Social influence - 2

What is conformity?

adjusting our behaviour/thinking to coincide with a group standard

Compliance

publicly conforming to the behaviour or views of other but privately still maintaining ones own views. 'Going along with others' until your by yourself when it goes back to normal

Internalisation

publicly and privately agreeing. Changes are likely to be permanent as you have changed gourmand to agree with majority

identification

conformity to establish or maintain a relationship with a person or group e.g for work

Normative social influence (NSI)

An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked. This may lead to compliance.

Informational social influence (ISI)

An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well. This may lead to internalisation.

Evaluation of explanation of conformity

students studying science may be less likely to conform to ISI as it is important to be accurate, there also may be individual diffrences

Sherif (1935) - autokinetic effect

This experiment was an illusion in a dark room where subjects were asked to guess aloud how much they thought the light moved. When alone there was more variety in the estimate of how much the light moved. When in groups, the estimates varied in the beginning but by the end there was a group norm

norm

a standard of right or proper conduct

conclusion of the auto kinetic effect

When in an ambiguous situation a person will look to others for guidance . They want to do the right thing, but may lack information. (Informational influence)

Artificial tasks- 'auto kinetic effect'

not like real life conformity so it lacks ecological validity, people are happy to conform as they simply don't care

no correct answer - 'auto kinetic effect'

they are more likely to go with others than real life situations of conformity where you know behaviour is wrong/incorrect

reliability - 'auto kinetic effect'

easy to replicate and check for consisting of finding that other researchers have found the same

Asch

researcher famous for line study of conformity

Asch Experiment

Given 3 lines. Planted individuals give wrong answers which people conform to. ( actors in each group say the wrong answer and see if the real person copies them)... 123 males

results of Asch's study of conformity

On the critical trials, participants conformed and gave the wrong answer 37% of the time.
Over the 12 critical trials about 75% of participants conformed at least once and 25% of practicals never conformed.
In an control group, with no pressure less than 1% have the wrong ng answer

Conclusion of Asch's study

When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of the participants said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being 'peculier'

nAffiliators

people who have a need for affiliation (want to relate to other people)

What is the Zimbardo Prison Experiment?

Assigned random guards and prisoners; guards harmed prisoners

What was the aim of Zimbardo's study?

To investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing simulation of prison life.
and if the inhumane treatment in American prisons was the result of sadist personalist of guards or caused by the situation

The procedure of the zimbardos study?

a simulated prison was set up in the basement of stanford university, consisting of three cells with steel bar doors, a yard area, a guardroom and a closet for solitary confinement. there was also a room with video recording equipment to record transactions between the participants throughout the proposed 2-week experiment. the guards were briefed before and asked to maintain order but not given specific instructions. they were dressed in military-style uniforms and given batons. the prisoners were arrested by real officers at their homes and taken to the police station to be processed. then, they were blindfolded and driven to stanford university where they were stripped and deloused. each prisoner was given a muslin smock to wear, labelled with their prisoner identification number that they were referred to for the rest of the study. they spent a lot of time in their cells, but were allowed privileges, such as watching a movie and visits from their family. three guards worked 8-hour shifts an conducted a 'prisoner count' at the start of every shift, lining up the prisoners who then recited their number.

Findings from Zimbardo's study

1. the guards became abusive and violent
2. at first prisoners rebelled
3. the guards retaliated with fire extinguishers
4. guards harassed prisoners
5. this stopped the rebellion
6. the guards became increasingly aggressive and sadist so the experiment was abandoned

how long after did they stop the Zimbardos prison study?

6 days

Conclusion of Zimbardo's study

Guards and prisoners and researchers conformed to their roles. Roles easily taken by ppts.

what does GRAVE stand for?

Generalisability
Reliability
Application
Validity
Ethics

Most guards later claimed they were simply acting, what is this an example of?

Demand Characteristic

can the findings from zimbardos study be generalised to real life?

no, not real life prisons. It lacks ecological validity

Did Zimbardo say the guards sadist behaviour to Iraqi prisoners was similar to his? true of false

True

The fact that the zimbardos study was an artificial means it has?

High levels of Controlled of Extraneous variable

controlled extraneous variable

variables that the experimenter wants to keep the same across all conditions so that they do not differentially affect the DV

was the participants of Zimabrdo checked for emotional stability ?

yes, so it could not explain the findings of the study, it must have been the situation not their personality

were all guards sadist ?

no- some were fair and treated prisoners right

The study may lack P\___________________ V\___________________________ as the sample compromised of US male students

Population validity

What is one strength of Zimabrdos Study?

it has helped alter the way US prisons are run. e.g. juveniles accused federal crimes are no longer housed before trial with adults prisoners

what are the ethical issues of Zimbardos prison study?

- a lack of informed consent: unpredictable experiment, prisoners arrested at home
- physical and psychological harm: 1 prison released after 36 hrs cut of uncontrollable screaming & tears

Was there any long lasting effects from the prison study?

no, Zimbardo conducted individual debriefing sessions and post-experimental questionnaires several weeks and years intervals

Zimabrdos has been accused of being too closely involved and may have caused I\__________________ e\________

Investigator Effects- which affects the behaviours of participants, couldn't end the study sooner

What was Milgram's study?

he had a confederate in one room and the participant in the other, he instructed the participant to shock the confederate by pressing a buzzer if they answered questions wrong in a series of questions asked by the participant

What is obedience?

result of social influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure

Why did Milgram conduct his experiment?

was to find out how many people would obey an authority figure when directly ordered to violate their own ethical standards.

Where did Milgram's study take place?

Yale University

Who took part in Milgram's study?

40 men, aged 20-50

were the 40 men in milgrams study paid?

yes- $4.50

was milgrams study an single or double blind procedure?

single blind

the "experimenter" was a

confederate

what percentage did the psychiatrist predict the participants would go all the way up to 450 V/

1%

which voltage did every participant go up to?

300 V

what percentage of Milgram participants gave the maximum shock (450 V)?

65%

what percentage did not obey and stopped the experiment?

35%

what percentage of the participants said they had learned something of personal importance after they took a questionnaire?

84%

what was milgrams comeback on the ethical issue on physical harm and psychological harm?

-distress was unanticipated as psychologist only predicted 1% would give all shocks
-he did debrief
- 1 yr later they were assessed by psychiatrist who concluded there were no harm

what was milgrams comeback on how there were lost of deception going on?

deception was vital to avoid demand characteristics

what was milgrams comeback on lack of informed content as they didn't know they true nature of the study?

got presumptive consent from other students who said wouldn't mind if they did the study and were lied to until the end

why were the participants in milgrams study pressured to stay?

they could actually leave but they needed to feel trapped for an obedient environment

what was milgrams response to why didn't the experimenter give themselves the shock- was it unbelievable ?

70% of participants said they believed set up, so they did think it was real (could be lying)

orne and holland criticised pilgrims internal validity as study may of seemed obvious and demand characteristic could of been and issue, how did Milgram respond?

siezures can't be fake so the distress shows they believed it

Milgram participants were paid to take part- so was there a chance they went along with it ?... milgrams response to this?

this is often the case in real life obedience like how Nazi soldiers were paid

Orne & Holland : Criticizing Milgram on external validity- Lab findings dent generalise to real life. How did Milgram respond?

M and howling back up results so does generalise. It doesn't matter if it's unrealistic as if there is true obedience, principle can generalise even if setting is artificial.
When the experiment was replicated for tv, almost identical findings were found

Milgram's experiment on obedience conclusion

ordinary people were obedient to authority when asked to behave in inhuman ways
it is not necessarily evil people who commit evil crimes but ordinary people who are just obeying orders.
- Crimes against humanity may be the outcome of the setting rather than personality facts

What was Bickmans study of obedience 1974

A milkman, civilian or a guard gave orders to people on the street
- pointing at another man " this man doesn't have enough money for the meter, give him an dime"

what happened at the Bickman study ?

they were more likely to obey the guard then the civilian

Hofling study - obedience

22 nurses were told by a fake Doctor to give a lethal dosage of a fictional drug to patient and the doctor said he would sign off later. The drug was not on the approved list and the max dosage was on the bottle. 21 nurses were about to administer the drug before stopped, only 1 nurse refused to administer the drug.

which factors affected conformity ?

- size of the majority \= when the group size was just two there were 0 conformity, groups of 3 or more had the highest rates
- unanimity of majority \= ash conducted the study but this time he instructed one of the actors to go against the majority and pick correct answer, here conformity rates dropped ( they felt less alone)
- difficult of the task \= when the task was more difficult conformity rates increased as individual are more likely to refer to the majority opinion

Why do people obey authority?

-Agentic state: one sees himself or herself as an agent carrying out order
-Legitimate authority: the person giving the order is seen to have the right to do so
-Graudual commitment: having agreed to do something, it is difficult to them change your mind. This is similar to the "foot-in-the-door" technique
-Presence of buffers: a buffer is anything that prevent the person from having to acknowledge the consequences of their actions

Outline what is meant by 'agentic state' as an explanation for obedience.

- When a person acts on behalf of an authority figure/person of higher status

What is social influence?

Any process whereby a person's attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or behaviour are altered or controlled by some form of social communication

why do people obey?

it may be due to situational reasons (setting- external or environment) or dispositional reasons (internal,personality)

situational reasons

Agentic State

what is the autonomous state?

when people are taking responsibility for their own actions

who do people pass their responsibility to in an obedient situation?

authority figure

what is the shift called from an autonomous state to an Agentic State?

Agentic shift

What is the agentic state?

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure. I.e as an agent

in which study did the participants feel an Agentic State?

Milgrams shock- they believed it was the experimenters fault

legitimate authority figure in milgrams study

the authority figure was an experimenter dressed in a white lab coat. The coat was a symbol of legitimate power

in which other study does the power of a uniform make more people obey orders

Bickmans - the participants obeyed a guard more than a milkman or a civilian

what is gradual commitment?

if people start small then it is easier to do something bad

gradual commitment in milgrams study

participants started by administering shocks from 15 volts to 450 volts in small, small steps

Role of buffers

the variations in milgrams original electric shock experiment introduced buffers between the authority figure and participants, and also between the participant and victim.

What is a buffer?

anything that reduce the immediacy and impact of the orders given, or depersonalise the victim

when the authority figure was on the phone, how much did the obedience rates drop by?

20%

are people less or more likely to obey in close proximity

more likely

when the victim was close enough to be touched, did obedience rates drop to what?

20%

close proximity

very near to each other

does the location or environment in which orders are given act as a buffer

yes because when Milgram moved his experiment to uni to office, obedience rates dropped to 48% - orders to be obeyed in an intimidating environment

Why didn't they ALL obey if they were in an agentic state ?

Because agentic shift can only account for some obedience

How can legitimate authority explain cultural differences in obedience ?

Because Kilham and Mann found higher obedience level in Germany than in Australia

What percentage did kilham and Mann find when the study of milgram was conducted in Germany?

85% obedience

My Lai Massacre

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.- this case study backs up legitimate authority

authoritarian personality

Rigid beliefs, hostility towards other groups, submissive attitude toward authority figure, they often feel society is in decline so we need strong leaders to fix it

psychodynamic approach

Adorno believed they personality had its roots in childhood, with strict parenting with high standards with harsh criticism as a potential cause.

Situational variables affecting obedience

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Dispositional variables

personalities and attitudes

Adorno et al (1950)

Developed a question are called California f scale, to measure levels of authoritarian personality.

locus of control

A concept concerned with internal control vs external control. Some people have an internal loc and others have external

Internal loc

Is where people believe things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves and not other people

External loc

Is where people believe things that happen are outside o their control e.g luck

What kind of LOC people are able to resis pressures to obey ?

High internal locus of control

What did kilham and Mann find in gender for obedience?

Women had low obedience but higher in men

what may lead to obedince which is not authoritarian personality ?

Level of education

In middendorp and meleon stufy, who did they find were more likely to display authoritarian personality ?

Less educated people