Social Influence

• Conformity


  A change in a person’s behaviour/response due to real or imagined pressure by a majority/group
• Normative Social Influence (NSI)

  The desire to be liked, conforming to fit in with the group to avoid being left out
• Informational Social Influence (ISI)


  The desire to be right, conforming because unsure of the situation and looking to others for information to alter beliefs
• Study: Nolan et al (2008)


  Measured reduction in energy consumption using signs to show energy usage, found decrease in energy consumption where NSI was used
• Study: Lucas et al (2006)


  Measured frequency in conformity with maths questions, found more conformity with harder questions, example of ISI
• Strength: McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students in need of high affiliation (nAffiliators) were more likely to conform, supporting NSI
• Strength: Supporting evidence from post-experiment interviews for ISI and NSI in Asch’s study
• Limitation: Conformity may not occur at all times, individual differences may affect opinion changes
• Limitation: Perrin and Spencer (1980) found low levels of conformity, showing it occurs only at times of low confidence levels
• Limitation: Deutsch and Gerard proposed conformity is due to ISI or NSI, but sometimes both processes are involved, challenging the view of them as independent processes
• Kelman (1958) proposed types of conformity


  Compliance, Identification, Internalisation
• Asch (1951) study of conformity


  Investigated social pressure from a majority group affecting a person to conform, used line judgment task among confederates
• Asch (1951) study results: On average 37% conformed to incorrect answer, 75% conformed to at least one trial
• Asch (1951) study IV


  Group pressure
• Asch (1951) study DV


  37%
• Evaluation of Asch studies (AO3): Low ecological validity due to task not reflecting real-life tasks, groups not realistic
• Evaluation of Asch studies (AO3): Cannot be applied to other populations, sample limitations
• Evaluation of Asch studies (AO3): Main threats to internal validity are demand characteristics and extraneous variables
• Females are more interpersonally connected
• Cannot apply to Non-American or old populations
• The finding can't be generalised beyond the original sample
• Main threats to the internal validity of the study are demand characteristics and extraneous variables
• It is possible the participants guessed the true aim of the study
• Participants may have shown demand characteristics of 'please-u' due to intimidation by payment
• As there were no real-life consequences, the experiment may have measured apathy
• The presence of extraneous variables would reduce the internal validity of the study
• Smith and Bond (1993) carried out a meta-analysis using Asch's method in different cultures e.g. Fiji 58% and Belgium 18%
• In individualistic countries, there is 25.3% conformity, while in collectivist countries there is 37.1% conformity
• Asch's study may only apply to the USA and he didn't take into account different cultures and the country's approaches
• Asch's study was accused of being unethical
• Deception: Asch told the participants that the task was meant to be a visually perceptive task and not an experiment for conformity
• Informed consent was not obtained as the true aim of the research was not revealed
• There was no right to withdraw for the participants
• Many participants would have experienced feelings of stress and embarrassment when it comes to disagreeing with the other participants
• A debrief was offered to the participants
• The participants were told their behavior was normal
• Counselling and therapy were offered to the participants
• The studies could be 'era dependent' which might affect the results
• During the 1950s, there was strong pressure to fit in due to the Mccarthyite witch hunt
• Deferential culture may have influenced the results