AQA Psychology Social Influence

social influence

Social Influence

What is conformity?

a change in behaviour or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure

What is conformity also known as?

Majority Influence

When does Conformity occur?

An individuals behaviour and/or beliefs are influenced by a larger group of people.

Who made reference to three types of conformity?

Kelman

What is the weakest form of conformity?

Complaince

What is Complaince?

-going along with it in public but not changing private views
-superficial
stops when group pressure stops

What is Identification?

-conforming bcs you value the group and their values
-may publicly change opinions even if you dont privately agree w/ everything

What is Internalisation?

A deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. It leads to a far-reaching and permanent change in behaviour, even when the group is absent.

What is Informational Social Influnce? (ISI)

Explanation of conformity that says we agree w/ the opinion of the minority bcs we believe its correct - leads to internalisation
Mostly happens in the absence of information

what situation does ISI usually occur?

Occurs in unfamiliar/ambiguous situations

What research supports ISI?

Jenness and Sherif

What was the aim of Jenness' study?

Investigate people's judgements of jellybeans in a jar was influenced by a group discussion

What was tthe procedure for Jenness' Study?

-Individual (private) estimates of jelly beans in a jar
-Answer was discussed in a large/small group(s)
-Group estimates created
-Participants then made second private estimates

What were the results of jenness' Study?

Second estimate tended to be closer to the group estimate

It showed that more people are more liekly to conform in an ambigous situatuon

What is Normative Social Influnce?

Says we agree with the majority of opinion bcs we want to gain social approval and to be liked, leading to compliance

Why do we have Normative Social Influcence?

Wanting others to respect them and not reject/ ridicule them

What research shows NSI?

Asch

What are the Positive evaluation point of the explanations of conformity?

-Research support for both ISI and NSI

Research support for ISI

Lucas et al- 2006
Asked students to give answers to maths problems- easy or hard. Conformity rose for the harder questions, especially in students who rated their mathematical ability as poor. (Less self-efficacy)
Shows ISI is a valid explanation of conformity as they results are what ISI would predict

Research support for NSI

Asch 1951 - participants were interviewed after the study and some said they conformed because they feared disapproval. When people wrote down their answers the conformity dropped to 12.5%
Shows at least some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by a group for disagreeing

Counterpoint to research support for ISI

Asch found conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant
This reduces power of NSI and ISI
It is then hard to separate the two as they potentially work together in most real life conformity situations

individual differences in NSI

Some research shows that NSI does not affect someone's behaviour in the same way.
For example, people who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI the those who care more about being liked.
-McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students high in need of affiliation were most likely to conform- shows that the desire to be liked underlines conformity for one people more than others.

What are the negative evaluation points for the explanations of conformity?

- Oversimplified- both process could be involved
-Individual Differences
-People who aren't bothered about being liked will be effected differences

What was the aim of Asch's Study?

The degree to which individuals would conform to the majority who gave obviously wrong answers

What was Asch's Sample?

123 American Male Student Volunteers

What is an issue with Asch's sample?

-Small sample
-Ethnocentric
-Androcentric
-Volunteers are different- they were told it was a visual perception test

What was the procedure for Asch's Study?

- 1 naive pp in a group of 7-9
-Match a standard line with A,B or C
-12/18 trials were critical
-Real PP answered last or next to last
-Unambiguous study

What was the conformity rate for Asch's study?

37%

What did the results show in Asch's Study?

The judgement of individuals were affected by majority even when obviously wrong

Factors effecting conformity

-Group Size
-Unanimity
-Task Difficulty

group size

Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. Conformity increased with group size, but only up to a point, levelling off when the majority was greater than three.

what happened with 3/over 3 confederates?

With 3 c., conformity to the wrong answer rose to 31.8%
With more than 3, it levelled off

what does a change in group size suggest?

most people are sensitive to the views of others bcs 1 or 2 was enough to change opinion

Unanimity

Asch wondered if the presence of a non conforming person would affect conformity
He introduced a confederate to disagree with the other confederates
Naive pp would conform less often with a dissenter - the presence of a dissenter allowed naive pp to feel more free and behave more independently

What was the other condition in Asch's changes to unanimity?

The 'rebel' confederate went against both confederates and real participants

result of conformity with a dissenter

dropped to less than 1/4 of the level it was when the majority was unanimous

what does change in unanimity suggest

influence of majority depends on if it is unanimous
non conformity is more likely to happen when there are cracks in the majority unanimous view

Task difficulty

Asch's line-judging task is more difficult when it becomes harder to work out the correct answer. Conformity increases because naive participants assume that the majority is more likely to be right.

results of task difficulty and the effect

Conformity increased
When the task is harder, the situation is more ambiguous so it is then unclear what the correct answer would be leading you to look at others for guidance and assume they are correct

what type of social influence is task difficulty

Informational social influence

What percentage was the conformity rate with two confederates in Asch's study?

13%

What happened when Asch's study reached to 15 confederates?

There was no further increase in conformity

What happens to conformity rates as the task difficulty increases?

The conformity rate becomes increases

What happened in Asch's study when he increased the task difficulty?

Making the lines look more similar. So the parrticipants became more likely to conform to wrong answers

What are the positive evaluation point for Asch's study?

-Asch's study of conformity became a paradigm as the accepted way for conducting conformity research
-Lab experiment- standarised procedure (replicable)

What are the negative evaluation point for Asch's study?

-uneconomical and time consuming- only one participant was tested at a time
-Lab experiment- Low EV, lacked mundane realism
-Unethical- deception, psychological harm
-Not a true reflection- only 32% conformed so that majority was independent other than conformist

ASCH Artificial situation and task

-artificial situation and task
-subject to demand characteristics
- Fiske said the groups were 'not very groupy' and dint resemble everyday life situations
-task was trivial - no reason not to conform
-unable to generalise to real world

Acsh limited application

There's a lack of diversity in his study and only looks at American males
Other research suggests women are more conformist and in collectivist cultures, conformity is higher
Study tells us little about other social situations

Asch research support

-support for task difficulty
-lucas et al easy and hard maths problems
-higher conformity when harder questions
-shows asch correct in claiming task difficulty as a variable in conformity

What are situational variables?

Features of an environment affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures

What are individual variables?

Personal characteristics that affect the degree to whcih individuals yield to group pressures

What are social Roles?

A part individuals play as members of a social group, which meets the expectations of that siuation

What study demonstrates social roles?

Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment

What were the aims of Zimbardo's experiment?

The extent to which people conform to roles of guard/prisoner in a simulation of prison life.

Testing dispositional vs situational hypothesis
-Will the guards be sadistic
-Brutal conditions of prison environment

What was the sample in Zimbardo's study?

75 male university student volunteers - 21 chosen
(Told they will be paid $15 a day)

What was the method of Zimbardo's study?

-Took place in a psychology basement- mock prison
-Prisoners arrested by real police and processed
-Dehumanisation was used- Chain around ankle
-Guards in Khaki Uniforms
-Meant to run for 2 weeks

What happend with the social roles of guards and prisoners?

They settled into their roles quickly -

What is deindivduation?

Taking away someone's identity- prisoners had numbers

What happened to the prisoners after around 36 hours?

The participants in the study started to cry and have a mental breakdown

How many days did it take for the study to be over?

6 days

What were the conclusions for Zimbardo's study?

Individuals conform readily to social roles

Situational is preffered over dispositional- none of the participants had shown these traits before

What are the positive evaluation points for Zimbardo?

Experiment- Control over the variables
-Emotionally stable individuals were chosen
this increases the external validity

What are the negative evaluation points for Zimbardo's Study?

Individual differences- Not all the guards were brutal
Lab experiment- Lack of realism
Lack of research to support- The BBC prison experiment showed very different results
Ethical issues- Psychological harm, deception, right to withdraw, observer bias

Zimbardo - control

-control over key variables
-sample of emotionally stable participants and randomly assigned
-allowed them to rule out individual personality differences as an explanation, behaviour must have been due to role itself
-increased internal validity

Zimbardo - lack of realism

Participants were play-acting their roles according to media-derived stereotypes - Banuazizi and Movahedi
A guard claimed to base role on character from film - Cool Hand Luke
Suggests findings of SPE tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisoners and it lacks reliability

Zimbardo exaggerates the power of roles (Fromm)

Disposition may play part in results
Fromm argued that only 1/3 guards acted in brutal manner, 1/3 tried to apply rules fairly and 1/3 tried to help and support prisoners - sympathised, offered fags and reinstated privileges
Shows that Zimbardo overstated view that SPE pp were conforming to social roles and minimised influence of dispositional factors

Zimbardo - lack of research support

Zimbardo argued that the behaviour was bcs conforming to a social role comes naturally and easily
Reicher and Haslam criticise this as it doesn't account for the behaviour of the non brutal guards
They used SIT to argue that the guards had to actively identify with their social roles to act as they did

social identity theory

theory in which the formation of a person's identity within a particular social group is explained by social categorization, social identity, and social comparison

What is obedience?

A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.

Why does obedience generally have a good influence?

Society wouldn't function in an effective manner otherwise

Give an example of negative influences of obedience?

The nazi's unquestionally killed Jews and Gypsies ect

What rights do people in authority have?

To give other people orders

What was Milgram's explanation into obedience?

Milgram wanted to see if the Germans were the only people who had this trait or if it was generalised.

What was the aim of Milgram's experiment?

To see if individuals would obey orders of an authority figure that incured negative consequences

What was the sample for Milgram's study?

40 Male 20-50 volunteers

What was wrong with Milgram's sample?

Small, Ethnocentric, Androcentric, age limited and volunteers are different

What were the people who volunteered for Milgrams study told?

They were told it was a study to improve memory

Where was Milgrams experiment based?

Yale University

What was the punishment system in Milgrams study?

Increasing electric shocks given to the learner by the teacher if they gave an incorrect answer
15 to 450 volts

What was the obedience rate for Milgrams experiment?

65%

How did Milgram authenticate his study to participants?

The teacher was given a 45 volt electric shot

How many participants in Milgrams study went to 300 volts?

100%

What percentage of participants in Milgrams study went to 450 volts?

65% - fully obedient

What were most of the participants showing during Milgrams study?

Signs of distress like sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groan and dig fingernails into hands

Milgram procedure

Participant arrived at Yale and met another "participant" (actor). The real participant picked a name out of a hat that made them the teacher. Ppt saw the actor strapped into an electrical shock machine, and felt a test shock of 45 volts. The teacher was then taken to a separate room. The teacher would read a word out, and if the "ppt" responded with an incorrect word they would get shocked. The voltage increased 15 volts each time. The "ppt" had a script. The researcher had 4 prompts to persuade the ppt to continue.

what were the 4 prompts

Please continue/go on
The experiment requires that you continue
It is absolutely essential that you continue
You have no other choice, you must go on

What does Milgrams study show about the Germans are different hypothesis?

The hypothesis is false, this is because the participants who took part were ordinary Americans

What were the conclusions for Milgrams experiment?

People will obey orders that distress us or go against thier moral code

other data Milgram

- before the experiment Milgram asked 14 psychology student to predict the participants behaviour
- they estimated that no more than 3% of the participants would continue to 450v (major underestimation)
- the participants were debriefed after and assured that their results were normal and 85% said they were glad they participated after inn a follow up questionnaire

What are the experimental evaluation points of Milgrams study?

Lacks EV- artificial
High controls- Standardised

Milgram research support

-findings replicated in french documentary on reality TV
-game show involved participants giving (fake) electric shocks to other participants
-80% delivered max shock of 460V to an apparently unconscious man
-behaviours also identical to milgram: nail biting, nervous laughter etc
-demonstrates milgrams findings not just due to special circumstances

Milgram - low internal validity

-procedure may not have tested what he intended to
-milgram said 75% participants said believed shocks were real
- orne and holland argued participants behaved like this as didn't believe in set up and play acting
-suggests participants responding to demand characteristics, trying to fulfil aim of the study

MILGRAM - LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY COUNTER

-sheridan & king conducted a study using milgram's procedure
-participants gave real shocks to a puppy due to orders from the experimenter
-despite the animal in distress 54% men and 100% women gave what they thought was a fatal shock
-suggests findings genuine because people behaved obediently when shocks were real

Milgram - alternative explanation

Milgram's conclusions on blind obedience may not be justified
Haslam showed that pp obeyed when given the first 3 prods but once given the 4th, they disobeyed
According to SIT, pp in Milgram's study only obeyed when they identified w the scientific aims but when blindly following an authority figure, they refused
This shows that SIT may be a more valid explanation of Milgram's findings especially since Milgram said 'identifying with the science' is a reason for obedience

What type of experiment was Milgrams study?

Controlled observation

What were the Ethical issues with Milgrams study?

-Psychological harm: Sweating
-Right to Withdraw: verbal prompts
-Deception: Told it was memory and Learning test
-inducement to take part: Payment

How did Milgram control for some ethical issues?

-Debrief
-Reunited with the Learner
(Only 2% of pps regretted taking part)
Consider cost benefit analysis

What are situational variables for Milgrams experiment?

In Milgrams research be identified several factors that he believed influenced the level 9f obedience shown by pps. They related to external circumstances rather than personalities of the people.

What were the situational factors in Milgrams experiment?

Proximity

Location

Uniform