Social influence - explanations for conformity

• Conformity


  A change in a person's behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
• Types of conformity (Kelman, 1958)

  • Internalisation - deep, permanent change as public and private beliefs are the same
  • Identification - moderate, act the same as group but don't necessarily agree with everything
  • Compliance - superficial, temporary change in behaviour to fit in publicly even if don't agree privately
• Normative social influence (NSI)


  An emotional process where we conform and agree with the opinion of the group as we want to gain social approval or avoid social rejection
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  A cognitive process where we conform to gain knowledge or because we believe the majority opinion is correct
• NSI


  Usually associated with compliance as we change our behaviour publicly to keep to the norms of the group
• ISI


  Usually associated with internalisation as we internalise the information from the group
• Evidence supports NSI as an explanation of conformity, e.g. Asch 1951 study showed participants conformed to avoid disapproval from the group
• When public pressure to conform was removed in Asch's study, conformity rates fell to 12.5%, providing further evidence for NSI
• NSI does not predict conformity in every case, as some people (nAffiliators) have a strong need to relate to others and are more likely to conform
• Research evidence supports ISI from the Jenness (1932) study, where participants' private estimates moved closer to the group estimate, especially for females
• The Jenness study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity as the task was mundane with no social consequences, so it's unclear if ISI would occur in real-world situations with more significant consequences
• Conformity


  A change in a person's behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
• Types of conformity (Kelman, 1958)

  • Internalisation - deep, permanent change as public and private beliefs are the same
  • Identification - moderate, act the same as group but don't necessarily agree with everything
  • Compliance - superficial, temporary change in behaviour to fit in publicly even if don't agree privately
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  An emotional process where we conform and agree with the opinion of the group as we want to gain social approval or avoid social rejection
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  A cognitive process where we conform to gain knowledge or because we believe the majority opinion is correct
• NSI


  Usually associated with compliance as we change our behaviour publicly to keep to the norms of the group
• ISI


  Usually associated with internalisation as we internalise the information from the group
• Evidence supports NSI as an explanation of conformity, e.g. Asch 1951 study showed participants conformed to avoid disapproval from the group
• Conformity rates fell when public pressure was removed in Asch's study, providing further evidence for NSI
• NSI does not predict conformity in every case, as some people (nAffiliators) have a strong need to relate to others and are more likely to conform
• Evidence supports ISI from Jenness (1932) study, where participants' private estimates moved closer to the group estimate, especially for females
• Jenness (1932) study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity as the task was mundane with no social consequences