Social influence

What is conformity

• Changing behaviour based on a group

Normative Social influence

• The need to be liked. Emotional process people do as to not appear foolish therefore want social approval and acceptance from others.

• Likely to happen in situations with strangers

Informational social influence(ISI)

• The need to be correct. people need to know that their ideas and beliefs are correct.

• Likely to happen in new situations.

Types of conformity

• Compliance

• Identification

• Internalisation

Compliance

• When an individual publicly agrees with the majority, but privately still hold their own opinions.

• Temporary change

Identification

• When an individual changes their opinion publicly to be part of a group.

• This is a temporary change

Internalisation

When an individual permanently and publically accepts the views of the majority 

Evaluation of Conformity

• Lucas et al asked students to give answers to math problems that were easy or more difficult. There was a greater conformity to incorrect and when they were difficult.ISI

• Asch’s line experiment 

• There are dispositional(personality) factors that suggest conformity is not solely determined by situational factors. Individuals with a high confidence or an internal locus of control are less likely to be influenced