Social influence

• Conformity


  A type of social influence where a person yields to group pressures
• Conformity


  A change in a person's behaviour or opinion as a result of a real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
• Types of conformity (Kelman)


  • Internalisation
  • Identification
  • Compliance
• Internalisation


  Making the beliefs, values, attitude and behaviour of the group your own (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


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


  Conforming because you want to be liked and be part of a group; your 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'
• NSI and ISI can be 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
• 36.8% conformed, 25% never conformed, 75% conformed at least once in Asch's study
• In a control trial, only 1% of responses given by participants were incorrect in Asch's study
• Factors affecting level of conformity in Asch's study

  • 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
• When the task is difficult, we are more uncertain of our answer so we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task the greater the conformity
• The social context of the 1950s may have affected Asch's results due to McCarthyism
• Zimbardo's study


  • 24 American male undergraduate students
  • Aim: To investigate how readily people would conform to the social roles in a simulated environment
  • Procedure: Basement of Stanford University converted into a simulated prison, participants randomly assigned guard or prisoner roles
• 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 (where they believe 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
• In Milgram's study, the participants saw the experimenter as legitimate as they knew he was a scientist and therefore likely to be knowledgeable and responsible
• 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
• The study suffered from demand characteristics and lacked ecological validity
• The sample only consisted of American male students, so the findings cannot be generalised to other genders and cultures
• There was a lack of fully informed consent due to the deception required
• Participants were not protected from stress, anxiety, emotional distress and embarrassment
• This study would be deemed unacceptable according to modern ethical standards
• Situational factors


  Factors like the appearance of the authority figure, the location/surroundings and proximity (and the role of buffers)
• A person is more likely to obey someone wearing a uniform as it gives them a higher status and a greater sense of legitimacy
• Obedience was much higher when the experimenter wore a lab coat as opposed to normal clothes
• A person is more likely to obey someone in a location linked to higher status and legitimacy
• Obedience was greater when the study was conducted at a prestigious American university (Yale) compared to a rundown office
• A person is more likely to obey when they are less able to see the negative consequences of their actions and are in closer proximity to the authority figure
• Obedience was higher when the experimenter was in the same room (62.5%) as the participant as opposed to being in a different room and speaking over the phone (20.5%)