Social influence

• What are the three types of conformity?

  Compliance, Identification, and Internalisation
• What is compliance in the context of conformity?

  • Public change of behavior to fit in
  • Temporary change
  • No private change of behavior
  • Example: Smoking with friends despite knowing it's bad
• What is identification in the context of conformity?

  • Public change of behavior with private acceptance
  • Temporary change lasting only while with the group
  • Example: Dressing in bright colors and drinking at 9 am at a festival
• What is internalisation in the context of conformity?

  • Public change of behavior and private acceptance
  • Permanent change
  • Thoughts/actions taken on as one's own
  • Example: Changing your math answer to someone else's
• Outline two explanations for conformity

  • Normative social influence: Looking to the group for emotional reasons. We have a desire to be liked and want to fit in with the group. We look to the group because we are afraid of rejection. Usually leads to compliance 
  • Informational social influence: Looking to the group for cognitive reasons. We have a desire to be right and if we are unsure then we assume the group knows more and perceive them to be experts. Usually leads to internalisation. 
• Evaluate ISI

  A strength of informational social influence is that it is backed up by research evidence by Jeness who found that individuals change their answers in an ambiguous task to one closer to the ‘group norm’. This means that when participants were uncertain about the correct answer they looked to the group to provide information  that they were missing. This is important because as they were gave their second estimates privately, this is strong evidence that informational social influence leads to a genuine change in belief.
• Evaluate Normative social influence

  A strength of Normative social influence is that it is backed up by research evidence from Asch’s line perception task. Asch found that 75% of participants would give a deliberately wrong answer on an unambiguous task. This important because as the answer was unambiguous, participants knew they were giving the wrong answer so were just going along with the group to fit in. This means that normative social influence applies in situations where we know the answer but want to fit in with a group so change out behaviour even if we dont agree with it
• Evaluate both ISI and NSI

  A weakness of both Informational and normative social influence is that they were both supported by evidence from controlled lab experiments. This means that the tasks such as judging the length of lines and estimating the number of beans in a jar, are artificial tasks and dont reflect activities that individuals take part in, in the real world. This means that the evidence lacks ecological validity. Therefore both informational and normative social influence may explain why we conform in experimental conditions but not in the real world such as taking drugs etc.
• What is a weakness of Asch’s line perception task?

  It is a highly controlled laboratory experiment.
• Why is the line perception task considered artificial?


  Because judging the length of lines does not reflect activities individuals engage in in the real world.
• What does the lack of ecological validity imply about the line perception task?


  It suggests that findings may not apply to real-world situations.
• How might normative social influence explain conformity in experimental conditions?


  It may explain why people conform in controlled settings but not in real-life situations.
• What does the lack of temporal validity mean for the findings of the line perception task?


  It means the findings may not be relevant today.
• How do conformity studies from the 1980s support the criticism of earlier studies?

  They found much lower levels of conformity than earlier studies.
• What are the weaknesses of the line perception task?

  • Highly controlled laboratory experiment
  • Artificial task not reflecting real-world activities
  • Lack of ecological validity
  • Research conducted a long time ago
  • Lack of temporal validity
  • Supported by later studies showing lower conformity
• What is one variable that affects conformity according to the study material?


  Task difficulty
• How does task difficulty influence conformity?


  Conformity increases when the task is ambiguous.
• What happens when individuals are unsure of the right answer in a group setting?

  They look to the group for information, demonstrating both informational and normative social influence.
• What conclusion did Asch draw about confidence and conformity?


  Conformity increases when we lack confidence in our judgment.
• What effect did adding a dissenter have on conformity in Asch's study?


  Conformity dropped from 36% to 5%.
• What is the significance of unanimity in conformity?


  Unanimity of the group increases conformity, while a dissenter decreases it.
• How did Asch vary the number of confederates in his study?


  He varied the number from 1 to 13 confederates.
• What were the conformity rates observed by Asch with different numbers of confederates?


  At 1 confederate, conformity was 3%; at 3 confederates, it was 32%; and it remained stable at 4 and 5 confederates.
• What did Asch conclude about group pressure and its influence on conformity?

  Group pressure is most influential between 3 and 5 people.
• What does conformity refer to in the context of social roles?


  Behaving in certain ways when taking on different social roles
• What type of change occurs when conforming to the norms of a social role?


  Both public and private change
• How long does the change last when conforming to a social role?

  Only temporary for the duration of 'playing' that role
• What is conforming to social roles an example of?

  Identification
• What did Zimbardo theorize about good people and social roles?


  Good people may be capable of evil things when conforming to certain roles
• What are the key aspects of conforming to social roles according to Zimbardo?


  • Involves behaving according to expectations
  • Public and private changes occur
  • Temporary changes during role-playing
  • Example of identification
  • Good people can commit evil acts in certain roles
• How many American psychology students participated in the SPE experiment?

  24 students
• What criteria were used to select participants for the SPE experiment?

  Participants had no history of aggression, mental illness, drug use, or criminality
• Where was the mock prison located for the SPE experiment?


  Underneath Stanford University
• What identification was given to the prisoners in the SPE experiment?

  They were assigned a number and uniform
• What equipment were the guards provided with in the SPE experiment?

  Batons, uniforms, and sunglasses
• Who was the prison superintendent during the SPE experiment?


  Philip Zimbardo
• What were the main findings of the SPE experiment?

  • Guards harassed prisoners constantly
  • 3 prisoners were sent home early due to mental distress
  • 1/3 of the guards exhibited genuine sadistic tendencies
  • The experiment was stopped after 6 days instead of the planned 2 weeks
• What is a strength of the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)?

  Zimbardo used psychologically stable individuals with no history of aggression.
• Why is it important that the participants in the SPE were psychologically stable?


  It ensures that the behaviors shown were out of character and likely due to social roles.
• How many applicants were interviewed for the SPE?

  75 applicants were interviewed.