Topic 1: social influence

What is conformity?

A change in a person's behaviour or beliefs as a result of real or imagined group pressure.

What is compliance?

Publicly going along with the majority while privately disagreeing. It is usually temporary and is associated with normative social influence (NSI).

What is internalisation?

Publicly and privately accepting the majority's views because the person genuinely believes they are correct. It is usually a lasting change and is associated with informational social influence (ISI).

What is normative social influence (NSI)?

Conforming because a person wants to be liked, accepted or avoid rejection by the group.

What is informational social influence (ISI)?

Conforming because a person believes others are correct, especially in an ambiguous or uncertain situation.

How do NSI and ISI differ?

NSI is driven by the need for social approval; ISI is driven by the desire to be correct.

What did Asch investigate?

Whether people would conform to a majority's incorrect answers in a line-judgement task.

Outline Asch's procedure and findings.

123 American male students completed line-judgement trials with confederates. About 36.8% of responses on critical trials conformed; about 75% of participants conformed at least once.

What did Asch find about group size?

Conformity increased as the majority increased up to about three people; larger groups produced little additional increase.

What did Asch find about unanimity?

Conformity decreased when a dissenter broke the majority's unanimity. The dissenter did not need to give the correct answer.

What did Asch find about task difficulty?

Conformity increased when the task became more difficult, supporting ISI because participants were less certain of their own judgement.

How does Asch's research relate to NSI?

Participants reported conforming to avoid rejection or ridicule, even when they privately knew the majority was wrong.

Give an evaluation point for Asch's research.

The artificial line-judgement task and all-male American sample limit how far the findings can be generalised to other situations and populations.

What is obedience?

A form of social influence in which a person follows a direct order from an authority figure.

What is the agentic state?

A state in which a person sees themselves as an agent carrying out an authority figure's wishes and feels less personally responsible for their actions.

What is the autonomous state?

A state in which a person acts independently and feels personally responsible for their actions.

What is the agentic shift?

The move from the autonomous state to the agentic state, often when a person accepts another person as a legitimate authority.

What is legitimacy of authority?

The belief that a person in a particular position has a socially recognised right to give orders.

How does legitimacy of authority explain obedience?

People are socialised to obey authorities such as teachers or police. A recognised hierarchy can make orders seem legitimate and appropriate.

Outline Milgram's baseline procedure and findings.

Forty American men aged 20–50 believed they were administering electric shocks to a learner. In the baseline study, 65% continued to the maximum 450 volts and all reached at least 300 volts.

What did Milgram find about proximity to the learner?

Obedience fell when the learner was closer: 40% obeyed when the learner was in the same room, and 30% in the touch-proximity condition.

What did Milgram find when the experimenter gave orders by telephone?

Obedience fell to about 20.5%, suggesting that the experimenter's physical presence affected obedience.

What did Milgram find when the study moved from Yale to a run-down office building?

Obedience fell to 47.5%, suggesting that a prestigious setting can increase the perceived legitimacy of the authority.

What did Bickman's uniform study show?

People were more likely to obey requests from a person dressed as a security guard than from a person in ordinary clothing, supporting the effect of uniform on perceived authority.

How can proximity affect obedience?

Obedience is generally higher when the authority figure is physically close and lower when the authority figure is distant or less directly involved.

How can location affect obedience?

A prestigious setting can increase obedience because it makes the authority or institution seem more legitimate.

How can uniform affect obedience?

A uniform can signal authority and make people more likely to obey the person's orders.

How does the agentic state explain Milgram's findings?

Participants may have viewed themselves as carrying out the experimenter's instructions and transferred responsibility to the authority figure.

Give an evaluation point for Milgram's research.

The controlled procedure allowed situational variables to be investigated, but deception and participant distress raised ethical concerns.

What is the authoritarian personality?

A dispositional explanation of obedience proposing that some people have a personality type characterised by submission to authority, rigid conventional beliefs and hostility towards people seen as inferior.

How did Adorno explain the development of an authoritarian personality?

Adorno proposed that strict, harsh parenting could lead to resentment being displaced onto weaker groups and to strong submission to authority.

What is authoritarian submission?

A tendency to obey and show respect towards people perceived to have higher status or authority.

What is authoritarian aggression?

Hostility towards people who break rues or dont fit in with social norms

What is conventionalism?

Strong adherence to traditional values and social conventions.

What is the F-scale?

Adorno's questionnaire designed to measure authoritarian personality. A high score indicates stronger authoritarian characteristics.

How does the authoritarian personality explain obedience?

People with stronger authoritarian traits may be more submissive towards higher-status authorities and more likely to accept established hierarchies.

Give an evaluation of the authoritarian personality explanation.

It is dispositional, so it cannot fully explain why obedience changes when situational variables such as proximity and location change.

Give another evaluation of Adorno's research.

The F-scale has been criticised for acquiescence bias: people may agree with statements regardless of their content, reducing validity.

What is resistance to social influence?

The ability to withstand pressure to conform or obey.

How can social support help people resist conformity?

A dissenter breaks the majority's unanimity and provides a model of independent behaviour, making it easier for others to resist.

How can social support help people resist obedience?

A disobedient model shows that refusing an authority's order is possible, making it easier for another person to disobey.

What is locus of control (LOC)?

A personality dimension describing the extent to which people believe outcomes are controlled by their own actions or by external forces.

What is an internal locus of control?

The belief that outcomes are largely influenced by one's own actions, decisions and effort.

What is an external locus of control?

The belief that outcomes are largely influenced by external forces such as luck, fate or powerful other people.

How may an internal locus of control help resistance?

People who feel personally responsible for outcomes may be more likely to act according to their own beliefs rather than yield to social pressure.

Does an internal locus of control guarantee resistance?

No. Locus of control is one possible influence; behaviour also depends on the situation and an internal LOC does not guarantee resistance.

What is minority influence?

A process in which a minority influences the beliefs, attitudes or behaviour of the majority.

What is consistency in minority influence?

The minority maintains the same view over time (diachronic consistency) and/or its members agree with one another (synchronic consistency).

What is commitment in minority influence?

The minority shows dedication to its position, sometimes by making sacrifices. This can attract attention and make the message seem important.

What is flexibility in minority influence?

The minority is willing to acknowledge counterarguments, adapt its position or make concessions without abandoning its core view; this helps it avoid seeming rigid or dogmatic.

Why can consistency increase minority influence?

A consistent minority attracts attention and encourages the majority to reconsider its own views.

Why can commitment increase minority influence?

Commitment can signal that the minority sincerely believes in its cause and is willing to make sacrifices for it.

Why can flexibility increase minority influence?

Flexibility makes the minority seem reasonable rather than dogmatic, so the majority may be more willing to consider its position.

What did Moscovici's blue-green study investigate?

Whether a consistent minority could influence a majority's colour judgements.

What did Moscovici's study find about consistency?

The consistent minority influenced participants' colour judgements more than the inconsistent minority, supporting the importance of consistency.

Give an evaluation point for minority influence research.

Laboratory colour-judgement tasks are artificial, so findings may not fully generalise to complex real-life decisions.