Social influenece

• compliance


  individual accepts influence in order to gain their approval and avoid disapproval.

  Changes behaviours and beliefs expressed publicly but not privately
• Internalisation


  Individual go along with the group because of an acceptance of their views after examining their own beliefs to see if the others are correct. This leads to acceptance both publicly and privately
• Identification


  An individual accepts influence and adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular group or individual.

  The individual accepts the attitudes as correct but the purpose is to be accepted
• normative social influence


  behaviour that is motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance and approval as humans have a desire for companionship and avoid rejection. Often when the individual feels they are under surveillance by the group
• informational social influence


  behaviour that is motivated by the desire to be right. Humans have a desire to be correct in their perceptions and beliefs. More likely when the answer to a situation is ambiguous or where others are experts.
• variables affecting conformity

  Group size, unanimity of the majority, task difficulty
• KEY STUDY: Asch


  Procedure: 123 US males asked to say which of three lines matches a 'standard line'. confederates gave the same wrong answer

  Findings: 33% conformity
• KEY STUDY: Stanford prison experiment (Haney et al / Zimbardo)


  Procedure: 24 stable males assigned guard or prisoner in mock prison

  Findings: participants quickly conformed to their roles and had to be stopped after 6 days due to abuse of participants
• BBC prison study (Reich and Haslam)


  Procedure: mimic SPE for 8 days but with more ethical considerations

  Findings: participants didn't automatically conform to roles and there was a shift in power with prisoners challenging guards
• Situational factors in obedience

  -proximity

  -location

  -uniform
• KEY STUDY: Milgram


  Procedure: 40 participants = teacher, confederates = learner. Told to give electric shock to learner when they got questions wrong.

  Findings: 65% continued to max shock level of 450 volts and all went to 300 volts
• legitimate authority


  A person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation
• Agentic state


  A mental state where a person sees themselves as an agent carrying out another person's wishes
• athoritarian personality


  a distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
• dispositional


  explanations of behaviour such as obedience emphasise them being caused by an individual's own personal characteristics rather than situational influences
• F Scale


  Developed in California in 1947 as a measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies
• Right-wing authoritarianism


  conventionalism, authority submission and authoritarian aggression that are associated with a right wing attitude
• Factors linking to resistance to social influence

  social support and locus of control
• KEY STUDY: Elms and Milgram


  Procedure: 20 obedient and 20 defiant participants from Milgram's previous study completed MMPI scale, California F scale and interviewed.

  Findings: increased authoritarianism in obedient group. Also reported being less close to fathers.
• Locus of control


  a person's tendency to perceive the control of outcomes based on their own actions or events outside of their control
• Externality


  Individuals who tend to believe that their behaviour and experience is caused by factors outside of their control
• Internality


  Individuals who tend to believe that they are responsible for their behaviour and experiences
• Factors effecting minority influence


  Consistency

  Commitment

  Flexibility
• KEY STUDY: Moscovici et al


  Procedure: 4 participants, 2 confederates in each group. Asked to judge colour of blue slides. Consistent condition = confederates repeatedly said green. Inconsistent= confederates said green on 2/3of trials.

  Findings: consistent = 8% influenced, inconsistent = no effect
• Stages of social change through minority influence

  1. Drawing attention to an issue

  2. Cognitive conflict

  3. Consistency of position

  4. The augmentation principle

  5. The snowball effect
• The augmentation principle


  if a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed to their cause so taken more seriously
• Social norms interventions


  attempts to correct misperceptions of the normative behaviour of peers in an attempt to change the risky behaviour of a target population