Social Influence

what does conformity mean

a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure

what are the 2 types of conformity

internalisation, compliance

what is compliance

a temporary change in someone’s beliefs and behaviour, their opinion publicly changes but stays the same privately

what is internalisation

a deep type of conformity where there is a permanent change to someone’s behaviour or opinions

what are the 2 explanations for conformity

• normative social influence

• informational social influence

what is normative social influence

when someone follows the behaviour of a group because of the desire to be liked and so temporarily change their opinions and is an emotional process

what is informational social influence

when someone changes their behaviour or ideas because of their desire to be right, which often happens in new situations and is a cognitive process

what type of conformity does normative social influence produce

compliance because its only temporary due to the desire to fit in and be liked

what type of conformity does informational social influence produce

internalisation because its a permanent change so that they can be right

the elevator experiment

• a test for conformity

• everyone faces the wrong way and people get on and off the elevator and do the same thing to see how long it takes people to conform and do the same thing