explanations for conformity

• Normative social influence (NSI):

  • Usually occurs when the individual is uncertain about their beliefs and looks to the group, who may be better informed
  • occurs because the individual wants to fit in with the group and not be rejected by them
  •  individual accepts the group's behaviour or decision because they want to gain the social approval of the group
  • this type of conformity usually involves compliance
• Informational social influence (ISI):

  • occurs when the individual is unsure and lacks knowledge about a situation (which is usually new) and so looks to the group for guidance.
  • can also occur when there is a crisis situation, a decision needs to be made quickly and we assume the group is more likely to be correct
  •  Individual accepts the group's behaviour or decision because in the absence of their own knowledge, to act appropriately and to avoid standing out
  • This type of conformity usually involves internalisation
• One weakness is that individual differences could affect how someone experiences NSI. For example, McGhee and Teevan found that there are a group of people known as N-affiliators who have a high need for social approval, these people are more likely to engage in behaviours that will result in peer approval, these people are more likely to conform than others. This is a weakness because it suggests that there are other potential factors that influence an individual's likelihood to demonstrate compliance factors that NSI does not account for.
• A weakness is that ISI is a strong explanation for conformity as ISI doesn't affect everyone's behaviour in the same way. For example in Asch's found that students were less conformist (28%) than other ppts (37%).weakness because education affects conformity. Therefore, there are individual differences when people respond and so informational social influence does not apply to all people equally as some may not have the opportunity to be educated in public due to financial constraints. So it's not considered to be a valid explanation of conformity due to these differences between individuals.
• One strength of ISI is that it's supported by research evidence. E.g. Lucas et al asked students to give answers to maths problems that were easy and difficult. There was greater conformity to wrong answers when they were difficult rather than easier questions. This was found to be true for students who rated their mathematical ability as poor. This suggests that people conform in situations when they don't know the solution as predicted by ISI. We assume other people know better and so must be correct, so we conform, which since predicted by ISI shows it's a valid explanation of conformity.
• Another strength is that NSI is a good explanation of conformity. Asch found that many of his ppts went with the wrong answer, because of other people. When he asked them why they did this, some ppts said that they felt self-conscious providing the correct answer, because they were afraid of social disapproval. Asch then repeated the study, this time ppts wrote down their answers, conformity rates fell to 12.5%. This supports NSI being strong in situations with strangers, because they fear rejection and avoid social disapproval.