Chapter ONE Social Influence | Psychology
Rubee McEnaney-Cox
Social influence:
A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
Types of conformity
Internalisation=Deepest level
Change = public behaviour (act) and private beliefs
Long-term change
Acceptance
Identification=Middle level
Change = public behaviour & private belief, BUT only when they are with the group
Short-term acceptance of group norms
Compliance=Lowest level
Change = public behaviour (act), but not private beliefs
Short-term membership
Why do people conform?
Informational social influence=Desire to be right
Normative social influence=Desire to be liked
Explanations for Conformity
Informational Social Influence (ISI) Normative Social Influence (NSI)
-What is right? -What is normal?
-Cognitive -Emotional
-Who has better information? -Gain social approval
Confederate: a non participant working for the experimenter who has been briefed to answer in a
particular way
Asch study (1951)
Aim:
To find out the extent of which social pressure from a majority could affect a person to conform
Procedure:
-123 male students (7 confederates and one naïve participant)
-Line judgement task using 2 cards
-Naïve pps sat second to last – say out loud which line (A, B or C) was most like the target line length
-The correct answer was always obvious
-Confederates: same incorrect answer on 12 out of 18 trials (Critical Trials)
-He wanted to see if the real pp would conform to the majority, even when the answer was clearly
Findings:
Naïve participants conformed to the incorrect answers on 36.8% of the critical trials
75% of the participants conformed on at least one critical trial
25% of the participants never conformed
Control group: Less than 1% of the participants gave an incorrect answer
Conclusions:
Compliance- public not private
NSI- to fit in with the group
Real participants went along with the majority
, Chapter ONE Social Influence | Psychology
Rubee McEnaney-Cox
Variables affecting Conformity
Factors What they did What they found
Group Size 3 confederates Conformity is highest at 3 confederates conformed on 32% of trials
Unanimity 1 confederate sometimes disagreed with Participant behaved more independently
(fully agree) the other = Conformity dropped to 5%
Task Increased difficulty- Comparison lines Conformity increased: ISI🡪 plays greater role as it is more ambiguous-
Difficulty more similar to the stimulus line more likely to look for guidance
Evaluation of Conformity:
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
-Research support for ISI, particularly where people are -Some research shows that NSI does not affect
unaware of the correct answer everyone’s behaviour in the same way
-Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers for -People who are less concerned with being liked are less
mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult affected by NSI than those who care more about being
-Greater conformity to incorrect answers when they liked
were more difficult, rather than when they were easier -Such people are described as being nAffiliators
-This was most true for students who rated their -These people are described as having an
mathematical ability as poor affiliation/need for being in a relationship with others
-People conform in situations where they feel they don’t -This shows that the desire to be liked underlies
know the answer, as predicted by the ISI explanation conformity for some people more than others
-We look to other people and assume they know better -Therefore, there are individual differences in conformity
and therefore, must be right that cannot be fully explained by one general theory of
Counter argument: situational pressures
-ISI does not take into account individual differences, as
it does not affect everyone’s behaviour
-Asch (1955) found that students were less conformist
(28%) than other participants (37%)
-Suggests that there are individual differences which
impact conformity and should also be considered
-Asch’s research is supported from other studies for the -Limited application- Asch only tested men
effects of task difficulty -Other research suggests women may be more
-Lucas et al (2006) asked their pps to solve ‘easy’ and conformist because they care more about social
‘hard’ maths problems relationships and being accepted than men
-Pps were given answers from 3 other students-Pps -Cultural problem since the men in Asch's study were all
conformed more often when the problems were harder from the USA (individualist culture)
-Asch was correct in claiming that task difficulty is one -People are more concerned about themselves as
variable that affects conformity individuals rather than their social groups
Counter argument: -Similar studies conducted in China (collectivist culture)
-Lucas et al’s study found that conformity is more have found that conformity rates are higher because the
complex than Asch suggested social group is more important than the individual
-Pps with high confidence in their maths abilities -Asch's findings may only be relevant for American men
conformed less on hard tasks than those with low because he did not take into account gender and
confidence cultural differences
-The interaction between individual differences (e.g.
confidence) and situational variables (task difficulty) is
also an important factor when looking for conformity
-But Asch did not research the role of individual factors
Rubee McEnaney-Cox
Social influence:
A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people
Types of conformity
Internalisation=Deepest level
Change = public behaviour (act) and private beliefs
Long-term change
Acceptance
Identification=Middle level
Change = public behaviour & private belief, BUT only when they are with the group
Short-term acceptance of group norms
Compliance=Lowest level
Change = public behaviour (act), but not private beliefs
Short-term membership
Why do people conform?
Informational social influence=Desire to be right
Normative social influence=Desire to be liked
Explanations for Conformity
Informational Social Influence (ISI) Normative Social Influence (NSI)
-What is right? -What is normal?
-Cognitive -Emotional
-Who has better information? -Gain social approval
Confederate: a non participant working for the experimenter who has been briefed to answer in a
particular way
Asch study (1951)
Aim:
To find out the extent of which social pressure from a majority could affect a person to conform
Procedure:
-123 male students (7 confederates and one naïve participant)
-Line judgement task using 2 cards
-Naïve pps sat second to last – say out loud which line (A, B or C) was most like the target line length
-The correct answer was always obvious
-Confederates: same incorrect answer on 12 out of 18 trials (Critical Trials)
-He wanted to see if the real pp would conform to the majority, even when the answer was clearly
Findings:
Naïve participants conformed to the incorrect answers on 36.8% of the critical trials
75% of the participants conformed on at least one critical trial
25% of the participants never conformed
Control group: Less than 1% of the participants gave an incorrect answer
Conclusions:
Compliance- public not private
NSI- to fit in with the group
Real participants went along with the majority
, Chapter ONE Social Influence | Psychology
Rubee McEnaney-Cox
Variables affecting Conformity
Factors What they did What they found
Group Size 3 confederates Conformity is highest at 3 confederates conformed on 32% of trials
Unanimity 1 confederate sometimes disagreed with Participant behaved more independently
(fully agree) the other = Conformity dropped to 5%
Task Increased difficulty- Comparison lines Conformity increased: ISI🡪 plays greater role as it is more ambiguous-
Difficulty more similar to the stimulus line more likely to look for guidance
Evaluation of Conformity:
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
-Research support for ISI, particularly where people are -Some research shows that NSI does not affect
unaware of the correct answer everyone’s behaviour in the same way
-Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers for -People who are less concerned with being liked are less
mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult affected by NSI than those who care more about being
-Greater conformity to incorrect answers when they liked
were more difficult, rather than when they were easier -Such people are described as being nAffiliators
-This was most true for students who rated their -These people are described as having an
mathematical ability as poor affiliation/need for being in a relationship with others
-People conform in situations where they feel they don’t -This shows that the desire to be liked underlies
know the answer, as predicted by the ISI explanation conformity for some people more than others
-We look to other people and assume they know better -Therefore, there are individual differences in conformity
and therefore, must be right that cannot be fully explained by one general theory of
Counter argument: situational pressures
-ISI does not take into account individual differences, as
it does not affect everyone’s behaviour
-Asch (1955) found that students were less conformist
(28%) than other participants (37%)
-Suggests that there are individual differences which
impact conformity and should also be considered
-Asch’s research is supported from other studies for the -Limited application- Asch only tested men
effects of task difficulty -Other research suggests women may be more
-Lucas et al (2006) asked their pps to solve ‘easy’ and conformist because they care more about social
‘hard’ maths problems relationships and being accepted than men
-Pps were given answers from 3 other students-Pps -Cultural problem since the men in Asch's study were all
conformed more often when the problems were harder from the USA (individualist culture)
-Asch was correct in claiming that task difficulty is one -People are more concerned about themselves as
variable that affects conformity individuals rather than their social groups
Counter argument: -Similar studies conducted in China (collectivist culture)
-Lucas et al’s study found that conformity is more have found that conformity rates are higher because the
complex than Asch suggested social group is more important than the individual
-Pps with high confidence in their maths abilities -Asch's findings may only be relevant for American men
conformed less on hard tasks than those with low because he did not take into account gender and
confidence cultural differences
-The interaction between individual differences (e.g.
confidence) and situational variables (task difficulty) is
also an important factor when looking for conformity
-But Asch did not research the role of individual factors
