social i dentiy thoery, obedience, conformity
Absolutely, Nas! Here’s your full set of word-for-word flashcards for Social Identity Theory – Tajfel and Turner (1979), structured clearly and precisely for your Year 11 ATAR Psychology syllabus. I’ve kept every detail intact and separated by concept so nothing gets mixed or missed.
🧠 Flashcards: Social Identity Theory – Tajfel & Turner (1979)
Flashcard 1
Front: Social Identity Theory – Tajfel and Turner (1979)
Back:
• Social categorisation, social identification, social comparison
Flashcard 2
Front: Background: Social categorisation
Back:
• Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem.
Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.
• We divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups).
• Henri Tajfel proposed that stereotyping (i.e. putting people into groups and categories) is based on a normal cognitive process: the tendency to group things together
• This is known as in-group (us) and out-group (them). The central hypothesis of social identity theory is that group members of an in-group will seek to find negative aspects of an out-group, thus enhancing their self-image.
• See Social Identity Theory document for types of in and out groups.
Flashcard 3
Front: Social Identity Theory – Tajfel & Turner
Back:
• Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others as “us” or “them” (i.e. “in-group” and “out-group”. These take place in a particular order.
Flashcard 4
Front: Tajfel & Turner Stage 1: Social Categorisation
Back:
• We categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. In a very similar way we categorize people (including ourselves) in order to understand the social environment. We use social categories like black, white, Australian, Christian, Muslim, student, and bus driver because they are useful.
• If we can assign people to a category then that tells us things about those people, we couldn’t function in a normal manner without using these categories;
• Similarly, we find out things about ourselves by knowing what categories we belong to. An individual can belong to many different groups.
Flashcard 5
Front: Tajfel & Turner Stage 2: Social Identification
Back:
• In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to.
• If for example you have categorized yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the group).
• There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership.
Flashcard 6
Front: Tajfel & Turner Stage 3: Social Comparison
Back:
• The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favorably with other groups.
• This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals, they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem.
• Competition and hostility between groups is thus not only a matter of competing for resources (like in Sherif’s Robbers Cave) like jobs but also the result of competing identities. We will learn this later in the syllabus.
Flashcard 7
Front: Social Identity Theory – Conclusion
Back:
• Conclusion
• Social identity theory: the group membership is not something foreign or artificial which is attached onto the person, it is a real, true and vital part of the person.
• Again, it is crucial to remember in-groups are groups you identify with, and out-groups are ones that we don’t identify with, and may discriminate against.
Flashcard 8
Front: Tajfel & Turner Social Identity Theory – Limitations
Back:
• Poor predictive power for future behaviours.
Flashcard 9
Front: Tajfel & Turner Social Identity Theory – Advantages/Contributions
Back:
• Helps to explain the process of in-groups and out-group formations and beliefs.
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Absolutely, Nas! Here's your full set of word-for-word flashcards for Social Influences – Conformity, based on the Year 11 ATAR Psychology syllabus. I've kept everything intact, clearly structured, and separated by concept so nothing is missed or mixed.
🧠 Flashcards: Social Influences – Conformity (Yr 11 ATAR Psychology)
Flashcard 1
Front: Conformity
Back: Changing behaviour in response to to group norms or expectations of others.
Usually to align with the group
Occurs between people of the same social status
Individual will take personal responsibility rather than admit to conforming
Flashcard 2
Front: Factors affecting conformity
Back: Normative and informational influence, culture and group size, unanimity, deindividuation, social loafing
Flashcard 3
Front: Normative Influence
Back: Occurs when people conform because people want to be accepted and not stand out.
Individuals don’t share the same belief as the group, but disregard this to fit in.
Flashcard 4
Front: Informational Influence
Back: Occurs when people conform because they like to be correct and lack information to be sure.
Individuals seek knowledge held by the group to decide how best to behave.
Flashcard 5
Front: Normative Influence – Examples
Back:
Peer pressure to drink or do drugs
Workplace dress code
Fashion trends
Flashcard 6
Front: Informational Influence – Examples
Back:
Expert opinions (i.e. dermatologists on TikTok)
Crisis situations (e.g. following a group of people in an evacuation)
After listening to a podcast or video on people arguing a topic
Flashcard 7
Front: Culture – Individualistic
Back: Values individual needs over the group. Support people standing out, independence and self-reliance.
E.g. USA, Australia, UK, Germany
Less likely to conform to group norms.
Flashcard 8
Front: Culture – Collectivist
Back: Value the needs of the group over the individual. Views individuals putting themselves first as selfish behaviour.
E.g. China, Indonesia, India, Ecuador, Columbia, Nigeria
More likely to conform.
Flashcard 9
Front: Culture – Individualistic (Wedding Planning Example)
Back: Couples are encouraged to make decisions based on their personal desires.
May make non-traditional choices (attire, venue, ceremonies).
Less emphasis on family approval, ultimate authority lies with the couple.
Support for couple’s happiness.
Flashcard 10
Front: Culture – Collectivist (Wedding Planning Example)
Back: Whole family involved in decision-making.
Decisions made with consideration of family expectations and traditions.
Strong adherence to traditional wedding customs passed through generations.
Couple may prioritise approval and acceptance of their families over individual preferences.
Flashcard 11
Front: Unanimity
Back: When people all agree about the same thing.
When all members share similar attitudes, normative influence increases → more likely to conform.
When members do not share similar attitude, normative influence decreases (individuals no longer feel the need to be accepted) → less likely to conform
Flashcard 12
Front: Deindividuation
Back: Whereby people have reduced self-awareness, feel more anonymous and less inhibited in group situations.
Mentality of: “everyone else is doing it, so I can too”
More anonymity → less personal responsibility as behaviour is shared within the group
More likely to conform to the group that individual shares characteristics with
Flashcard 13
Front: Deindividuation – Antisocial Examples
Back:
E.g. rioting, looting during a riot, swearing in a sports game
Flashcard 14
Front: Deindividuation – Prosocial Examples
Back:
Helping to clean up after an event, participating in charity event (Telethon)
Flashcard 15
Front: Deindividuation – Reducing Antisocial Behaviour
Back: Can reduce antisocial behaviour influenced by individuation by making people feel like they are identifiable.
Flashcard 16
Front: Group Size
Back: Conformity increases as group size increases
Groups of 3 - 5 members have highest conformity, then there is little impact on conformity.
Flashcard 17
Front: Social Loafing
Back: The tendency for an individual to reduce their effort when working in a group.
Group increases (to about 8 members) → social loafing increases
Less likely to occur in collectivist cultures
Two types of social loafing: Sucker Effect and Freerider Effect
Flashcard 18
Front: Sucker Effect
Back: Individual reduces effort in a group when realizing other group members are not putting in effort.
To avoid being the “sucker” and doing all the work of the group.
Individual conforms to group mentality of not putting in effort.
Flashcard 19
Front: Freerider Effect
Back: Individual reduced effort in a group because they realise other group members can successfully complete task without them.
Reduce this effect by forcing individual to conform to group by:
Ensuring group is made of friends
Ensure task has high level of importance
Measure effort and output
Make group members identifiable
E.g. a teacher makes a group project that:
Is worth 20% of grade
Groups formed by teacher who knows who work together well
Project made on Google Docs which tracks changes of each student email
Students submit confidential survey rating group members on their effort
Flashcard 20
Front: Line Judgement Task (Asch, 1951) – Aim
Back: To explore the conditions that would cause an individual to either resist or succumb to group pressures.
Participants: 87 male college students
Flashcard 21
Front: Asch (1951) – Sampling Methods
Back:
Recruitment Technique | Description | Sampling Method?
Advertisements | Placed ads in local newspapers and bulletin boards at universities.
Word of Mouth | Students who already participated in the experiment would inform friends or classmates.
Flashcard 22
Front: Asch (1951) – Materials and Variables
Back:
Materials: Series of cards showing a standard line and three comparison lines, and a number of confederates.
Independent Variable: Group pressure to unanimity
Dependent Variable: Level of conformity, measured by number of errors made by participant
Research Design: ?
Flashcard 23
Front: Asch (1951) – Research Design
Back:
Research Design: Experimental
Control Group: Participants wrote their responses (no confederates)
Experimental Group: Participants spoke their answer (amongst confederates)
Flashcard 24
Front: Asch (1951) – Procedure
Back:
Allocation to experimental or control group.
Participant sat with 7 other confederates.
Seated in 6th position.
Told the aim was a visual discrimination study.
Experimenter shows everyone a series of cards.
Each person announces correct answer down the line.
First six trials, confederates answered correctly.
Flashcard 25
Front: Asch (1951) – Critical Trials and Debrief
Back:
Last twelve trials (critical trials) confederates purposely gave obviously incorrect answers
Participants interviewed
Debriefed so participants were told true aim and role of confederates
Flashcard 26
Front: Asch (1951) – Results
Back:
In experimental group:
74% participants conformed at least once
1/3 of the participants conformed the majority of trials
In control group:
95% of participants performed perfectly in all critical trials
This validates that the correct answer was obvious, ensuring the experiment was measuring was it is was designed to measure (conformity!)
Flashcard 27
Front: Asch (1951) – Reasons for Conforming
Back:
Cognitive Dissonance (?) | Normative Influence | Informative Influence
A small group of participants did not believe they conformed. Either experienced a distortion in perception or wanted to look better to researchers.
Participants were sure the group was incorrect but did not want to stand out.
Participants believed that the group was correct, and perhaps their own perception was faulty.
Flashcard 28
Front: Asch (1951) – Data and Evaluation
Back:
Most people recognized they conformed because they didn’t wanted to respond differently to the group.
Describe what type of data was collected.
Describe each of their benefits and limitations.
Flashcard 29
Front: Asch (1951) – Contributions
Back:
Contributions: Provided significant insight into the conditions under which people conform, particularly highlighting the power of normative social influence and the impact of a unanimous majority on individual judgment.
Demonstrated experimentally that individuals often conform to group pressure, even when the group's judgment is clearly incorrect, to avoid social disapproval or to fit in
Front: What are limitations for Asch
Back:
Limitations: Asch's study has been criticized for lacking ecological validity, as the artificiality of the experimental setting may not accurately reflect real-world scenarios. Additionally, the findings may not be generalizable across different cultures, as conformity behavior can vary significantly based on cultural norms and values.
Absolutely, Nas! Here's your complete, word-for-word flashcard set for Social Influences – Obedience, based on the Year 11 ATAR Psychology syllabus. Every detail is preserved and clearly structured so you can revise with confidence.
🧠 Flashcards: Social Influences – Obedience (Yr 11 ATAR Psychology)
Flashcard 1
Front: Obedience – Definition
Back: Changing behaviour in response to direct order by an authority figure.
Occurs within a hierarchy with authority figures higher up than those following their commands
Obedience occurs because individual:
wants to avoid punishment
has a strong belief in the authority figure
Flashcard 2
Front: Obedience – Syllabus Focus
Back:
Social response to authority
Study: Behavioural study of obedience (Milgram, 1963)
Flashcard 3
Front: Milgram (1963) – Background
Back: Social psychologist, Stanley Milgram, was influenced by the events of the Holocaust and came up with the behavioural study to investigate the effects of obedience.
Flashcard 4
Front: Milgram (1963) – Aim
Back: To investigate the lengths that people will go to obey direct commands from an authority figure.
Flashcard 5
Front: Milgram (1963) – Participants
Back: 40 male participants between 20 to 50 years of age (various occupations) that responded to a newspaper advertisement
What type of sampling is this?
Benefits?
Limitations?
Flashcard 6
Front: Milgram (1963) – Materials
Back: Researcher in lab coat and a confederate
Simulated shock generator, list of word pairs
Flashcard 7
Front: Milgram (1963) – Public Announcement
Back:
WE WILL PAY YOU $4.00 FOR ONE HOUR OF YOUR TIME
Persons Needed for a Study of Memory
"We will pay five hundred New Haven men to help us complete a scientific study of memory and learning. The study is being done at Yale University. Each person who participates will be paid $4.00 (plus 50c carfare) for approximately 1 hour's time. We need you for only one hour: there are no further obligations. You may choose the time you would like to come (evenings, weekdays, or weekends).
*No special training, education, or experience is needed. We want:
Factory workers Businessmen Construction workers
City employees Clerks Salespeople
Professional people White-collar workers
Telephone workers Others
Laborers Barbers
All persons must be between the ages of 20 and 50. High school and college students cannot be used.
*If you meet these qualifications, fill out the coupon below and mail it now to Professor Stanley Milgram, Department of Psychology. Yale University. New Haven. You will be notified later of the specific time and place of the study. We reserve the right to decline any application.
*You will be paid $4.00 (plus 50c carfare) as soon as you arrive at the laboratory.
Flashcard 8
Front: Milgram (1963) – Variables and Design
Back:
Independent Variable: None, all conditions were the same for each participant
Dependent Variable: Voltage administered (which measures the extent at which participants obeyed)
Research Design: Non-experimental, Observational
Why?
Flashcard 9
Front: Milgram (1963) – Procedure (Part 1)
Back:
Recruitment of participants for a “study on memory and learning”. $4.50 reward if they showed.
Participant arrives and greeted by researcher in a lab coat.
Told aim of the study is to “to look into the effect of punishment on learning”
Both given a sample shock of 45 V to show shock generator was “authentic”.
Fake random assignment ensured participant is always the “Teacher”, and confederate is the “Learner”.
Teacher would read the Learner a series of word-pairs, then test Learner’s recall.
Note the proximity of researcher to the participant.
Participant cannot see learner, who is in a separate room.
Flashcard 10
Front: Milgram (1963) – Procedure (Part 2)
Back:
Researcher instructed Teacher to administer a shock to Learner with every incorrect answer.
Researcher instructed Teacher to increase the voltage of shock with each subsequent incorrect answer.
No signs of distress from Learner until 315 V.
Learner would show signs of distress after (e.g. pound on wall, yelp, or stop responding)
If Teacher hesitated to continue, Researcher would give a series of standardised “prods”.
Flashcard 11
Front: Milgram (1963) – Prods
Back:
Prod 1 Please continue.
Prod 2 The experiment requires you to continue.
Prod 3 It is absolutely essential that you continue.
Prod 4 You have no other choice but to continue.
Prods were used in order and started from the top with each new attempt of defiance by the Teacher/participant.
Flashcard 12
Front: Milgram (1963) – Conclusion of Experiment
Back:
Experiment ended when Teacher refused after all prompts were given, or after giving max 450 V.
Participant were then debriefed, introduced to confederate Learner.
Flashcard 13
Front: Milgram (1963) – Findings
Back:
All participants administered a minimum of 300 V
65% of all participants obeyed orders all the way through to maximum voltage.
Many participants experienced sweating, stuttering, anxiety and nervous laughing fits.
14 participants refused to obey and stopped administering shocks.
These participants were angry, highly agitated, some stood up and said they wanted to leave.
Conclusion: The majority of ordinary people are likely to follow orders from an authority figure.
Flashcard 14
Front: Milgram (1963) – Contributions
Back:
One of the first studies to observe obedience. Inspired future obedience studies.
Standardised procedure allowed experiment to be repeated. Data was replicated, showing high reliability.
Flashcard 15
Front: Milgram (1963) – Limitations
Back:
Lack of informed consent due to deception (debriefing did occur).
Participants lead to believe they have caused serious harm to Learner and have the capacity to harm others.
Significant psychological trauma on participants.
Lower generalisability due to sample being all literate males.
Flashcard 16
Front: Factors Affecting Obedience – Categories
Back:
Situational
Presence of allies
Proximity of victim and authority
Location
Social
Agency
Legitimacy of Authority
Dispositional
Authoritarian Personality
Flashcard 17
Front: Situational Factors – Milgram
Back:
Presence of Allies: Participant was less likely to obey if two others refused first.
Proximity of victim and authority: Proximity to victim decreases obedience, especially if they can directly see the victim. Proximity to authority increases obedience.
Location: More “legitimate” experimental settings increases obedience. More “run-down” experimental settings decreases beliefs of legitimacy, thus decreasing obedience.
Flashcard 18
Front: Social Factors – Milgram
Back:
Agency is which person take’s responsibility for for the actions.
When participant is given agency, obedience decreases.
When Researcher claims agency, obedience increases.
If a person is being asked to do something by someone of a higher authority, they may not feel personal responsibility for their actions – that they are an ‘agent’ for someone else.
Legitimate looking authority (Researcher) increases obedience.
Authority that does not look legitimate decreases obedience.
Flashcard 19
Front: Dispositional Factors – Milgram
Back:
Authoritarian Personality
Defined by the willingness to submit to authority and respect authority figures.
An authoritarian personality trait will increase obedience.
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