support

what research support does asch study have

for his variations

-by lucas study where partiicpants given easy and hard questions and ‘told answer’

conformed for when problem was harder

A-supports asch idea task difficulty affects conformity

Zimbardos Study(aim)

To investigate whether our behaviour is caused by our situational factors or dispositional factors such as personality

What was zimbardos sample

Volunteer sample of 24 male students

What did every participant have to undergo if taking part

a psychological assessment to ensure they were stable and healthy

How were prisoners allocated role of either prisoner or guard

randomly, through a coin flip

How did zimbardo too have a role in study

he played chief prison superintendent and lead investigator

Procedure(prisoner)

arrested unexpectedly at home to make it realistic

-given a loose smock and cap to wear

-were given a number to which they were now identified by

-given a list of 16 rules to follow

Procedure(guards)

Guards were given their own uniform

-they were allowed to come and go in accordance to their 8 hour shifts

-they were told to reinforce rules

What did the Guards’ uniform include

wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades

What does the difference and realism of the roles do

Establishes the power hirearchy

-uniform gives loss of individuality so more likely to conform

-prisoners are dehumanised

What were zimbardos findings

the guards took up their role with enthusiasm

prisoners attempted to rebel and showed signs of distress

After 1st day of zimbardo’s study….

one prisoner showed disturbance and was released

On what day did the prisoners rebel

on the second day

How did prisoners rebell

ripped uniforms, swore and shouted at guards

How else did a prisoner respond

hunger strike

How was the hunger strike dealt with

force fed and put into solitary confinement(small cupboard)

On day 4 of zimbardo’s study…

two more prisoners were released

How did the guards respond to the rebellion

harshly, with divide and rule tactic

In general what did the guards do?(zimbardo’s findings)

harassed prisoners to remind them of thei rlittle power

What were some examples of the poor treatment to prisoners by guards?(zimbardos findings)

made them strip naked, clean toilets with bare hands , do press ups and perform sexual acts with one another .e.g kiss/hug and say i love you

How did Zimbardo’s study end early

ended on day 6 (as responses were too extreme and they were witnessing psychological abuse) but was meant to be 14 days long

What did Zimbardo conclude?

that the power of ‘situation’ influences behaviour

-no one is ‘evil’ or ‘good’ but it depends on the social role in the social context

What is a strength of Zimbardo’s study

Well controlled

How is Zimbardos study well controlled.

Does well to control key variables

-random allocation of participant to roles

-psych evaluation

A-removes effects of participant variables, increases internal validity as we can be sure conformity is due to social roles

Weaknesses of Zimbardo’s study

underestimates the role of dispositional factors

lack of realism

ethical issues

How Zimbardo underestimate the role of dispositional factors

In terms of social role(example)

E-1/3 of guards were brutal, 1/3 were fair, 1/3 sympathised

-this shows how they responded differently yet in the same role which suggests other factor e.g personality influencing outcome

A-overstated power of social roles and should have looked more into other (dispositional) factors.

How does zimbardo’s study lack realism

banuazizi and movahedi argued that his participants were play acting and suggest performances were based on stereotypes

-e.g;one guard said he based his role on a brutal character from the film ‘cool hand luke’

COUNTER;lack of realism

that instead m argued behaviour was real for them

-found that 90% of conversations were about prison life

-played 416 believed it was a real prison but just run by psychologists

How does Zimbardo’s study have ethical issues

causes psychological harm

-the treatment of prisoners left them in distress

A-looses credibility and cannot be replicated

Obedience

Obedience is a form of social influence where people follow direct orders from an authority figure

Milgram’s Research(aim)

milgram wanted to assess obedience level

-wanted to know why germans kill and if they are more obedience than others

What was milgram’s sample

40 american males

How did milgram collect sample

volunteer sample

-through flyers etc.

How much were participants paid for taking part

$4.50

How were participants in milgrams study deceived?

they were told it was a memory study

Milgram’s procedure

tested individually with another ’participant’ . they were ‘randomly’ assigned teacher and learner

-the participant(teacher) had to ask learner(confederate)questions and shock if wrong, who was strapped to a chair in another room wired to electrodes.

What voltages were the shocks

ranging from 15v to 450v

If participant/teacher was hesitant to shock what was used?

Prods were used(by experimenter/lab guy)

-’please continue’

-’the experiment requires that you continue’

-’it is absolutly essential that you continue

-’you have no choice you must go on ‘

What were milgram’s findings?

100% of participants shocked up to 300v

65% of participants went all the way to 450v

-when shocking and at higher voltages they displayed anxiousness e.g trembling, stuttering,sweating , biting lip etc

What can we conclude from milgrams study?

germans are not necessarily bad people or any different to american

-americans were too willing to administer pain,suffering or even death if it was to follow an order

Weaknesses of milgram’s study

ethical issues, and the fact it may not have been testing what was intended

How does milgrams study have ethical issues

deception-told it was memory study, shocks not real and learner was confederate

=participants may feel disturbed at their ability to cause death

How may milgram’s study not have been testing what intended

it was found that only 75% believed shocks were real

-orne and holland said they were only obeying as they didnt believe

=responding to demand characteristics so cannot sure/ results not valid

Strength of milgram’s research

Research support

How does milgram’s research have research support

same idea was replicated in a french documentary about reality tv

-featured a segment(game show) where participants believed they were contestants for a game show

-they were paid to give ‘shocks’ to other ‘participants’ where 80% did max of 400v:findings identical to milgram

=supports original findings and so we can rule out special circumstances

Milgrams variations

milgram carried out a large number of variations in order to consider the situational variables that may lead to more or less obedience

What were milgrams variations

proximity, uniform and location

In how many ways did milgram vary proximity

3 ways; closeness with learner, touch proximity with learner and remote instruction variation(closeness with experimenter)

closeness with learner variation(milgram’s variations)

made instead teacher and learner in the same room

-obedience fell from 65%to 40%, it is higher before as they are able to psychologically distance themselves from harm

Touch proximity(milgrams variations)

in this variation participants(teachers) had to force learner hand on an ‘electroshock’ plate

-obedience fell from 65% to 30%

remote instruction variation(milgrams variations)

experimenter leaves rooms and gives instructions over the phone

-obedience levels dropped to 20.5%

Milgrams location variation

experiment replicated in a run down office building rather than the prestigious yale univerisity

-obedience fell to 47.5%(experimenter seen to have less authority)

Uniform variation

experimenter in grey lab cost had to ‘take a call’ at beginning and so person in ordinary clothes takes over and gives instructions/prods

-obedience fell to 20%(uniforms act as a symbol of authority so person without seen to have a low social statues)