Social influence

Created by

Sydnie

Cards (48)

What are the three types of conformity?
compliance, internalisation and identification
what are the two explanations of conformity?
informational social influence and normative social influence
what is compliance? 
shallow
agree with the group externally but keep their personal opinions
temporary change in behaviour
what is identification? 
Intermediate
behaviour and private values change only when with group as membership is valued
what is internalisation? 
deep
personal opinions genuinely change to match group
permanent change
what is ISI? 
if correct behaviour is uncertain, we look to majority for guidance on how to behave because we want to be correct
desire to be right
results in internalisation; permanent change
what is NSI? 
when individual wants to be normal and appear as one of the majority so they are accepted and approved and therefore not rejected by the group
results in compliance; temporary
evidence for NSI? 
Asch line test
ppts given an unambiguous line length test
confeds chose incorrect line and found ppts gave incorrect line on 37% of trials
when interviewed after, ppts suggested they conformed to avoid rejection from the group which is therefore evidence for NSI
limitations of explanations of conformity?
overlaps between NSI and ISI in real life
evidence of resistance to conform; locus of control
variables affecting conformity? 
group size
task difficulty
unanimity
how does group size affect conformity according to asch?
as group size majority increases so does conformity up to 3 as majority at which group size has no more effect on conformity
asch found
only 3% conformity with one confederate
13% with 2 confederates
33 with 3 confederates
how does unanimity affect conformity?
if one confederate gives correct response (disagrees with majority) then conformity drops to 5.5% due to social support
how does task difficulty affect conformity ? 
when difference between line length is small, conformity increases due to isi
outline aschs study and findings?
ppts took part in visual perception task, using 9 confeds
on card one there was the standard line and on card two there were three comparison lines; one of them being the standard
there were 18 trials and the group was asked what line was the same as the standard
on 12 of 18 trials confeds gave wrong answers
found conformity = 32%
75% conformed at least once and 5% all 12 times
what is zimbardos prison study an example of?
conformity to social roles
outline zimbardos Stanford prison experiment?
fake prison set up in basement of Stanford uni
21 male student volunteers who were tested and emotionally and mentally stable
randomly allocated 10 guards and 11 prisoners
explain how prisoners in zimbardos study were treated?
arrested in real life
strict rules
stripped and fingerprinted like real prisoners
given prison uniform and numbers to dehumanise them
how were the guards treated in the Stanford prison experiment? 
given complete control
given guards uniform
sunglasses to avoid eye contact
clubs as weapons
outline zimbardos findings? 
both prisoners and guards conformed to their social roles quickly
guards were violent and prisoners became submissive
prisoners rioted on day two due to poor treatment
after 6th day experiment was cancelled due to concerns about prisoners welfare; was meant to go on for 9 days
what are two explanations for obedience?
agentic state
legitimacy of authority
what is the agentic state?
individual believes that they don’t have responsibility for their behaviour as they are an agent of an authority figure
allows individuals to commit acts that they personally morally oppose as they have no responsibility for their actions
discomfort as a result of actions but unable to resist the demands of a person in authority
opposite to autonomous state where individuals are free from control
what is legitimacy of authority?
individuals accept that other individuals who are higher up the social hierarchy should be obeyed
feel a sense of duty to them; these people have the right to harm or punish others eg police force and justice system
learnt in childhood through socialisation processes
accepted by most that this is need for society to function properly
what is a limitation of the agentic state? 
has been used to justify war crimes
like the my lai massacre
what are the situational variables affecting obedience?
proximity
location
uniform
outline milgrams study? 
study to test obedience in response to holocaust
40 male, 20-50 year old volunteers in a newspaper advert about memory
ppts= teacher and confeds = student
professor in lab coat
learner strapped to chair in another room with electrodes attached
ppts told to deliver electric shock from 15v to 450v when learner answered something incorrectly
300v= learner made noise and after 315v learner made no noice indication unconsciousness or death
if ppts resist end then professor encouraged them to continue and there were prods
what did milgram find?
ppts were distressed but still obeyed
100% went to 300v
12.5% stopped at 300v
65% went to full 450V
how does proximity affect obedience?
learner in same room = obedience dropped to 40%
holding hand to shock place = 30% obedience
how does location affect obedience?
office in run down area saw a drop in obedience to 47.6% due to lack of legitimacy of authority
how does uniform affect obedience? 
professor replaced lab coat with normal clothes and obedience dropped to 20% due to lack of authority
Outline one dispositional explanation to obedience?
authoritarian personality
outline 2 explanations of resistance to social influence?
locus of control and social support
what is social support?
seeing others resist social influence reduces pressure to obey or conform which increases an individuals confidence
providing a disobedient role model or creating a small alternate group to belong to breaks the unanimity of groups and challenges the legitimate authority of an authority figure
what is locus of control?
ROTTER
suggested that a factor of personality is a sense of what controls someones life
measured on a scale ranging from high internal or high external locus of control
what does is mean if a person has a high internal locus of control ? 
person believes own actions control their life, they have responsibility for their own actions and are less concerned with social approval
what does it mean if someone has a high external locus of control? 
belief that their lives are controlled by external factors like fate or the government
what are three types of minority influence ?
flexibility, commitment and consistency
what is minority influence?
starts as a slow process but as more of the majority convert the the minority view then the process speeds up due to the snowball effect
minority view improves its acceptability
what is commitment in terms of minority influence?
if minority are willing to suffer for their views it is likely to cause majority to take them seriously due to the augmentation principle
what is consistency in terms of minority influence? 
minority needs to demonstrate confidence in its view; repeat same message over a prolonged period of time which makes the argument more powerful
what is flexibility in terms of minority influence? 
the ability to appear to consider any valid counter arguments and slightly compromise