Social Influence

• Define Social Influence.

  The process by which induviduals and groups change eachother's attitudes and behaviours.
• Define legitimacy of authority as an explanation of obedience

  It suggests we are more likely to obey people we perceive to have authority over us due to the position of power they hold.
• Identify three features of an authoritarian personality!

  Submissive to superiors, dismissive of inferiors and highly prejudiced.
• Explain how an authoritarian personality develops, and how they handle their feelings.

  Harsh parenting style from childhood -> strict discipline, criticism of failings and impossibly high standards. As child cant express their feelings, theyre displace these to others they deem weaker (scapegoating)
• Which scale measures the authoritarian personality?

  The F-scale.
• Name some limitations of the F-scale

  Has acquiescence bias - all questions are worded in the same direction (kinda leading), is politically based.
• How is the F-scale politically biased?

  It's very right wing - doesn't account for left wing authoritarianism!
• What does Milgram's original study tell us about obidience?


  People obey to those they consider to be authority figures, suggesting that obeying authority is normal behaviour.
• According to Milgram, why is obeying authority normalised, and what this may result in?

  As we are in a hierarchically organised society, which may result in situations where we will obey orders that may distress us and even go against our moral code.
• Outline 2 situational variables

  Proximity and Uniform
• Define Proximity as a situational variable

  Proximity describes the physical closeness between the person giving the order and the person recieving it.
• Outline the impact of Proximity on obedience through Milgram's variations study

  Proximity decreases obedience rates -> when the learner and the teacher were in the same room, the % of ppts that administered the full 450 volts  decreased to 40% from 65% in the original study, where they were in different rooms.
• Define Uniformity as a situational variable

  Uniformity describes the outfit the person giving the order is wearing.
• Outline the impact of Uniformity on obedience through Milgram's variations study

  'smarter clothes' increases obedience rates -> In his original study, the experimenter wore a lab coat (dressed smart), but in the variation study was dressed in casual clothes -> obedience levels dropped from 60% to 20%!
• Why did obedience drop from 60% to 20% (from milgram's original study to his variations study)

  As the experiementer wore casual clothes instead of a lab coat in the variations study.
• Define the agentic state

  Induviduals obey an order even if they're aware is wrong, as they feel they're acting for an authority figure so feel no responsibility for their actions.
• What factors keep an induvidual in the agentic state, and what does it allow a person to do?

  Blinding factors -> allows a person to minimise the damaging aspects of their action, reducing any moral strain.
• List some blinding factors

  Guilt or anxiety about the thought of leaving, not wanting to seem rude, shifting responsibility to vicitm, denying impact of their actions.
• Name two explanations why people are able to resist social influence

  Social support & Locus of control
• Define Locus of control

  It describes a person's perception of their control over behaviours, successes, failures and events.
• If a person has a high locus of control, what does this indicate they believe?

  That they feel they are responsible for their lives so are more likely to resist social influence.
• Define Social support

  The presence of people helps others resist the pressure of conforming or obeying.
• What's the difference between internals and externals?

  Internals believe they're responsible for what happens to them and that they direct their own lives, whereas externals believe outside forces direct their lives so they don't have control over it.
• What are the 2 theories that Deutsch & Gerard proposed to explain conformity?

  Normative social influence & Informative social influence.
• How is normative social influence different from informative social influence?

  NSI -> when you conform to fit in and be liked

  ISI -> when you conform to be right/correct
• Define Internalisation

  You go along with others because you have accepted their POV and identify with them.
• Give a limit of Asch's (1951) conformity study

  Not replicable (inconsistent over time) -> 1950s was a conformist time in America so could be the reason for the results, as Perrin & Spencer found only one conformiy response out of 396 trials in a replica of Asch's study.
• Describe the difference between compliance and internalisation

  Compliance is a temporary type of conformity where someone goes along w/ the majority in public, but disagrees in private whereas internalisation is permanent -> person accepts maority view in public and private. (a deeper form of conformity than compliance)
• Lst the stages of minority influence

  1. Draw attention to their beliefs
  2. Consistency, commitment and flexibility shown
  3. deeper processing of the issue in majority group
  4. augmentation principle
  5. Snowball effect
  6. social cryptomnesia
• List 3 characteristics of minorities which make them influential!

  • Consistency
  • Commitment
  • Flexibility
• Define social cryptomnesia


  Describes how people have a memory that social change has occured but don't remember how it happened.
• Define Compliance

  A superficial change in an induvidual's behaviour to comply with a group, which only exists in the presence of the group (induviduals internal beliefs remain unchanged).
• Define capacity

  A measure of the amount of informaion that can be stored in memory.
• Define coding

  How information is modified so it can be stored in memory.
• What code forms can information be stored in?

  visual, acousticor or semantic codes
• Define duration

  How long a memory can be stored before it's no longer avaliable.
• What did Peterson do his study on?

  STM duration
• What is conformity defined as?

  Yielding to group pressures.
• What happens to a persons behaviour or opinion when they conform?

  It changes as the person wants approval from the group, due to an imagined or real pressure from a person or group.
• Who proposed the 3 types of conformity?

  Kelman