Social Influence P1 Psychology

• Informational Social Influence

  1. The desire to be right

  2. Results in internalisation and a permanent change in behavior
• Minority Influence

  • The role of consistency, commitment, and flexibility
• Asch’s study supports the existence of normative social influence
• Research in this area has useful applications, such as in jury decision-making, showing the benefits of psychological research in society
• Types of Conformity

  • Internalisation
  • Identification
  • Compliance
• Normative Social Influence

  1. The desire to be liked

  2. Results in compliance and a short-term change in behavior
• Processes in Social Change

  • The snowball effect and social cryptoamnesia
• Conformity to Social Roles

  • Zimbardo’s research
• Conformity refers to how an individual or small group change their behaviour and/or attitudes as a result of the influence of a larger group, where there is no direct request for them to do so
• Types of Conformity according to Kelman (1958)


  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalisation
• Sherif’s study using the autokinetic effect supports the existence of informational social influence
• Research into types of conformity has practical applications in behavior change
• Elman (1958) suggested three different types of conformity: Compliance, Identification, Internalisation
• Internalisation

  Deepest level of conformity where an individual accepts the influence of the group because the ideas and actions are rewarding and consistent with their own value system
• Sherif (1935) study procedure

  1. Carried out a laboratory experiment using a repeated measures design

  2. Used the autokinetic effect to demonstrate conformity

  3. Participants judged how far a light appeared to move individually and then in groups of three
• Internalisation usually results from informational social influence
• Identification


  Deeper level of conformity where an individual adapts behavior/opinions because they value membership of a particular group
• Identification was demonstrated in Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment
• Sherif’s study of conformity using the autokinetic effect supports the existence of internalisation
• Compliance


  The most superficial type of conformity where an individual wants to achieve a favourable reaction from the group members
• Compliance usually results from normative social influence
• Asch’s study of conformity supports the existence of compliance
• Sherif (1935) conducted a study using the autokinetic effect to demonstrate conformity
• Sherif's study shows that participants changed their thoughts and actions due to uncertainty in an ambiguous situation
• Experiment procedure

  1. Participants judged individually how far the light appeared to move (condition 1)

  2. Participants estimated the distance in groups of three, then individually again (conditions 2 and 3)
• Participants faced with an ambiguous situation

  Looked to others for help and guidance, demonstrating informational social influence
• If a firm increases advertising, the demand curve shifts right, increasing the equilibrium price and quantity
• Participants continued to use the group estimate when away from the group

  Demonstrates internalisation of the estimate of the distance
• Illusion experienced in a completely dark room


  Person perceives a stationary light to be moving
• Many participants did not internalize the answer, indicating compliance
• 32% was the basic conformity rate (total number of trials)
• Participants in the experimental condition (n=50, male college students) were tested in groups of 7, 8, or 9. All the other members of the group were confederates of the experimenter
• The confederates gave the same wrong answer on 12 of the 18 trials, referred to as ‘critical trials’
• In a control study of 36 participants taking part in 20 trials each, only three mistakes were made over a total of 720 trials
• The naïve participant was always the last or second to last to answer
• 74% of participants conformed at least once
• Some wanted to please the experimenter, some genuinely doubted their own eyesight, others did not want to appear different or be made to look a fool
• Asch’s results may not generalize to non-western cultures or collectivist sub-cultures within western society
• Research like Asch’s can also be used in a less positive way, such as by advertisers to manipulate the general public for financial gain
• Knowledge from this research can be used by courts to make jurors aware of the importance of casting their vote privately