Social Influence

• Conformity

  Occurs when an individual changes their behaviours/beliefs in order to fit in with the majority
• Compliance

  Occurs when an individual publicly, but not privately, goes along with the behaviours/beliefs of the majority in order to gain approval from them
• Identification

  Occurs when an individual publicly and privately accepts the behaviours/beliefs of the majority
• Internalisation

  Occurs when an individual publicly and privately accepts the behaviours/beliefs of the majority
• Compliance

  • A weak and temporary form of conformity, as it is only shown in the presence of the majority
• Identification

  • The change in behaviour/belief is temporary and not maintained when the individual leaves the group
• Internalisation

  • A strong and permanent form of conformity, as it persists even when the majority is no longer present
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  Based upon the desire to be right, occurs when an individual looks to the majority to give them information about the right way to behave or think
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  Based upon the desire to be liked, occurs when an individual changes their behaviours and/or beliefs in order to be liked and accepted by the majority
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  Likely to result in internalisation
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  Likely to result in compliance
• Sherif demonstrated that people conform in ambiguous situations due to ISI using the autokinetic effect
• Asch (1956) demonstrated that people conform in unambiguous situations due to NSI
• Perrin & Spencer (1980) found very little evidence of conformity in science and engineering students, suggesting individual differences in ISI
• McGhee & Teevan (1967) found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform than students who were not nAffiliators, suggesting individual differences in NSI
• Asch (1956) study


  Aimed to see if participants would conform to the majority and give incorrect answers in a situation where the correct answer was obvious
• Participants conformed to the unanimous incorrect answer on 37% of the critical trials
• 74% of the participants conformed at least once
• Only 26% of the participants never conformed in Asch's study
• Participants who conformed reported that they had continued to privately trust their own perceptions and judgments, but changed their public behaviour to avoid disapproval from the group
• Asch found that conformity rate increased with group size up to a point, and decreased when there was a lone dissenter or the task was more difficult
• Perrin & Spencer (1980) found low conformity in 1970s England, suggesting Asch's findings may lack temporal validity
• Smith & Bond (1998) found higher conformity in collectivistic cultures compared to individualistic cultures, suggesting cultural differences
• Asch's research has been criticised for ethical issues and lack of ecological validity
• Social roles

  Roles within society that have expectations about appropriate behaviours
• Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

  Zimbardo's study investigating conformity to social roles of prison guards and prisoners
• Procedure of SPE

  1. Set up mock prison

  2. Randomly assigned participants to guard or prisoner roles

  3. Prisoners unexpectedly arrested and processed

  4. Guards given uniforms and rules to maintain order
• On the second day, the prisoners staged a rebellion against the guards
• Prisoner uniform

  • A smock worn with no underclothes
  • A heavy chain bolted to the right ankle
  • A stocking cap to cover hair
• Prisoner ID

  Prisoners were given an ID number and referred to only by these numbers
• Guard uniform

  • A khaki shirt and trousers
  • A whistle
  • A club
  • Reflective sunglasses
• Prisoner rights

  • Three meals a day
  • Three supervised toilet trips a day
• Guards were not allowed to use physical violence
• Guards were free to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order within the prison
• Zimbardo took on the role of Prison Superintendent
• Zimbardos study was planned to last for 2 weeks
• Events on the second day

  1. Prisoners removed stocking caps, ripped off ID numbers, barricaded themselves in cells

  2. Guards retaliated by spraying prisoners with fire extinguisher

  3. Guards stripped prisoners naked, removed beds, put ringleaders in solitary confinement
• Ongoing guard behaviour

  1. Frequent head counts, sometimes in middle of night

  2. Forced prisoners to carry out degrading activities like cleaning toilets with bare hands, doing push-ups and jumping jacks
• Guards became so enthusiastic in their roles that they volunteered to do extra hours without pay
• Participants appeared to forget this was only a study, and they were merely acting