Psychology - social influence

What is conformity?

When a person changes their attitude or behaviour due to real or imagined group pressure

What are the 3 different types of conformity?

Compliance, Identification, Internalization

What is the change in public behaviour, private behaviour, short/long term and NSI/ISI of compliance?

Yes, no, short term, NSI

What is the change in public behaviour, private behaviour and short/long term of identification?

Yes, with other people, short term

What is the change in public behaviour, private behaviour, short/long term and NSI/ISI of internalisation?

Yes, yes, long term, ISI

What is normative social influence?

A type of social influence that leads to conformity to be accepted or liked by a group. It often results in a change in public behaviour but not in private beliefs

What is informational social influence?

A type of social influence that leads to conformity based on the desire to be correct or to obtain accurate information. It often results in a change in both public behaviour and private beliefs

What is distortion of perception?

A phenomenon where an individual's perception is altered by social influences, leading to a misinterpretation of reality

What is distortion of judgement?

A phenomenon where an individual's assessment or evaluation is influenced by social factors, resulting in biased or inaccurate conclusions

What is distortion of action?

A phenomenon where an individual's behaviour is influenced by social pressures, leading to actions that may not align with their true beliefs or intentions

What was Asch’s sample for the line experiment?

123 American males from 3 different universities

What was the method for Asch’s line experiment?

• 1 real participant and 7 - 9 confederates

• Participants deceived into thinking it was a vision test

• Real participant seated second to last

• Participants shown a line and had to state out loud which of the three lines it matched

• Confederates gave blatantly wrong answers

• Recorded what the real participant’s response was

What were the findings of Asch’s line experiment?

• 32% conformed to the incorrect answers of the critical trials

• 74% conformed on at least one critical trial

• 26% never conformed

Evaluate the positives and negatives of Asch’s research

Positives:

• Unambiguous test

• Control over confounding and extraneous variables

• Replicable
  Negatives:

• Biased sample

• Lacks generalisability

• Low ecological validity

• When redone in 1980 only 0.25% conformed (Perrin and Spencer)

What were Zimbardo’s findings?

• The guards and prisoners conformed to their social roles almost instantaneously

• Prisoners became more passive while guards became more hostile

• Both groups became dehumanised in the eyes of others

• Research supports the situational explanation for behaviour

What are the explanations for obedience?

• Agentic state

• Legitimacy of authority

• Situational variables

• Authoritarian personality

• Locus of control

What is the agentic state?

A psychological phenomenon in which an individual gives up their autonomy and moral responsibility to an authority figure

What are the situational variables that affect authority?

• Location

• Proximity

• Uniform

What is the authoritarian personality?

A person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them

Which locus of control is expected to obey more?

Internal

Which researchers investigated the locus of control in Nazi Germany?

Oliner & Oliner

What were Oliner & Oliner’s findings?

• 406 people who rescued Jews during WW2

• 126 people who did not rescue Jews in WW2

• The rescuers were more likely to have an internal locus of control

What are the issues with Oliner & Oliner’s research?

• 406:126

• Survivor bias

• Non-rescuers may have not had the means

What is social influence?

The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours. Includes conformity, obedience and minority influence

What is social change?

When societies, rather than individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things

What are the 6 stages of social change?

Drawing attention
Cognitive conflict
Consistency
Augmentation principle
Snowball effect
Social cryptoamnesia

What is social influence?

The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours

What is legitimacy of authority?

An explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us due to the position of power that they hold within the social hierarchy