Social influence
Social influence is when a person’s emotions, opinions or behaviours are affected by others intentionally or unintentionally
There are 4 examples of social influence:
- Conformity - a change in our opinions or behaviour to fit in with social norms or as the result of perceived group pressure
(even if we don’t necessarily want to do what the group is doing)
- Obedience - following the orders of an authority figure
- Pro-social behaviour - actions that benefit other people or society (eg. helping someone)
- crowd/collective behaviour - the way in which people act when they are part of a group
Deutsch and Gerrard (1955)
They believed there are 2 reasons why people conform:
- Informational social influence (ISI) - changing our behaviour because we want to be right. When we don’t know what to
do/how to behave, we use others as a guide because we think they have superior knowledge
- Normative social influence (NSI) - changing our behaviour because we want to fit in with and be accepted by a group, we
might copy what they do in order to be liked by them (even if we know it is the wrong thing to do sometimes)
Asch’s study on conformity
- Aim : to investigate how people respond to pressure from a group and whether people would conform to the opinions of
others to give an answer they knew to be wrong
- Method: it was a laboratory study with standardised procedures. The sample was 123 American male college students.
They were naive. Each naive participant was placed in a group with 6-8 confederates. The group were shown several sets of
lines and had to match 2 lines. This was an unambiguous task - the answer was obvious. They were asked to judge 18 sets
of lines in total. The group sat around a table where the naive participant was always near the end. They had to read their
responses out loud one-by-one. Initially, the confederates answered truthfully but on the 12th trial, they gave a deliberate
wrong answer. Asch wanted to see if the naive participant would conform to the majority’s answer, even though it was
obvious.
- Results- the naive participant gave the incorrect answer 36.8% of the time. 76% conformed to the majority at least once.
24% resisted the pressure to conform.
- Conclusion - the results show that people conform to fit in with a group, even when they know they’re wrong because the
task was unambiguous. However, Participants did also show an ability to resist the pressure to conform as the majority of
the time, participants didn’t go along with the group and some never gave in to group pressure.
Strengths and weaknesses of Asch’s study
- One strength is that it used standardised procedures. For example all participants saw the same 18 sets of lines and the
confederates gave 12 incorrect answers for all participants. This is a strength because it means that the procedure was
reliable and could be replicated easily.
- One weakness of Asch’s study is that it was conducted in the 1950s and the results might not apply today. For example, a
more recent study by Perrin and Spencer found only 1 example of conformity in 396 trials. This is a weakness because it
means that we cannot assume that these findings still apply in today’s society.
- Another weakness of Asch’s study on conformity is that the sample that was used was not very representative. For example
Asch only used a group of white American males around the same age. Therefore they didn’t include other important
groups (eg, females, non-Americans). This is a weakness because it means that we cannot generalise the results of this
study to other people and we can’t assume they would conform as much as these participants did.
- A further weakness of this study is that it used unrealistic procedures and environments. For example, Asch’s study was
conducted in a highly controlled lab and the line judgement task is nit something participants would do everyday. This is a
weakness because it means that the study lacks ecological validity and we cannot assume that they would conform this
much in real life.
, Factors that affect conformity
Group size
Task difficulty Social factors Social factors = external factors within the situation (surrounding its
Anonymity environment) that can affect our behaviour.
Dispositional factors = internal factors within ourselves that can affect
Personality our behaviour
Dispositional factors
Expertise
Social factors
Group size
When group size increases, conformity increases. This is because it increases the pressure to conform, as there are even more
people behaving the same way.
However, research suggests the majority only has to be at least 3 people to have the strongest effect on our behaviour - conformity
rates don't increase much after this.
Asch altered the study so that there was only 1 confederate who gave the incorrect answer. Conformity dropped ti just 3% =,
whereas the original was 36.8%.
Task difficulty
When a task is more difficult, conformity increases. This is because people are less sure of their answer and will look for other
people to give them the correct answer because they lack confidence in their own judgements. This is ISI.
Asch changed his study so it was less obvious which line was the correct match for the comparison line, making the task more
difficult. In this variation, Asch found the rate of conformity increased, although he didn’t report the percentage.
Anonymity
When you’re anonymous and don’t need to share your response with other people, conformity decreases. This is because we no
longer need to worry about what other people will think about our response, because they will never find out about it. This lowers
the chance of normative social influence.
Asch changed his study so that the real participant heard everyone else’s answer but then wrote their answer private;y instead of
saying it out loud. Here, conformity decreased.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of social factors that affect conformity?
One strength is that there is research evidence to support these factors. For example, Asch varied the group size of the confederates
and found that conformity levels dropped from 36.8% to just 3%, showing that as group size changes, so does conformity. This is a
strength because if there is research evidence, this suggests that the factors are accurate.
One weakness is that by only focusing on social factors, you ignore other important factors that affect behaviour. For example,
dispositional factors are also known to affect conformity. In particular, as your expertise increases, you may be less likely to
conform. Also, personality can affect conformity, as those with an external locus of control are more likely to conform. This is a
weakness because it is not ;likely to give a full, valid insight into conformity behaviour as other factors are ignored.
Dispositional factors
Personality
Personality is a dispositional factor of conformity which links to internal locus of control. There are specific personality types that are
more likely to conform. When someone has an internal locus of control, they’re less likely to conform. When someone has an
external locus of control, they’re more likely to conform. A person with an internal locus of control believes they’re responsible for
their own success, while someone with an external locus of control would believe external forces such as luck determine their
success.
Burger and Cooper (1979) found that when asked to rate cartoons for ‘funniness’, people with an external locus of control were
more likely to agree with a confederate’s rating than people with an external locus of control.
Social influence is when a person’s emotions, opinions or behaviours are affected by others intentionally or unintentionally
There are 4 examples of social influence:
- Conformity - a change in our opinions or behaviour to fit in with social norms or as the result of perceived group pressure
(even if we don’t necessarily want to do what the group is doing)
- Obedience - following the orders of an authority figure
- Pro-social behaviour - actions that benefit other people or society (eg. helping someone)
- crowd/collective behaviour - the way in which people act when they are part of a group
Deutsch and Gerrard (1955)
They believed there are 2 reasons why people conform:
- Informational social influence (ISI) - changing our behaviour because we want to be right. When we don’t know what to
do/how to behave, we use others as a guide because we think they have superior knowledge
- Normative social influence (NSI) - changing our behaviour because we want to fit in with and be accepted by a group, we
might copy what they do in order to be liked by them (even if we know it is the wrong thing to do sometimes)
Asch’s study on conformity
- Aim : to investigate how people respond to pressure from a group and whether people would conform to the opinions of
others to give an answer they knew to be wrong
- Method: it was a laboratory study with standardised procedures. The sample was 123 American male college students.
They were naive. Each naive participant was placed in a group with 6-8 confederates. The group were shown several sets of
lines and had to match 2 lines. This was an unambiguous task - the answer was obvious. They were asked to judge 18 sets
of lines in total. The group sat around a table where the naive participant was always near the end. They had to read their
responses out loud one-by-one. Initially, the confederates answered truthfully but on the 12th trial, they gave a deliberate
wrong answer. Asch wanted to see if the naive participant would conform to the majority’s answer, even though it was
obvious.
- Results- the naive participant gave the incorrect answer 36.8% of the time. 76% conformed to the majority at least once.
24% resisted the pressure to conform.
- Conclusion - the results show that people conform to fit in with a group, even when they know they’re wrong because the
task was unambiguous. However, Participants did also show an ability to resist the pressure to conform as the majority of
the time, participants didn’t go along with the group and some never gave in to group pressure.
Strengths and weaknesses of Asch’s study
- One strength is that it used standardised procedures. For example all participants saw the same 18 sets of lines and the
confederates gave 12 incorrect answers for all participants. This is a strength because it means that the procedure was
reliable and could be replicated easily.
- One weakness of Asch’s study is that it was conducted in the 1950s and the results might not apply today. For example, a
more recent study by Perrin and Spencer found only 1 example of conformity in 396 trials. This is a weakness because it
means that we cannot assume that these findings still apply in today’s society.
- Another weakness of Asch’s study on conformity is that the sample that was used was not very representative. For example
Asch only used a group of white American males around the same age. Therefore they didn’t include other important
groups (eg, females, non-Americans). This is a weakness because it means that we cannot generalise the results of this
study to other people and we can’t assume they would conform as much as these participants did.
- A further weakness of this study is that it used unrealistic procedures and environments. For example, Asch’s study was
conducted in a highly controlled lab and the line judgement task is nit something participants would do everyday. This is a
weakness because it means that the study lacks ecological validity and we cannot assume that they would conform this
much in real life.
, Factors that affect conformity
Group size
Task difficulty Social factors Social factors = external factors within the situation (surrounding its
Anonymity environment) that can affect our behaviour.
Dispositional factors = internal factors within ourselves that can affect
Personality our behaviour
Dispositional factors
Expertise
Social factors
Group size
When group size increases, conformity increases. This is because it increases the pressure to conform, as there are even more
people behaving the same way.
However, research suggests the majority only has to be at least 3 people to have the strongest effect on our behaviour - conformity
rates don't increase much after this.
Asch altered the study so that there was only 1 confederate who gave the incorrect answer. Conformity dropped ti just 3% =,
whereas the original was 36.8%.
Task difficulty
When a task is more difficult, conformity increases. This is because people are less sure of their answer and will look for other
people to give them the correct answer because they lack confidence in their own judgements. This is ISI.
Asch changed his study so it was less obvious which line was the correct match for the comparison line, making the task more
difficult. In this variation, Asch found the rate of conformity increased, although he didn’t report the percentage.
Anonymity
When you’re anonymous and don’t need to share your response with other people, conformity decreases. This is because we no
longer need to worry about what other people will think about our response, because they will never find out about it. This lowers
the chance of normative social influence.
Asch changed his study so that the real participant heard everyone else’s answer but then wrote their answer private;y instead of
saying it out loud. Here, conformity decreased.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of social factors that affect conformity?
One strength is that there is research evidence to support these factors. For example, Asch varied the group size of the confederates
and found that conformity levels dropped from 36.8% to just 3%, showing that as group size changes, so does conformity. This is a
strength because if there is research evidence, this suggests that the factors are accurate.
One weakness is that by only focusing on social factors, you ignore other important factors that affect behaviour. For example,
dispositional factors are also known to affect conformity. In particular, as your expertise increases, you may be less likely to
conform. Also, personality can affect conformity, as those with an external locus of control are more likely to conform. This is a
weakness because it is not ;likely to give a full, valid insight into conformity behaviour as other factors are ignored.
Dispositional factors
Personality
Personality is a dispositional factor of conformity which links to internal locus of control. There are specific personality types that are
more likely to conform. When someone has an internal locus of control, they’re less likely to conform. When someone has an
external locus of control, they’re more likely to conform. A person with an internal locus of control believes they’re responsible for
their own success, while someone with an external locus of control would believe external forces such as luck determine their
success.
Burger and Cooper (1979) found that when asked to rate cartoons for ‘funniness’, people with an external locus of control were
more likely to agree with a confederate’s rating than people with an external locus of control.
