social influence

• What are the three types of conformity?

  Compliance, identification, and internalisation
• What is compliance in terms of conformity?

  Compliance is changing public behavior without changing private beliefs
• How does identification differ from compliance?

  Identification involves changing both public behavior and private beliefs in the presence of a group
• What is internalisation in the context of conformity?

  Internalisation is changing both public behavior and private beliefs on a long-term basis
• What is normative social influence (NSI)?

  NSI is conforming to be accepted and to avoid social rejection
• What is informational social influence (ISI)?

  ISI is conforming to gain knowledge or because one believes others are right
• How does Asch's (1951) study support normative social influence?

  Participants conformed to avoid disapproval from the group
• What happened to conformity rates when participants wrote down their answers in Asch's later variation?

  Conformity rates fell to 12.5%
• What was the aim of Jenness's (1932) study?

  To examine if individuals change their opinion in an ambiguous situation
• What method did Jenness use in his study?

  Participants estimated the number of beans in a glass bottle
• How many students participated in Jenness's study?

  26 students
• What was the average estimate of beans for males before group discussion in Jenness's study?

  790 beans
• What was the average estimate of beans for females after group discussion in Jenness's study?

  878 beans
• What does the decrease in the range of estimates in Jenness's study indicate?

  It demonstrates the converging opinions of the group
• What individual differences did Perrin and Spencer (1980) find in their study on conformity?

  Engineering students showed less conformity due to confidence in their abilities
• What real-world application did Schultz et al. (2008) demonstrate regarding normative social influence?

  Guests reused towels more when informed about others' behaviors
• What are the key distinctions between the types of conformity and the explanations for conformity?

  • Types of conformity:
  • Compliance: Public behavior change, private beliefs unchanged, short-term
  • Identification: Public and private beliefs change in the presence of a group, short-term
  • Internalisation: Public and private beliefs change, long-term

  
  

  • Explanations for conformity:
  • Normative social influence: Conform to fit in, often leads to compliance or identification
  • Informational social influence: Conform to gain knowledge, often leads to internalisation
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Asch's study on conformity?

  Strengths:

  • Provides empirical support for normative social influence
  • Demonstrates the impact of group pressure on individual behavior

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Lacks ecological validity due to artificial setting
  • Results may not generalize to real-world situations
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Jenness's study on conformity?

  Strengths:

  • Uses an ambiguous situation to study conformity
  • Provides evidence for internalisation in group settings

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Sample size is small and may not be representative
  • Results may be influenced by demand characteristics
• What are the implications of individual differences in conformity research?

  • Individual differences can affect conformity levels
  • Confidence and experience may reduce susceptibility to group pressure
  • Historical context may influence conformity rates over time
• How many white beans were in the glass bottle used in the study?

  811
• How many students participated in the bean estimation study?

  26
• What was the purpose of dividing participants into groups of three?

  To provide a group estimate through discussion
• What was measured after the group discussion in the bean estimation study?

  Whether participants changed their original estimate
• What were the average estimates before and after the discussion for males and females?

  • Males:
  • Before: 790
  • After: 695
  • Females:
  • Before: 925
  • After: 878
• What was the average change in estimates for males and females?

  • Males: 256
  • Females: 382
• What did Jenness find regarding participants' estimates after discussion?

  Nearly all participants changed their original answer
• What was the range of estimates before and after the discussion?

  It decreased from 1,875 to 474
• What does the decrease in range after discussion indicate?

  It demonstrates the converging opinions of participants
• What type of social influence did the results suggest was at play?

  Informational social influence
• What was the aim of Asch's 1951 study?

  To examine the extent of social pressure to conform
• What was the sample size of Asch's study?

  123 male undergraduate students
• What task did Asch use in his experiment?

  A line judgement task
• How many confederates were present in Asch's study?

  Six to eight confederates
• What was the role of the naïve participant in Asch's study?

  To provide their answer after the confederates
• What percentage of the time did participants conform to the incorrect answers in Asch's critical trials?

  32%
• What percentage of participants never conformed in Asch's study?

  26%
• What did Asch find in the control group of his study?

  Less than 1% gave an incorrect answer
• Why did participants conform according to Asch's interviews?

  To fit in or avoid ridicule
• What are the three types of conformity?

  Compliance, identification, and internalisation