Psychology social influence

• Conformity


  A type of social influence where a person yields to group pressures and changes their behaviour or opinion as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group
• Types of conformity (Kelman)


  • Internalisation
  • Identification
  • Compliance
• Internalisation


  Making the beliefs, values, attitude and behaviour of the group your own (the strongest type of conformity, often occurs as a result of informational social influence)
• Identification


  Temporary/short term change of behaviour and beliefs only in the presence of a group (middle level)
• Compliance


  Following other people's ideas/going along with the group to gain their approval or avoid disapproval (lowest/weakest level of conformity)
• Informational social influence


  When someone conforms because they want to be right, so they look to others by copying or obeying them, to have the right answer in a situation
• Normative social influence


  When someone conforms because they want to be liked and be part of a group; when a person's need to be accepted or have approval from a group drives compliance
• NSI and ISI may not be completely exclusive, as suggested by Deutsch and Gerrard's 'Two Process Model'
• It may be more beneficial to look at NSI and ISI as complementary, as opposed to mutually exclusive mechanisms
• Asch's study


  • 123 male American undergraduates in groups of 6; 1 true participant and 5 confederates
  • Participants and confederates were presented with 4 lines; 3 comparison lines and 1 standard line
  • Confederates would give the same incorrect answer for 12 out of 18 trials
  • Asch observed how often the participant would give the same incorrect answer as the confederates versus the correct answer
• Factors affecting level of conformity

  • Size of majority/Group size
  • Unanimity of majority
  • Task difficulty
• Size of majority/Group size

  An individual is more likely to conform when in a larger group
• Unanimity of majority


  An individual is more likely to conform when the group is unanimous i.e. all give the same answer, as opposed to them all giving different answers
• Task difficulty


  An individual is more likely to conform when the task is difficult
• Zimbardo's study


  • 24 American male undergraduate students
  • Participants were randomly issued one of two roles; guard or prisoner
  • Prisoners were only referred to by their assigned number
  • Guards were given props like handcuffs and sunglasses
  • No one was allowed to leave the simulated prison
  • Guards worked eight hour shifts, while the others remained on call
  • Prisoners were only allowed in the hallway which acted as their yard, and to the toilet
• Agentic state


  When a person believes that someone else will take responsibility for their own actions
• Agentic shift


  When a person shifts from an autonomous state (the state in which a person believes they will take responsibility for their own actions) to the agentic state
• Legitimacy of authority


  How credible the figure of authority is. People are more likely to obey them if they are seen as credible in terms of being morally good/right, and legitimate
• Expert authority


  When the authority figure is seen as legitimate because they are a knowledgeable expert, like a scientist
• Agentic state


  When people believe they are acting on behalf of an authority figure, rather than taking personal responsibility for their actions
• Legitimacy of authority


  How credible the figure of authority is. People are more likely to obey them if they are seen as morally good/right, and legitimate (i.e. legally based or law abiding)
• Students are more likely to listen to their parents or teachers than other unknown adults
• Expert authority


  When the authority figure is seen as knowledgeable and responsible, like a scientist
• Situational factors affecting obedience


  • Appearance of the authority figure
  • Location/surroundings
  • Proximity (and the role of buffers)
• Uniform


  A person is more likely to obey someone wearing a uniform as it gives them a higher status and a greater sense of legitimacy
• Experimenter wears a lab coat

  Obedience is much higher compared to normal clothes
• Milgram admitted that many participants could see through the deception of the lab coat
• Prestigious location


  A person is more likely to obey when the study is conducted at a prestigious university as it demands obedience and increases trust in the researchers
• Experimenter is in the same room as the participant

  Obedience is higher (62.5%) compared to being in a different room and speaking over the phone (20.5%)
• 70% of participants believed the electric shocks were real
• 100% of females in Sheridan and King's study administered real electric shocks to puppies
• The My Lai Massacres can be explained by agentic state and legitimacy of authority theories
• Milgram admitted that the use of a 'normal citizen' in place of the confederate with a lab coat may have been too obvious a substitution
• Decreased obedience in the 'normal citizen' condition may have been due to demand characteristics
• Proximity - Participant and experimenter in same room

  Obedience higher (62.5%) compared to separate rooms (40%) and touch proximity (30%)
• Location - Study conducted at prestigious university


  Obedience higher compared to rundown office
• Uniform - Experimenter wears lab coat


  Obedience higher compared to normal clothes
• Authoritarian personality


  Belief that people should completely obey or submit to their authority figures, and suppress their own beliefs
• Fixed cognitive style


  Tendency to adopt absolutist/'black and white' thinking and not challenge stereotypes
• Reaction formation


  Displacing anger with harsh, disciplinarian parents onto seemingly 'inferior' others