Social Influence

• Define conformity

  Yielding to group pressure (Crutchfield 1955)
• What's informational social influence?

  Idea of conforming to be right, is a permanent change, more likely to occur in an ambiguous situation, feel others are more knowledgeable and reduces uncertainty
• What's normative social influence?

  Conforming to be liked, is a temporary change, more likely to happen in an unambiguous situation and want to gain acceptance from the group not rejected
• Who created the dual process model (ISI + NSI)?

  Deutsch and Gerald (1955)
• What is compliance?

  Individuals go along with the group to gain approval but doesn't result in an underlying attitude change in general just in public
• What is identification?

  Elements of compliance and internalisation as individuals accept attitudes as true but the purpose is to just gain approval
• What's internalisation?

  Individuals go along with the group because of an acceptance of views and accept point of view publicly and privately (True conformity)
• Who discovered the types of conformity?

  Kelman (1958)
• Strengths of conformity

  • Nomothetic concept so it's a general law that applies to everyone
  • Research that supports NSI shows people shape their behavior out of desire to fit in (pps felt more comfortable writing answers on paper as there was no group pressure)
  • Research that supports ISI shows people's beliefs and opinions shape aspects of social behavior (pps conformed when questions got harder)
• Limitations of conformity

  • Difficult to distinguish between compliance and internalisation as it's difficult to know when each are taking place
  • NSI and ISI can operate together
  • NSI may not be detected easily
  • Subjective and doesn't account for individual differences
• What did Asch (1951) research aim to do?

  Aimed to explore whether people conform to a group even if they kniw they're wrong
• Difference between neutral and critical trials

  In a neutral, confederates answered correctly (trial one) and in a critical, confederates answered wrong (trial two).
• What was the task in Asch's study?

  Estimating which of the three comparison lines were the same length as a target line
• Explain the findings in Asch's study

  • 33% conformity rate
  • 1/4 of pps didn't conform in any of the trials
  • 1/2 of pps conformed in 6 or more trials
• Evaluate Asch's study

  • Lacks ecological validity as done in a lab
  • Demand characteristics
  • Gender and culture bias as he only used American men
  • Ethical issues (pps believed other pps were real not confederates)
• How does task difficulty affect conformity?

  As the task becomes more difficult, conformity increases as there is a shift from NSI to ISI
• How does group size affect conformity?

  As the group get larger, conformity increase however when it reaches 4-5 people, it usually plateaus
• How does unanimity affect conformity?

  If a confederate gave the correct answer in a critical trial it breaks the power of the group therefore decreasing conformity
• What was the aim to Zimbardo's prison study?

  How well people conform to social roles of guard or prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life
• Explain the procedure for Zimbardo's prison study

  • Prisoners were arrested at their home and taken to the uni by the police
  • Guards wore uniforms and sunglasses to hide their eyes
  • Guards told to give and keep order but not given any specific rules other then no physical violence allowed
• Explain the results from Zimbardo's prison study

  • Guards began harassing prisoners and behaving in brutal and sadistic manners
  • Prisoners began responding to the guards behaviors in passive ways and turning against each other
  • Some prisoners left early due as some began experiencing uncontrollable behavior and showing early signs of emotional disorders
  • Study lasted 6 days instead of 2 weeks
• How were the roles in Zimbardo's study decided?

  Random allocation
• Evaluate Zimbardo's prison study

  • Random selection was random increasing reliability
  • Lacks realism as pps were play - acting instead of conforming to a role
  • Demand characteristics
  • Role of the personality was overlooked
  • Low population validity as the sample were all male uni students
  • Not ethical as lacks protection from harm and informed consent
• What was the aim of Milgram's study?

  To investigate obedience to authority and the willingness of participants to administer electric shocks to others.
• Explain how the roles were allocated in Milgram's study

  Drew roles from a hat however the pps always got teacher so the confederate got the learner each time
• Explain the procedure of Milgram's obedience study

  • Pps and confederate found out their roles and were told the study was about punishment and learning
  • Pps received a real shock before the study started to convince them it's real
  • Learner had to remember three words and if they got it wrong they received a shock
  • Volts of the shock increased each time and went up to 450v
• What prompts did the experimenter use on the pps in Milgram's study?

  'Please go on', 'the experiment requires you to continue', 'it's essential you continue', ' you have no choice you must go on'.
• Explain the findings in Milgram's study

  • All the pps went to 300v
  • 12.5% of pps stopped at 300v after the confederate stopped responding
  • 65% of pps went all the way to 450v
  • Qualitative data was also recorded such as nervous laughing, sweating, lip biting and stuttering
• Evaluate Milgram's study of obedience

  • Pps were given a full debrief at the end explaining the deception
  • Low internal validity as pps were only play acting so weren't actually obeying
  • Lack of consent and protection of harm
• Explain another study that supports Milgram's study

  Hofling et al (1966) study obedience among nurse in taking an order from a doctor

  He rung up a hospital as a doctors telling nurses to give a drug to a patient even though hospital rules states you should never take orders from over the phone

  21 out of the 22 nurses obeyed
• How did proximity affect obedience?

  Obedience dropped by 40% as the learner was put in the same room as the pps
• How did uniform affect obedience?

  Obedience dropped by 20% as the experimenter wore everyday/casual clothes instead of a white lab coat
• How did location affect obedience?

  Obedience dropped by 47.5% as the study moved from the uni to a rundown office block in the city
• Why does proximity affect obedience?

  Pps have to witness the consequence of their actions therefore may be less likely to obey
• Why does location affect obedience?

  The uni gave the study legitimacy and authority as it was a prestigious environment where obedience was expected however the office block was the opposite
• Why does uniform affect obedience?

  We associate a uniform with a high level of authority and this is recognised among society therefore high levels of obedience occurred when the lab coat was worn
• Evaluate situational variables affecting obedience

  • Lacks ecological validity and the tasks has questionable mundane realism
  • Orne + Holland (1968) believed it had low internal validity and demand characteristics
  • Ethical issues such as lacks protection from harm and informed consent
• Explain another study that supports situational variables

  Bickman (1974) - 3 confederates dressed as a milkman, in a suit and as a security guard and they asked members of the public to pick up litter. People were twice as likely to obey the security guard
• What is legitimacy of authority?

  Most societies have a hierarchical structure meaning certain people hold more authority then others and only seen as legitimate if agreed by society
• What's destructive authority?

  Powerful leaders can make legitimate authority destructive and use it to make destructive actions