psychology social influence

what is conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

what is Asch's baseline test

123 American men in groups with 5-7 confederates.

confederate's would give wrong answers.

what variables did Asch research

group size

unanimity

task difficulty

what was the result of Asch's research

Naïve participants conformed about 37% of the time.

what is one limitation of the task and situation in Asch's research

task and situation were artificial

(mundane realism and low ecological validity)

this may have lead to demand characteristics

what is a limitation of the sample group in Asch's research

sample group were androcentric and all Americans

E.g.

- US more individualist culture

- China more collectivist culture

what is a strength of Asch's research

it is supported by other research

what are the ethical issues in Asch's study

deception of ppts

what are the 3 types of conformity

Internalisation, identification, compliance

what is internalisation

when a person changes their behavior and beliefs as they genuinely accept group norms

What is identification?

conforming to behavior and beliefs of a group because we want to be a part of it E.g. army, police

What is compliance?

simply going along with other in public but privately nor changing beliefs or behavior - a superficial change

What are the two explanations for conformity?

Normative social influence (NSI) and Informational social influence (ISI)

What is informational social influence?

where we agree with an opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct

What is normative social influence?

where we agree with the opinion of the majority as we want to gain social approval or be liked

what is an nAfilliator

people who have a strong need for affiliation and are more likely to conform

what is a strength of NSI

evidence supports it Asch's research when unanimity was introduced ppts didn't feel group pressure

outline Zimbardo's research

-21 'emotionally stable' students

-randomly allocated to roles of prisoners and guards

-use of mirrored sunglasses, uniforms and smocks

what were the findings of Zimbardo research

guards treated the prisoners harshly

-constant harassment

-nighttime head counts

what was the conclusion of Zimbardo research (SPE)

social roles have a strong influence on behavior

-brutal guards

-submissive prisoners

what was strength of the Stanford prison experiment

control over variables

-increased internal validity

what was the a limitation of the Stanford prison experiment

said to have a lack of realism and actions of guards and prisoners were based on stereotypes

outline mailgrams research

40 American men given role of Teacher through fixed draw

-androcentric

Ordered to give (fake) shocks to Learner (confederate) by an Experimenter

what were the increments shocks increased by in Milgram's research

15volt increments up to 450volts

what were the results of Milgram's research

no ppts stopped bore 300volts

65% went all the way to 450volts

what are the ethical issues in Milgram's study

deceptions of ppts

-led to debrief of ppts

what is a strength of mailgrams research

supported by research

-ppts showed identical action, nervous laughter, nail biting, and other signs of anxiety

what is limitation of mailgrams research

androcentric - 40 American men

what is limitation of the validity mailgrams research

low internal validity

-may not have been testing what it said it was testing

-demand characteristics

what is obedence

a form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order

what are the variables that may influence a persons behavior

proximity, location, uniform

what is proximity

the physical closeness between the person giving the order and the person receiving the order

what is location

the place where an order is issued

-there may be status associated with the location

what is uniform

people in positions of authority who have a specific outfit

what occurs when proximity is reduced

ppts are able to distance themselves psychologically from the consequences of their actions

what occurs when the location is less prestigious

obedience dropped to 47.5%

what occurs when a person in uniform is in a place of authority

obedience increased

-uniforms encourage obedience

What is the agentic state?

We fail to take responsibility because we believe we are acting on behalf of an authority figure ('just following orders')

what is the autonomous state

We feel free of other influences and so we take responsibility for our actions

what is the agentic shift

We switch from autonomous to agent because we perceive someone else is an authority figure

what is legitimacy of authority

an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we believe have authority

What is destructive authority?

When a Legitimate Authority becomes destructive. I.e Hitler, stalin

what is a strength of research into agentic state

in Milgram's study the ppts would ask who is responsible and the experimenter would reply 'I'm responsible'

-ppts entered the agentic state and didn't take responsibility

what is limitation of agentic state

contradictory research shows a study where 16 out of 18 nurses disobeyed orders from an unknown doctor

what is a strength of legitimacy of authority

other studies showed similar results in Germany

what is authoritarian personality

susceptible to obeying people who they believe are above them in the social hierarchy and very dismissive of those they believe are below them

how does authoritarian personality develop

. strict parenting

. expectation of loyalty and extremely high standards

What is the F scale?

a scale used to measure fascism used by Adorno

what were the findings of Adornos research

those who scored higher on the f-scale identified with strong people and were dismissive of the 'weak'

what is a strength of authoritarian personality research

in milgrams study ppts who were more obedient scored higher on the F-scale

what is a limitation of authoritarian personality

it cannot explain for an entire countries obedience for example Nazi Germany

what is the view of someone with a highly internal locus of control

they take responsibility for their action and believe they are in control of what happens

what is the view of someone with a highly external locus of control

they believe what happens is due to chance

what is minority influence

where a small group influences other in a bigger group which leads to internalisation

what are the 3 factors for minority influence to occur

consistency

commitment

flexibility

what is synchronic consistency

where all of the minority believe in the same thing

What is diachronic consistency?

Where the minority all say the same thing for a long period of time.

how can minority show commitment for their cause

augmentation principle - personal sacrifice, acting out of self interest

what is flexibility

where the minority can still accept reasonable counter arguments

what is a strength of minority influence

reserach shows consistecny had a grater effect on changing peopls minds than an inconsistent one

what is social influence

the process of where individuals and groups change each others attitudes and behaviors

what is social change

when the whole of society adopts a new attitude or belief

Social cryptomnesia

people forget source of change

what is the snowball effect in social change

where more people from the majority become part of the minority until it becomes the majority