Social influence- conformity

• Compliance is the most superficial type of conformity where you change your behavior to be accepted by the group, publicly conforming while privately keeping your own views
• Identification is an intermediate level of conformity where you temporarily change beliefs to align with the group's norms because membership is desirable
• Identification involves both public and private adoption of the group's norms, but it is temporary and not maintained when individuals leave the group
• Internalisation is the deepest level of conformity resulting in a permanent change in belief, where the views of the group are internalised and adopted both publicly and privately
• Internalisation, also known as 'Conversion', leads to a true conversion that persists even when the person loses contact with the original group
• Variables affecting conformity according to Asch's research:

  • S.U.D. (Size of the majority)
  • Unanimity of the majority
  • Difficulty of the task
• Conformity rates in Asch's study:

  • 0% when there was only 1 person in the group
  • 14% with 2 others
  • 32% with 3 others
  • Conformity is more likely with 4/5 people in the group compared to 2/3
• Unanimity in a group is crucial for conformity; disagreement by even one member reduces the likelihood of conformity
• Conformity reduced significantly when one confederate gave a different answer to the rest of the group, even if the confederate's answer was wrong
• In Asch's study, making the stimulus line and comparison line more similar in length increased conformity due to the increased ambiguity of the situation
• Lucas et al (2006) found that self-efficacy moderated the effects of task difficulty in Asch-style tasks; those with high self-efficacy remained more independent in difficult tasks
• Strengths of research on conformity:

  • Normative social influence: Asch's study showed participants conformed to fit in and be liked
  • Informational social influence: Sherif's study demonstrated participants conformed to be right
• Weaknesses of research on conformity:

  • Social Identity Theory suggests in-group pressure may influence conformity, not just normative and informational social influence
• Sherif's Conformity Study:

  • Aim: to see if participants would conform to group norms on an ambiguous task
  • Method: used a lab experiment with a visual illusion called the autokinetic effect
  • Results: participants' estimates converged in a group setting, showing conformity to group norms
• Aim of Asch's Conformity Study (1951): To see if participants would conform to incorrect answers even when the correct answers were obvious
• Method of Asch's Study:

  • Participants: 123 male US undergraduate students
  • Task: Match a line (standard line) with another (comparison line)
  • Procedure: Participants had to call out, in turn, which of the three lines was the same length as the test line. All participants, except one, were accomplices. The real participant answered last
  • Confederates initially gave correct answers, then started giving deliberate wrong answers
• Results of Asch's Study:

  • 74% of participants conformed at least once, with 26% never conforming
  • Participants conformed to the unanimous incorrect answer 32% of the time
• Conclusion of Asch's Study: Even in unambiguous situations, there may be strong group pressure to conform, especially if the group is an unambiguous majority
• Deutsch & Gerard's Dual-Process Model explains conformity through normative and informational social influence, leading to compliance and internalization respectively
• Compliance, a type of conformity, is explained by normative social influence, where individuals conform to be liked and accepted by a group
• Internalization, another type of conformity, is explained by informational social influence, where individuals conform because they believe others have the correct information
• In normative social influence, behavior changes to conform to group norms for acceptance, while in informational social influence, beliefs change based on others' information for accuracy
• Participants in Asch's Study conformed to incorrect answers due to normative social influence, seeking acceptance from the group
• Participants in Asch's Study also demonstrated informational social influence, conforming to the majority to gain information from others
• Sherif's 1936 study used the autokinetic effect to show how participants conformed to a group norm even in ambiguous situations
• Sherif's study revealed that participants continued to conform to group norms even when alone, showing the influence of normative social conformity
• Sherif's study also highlighted the concept of compliance, where individuals publicly conform to a group but privately maintain their own views
• Sherif's study demonstrated normative social influence, where individuals conform to avoid ridicule and gain approval from the group
• Sherif's study also illustrated the concept of internalization, where individuals change their views permanently to align with the group's beliefs
• Sherif's study showed that group norms can exert significant pressure on individuals to conform, leading to compliance and internalization of group beliefs
• Sherif's study used the autokinetic effect to demonstrate how individuals conform to group norms even in ambiguous situations, showing the power of normative social influence
• Informational social influence occurs when people seek information from others about how they should behave in ambiguous situations.
• Normative social influence is the tendency to conform to what we believe others expect us to do or say, even if it goes against our own beliefs.
• Social norms are rules that govern social behavior.