AO3 FOR ALL PSYCHOLOGY TOPICS
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Topic Name(s) Research
Conformity (NSI) Asch Used male undergraduates
standard line on a card and comparison lines
One of the lines was the same length as the comparison
one and / a confederate says the wrong answer to see
who conforms
trails ( critical trials a confederate gave the wrong
answer)
% conformed at least once and % did not conform on
any trials
Group size also slightly increased conformity
Conformity (NSI) Spencer and Perrin Repeated experiment in recent time period and only
student conformed
CA: used engineering students so lower conformity as
they’re experts in problem solving
Asch experiment is a product of its time
Conformity to social Zimbardo Basement of Stanford University turned to a prison
roles Zimbardo was superintendent
Prisoners and guards wore uniform and given props and
controlled behaviour
Meant to be days long but ended in days because of
emotional trauma
Identification occurred and guards harassed prisoners
Behaved as if it were real a real prison
Conformed to their roles because of lucifer e ect
Conformity to social Abu Ghraib US soldiers involved introducing iraqi prisoners
roles Zimbardo said their behaviour was a result of situational
factors such as poor training and boredom
Abused the power of their role
Conformity to social Reicher and Haslam BBC prison experiment
roles Challenged view and said that it was the strength of
social identity within the role that led to formation of
group identity
Prisoners were the stronger group
Conformity to social Fromm Argued that dispositional factors are not accounted for
roles ⅓ guards acted brutally but ⅓ applied rules fairly and
helped prisoners
Overstated the role of situational variables
By Rhea M.
, Variables a ecting Schultz When hotel guests saw a message that % reuse their
conformity (NSI) towels, they used less towels themselves (normative
influence)
Variables a ecting Eagly and Carli Meta analysis of conformity studies found
conformity inconsistent di erences in conformity between genders
Biggest e ect came from studies where there was
pressure from audience
Females were more likely to be conformists
Male researchers are more likely to find females more
conformist possibly because they design studies more
suited to them
Becker also found females more likely to conform but in
private they changed their views
Obedience Milgram Used men from volunteer sample
Lab experiment
IV: prompts from experimenter DV: how far in volts
participants would shock
Wore lab coat for authority
Participants given roles of teacher and confederates
Participant ask confederate series of questions and if they
got it wrong, they'd be given a shock and increased by
volts whilst confederate was showing signs of pain etc
All participants went up to v and % went to v
which was lethal
defied experimenter after v - autonomous
obeyed till end and gave v - agentic shift
Agency theory works in this scenario
Ethics: signs of distress and anxiety after
Low ecological validity
High internal validity - made the situation seem real
Obedience Reicher and Haslam Social identity theory - group identification occurs in
experiment as they identify with experimenter and
science behind experiment
Agree with prompts before they bought into the group
They agree with prompts as they have been bought into
the group they have become part of
Agentic state Milgram and Eichmann in experiment of war crimes
Eichmann Talked to a nazi who was in charge of death camps
Asked why they did what they did, they do it because they
were just following orders
Obedience to destructive authority and an AGENT acts
in place
By Rhea M.
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Topic Name(s) Research
Conformity (NSI) Asch Used male undergraduates
standard line on a card and comparison lines
One of the lines was the same length as the comparison
one and / a confederate says the wrong answer to see
who conforms
trails ( critical trials a confederate gave the wrong
answer)
% conformed at least once and % did not conform on
any trials
Group size also slightly increased conformity
Conformity (NSI) Spencer and Perrin Repeated experiment in recent time period and only
student conformed
CA: used engineering students so lower conformity as
they’re experts in problem solving
Asch experiment is a product of its time
Conformity to social Zimbardo Basement of Stanford University turned to a prison
roles Zimbardo was superintendent
Prisoners and guards wore uniform and given props and
controlled behaviour
Meant to be days long but ended in days because of
emotional trauma
Identification occurred and guards harassed prisoners
Behaved as if it were real a real prison
Conformed to their roles because of lucifer e ect
Conformity to social Abu Ghraib US soldiers involved introducing iraqi prisoners
roles Zimbardo said their behaviour was a result of situational
factors such as poor training and boredom
Abused the power of their role
Conformity to social Reicher and Haslam BBC prison experiment
roles Challenged view and said that it was the strength of
social identity within the role that led to formation of
group identity
Prisoners were the stronger group
Conformity to social Fromm Argued that dispositional factors are not accounted for
roles ⅓ guards acted brutally but ⅓ applied rules fairly and
helped prisoners
Overstated the role of situational variables
By Rhea M.
, Variables a ecting Schultz When hotel guests saw a message that % reuse their
conformity (NSI) towels, they used less towels themselves (normative
influence)
Variables a ecting Eagly and Carli Meta analysis of conformity studies found
conformity inconsistent di erences in conformity between genders
Biggest e ect came from studies where there was
pressure from audience
Females were more likely to be conformists
Male researchers are more likely to find females more
conformist possibly because they design studies more
suited to them
Becker also found females more likely to conform but in
private they changed their views
Obedience Milgram Used men from volunteer sample
Lab experiment
IV: prompts from experimenter DV: how far in volts
participants would shock
Wore lab coat for authority
Participants given roles of teacher and confederates
Participant ask confederate series of questions and if they
got it wrong, they'd be given a shock and increased by
volts whilst confederate was showing signs of pain etc
All participants went up to v and % went to v
which was lethal
defied experimenter after v - autonomous
obeyed till end and gave v - agentic shift
Agency theory works in this scenario
Ethics: signs of distress and anxiety after
Low ecological validity
High internal validity - made the situation seem real
Obedience Reicher and Haslam Social identity theory - group identification occurs in
experiment as they identify with experimenter and
science behind experiment
Agree with prompts before they bought into the group
They agree with prompts as they have been bought into
the group they have become part of
Agentic state Milgram and Eichmann in experiment of war crimes
Eichmann Talked to a nazi who was in charge of death camps
Asked why they did what they did, they do it because they
were just following orders
Obedience to destructive authority and an AGENT acts
in place
By Rhea M.
