conformity

• 3 types of conformity suggested by kelman


  compliance-going along with others in public but in private behaviours and opinions do not change

  identification-when we conform to behaviours and opinions of a group and want to be apart of it.It’s often temporary and depends on staying connected to that person or group.

  internalisation- when a person genuinely accepts the groups norms and values, this is usually permanent as the views becoming internalised and the change persists in the absence of pressure
• types of conformity characteristics

  compliance- no change in private beliefs/ short term

  identification-change in private beliefs/short term whilst in presence of groups

  internalistaion-change in private beliefs/long term change continues without the presence of group
• conformity


  a change in a persons behaviour or opinion as a result of a real or an imagined pressure from a person or a group of people
• what is NSI why does it happen and when does it happen

  what-normative social influence. Explanation of conformity that says we agree and go along with others to gain social approval. emotional process and leads to temporary change -compliance

  why-people do not want to be the odd one out or rejected

  when-situations with strangers , stressful situations
• evaluate ISI


  P-ISI can explain why people conform

  E-lucas et al 2006 tested how people conform when unsure of the right answer. Students put incorrect answers on maths activity as they followed what others said

  C- valid , generalisable to real world settings
• evaluate NSI


  P- NSI can explain why people conform

  E-schultz et al 2008 the hotel message that 75% of guests re used there towel each day instead of requiring a fresh one reduced towel use by 25%

  C- valid , generalisable to real world setting
• what did Asche do for his research

  investigate effects of conformity in ambiguos situations

  participiants where shown lines of various lengths and thought it was just a visually perception test and confederates where instructed to give incorrect answers

  36.8% conformed and 25% never conformed
• how did group size affect how people conformed (Asche)

  small group was enough to pressure people but making the group bigger didnt increase conformity much

  Asche found a curvelinnear relationship between group size and conformity
• how does task difficulty affect conformity

  asche made the line lengths closer together making the task harder so conformity increased this was due to informational social influence
• weakness of asche


  p-lacks generalisability

  E-125 male american college students

  c-not applicable to other cultures and genders norms of collecitivist cultures
• weakness of asche

  p-ethical concerns

  e-participants where deceived about about the true purpose of the

  study and believed that the confederates where genuine participants

  c-deception can cause distress
• strength of asche


  p-high control over variables

  e-experiment conducted in a lab ensuring control over factors like group size to identify how these factors impacted conformity

  c-increases internal validity as it reliably measures conformity without interference from extraneous variables
• evaluation of asche


  supporting research-Lucas et al saw how diffulculty of maths questions increased conformity

  however lucas making ppts doing maths questions in a lab means it lacks ecological validity

  women are more likely to conform but asche didnt have any women in his sample
• zimbardos research

  there was a lot of riots in american prisons

  zimbardo wanted to know why american guards behaved so brutally an wanted to know if conformity was due to

  dispositional explanation-was it because they where sadistic? or obedient?

  situational explanation-was it because of their social role as a guard/prisoner?
• aim of zimbardos research

  investegated the psychological effects of power and authority in individuals in a hierachal system
• findings of zimbardo


  (qualatative)

  prison guards took on roles with enthusiasm e.g. treating prisoners harshly asserted authority e.g."Mr Correctional officer"

  prisoners rebelled against the prison guards

  became depressed and anxious

  some displayed psychological distressed e.g. uncontrollable crying/rage

  some where submissive
• conclusion of zimbardo's study

  people conform to social roles because of the situation they are in not their disposition
• weakness of zimbardos research

  P-ethical issues

  E-psychological harm to particapants , no protection of harm.One particapant released after 36 hours due to emotional distress.Study does not meet modern ethical standards ,BPS

  D-he did debrief participants

  C-while research provided valuable insight to conformity ethical issues undermine its credibility
• weakness of zimbardos research

  P-unrepresentative

  E-white american male college students so sample lacked diversity e.g. gender and race

  C-limits generalisability as results may not apply to ethnic minorities and women
• strength of zimbardos research

  P-good control over variables so valid

  E-all ppts where pre screened for psychological health to see if they where emotionally stable to ensure differences in behaviour was due to the situation rather than individual personalities

  D-lacks temporal validity

  C-internal validity
• unamity asche

  when group was unanimous conformity was high

  introduced another confederate that disagreed with the other confederates

  participants conformed less

  presence of dissenter decreases conformity so conformity is likely to decrease when consensus is broken
• ISI

  we agree and go along with others because we believe they have the correct information. It is a cognitive process that leads to internalisation (a permanent change in beliefs and behaviour). People do this when they are unsure about what is right, especially in new or ambiguous situations.
• zimbardo a03

  P: Zimbardo’s study shows that situations can strongly influence behavior.

  E: The guards became aggressive, and the prisoners became passive, even though they were all normal people before the experiment. This shows that the roles they were given affected how they acted.D: But not all guards were cruel—some were fair or kind. This suggests that personality also plays a role, not just the situation.C: While the study shows that roles can change behavior, personal differences matter too.
• zimbardo a03

  Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) argued that participants were merely acting based on stereotypes of guards and prisoners, rather than genuinely conforming to roles, reducing the study’s internal validity.
• according to asch how many people conformed at least once


  75%