Social influence

• Conformity

  A change in a person's behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined social pressure
• Compliance


  A superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority but privately disagree with it.
• identification

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

  A deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct. It leads to permanent change
• cognitive


  How our mind works, including thinking, learning, remembering, and problem-solving.
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  Cognitive process. Changing our behaviours and imitating others because we think they are right
• Normative social influence (NSI)


  Emotional process. Changing our behaviour to fit in or be accepted by others - to be liked.
• Lucas' and conformity

  study looked at conformity in answers to 2 types of Maths questions- easy and difficult. He found that people tended to conform to the answers to difficult maths questions. This was especially the case if the participant rated their mathematical ability to be poor.
• Lucas' study as an evaluation point for ISI


  This shows that people do in fact conform in situations where they have don't feel like they have the correct information in comparison to the group. This demonstrates that ISI is a valid explanation as to why people adapt their behaviours in social groups.
• Who is the evidence for ISI?

  Lucas' (2006)
• Asch's study as an evaluation point for ISI and NSI

  Asch (1951) found that conformity can be reduced when there is another dissenter in the experiment. This can reduce NSI because the dissenter acts as social support and reduces ISI as there is an alternative source of information. This shows that it isn't always possible to tell whether NSI or ISI is at work and suggests that the two may work together rather than separately.
• Who is the evidence for BOTH ISI and NSI?

  Asch (1951)
• Asch's baseline sample

  123 American male participants
• Asch's baseline procedure


  Participants were placed in a group with other apparent participants (who were confederates).

  The group was shown 2 cards: The line X is the standard line, and the lines A, B, and C are the comparison lines. One of the comparison lines is always clearly the same length as X and the others clearly wrong.

  On each trial, participants had to say aloud which of the comparison lines was the same length as the standard line X. The participant was always last or next to last in the group.
• Asch's baseline findings


  -Participants agreed with confederates' wrong answers 36.8% of the time

  -25% never conformed (individual differences)
• Asch's variations

  1. Group size

  2. Unanimity

  3. Task difficulty
• Asch's variations: group size

  procedure


  varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15.
• Asch's variations: group size

  findings

  He found that conformity increases with group size but only up to a certain point. With 3 confederates, conformity rose to 31.8%, but the addition of more confederates made little difference.
• Asch's variations: unanimity

  procedure


  introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates. In one variation he gave the correct answer and in another one the other wrong answer.
• Asch's variations: unanimity

  findings

  The presence of a dissenter decreases conformity. Conformity was reduced by a quarter from the level it was when the majority was unanimous, even when the dissenter gave a wrong answer.
• Asch's variations: Task difficulty

  procedure


  increased the difficulty of the line-judging test by making the comparison lines more similar to each other in length. This means that it became harder for the participant to see the difference between the lines.
• Asch's variations: Task difficulty

  findings


  Conformity increased when the task was more difficult. This might be because it is more ambiguous, it is unclear what the right answer is. In this circumstance, we look at other people for guidance and assume that they are right
• mundane realism


  the extent to which an experiment mimic real life (its setting, and the task)
• internal validity


  the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure
• external validity


  the extent to which a test can apply to other settings, other population and stays true in time
• Standardised procedures


  the process in which procedures used in research are kept the same. This leads to high internal validity as we can be sure the IV leads to the change in the DV
• Ethical Issues


  when the rights of participants are disrespected
• What are ethical issues?

  deception, harm to participants, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality
• Dissenter


  a person who pretends to be a participant but is working with the experimenter
• What type of study was Asch's experiment?

  Lab experiment
• What is the advantage of conducting Asch's study as a lab experiment?

  Good control over extraneous variables and standardized procedures
• What is a limitation of Asch's study being conducted in a lab?

  Lack of mundane realism
• How did the lab setting affect the internal validity of Asch's study?

  High internal validity due to standardized procedures
• What impact did the lab setting have on the external validity of Asch's study?


  Low external validity due to lack of mundane realism
• What is a potential issue with participants' behavior in a lab setting according to Asch's study?

  Demand characteristics
• What was the deception in Asch's study?

  Participants were deceived about the true nature of the research, thinking it was about line length judgments when it was actually about conformity. They also believed the other group members were participants, not confederates.
• What are the potential negative consequences of deceiving participants in research?

  Deceiving participants can lead to them being exposed to negative psychological effects such as stress, anxiety, and humiliation. They may also experience mild embarrassment, though thorough debriefing can help address these issues.
• How did Asch justify the deception in his study?

  Asch argued that the benefits of the research, such as increasing our understanding of conformity, outweighed the ethical costs of deceiving participants. He also noted that the stress experienced by participants was minimal.
• Neto (1995)


  research suggests that women are more conformists. Asch only tested American men.
• Bond and Smith (1996)


  Found that people who score high on Hofstede's collectivism scale conform more than people who score lower.