Psychology: Social Influence Key words

Confederate

The person ‘in’ on the experiment

NSI

Normative social influence

To fit in

ISI

Informational social influence

To be right

Unambiguous

Task with a clear wrong answer

Compliance

Form of normative social influence

Temporary, public change not private

Internalisation

Form of informational social influence

Longer lasting, public and private change of behaviour and opinion

Alternative / Experimental

Type of hypothesis which is precise and testable

Null hypothesis

Predicting no effect

Directional (one tailed)

Type of hypothesis which suggests the effect and nature

‘More’ ‘Less’

Non-directional (two-tailed)

Suggests effect but not nature 

There will be a ‘difference’

Ecological validity

Whether the environment is realistic → generalisable

Generalisability

An experiment can be related to the real world

Unanimity

Everyone giving the same answer

Obedience

Acting in response to order from authority

Conformity

Change in behaviour / opinions as a result of real or imagined group pressure

Internal validity

Whether the experiment measures what it intended

Mundane realism

Whether the task would occur in real life

Androcentric

Focussed on men (gender bias)

Demand characteristics

When a participant changes their behaviour because of percieved demands of study

Extraneous variables

Any varibale other then IV which could affect the experiment (DV)

Situational varibales

Features of an environment which influence obedience

Proximity

The closeness / distance of authority figure from individual

Location

Place where the order is issues

Authority

Destructive authority

When a legitimate authority figure uses power for harm

Agentic state

Allow someone else to direct their behaviour

Pass responsibility to authority

Acting on behalf (as an agent)

Autonomous state 

Direct own behaviour

Take responsibility for consequences

Free / independent

Agentic shift

Shift from autonomous to agentic state due to presence of authority

Moral strain

Experience when obey orders against conscience

Doing something believed to be immoral

Binding factors

Reasons why people feel unable to stop obeying 

Aspects of a situation that allow a person to minimise or ignore the damaging affects of their behaviour. 

Shift responsibility to victims.