Conformity

• Define social influence


  The process by which an individuals attitudes, beliefs or behaviours are modified by the actions of others.
• Define Social Norms


  Rules of behaviours that dictates what is acceptable in a given situation.
• Define Conformity


  The process of yielding to majority influence - as a result of others.
• What are the three types of conformity?

  Compliance, Identification and Internationalism
• What is compliance?


  Publicly conforming to the behaviour or views of others in a group but privately maintaining ones views - Pretending.
• What is identification?


  Temporarily adopting the views or behaviour of a group both publicly and privately, because you value membership of the group.
• What is internalisation?


  A true, lasting change to match those of the group. The new attitudes are not dependant on the presence of the group.
• Why do people conform?

  Normative social influence and informational social influence.
• What is normative social influence?


  It is based on the desire to be liked. It is a type of compliance.
• What is Informational social influence


  It is based of desire to be correct. We look to others whom believe to be correct. It is a type of internalisation.
• Research support for Informational social influence


  Lucas (2006) gave students maths problems that ranged from easy to difficult. He found that conformity increased as difficulty decreased. It shows that people conform when they are unsure/insecure.
• Individual differences for normative social influence


  Research shows people differ vastly on how desperate they are to be liked. Psychologists use the term 'naffiliators' to describe people who need affiliation (to be liked). These people are more likely to conform.
• Is Normative social influence more powerful than informational social influence?


  Schultz (2008) conducted research on the use of hotel towels. He found that guests were less likely to use more towels if there signs saying other guests used less towels for enviromental benifits. However sighs not mentioning guests didn't have the same effects. Showing NSI is more powerful than ISI.