Topic Test C

Conformity

adjusting thoughts, feelings behaviour to be in harmony with behaviour of group/individual/accepted standards of behaviour

Bystander Effect

The tendency of an individual not to help in an emergency when othr people are present

Bystander intervention

Tendency of an individual to come help another in an emergency, even if others aren’t helping

Social norms

Shared rules or expectations of a group about how to behave

Positive conformity types (6)

Social harmony: Following rules at school

Cultural adaptation: Moving to a new place and following norms

Safety and Survival: evacuating an emergency situation

Moral and Legal norms : Not stealing

Teamwork and Collabs: sports, school assessment

Learning and growth: Following techniques from successful peers

Diffusion of Responsibility

decreased responsibility of action each member of a group feels when they are part of a group

Why do we have obedience

Obedience is necessary for groups and societies to maintain law and order to function properly

Obedience vs Conformity

Obedience → told to do something by someone with authority

Whereas conformity → happens through social pressure (the norms of the majority)

Compliance vs Obedience

Obedience → told to do something by someone with authority

Compliance → adjusting behaviour outwardly due to request or suggestion from others but privately disagreeing with the behaviour

Main differences: Compliance = social influence originating from peers + social cues. obedience = rises from perceived authority

Obedience definition

A form of social influence where an individual acts in response to direct order from other individual, usually authority

Social power

influence individual/organisation has over others in group/society

social status

Relative rank individual holds within a group associated with the rights and responsibilities that are a part of it

• position is linked with honour or prestige

• assigned or birthrigh

Types of power

Coercion, reward, legitamacy, expert, referent, information

Coercion

use of threat or force to gain compliance

reward

right of person/organisation to offer or deny tangible/symbolic rewards for doing what was expected

legitimacy

elected/selected/appointed position of authority established by social norms

expert

based on what one knows, experienced and special skills and talents possessed, demonstrated by credentials and actions

Referent

affiliations we make and/or groups and organisations we belong to

informational

ability to influence others or bring about change through control of info.

Info others need/want

Stanley Milgram

• 1963

• interested in seeing how far people would follow instruction if it involved hurting someone

• wanted to understand why germans obeyed hitler in his orders to kills jews. whether they were an obedient nation or all are capable of this kind of obedience

sample: 40 American men 20-50, recruited through advertisments. Told it was a learning study. paid $4/h

Milgram results

results point to four factors that contribute to obedience despite conflict with personal principles

1) physical distance of victim

2) closeness/legitimacy of authority figure

3) institutional authority

4) ability to share/shift responsibility on another person

non-experiemntal researchh and no independent variable

dependent variable was the extent to which participants obeyed.

Reasons for conformity

Informative influence

Normative influence

Normative influence

changes behaviour to comply with group behaviour, be accepted and belong

social reward or to avoid punishment

associated with complicance and identification

Compliance conformity

people change their public behaviour but NOT private beliefs

Identification conformity

People change their behaviour AND their private beliefs but only in the presence of the group.

informational influence

one changes their behaviour because they believe that the group knows better. gain knowledge OR believe someone else is right. associated with internalisation conformity

internalisation conformity

person changes both their public behaviour and their private beliefs on a long term basis

Group size affecting conformity

3+ elicit more conformity than groups of 2

little change in conformity once group size reaches 4-5

Unanimity affecting conformity

group is unanimous, ppl tend to bow to groups decision even if they dont agree

BUT if there is even just one member that disagrees, level of conformity decreases

cultural factors affecting conformity

certain cultures value group harmony over individual expression

individualistic cultures less likely to conform than those in collectivist cultures

social loafing and deindividuation

social loafing → people believe they don’t have to work as hard when they are a part of a group

deindividuation →people lose their sense of individuality and become part of a group, leading to a reduction in self-awareness and accountability

status affecting conformity

more likely to conform with people who are perceived to be of a higher status in society

public response affecting conformity

more likely to conform if behaviour is in public or in front of an audience

Cohesion affecting conformity

more likely to conform is group is tight-knit

anonymity

more likely to conform is participant’s answers are being written down than spoken aloud.

suggest that people conform because they are concerned about what others think of them (normative influence)

individual differences affecting conformity

influence the extent to which conformity occurs

personal characteristics and the individual position within the group affecting conformity

more likely to conform if they have a low status or are unfamiliar with situation

personality traits

more likely to conform if they are concerned of being liked/right.

difficulty of task

more difficult the task the greater the conformity, as we look to others for confirmation

age as an internal determinant of conformity

adolescents are more likely to conform to their peers than adults

self esteem

low self-esteem more likely to conform than those with high self-esteem

gender

gender has no affect on conformity, even if aggression is involved

MILGRAM STUDY: contributions and criticisms

contributions: minimal research on how people reacted to authority figures, inspiring researches to develop own studies. was also able to be replicated

criticisms: did not give informed consent, participants indicated they did not want to continue but were forced to, so violation of withdrawl rights. caused psychological harm but there was debriefing, but many claim study was HIGHLY unethical

ASCH STUDY: Contribution and Criticisms

1951

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

• IV: whether or not group pressure was caused by unanimity

• DV: level of conformity measured by number of errors

• vision test”, where study participants were found to be more likely to conform to obviously wrong answers if first given by other “participants”, who were actually working for the experimenter.

contribution: new insights into why they conform and conditions

criticisms: biased sample with all males students of the same age . deception was vital, but some people feel that participants would be embarrassed to know they conformed. may breach participants right to be protected from psychological harm

ethics (7)

right to withdraw

informed consent

accurate reporting

confidentiality

no psychological or physical harm

deception and debriefing

voluntary participation