Social influence

• 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
• Internalisation


  A deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. It leads to a far-reaching and permanent change in behaviour, even when the group is absent
• Identification


  A moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be part of it. But we don't necessarily agree with everything the majority believes.
• Compliance


  A superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view, but privately disagree with it. The change in our behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us.
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well. This may lead to internalisation.
• Normative social influence


  An explanation of conformity that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked. This may lead to compliance.
• Group size


  Asch added more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. Conformity increased, but only up to a point, levelling off when the majority was greater than three.
• Unanimity


  The extent to which all the members of a group agree.
• Task difficulty


  Conformity increases during a more complex task because naive participants assume that the majority is more likely to be right.
• Weakness of Asch's research


  The participants knew they were in a research study and went along with the demands of the situation, and only men were used
• Zimbardo's Prison Experiment


  Investigation of conformity within social roles
• Evaluation of Zimbardo's prison experiment

  Participants were play acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role
• Obedience


  A form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority
• 65%


  The amount of participants that continued to the highest level of 450 volts in Milgram's obedience study
• Evaluation of Milgram's obedience study

  Unethical as participants were deliberately deceived
• Proximity


  The physical closeness of the authority figure to the person they are giving the order to
• Location


  Changing where the position where the order is given can affect whether it is obeyed
• Uniform


  Wearing official clothing can dictate whether an order is obeyed or not
• Agentic state


  We feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour as we are acting on behalf of an authority figure
• Autonomous state


  We feel personally responsible for our actions
• Legitimacy of authority


  We are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
• Authoritarian personality


  People are particularly susceptible to obeying people in authority, are submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors
• Authoritarian characteristics


  Extreme respect for authority, and have highly conventional attitudes towards sex, race, and gender
• F-scale


  A measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies.
• Parenting style that develops authoritarian personality

  Strict discipline, absolute loyalty, impossibly high standards, and severe criticism of failings
• Resistance to social influence

  The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
• Social support


  The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same.
• Locus of control


  Refers to the extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them
• Internal locus of control

  People believe they are responsible for what happens to them
• External locus of control

  People believe their lives are controlled by luck, fate or other people
• Link between locus of control and resistance to social influence

  People that have an internal locus of control are more likely to resist pressures to conform or obey
• Minority influence


  A form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours as a result of their exposure to a persuasive minority
• Consistency, Commitment, Flexibility


  The main processes in minority influence
• Consistency


  People's views must remain constant in order to develop minority influence
• Commitment


  People trying to develop minority influence must be loyal to the cause
• Flexibility


  Members of a minority sometimes have to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable counter-arguements
• Snowball effect


  Over time, increasing numbers switch from the majority position to the minority position.
• Social change


  Whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes or beliefs
• Social Cryptoamnesia


  People remember that change has happened but don't remember how
• Moscovici's Study of Minority Influence


  Participants were asked to state whether slides in a collect of 36 blue slides were blue or green.