SOCIAL INFLUENCE

• The two types of social influence are normative social influence and informational social influence
• Normative social influence is when people conform to the expectations of others
• Social facilitation is where the presence of another person improves performance on simple tasks but impairs performance on complex tasks
• Informational social influence is when people conform because they believe that other people have more knowledge than them
• Social facilitation is where the presence of another person improves performance on simple tasks but impairs performance on complex tasks
• Normative social influence is when people conform to the expectations of others
• Compliance is changing our behaviour to meet someone else's request
• Conformity is changing your behaviour or opinion to match those around us
• Deindividuation occurs when individuals lose their sense of self-identity, which can lead to increased aggression
• Conformity is changing your beliefs or actions to match those around you
• Zajonc (1965) found that participants who performed a task alone had an average score of 70% whereas those with another person present scored 84%. This shows that the presence of someone else improved their performance.
• Milgram (1963) found that 65% of participants would continue giving electric shocks despite hearing screams from the victim. However, this figure dropped to 47% if there was no authority figure present.
• The Milgram experiment showed that 65% of participants were willing to give electric shocks up to 450 volts even though they heard screams from the victim.
• Asch (1952) asked participants to judge the length of lines on cards. The participant was placed in a room with confederates who gave incorrect answers. Asch found that 33% conformed at least once but only 1% conformed all the time.
• Asch found that participants conformed with the majority 36% of the time (when there were three confederates) and 75% of the time (when there were eight confederates)
• Participants in the Asch experiment had to say what line matched up with the standard line
• Asch used confederates (actors) to make sure his results were reliable
• The Milgram obedience experiment was conducted by Stanley Milgram who wanted to investigate how far ordinary people would go when obeying orders given by an authority figure.
• The Asch Conformity Experiment was conducted by Solomon Asch who found that participants conformed with the majority group even if it meant giving an obviously wrong answer.
• Asch (1952) found that 76% of participants conformed at least once during the experiment.
• Asch's conformity experiments involved asking participants to identify lines as either line A or B. The majority of participants conformed at least once but only 25% conformed on all trials.
• Moscovici et al.'s conformity study involved showing participants pictures of objects and then asking them to guess what they were called. They found that participants conformed more when they thought the majority opinion was correct than when they didn't think so.
• Social norms are shared beliefs about appropriate behaviour within a particular culture or sub-group
• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment investigated whether people are inherently good or evil by dividing students into guards and prisoners. It was stopped early because it caused psychological harm to some participants
• The three types of conformity in order of strength are compliance, identification, and internalisation
• Asch investigated a few variables which affected conformity

  • Group size unanimity and task difficulty
• Conformity is influenced by group size - larger groups have greater influence over individuals
• Task difficulty affects conformity - easier tasks lead to lower levels of conformity
• Unanimity has an effect on conformity - if everyone else agrees with one answer, there will be higher levels of conformity
• Milgram did a study on variables affecting obedience. The variables were split into situational and dispositional
• Situational variables were agentic state, proximity, location

  and perceived legitimacy of authority (such as if someone wore a uniform)
• Dispositional variables include locus of control and authoritarian personality
• An internal LOC means you believe you are in control- less likely to obey
• An external LOC means you believe you are not in control- more likely to obey
• Agentic state is where you believe you are not responsible for your own actions because you are completing orders from an authority figure
• People with authoritarian personality are more likely to conform because they believe those below them should obey and those above them should be obeyed
• Having social support makes you more likely to resist social influence
• Minority Influence


  A small group of people or even an individual changes the attitudes, behaviours and beliefs of the majority
• Conformity


  An individual being influenced by the majority
• Internalisation


  Both public and private behaviour and beliefs align