Social influence

• Conformity


  Compliant or shallow identification (temporary change in behaviour), Internalization (permanent change in personal opinions)
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  Individuals look to the majority for guidance on how to behave correctly, results in internalization
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  Individuals want to appear normal and be approved by the majority, results in compliance
• Asch 1951 study showed 32% conformity when participants gave the incorrect response to match the majority
• Jenness 1932 study showed individuals' second private guesses moved closer to the group's guess, providing evidence for ISI
• Variables affecting conformity


  • Group size (more Confederates = more conformity), Presence of a dissenting voice (reduces conformity), Task difficulty (more conformity for ambiguous tasks)
• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment showed how situational factors can cause people to conform to social roles
• Agentic state


  The individual believes they don't have responsibility for their behaviour as they are just following orders from an authority figure
• Legitimacy of authority


  Individuals accept that those higher in the social hierarchy should be obeyed, learned through socialization
• Milgram's obedience study showed 65% of participants were willing to deliver the maximum 450V shock when instructed by an authority figure
• Factors affecting obedience


  • Proximity to victim, Location, Uniform of authority figure
• Adorno argued that those with high levels of authoritarianism were more likely to obey in Milgram's study
• Locus of control


  The extent to which individuals believe they can control events in their lives, internal vs external
• Minority influence requires consistency, flexibility, and commitment from the minority group to change majority opinion
• Social change often occurs through a 'snowball effect' as the minority view gains more acceptability and converts more of the majority
• Group membership affects how open we are to influence, we are more likely to be influenced by in-group members
• Governments can drive social change quickly by changing and enforcing laws due to their legitimacy of authority
• Milgram first suggested a study to test exactly this scenario but most of the psychologists at the time argued only a few percent of likely psychotic people would actually obey
• Milgram found that 65% of participants were willing to give a potentially deadly electric shock to what they thought was another participant all on the orders of a scientist
• Obedience to Authority


  The study of why people follow orders from authority figures, even if the orders are unethical or harmful
• Milgram designed an experiment to test the limits of obedience, placing an advertisement in the newspaper looking for participants for a study on memory
• Milgram's Experiment


  • Participant assigned role of 'teacher'
  • Confederates assigned role of 'learner'
  • Participant asked to deliver electric shocks to learner for wrong answers
  • Learner cries out in pain but participant is told to continue
• 65% of participants continued to the maximum 450 volt shock, even when the learner stopped responding
• Agentic State


  People carry out orders of an authority figure without feeling guilt, personal responsibility, or thinking about consequences
• Autonomous State


  Feeling responsible for one's own actions and acting according to one's own moral rules
• Legitimacy of Authority


  Recognition that an authority figure has the right to give orders, based on socialization and learning the social hierarchy
• Factors affecting obedience


  • Proximity (distance from authority figure)
  • Location (high vs low status setting)
  • Uniform (visible symbol of authority)
• Obedience dropped from 65% to 21% when the authority figure gave instructions over the phone rather than in person</b>
• Obedience dropped to 47.5% when the study was moved from Yale University to a rundown office block
• Obedience dropped to 20% when the authority figure was not wearing a lab coat uniform
• Adorno's counter-dispositional explanation suggests people with an authoritarian personality are more capable of extreme obedience
• Adorno suggests not all people are capable of going through an extreme obedience shift in the presence of a legitimate authority figure
• Authoritarian personality


  People with this personality are capable of extreme obedience
• Milgram's experiments had a high level of control and clear instructions, allowing for replication and reliable results
• Milgram's experiments were heavily criticized for being unethical, causing emotional distress to participants, and deceiving them about the nature of the study
• Milgram's decisions


  Were necessary to conduct the research, and the harm to participants was worth the impact of the studies
• Huffling's study found 21 out of 22 real nurses complied with an obviously dangerous order from an unfamiliar voice claiming to be a doctor, suggesting obedience to legitimate authority
• Bickman's study found people were significantly more likely to obey an experimenter when they were dressed in a guard uniform compared to a milkman's uniform or no uniform
• Sheridan and King's study found 100% of female participants delivered the maximum level of shocks to a puppy, compared to 54% of male participants
• Authoritarian personality


  Formed early in life due to harsh upbringing, with excessive respect for authority figures and hostility towards those seen as lower in social status