explanations of conformity

• Normative social influence - driven by the desire to be liked. An individual will 'go along with' a group's behaviour in order to avoid ridicule and gain acceptance from them to fit in. This is an emotional process. This leads to compliance.
• Informational social influence - driven by the desire to be right. When an individual is unsure (lacks knowledge) about how to behave, they conform by seeking information from the group about how and assume that it is right. This is a cognitive process. This leads to internalisation.
• AO3

  • RTS ISI conducted by Jenness, jelly beans experiment, as task was ambiguous and ppts were unsure of answer
  • However, lacks ecological validity, took place in artificial environment(lab), difficult to generalise findings to real life examples of ISI
• AO3

  • RTS NSI by Asch, length of stimulus line 'x' experiment, confederate gave wrong answer first, ppt gave same wrong answer 37% of time. As task was unambiguous and conformed to avoid ridicule
  • However, gender bias, only male ppts. Difficult to generalise findings to females as suggested that females conform more as they are more concerned with being liked by peers. Weakens external validity