Social Influence AO3

What were the 3 variables investigated by Asch?

• Group size

• Unanimity

• Task difficulty

Findings of Asch’s group size

• When 2 confederates were present, conformity rose to 13.6%

• When 3 confederates were present, conformity rose to 32.6%

• Above 3 confederates, conformity rate levelled off

• People are easily swayed by opinions of other people

Findings of Asch’s Unanimity

• dissenting confederate introduced - always disagreed with the majority sometimes gave the right and wrong answers

• Conformity reduced - social support

Findings of Asch’s Task difficulty

• conformity increased as task difficulty increased

• More ambiguous question

Asch +VE Evaluation

• Evidence to support task difficulty - Study asked Ps to solve easy and hard maths questions. They were given answers that (falsely) claimed to be from other students. The Ps conformed more(answered with the wrong answer) when the problems were harder. Shows Asch was right that difficulty affects conformity HOWEVER conformity is more complex that Asch proposed. High levels of confidence = low levels of conformity. Shows that individual level factors interact with situational ones.

Asch -VE Evaluation

• Artificial task- there was no reason not to conform as there were no real consequences. Ps knew they were in a research study so could be displaying demand characteristics. This means we cant generalise findings to everyday life especially in situations were there are consequences to conformity

• Lack of population validity - only used American males. Could be that women conform more due to wanting to be accepted and the common social norms were women are seen as inferior.

• Studies with collectivist cultures have higher rates of conformity

• This means his research tell us nothing about conformity in women and collectivist cultures

• Ps were deceived and could not give informed consent. However, Asch was conducting the research before ethical guidelines were introduced so didn’t purposely violate ethical issues. if he had given them Ps informed consent, they would have known the aims of the study and are more susceptible to demand characteristics. This means that the data would not be valid as it is not measuring conformity but what the participants think the researcher wants to see

What is ISI and what process is it

• Want to be right

• Cognitive process

What is NSI and what process is it

• Need to fit in

• Emotional process

Support for NSI

• When Ps were asked to write down their answers, conformity fell to 12.5%. Many Ps confroemd despite them knowing the correct answer because they were afraid of disapproval

Support of ISI

• The more ambiguous the question the higher the conformity as they wanted to be right. However it is unclear if its NSI or ISI. It could be NSI as the power of a dissenter may reduce the power of social support or ISI as the dissenter will give an alternative answer. Therefore NIS and ISIS are hard to seperate and operate together in most real life situations

NSI -VE Evaluation

• Individual differences - nAffiliators have a strong need to be affiliated with people (relate to them). Research has shown these type of people tend to conform more. This shows how NSI underlies conformity for some people more than others

How did Zimbardo get his sample

selected by psychological testing that showed them to be emotionally stable. Randomly allocated to role of guard or prisoner

What happened in Zimbardo’s study

• Prisoners treated harshly so rebelled within 2 days - ripped their uniforms, shouted and swore at guards.

• After rebellions, the prisoners were left anxious and depressed

• 3 Prisoners were let out early as they showed signs of psychological disturbance

• One prisoner went on hunger strike, and guards attempted to force-feed him and punished him by putting him in ‘the hole’ a tiny dark closet

• The study was stopped after 6 days instead of the planned 14 days

+VE Evaluation of Zimbardo

• Random allocation of roles so their behaviour was based solely on the role itself and not their personalities. They were also all emotionally stable, so their emotions had no impact on the way they acted. This control increased the study’s internal validity, as it is measuring what it is intended to measure (conformity to social roles) so we can be more confident in drawing conclusions about the effect of social roles on conformity

-VE Evaluation of Zimbardo

• Prisoners may be play acting- one guard based his role on a movie he had watched. Prisoners rioted because that is what they thought prisoners are meant to do. This means SPE tells us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons

• Overexaggerated - Only one-third of the guards acted harshly, the others applied the rules fairly and supported the prisoners, e.g. offering them cigarettes and reinstating privileges. This means that SPE overstates the view that the guards were conforming to a brutal role

• Alternative explanations- Zimbardo claimed that Ps natuarlly conformed to their social roles. However, this doesnt explain thne gurads that were not brutal. Social Identity theory argues only those that idnetify with the social role end up con