7.10 Empowering individuals on decision making when in groups (VCE Psychology Unit 1 AOS 1)

• Anti conformity → deliberate refusal to comply with accepted standards in a society.

• Independence → is evident when we experience freedom from the influence/control of other individuals.

Factors affecting non-conformity

• Minority vs majority

  • When one individual deviates from the majority, they receive more attention and are often met with exclusion.

  • When 2 or more individuals deviate, they form a minority and while they may receive more attention from the majority, they are often viewed as a separate group with a valid opinion and may be able to influence the majority.

• Task ambiguity

  • When solutions to problems are ambiguous, everyone becomes an expert, leading to greater independence in decision making.

• Personality factors

  • IQ

  • Emotions

  • Self-concept

  • Interpersonal relations

  • Attitudes/values

• Explanations for non-conformity

  • Psychological reactance theory

    • A motivational stage characterised by distress, anxiety, resistance to restore freedom in response to a perceived threat to their independence.

    • When people feel that they are forced to agree/do something, they will react against the force, thinking that they may think, feel or behave opposite to what is desired.

  • Need for uniqueness

    • A psychological state in which individuals feel indistinguishable from others, which then motivates compensatory acts to restore a sense of uniqueness.

  • Social impact theory

    • The degree of influence that a person experiences in group settings (depending on three factors).

      • Group’s strengths

      • Group’s immediacy

      • Group’s number of people in the group who are exerting social influence.