social influence

define conformity?

a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group, yielding to group pressures

what are the 3 types of conformity?

• compliance

• identification

• internalization

define compliance?

• In other words, conforming to the majority (publicly) in spite of not really agreeing with them (privately)

define identification?

• a person changes their public behaviour (the way they act) and their private beliefs, but only while they are in the presence of the group they are identifying with

define internalization?

• Internalization always involves public and private conformity. A person publicly changes their behavior to fit in with the group while also agreeing with them privately.

What influence is conformity also known as?

the majority influence

define normative social influence?

when an individual conforms in order to fit in and gain acceptance from a group

define informational social influence?

when a person conforms due to the belief that someone holds more knowledge than themselves therefore is more likely to be right

what did Asch investigate?

the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.

what experiment did Asch use to study conformity?

a lab experiment

state 3 disadvantages of Asch’s study?

• lacks ecological validity-does not reflect the types of situations where people typically experience conformity in everyday life

• the sample was gender biased- lacks population validity

• pps could not give informed consent, could have been put through psychological harm

define group unanimity?

where a person is more likely to conform when all members of the group agree and give the same answer

why did conformity drop when members of the group were allowed to answer in private?

• When participants were allowed to answer in private conformity decreased

• This is because there are fewer group pressures and normative influence is not as powerful, as there is no fear of rejection from the group

where was difficulty of task shown?

When the lines were made more similar in length it was harder to judge the correct answer and conformity increased.

define social roles?

• a set of expected behaviors associated with a specific position or status within a social group

how do social roles contribute to society?

by creating predictable behaviors and interactions

define social norms?

the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered acceptable in a particular social group or culture.

what did zimbardo want to investigate?

• how readily people would conform to the social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.

where did zimbardo conduct his study?

converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison.

weaknesses of zimbardo’s study?

• demand characteristics as Most of the guards later claimed they were simply acting

• low ecological validity, cannot be generalized to real life as conducted in lab setting that did not accurately reflect the complex realities of a real prison environment

• lacks population validity- sample only contained US males

• Zimbardo did conduct debriefing sessions for several years afterwards and concluded they were no lasting negative effects.

• participants playing the role of prisoners were not protected from psychological harm

strengths of zimbardo’s study?

• the harmful treatment of participant led to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines.

• Mundane realism

  The study had a degree of mundane realism, as 90% of the prisoners' private conversations revolved around prison life. 

define obedience?

Obedience is a type of social influence where a person follows an order from another person who is usually an authority figure.

what did milgram study, aims?

• how far participants would go in obeying an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience

• aimed to quantify the level of shock participants were willing to administer to another person under the guise of a learning experiment when instructed to do so by an authority figure.

what are the 3 situational factors for obedience?

• uniform

• location

• proximity of authority figure

define the autonomous state?

• people direct their own actions, and they take responsibility for the results of those actions.

define the agentic state?

• people allow others to direct their actions and then pass off the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving the orders.

limitations of the agentic state?

• cannot explain Nazi behaviour

what does legitimacy of authority refer to?

the perceived right of an authority figure to have power and control over others

what 2 things did Milgram suggest must be in place for a person to enter the agentic state?

• The person giving the orders is perceived as being qualified to direct other people’s behavior. That is, they are seen as legitimate.

• The person being ordered about is able to believe that the authority will accept responsibility for what happens.

what did the lab coat symbolise?

• The lab coat conveyed expertise and legitimacy, making participants see the experimenter as more credible and trustworthy.

when did obedience drop in milgrams study?

The role of the experimenter was then taken over by an ‘ordinary member of the public in regular clothes rather than a lab coat.

what happened in the touch proximity condition?

The teacher had to force the learner’s hand down onto a shock plate when the learner refused to participate after 150 volts. Obedience fell to 30%.

what happened in the absent experimenter condition?

The physical absence of the authority figure enabled participants to act more freely on their own moral inclinations rather than the experimenter’s commands. This highlighted the role of an authority’s direct presence in influencing behavior.

5 disadvantages of milgram’s experiment?

• lacks external validity as conducted in lab setting

• biased sample as all male

• pps couldn’t give informed consent

• deceived as though they were shocking a real person

• Participants were exposed to extremely stressful situations that may have the potential to cause psychological harm

why did milgram conduct his experiment?

to test the research question “are Germans different

what did personality did adorno come up with?

• authoritarian personality,

• he felt that personality (dispositional) factors rather than situational (environmental) factors could explain obedience.

what scale did adorno come up with to measure authoritarian personality?

the F- scale

limitations of adorno’s findings

• biased sample – Only used 2000 middle class white Americans so conclusions cannot be generalised to people outside the sample

• Millions of individuals in Germany displayed obedient behavior but didn’t have the same personality, it is unlikely that the majority of Germany’s population possessed an authoritarian personality

what does social support lead to?

the presence of a confederate who does not conform leads to a decrease in the conformity levels in true participants.

what does locus of control refer to?

how much control a person feels they have in their own behaviour

what are the 2 types of locus of control?

• internal locus of control

• external locus of control

how do people with high internal locus of control perceive themselves?

People with a high internal locus of control perceive (see) themselves as having a great deal of personal control over their behavior and are therefore more likely to take responsibility for the way they behave

how do people with low internal locus of control perceive their behaviours?

perceive their behaviors as being a result of external influences or luck

what can normative social influence be associated with?

associated with compliance, where a person changes their public behavior but not their private belief meaning any change of behavior is temporary.

who studied minority influence?

moscovici

when does minority influence occur?

Minority influence occurs when a small group (minority) influences the opinion of a much larger group (majority)

what 3 factors affect minority influence?

• consistency

• commitment

• flexibility

what is commitment?

• the minority must demostrate commitment to their cause or views

• sometimes through extreme activities

• may take risk

what is consistency?

• the minority should be consistent in their views

define diachronic consistency?

• consistency over a period of time

define synchronic consistency?

consistency between members of the minority

what is flexibility?

• making a compromise/ adjustment

• nemeth argued that if a minority is seen as inflexible the majority are unlikely to change

explain the snowball effect and what makes the snowball effect?

• someone who has changed their mind might persuade others to do the same

• the minority becomes the majority

• the snowball effect includes flexibility, consistency and commitment

state 3 examples of normative social influence?

• peer pressure

• fashion trends

• social media links

define social support- resisting conformity?

• less pressure to conform if they have an ally

• someone else who doesn’t conform shows the majority is no longer unanimous

define social support - resisting obedience?

• another disobedient individual reduces the pressure to obey

• frees the individual to act according to their own conscience