Social influence EQ

• Define conformity

  • the process whereby a person changes their behaviours, attitudes and beliefs in order to fir in with others around them as a result of real or perceived pressure
• Internalisation

  • conforming to a group because you accept their norms
  • you agree privately as well as publicly
  • permanent change
• identification

  • a person is prepared to change their views to be accepted
• Compliance

  • going along with a group publically but holding a different view privately
• Identify two reasons why people have criticised Zimbardo's prison study

  • participants became distress - whether or not this distress should have been anticipated
  • Zimbardo took part himself - his own behaviour affected the events which questions validity
• Identify three variables affecting conformity in Asch's experiment

  • group size - he varied the number of confederates
  • unanimity - he sometimes arranged for confederates to give a different answer to the majority
  • task difficulty - he made the right answer less obvious by having lines of similar lengths
• explain ways in which psychologists might address ethical issues in research

  • participants should be given the right to withdraw at the start; throughout the study; withdraw data at the end
  • participants should not be put in uncomfortable/embarrassing situations
  • participants should be fully debriefed at the earliest opportunity
• Outline what is meant by legitimacy of authority

  • situational explanation for obedience
  • a person recognises their own position and other's position in society
  • legitimacy is increased by visible symbols of authority
  • we learn these behaviours through socialisation and accept that authority has the power to punish us
• Outline what is meant by the agentic state

  • a person acts on behalf of an authority figure
  • they feel no personal responsibility or guilt for their actions
  • this is the opposite of the autonomous state where people act accordingly to their own principles
  • People usually experience an agentic shift in the presence of authority
• Outline what is meant by authoritarian personality

  • dispositional explanation for obedience
  • people who are submissive of those perceived to be an authority figure and dismissive of those perceived of being below them in the social hierarchy
  • this is often a result of their upbringing
• What causes the authoritarian personality

  • harsh upbringing
  • parents may offer conditional love and be cold or strict
  • they have respect for their parents and do not share their discontent with them
  • this causes them to displace feelings of low self esteem onto another target
• What does an authoritarian personality look like?

  • hold rigid stereotypes
  • submissive to those above them
  • may scape goat and are inflexible