Psychology
Social Influence (A01)
Conformity
Types of conformity
Conformity - change in behaviour due to real or imagined group pressure.
Compliance - going along with others in public, publicly agreeing but privately disagreeing.
Identification - conforming to others
opinions/behaviours because they value and identify with them, publicly agreeing and privately disagreeing with some things
Internalisation - genuinely accepts the group norm, public and private change in behaviour.
Explanations of conformity
Normative social influence (NSI) - to be liked or accepted, emotional over cognitive, temporary change, compliance leading to identification.
Informational social influence (ISI) - look to others for guidance who we believe can give correct information on how to behave, needs to be right,
cognitive process, permanent change, internalisation.
Asch’s investigation into conformity
Aim
To see if participants would conform to majority social influence and give incorrect answers in a situation where the correct answer is obvious.
Procedure
1) Asch created groups of 6 or 7 from a larger group of 123 white, American males of the same age and told participants the aim of the study
was on the perception of line length
2) 1 was a genuine participant, who was sat second to last at the table, and the remainder (confederates) were told to say the same, incorrect
answer
3) The were asked to answer which line was different (unambiguous to test compliance over internalisation/informational social influence) and
the participant always went second to last so they has the opportunity to comply
4) Confederates gave wrong answers on 12 out of 18 of the trials to avoid suspicion
5) The mean conformity rate was 33% and 75% conformed at least once. He also found that in a control group without participants only 1%
gave the incorrect answer.
, Conclusion
A majority can influence a minority even in an unambiguous situation, thus demonstrating normative social influence.
Asch’s variations that affect conformity
Group size
Here, one participant was paired with one confederate and this led to the conformity rate being 3%.
Then, one participant was paired with two confederates and this led the conformity rate to increase to 13%.
Then, one participant was paired with three confederates and the conformity rate increased again up to 13%.
After this, when the number of confederates increased, there were no further increases in conformity suggesting majority size is important but only
up to a certain point.
Unanimity
He introduced a confederate who gave correct answers and the social support led conformity to be reduced from 33% to 5%.
He then introduced a confederate who gave an answer that was different from the majority but still incorrect and conformity reduced to 9%.
This shows the unanimous position being a major factor into conformity levels.
Difficulty of the task
He made the differences between the lines much smaller and this led to conformity increasing because the situation was more ambiguous and this
showed participants were more likely to conform due to informational social influence.
Zimbardo’s investigation into conformity to social roles
Aim
To see if prison guards behave brutally because of their sadistic personalities or the prison environment.
Procedure
1) Advertised people willing to volunteer by making them do psychological testing and selected those who were emotionally stable.
2) Randomly assigned prisoner and guard roles with prisoners being arrested from their homes with heavily regulated routines and 16 strict
rules. Guards wore uniform, mirrored shades, had wooden clubs and keys, prisoners were in rags and were named with a number.
3) Guards grew increasingly tyrannical and abusive and did this with joy with things such as making prisoners clean toilets with their hands.
4) Rules caused prisoners to rebel by ripping uniforms and swearing, guards used fire extinguishers so prisoners became subdued and
depressed.
5) Study was terminated after 6 days when the abuse was unjustified for a psychological study.
Conclusion
Power influences people’s behaviour when people very quickly take on their roles.
Milgram’s baseline study into obedience
Obedience - form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order, the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who
Social Influence (A01)
Conformity
Types of conformity
Conformity - change in behaviour due to real or imagined group pressure.
Compliance - going along with others in public, publicly agreeing but privately disagreeing.
Identification - conforming to others
opinions/behaviours because they value and identify with them, publicly agreeing and privately disagreeing with some things
Internalisation - genuinely accepts the group norm, public and private change in behaviour.
Explanations of conformity
Normative social influence (NSI) - to be liked or accepted, emotional over cognitive, temporary change, compliance leading to identification.
Informational social influence (ISI) - look to others for guidance who we believe can give correct information on how to behave, needs to be right,
cognitive process, permanent change, internalisation.
Asch’s investigation into conformity
Aim
To see if participants would conform to majority social influence and give incorrect answers in a situation where the correct answer is obvious.
Procedure
1) Asch created groups of 6 or 7 from a larger group of 123 white, American males of the same age and told participants the aim of the study
was on the perception of line length
2) 1 was a genuine participant, who was sat second to last at the table, and the remainder (confederates) were told to say the same, incorrect
answer
3) The were asked to answer which line was different (unambiguous to test compliance over internalisation/informational social influence) and
the participant always went second to last so they has the opportunity to comply
4) Confederates gave wrong answers on 12 out of 18 of the trials to avoid suspicion
5) The mean conformity rate was 33% and 75% conformed at least once. He also found that in a control group without participants only 1%
gave the incorrect answer.
, Conclusion
A majority can influence a minority even in an unambiguous situation, thus demonstrating normative social influence.
Asch’s variations that affect conformity
Group size
Here, one participant was paired with one confederate and this led to the conformity rate being 3%.
Then, one participant was paired with two confederates and this led the conformity rate to increase to 13%.
Then, one participant was paired with three confederates and the conformity rate increased again up to 13%.
After this, when the number of confederates increased, there were no further increases in conformity suggesting majority size is important but only
up to a certain point.
Unanimity
He introduced a confederate who gave correct answers and the social support led conformity to be reduced from 33% to 5%.
He then introduced a confederate who gave an answer that was different from the majority but still incorrect and conformity reduced to 9%.
This shows the unanimous position being a major factor into conformity levels.
Difficulty of the task
He made the differences between the lines much smaller and this led to conformity increasing because the situation was more ambiguous and this
showed participants were more likely to conform due to informational social influence.
Zimbardo’s investigation into conformity to social roles
Aim
To see if prison guards behave brutally because of their sadistic personalities or the prison environment.
Procedure
1) Advertised people willing to volunteer by making them do psychological testing and selected those who were emotionally stable.
2) Randomly assigned prisoner and guard roles with prisoners being arrested from their homes with heavily regulated routines and 16 strict
rules. Guards wore uniform, mirrored shades, had wooden clubs and keys, prisoners were in rags and were named with a number.
3) Guards grew increasingly tyrannical and abusive and did this with joy with things such as making prisoners clean toilets with their hands.
4) Rules caused prisoners to rebel by ripping uniforms and swearing, guards used fire extinguishers so prisoners became subdued and
depressed.
5) Study was terminated after 6 days when the abuse was unjustified for a psychological study.
Conclusion
Power influences people’s behaviour when people very quickly take on their roles.
Milgram’s baseline study into obedience
Obedience - form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order, the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who
