Social Influence

• What is conformity?

  • changing behaviour to fit in with the majority
• How did Asch investigate conformity?

  • Had 8 participants - one was real the others were dissenters
  • Gave them a line task
  • Original conformity rate = 36.5%
• What situational variables affect conformity?

  1. Group size
  2. Unanimity - how much agreement there is within the group
  3. Task difficulty
• What did Asch's additional experiment find?

  1. Group size - as the group increased with more dissenters, participants conformity rate was 31.8%. But only conformed up until a certain point (2 pps)
  2. Unanimity - asch added in more dissenters who gave the RIGHT answers. Conformity decreased.
  3. Task difficulty - asch made the lines harder to see and conformity increased. Could be due to informational social influence
• Strength of Asch's research -

  • One strength is that there is research support for the task difficulty. Lucas et al did a study with hard and easy maths questions. Dissenters gave the wrong answers to the participants and they mostly conformed.
• Limitations of Asch's research -

  • One limitation is that the task is artificial. This meant that the task could not be used in everyday life so there is a lack of ecological validity. Participants could have figured out the aim of the study.
  • Another limitation is that the sample used by Asch cannot be generalised. Asch used white, american men - gender and culture bias. Women are arguably more submissive
• What are the types of conformity?

  1. Compliance
  2. Identification
  3. Internalisation
• What is compliance?

  • changing behaviour PUBLICLY not PRIVATELY. True behaviour shown in private settings
  • Normally to fit in with the group
• What is identification?

  • changing behaviour in a group because you identify with something about the group. Behaviour COULD have a permanent change.
• What is internalisation?

  • When a person accepts the groups' norms and changes their behaviour PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY. Internalised groups' beliefs
• What are the explanations for conformity?

  1 - Informational social influence

  2 - Normative social influence
• What is Normative social influence?

  • changing behaviour because you want to fit in with the group.
• What is Informational social influence?

  • changing behaviour because you are unsure of what the right/wrong thing is to do
• Research support for NSI -

  • Asch's line study is research support for this. Participants conformed with the wrong answers because they did not want to be rejected by the group
  • When participants wrote their answers down conformity dropped to 12.5%
• Research support for ISI -

  • Lucas' study - participants changed their maths answers because they were unsure of the answer in the first place.
• Limitations of ISI and NSI -

  • Ignores free will and individual differences. Some may resist conforming
• Who developed research into conformity to social roles?

  • Zimbardo
• What was the STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT?

  • 21 male pps who volunteered were taken to the basement of Stanford Uni. The basement was turned into a mock prison.
  • They were emotionally stable people
  • PPs were randomly assigned the role of the guard or prisoner.
  • Prisoners were mock arrested, assigned numbers instead of names.
  • Guards were given uniforms, handcuffs, bats to give them power
• Findings of Stanford Prison Experiment-

  • Guards were brutal to prisoners and stripped them, dehumanised them and seperated them.
  • They were punished and enforced rules
• Strength of SPE -

  • One strength is that Zimbardo and his colleagues had control over variables. The prisoners were 'emotionally stable' meaning the conclusions had good internal validity.
• Limitations of SPE -

  • Lack of realism - some say that the prison was an artificial environment and not like a real prison. Prisoners and guards also acted on the STEREOTYPES they learnt from real life.
  • Ethical issues - PPS were harmed, deceived and not given a right to withdraw. COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
  • Exaggerates the power roles - only 1/3 of the guards treated prisoners harshly
• What is obedience?

  • Following the orders of someone we perceive as having more authority over us
• What was Milgram's experiment?

  • 40 american men who volunteered
  • Taken to Yale University and assigned the role of Teacher or Learner
  • PPs were always the teachers and the leaners were actors. If the learner got an answer wrong, PPs had to give them an electric shock
• Findings of Milgram's experiment -

  • All PPS gave 300 VOLTS
  • 65% continued to the highest level of 450 VOLTS
  • MIlgram also collected qualitative data including observations of the PPS (sweating, shaking, stuttering, trembling)
• Strength of Milgram -

  • research has been replicated in a French reality show. PPS were paid by the presenter to give fake electric shocks infront of the audience. 80% gave up to 600 VOLTS.
  • research support - pps gave real shocks to a puppy in response to an experimenter. 54% of men and 100% of women gave these shocks
• Limitations of Milgram -

  • Low internal validity - some psychologists argue that the experiment did not measure obedience. This is because some PPS may not have believed the shocks/screams were real, so respond to demand characteristics by fulfilling the aim of the study.
  • Ethical Issues - PPS were deceived as the shocks were fake, this caused psychological harm. PPS did not get a right to withdraw either because of the prods of the researcher
• What were the prods in Milgram's experiment?

  1 - Please continue

  2 - The experiment requires you to continue

  3 - It is absolutely essential you continue

  4 - You have no other choice but to continue
• What are the situational variables affecting obedience?

  1 - Proximity of authority figure

  2 - Proximity of victim

  3 - Location

  4 - Uniform
• What were Milgrams' new findings (SITUATIONAL VARIABLES)

  1 - Proximity of victim - 65% to 40%

  2 - Proximity of authority figure - 20% - Researcher not present

  3 - Location - run down office - 47.5%

  4 - Uniform - 'civillian' - 20%
• Strength of Milgrams' additional -

  • research support - Bickman did a study on the effect of uniform. PPS more likely to conform in guard outfit then milkman or civillian outfit
• Limitations of Milgrams' additional -

  • low internal validity - PPS may have known the true nature of study (demand characteristics)
• What are the situational explanations of obedience?

  • Agentic state
  • Legitimacy of authority
• What is the agentic state?

  • Autonomous state - you feel you have responsibility over your actions.
  • Agentic shift - an authority figure tells us they have responsibility over our actions
  • Agentic state - we feel we do not have responsibility over our actions
• What is legitimacy of authority?

  • an explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey those who we perceive as authority figures
• Strength of agentic state -

  • One strength is that there is research support from Milgram - PPS obeyed the researcher when he said he would take responsibility for the harm
• Limitation of agentic state -

  • a study conducted by psychologists about nurses. Nurses were all in autonomous states when given a lethal injection to patients so does not explain disobedience
• Strength of legitimacy of authority -

  • Research support from Milgram. Obedience dropped to 20% when researcher was not in uniform
• Limitation of legitimacy of authority -

  • ignores individual differences. May be differentiation in the way some perceive authority figures
• What is the dispositional explanation of obedience?

  • The Authoritarian Personality
• What is the authoritarian personality?

  • see the world in black and white
  • submissive to those in power
  • oppress those who are weaker
  • enforce traditional values