Sociocultural Approach Studies

Conformity

Asch (1956)

Aim: To determine the extent of which people would conform to the opinions of a major group, even if the group was incorrect

Participants: Male college students

Procedure: It was a true experiment where participants were told they were taking part in a vision test. In each trial there was one real participant and the rest were confederates placed by the researcher. In each trial, participants were shown a standard line and a set of comparison lines and asked which one matched the standard line. In some trials, confederates were told to intentionally provide the wrong answer by unanimously agreeing upon it. The participants who were second to last heard the answers of the majority before giving their on. The researchers determined whether they would conform or not.

Results: Approximately 75% of participants conformed to the majority’s incorrect answer at least once. Overall the participants agreed with the confederates’ incorrect responses about one third of the time. To confirm if lines were accurately being judged a control group was asked to write their answer down individually on the line questions. They were correct 98% of the time. Additionally, conforming pressure peaked with three to four confederates.

Social Identity Theory

Sherif et al. (1961)

Aim: To see the natural and spontaneous development of group formation, behaviors, and norms.

Participants: 22 boys aged 11-12 who were healthy, socially well adjusted, white, and from middle class homes.

Procedure: Participants thought they were attending a summer camp, unaware they were being studied. They were split into two groups and kept separate for the first 5-6 days. They had developed in their own way, creating their own jargon, jokes, secrets, and special ways of performing tasks. By the end of the first week, participants were introduced and began competitions with the other group for valued prizes and trophies. An emergency situation was staged where the camp truck “broke down” and participants had to work together to pull the truck in attempt to build reconciliation.

Results: When researchers introduced conflict through games, tension formed and participants started calling the other group negative names and soon refused to contact the opposing group. The boys also fought with the group, sometimes physically.

Social Cognitive Theory

Bandura (1961)

Aim: To test whether children exposed to aggressive behavior by adults were more likely to imitate it

Participants: 36 boys and 36 girls who were preschoolers.

Procedure: They were assigned to an aggressive or passive condition. Groups were separated by gender and gender of the model. In stage 1, they were brought into a room in which one corner had blocks and the other a bobo doll with weapons. In the passive condition, the model began playing with the blocks. In the aggressive condition, the model played with the blocks for 1 minute, but then switched to the Bobo doll and attacked it physically and verbally. The second stage children underwent “mild aggression arousal” where they were taken to a room full of attractive toys but when they started playing them, the researchers stopped them and told them they were reserved for other children. In the third stage they were taken to a room with a variety of aggressive and non-aggressive toys. The child was kept in the room for 20 minutes and their behavior observed.

Results: Children who saw the aggressive model performed more aggressive acts than those who did not. Boys made more aggressive acts than girls, which was emphasized if the model was male instead of female. The girls also showed more physical aggression if the model was male and more verbal aggression if the model was female.

Enculturation

Odden and Rochat

Aim: To investigate observational learning on the development of cultural norms in Samoa.

Participants: 28 children in a Samoan village which limited child-adult interaction. Samoan children were commonly left to learn things on their own without adult attempts to motivate or organize their learning.

Procedure: The study was longitudinal of 25 months where they interviewed and observed children in different contexts. Researchers notes that young males spent a lot of time watching adult males fishing but received no direct instruction. The children also did a multiple choice test about the basic knowledge of the chief system.

Results: Male children observed adults and learned without direct instruction. Children around 10 would borrow adult fishing equipment and experiment, learning how to fish around age 12. The multiple choice test showed they had a broad understanding of the society’s concepts

Acculturation

Miranda and Matheney

Aim: To determine which factors would decrease acculturative stress in Latino Americans

Participants: 197 Latino Americans

Procedure: They were asked to fill a questionnaire and a series of standardized test which assesses their family cohesion, level of acculturative stress, and coping strategies for stress.

Results: Immigrants with good coping strategies, good family structure, and proficiency in English were less likely to experience acculturative stress. Additionally, individuals who spent more time in the US were less likely to demonstrate this stress and showed a higher level of acculturation.

Cultural Dimensions

Berry (1967)

Aim: Whether the influence of collectivist vs individualistic societies affect conformity.

Participants: The Temne of Sierra Leone, a collectivist society, the Inuit from Canada. Both groups had people with and without Western education or employment. Both rural and urban Scotts were used as a control group. 120 participants were in each group.

Procedure: They were shown a large piece of paper with a standard line and a set of 8 comparison lines. In critical trials researchers gave participants a “hint” in which they pointed to a line and said “most Temne/Inuit/Scottish people chose this line is equal to length to the one at the top.”

Results: The Temne people who were collectivists had a much higher rate of conformity when they were told what most other Temne believed, even when the answer was incorrect. The Inuit however, had an even lower rate of conformity than the Scotts. Furthermore, there was no difference in participants who lived traditional vs Westernized lives.

Formation of stereotypes

Katz and Braley

Aim: To determine whether traditional social stereotypes as typically portrayed in the media and papers held true by Princeton students.

Participants and procedure: One hundred undergraduate students did a survey where they were presented with a list of ethnic groups and 84 words desribing them. They were asked to choose the most typical traits of the race and then select the five most typical traits.

Results: Students showed considerable agreement about the traits given to the different ethnic groups, especially in terms of negative traits, eg. 84% of people thought African Americans were superstitious and 79% thought Jews were shrewd.

Effects of stereotypes

Stone

Aim: To investigate how stereotype threat affects performance and behaviour in a sports context.

Participants: White university students who identified as athletes

Procedure: Participants completed a golf task. In the high stereotype threat condition, the task was described as measuring natural athletic ability. In the low stereotype threat condition, it was described as measuring general sports performance. Before starting, participants could practice for as long as they wanted, and the amount of practice time was recorded.

Results: Participants who strongly identified with sports practiced less in the high stereotype threat condition. Participants who did not strongly identify with sports showed no difference in practice time between conditions. This suggests stereotype threat can reduce effort through self-handicapping, where individuals limit preparation to protect their self-image.