SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Types and Explanations for Conformity
KEY TERMS/AO1 AO3
Compliance - an individual accepts influence (P) Support for normative social influence is shown as
because they hope to gain approval and avoid it has real life applications and makes people
disapproval. Fitting in is desirable and this becomes behave more environmentally friendly
the motivation for conformity. Social comparison (E) Nolan investigated whether people detected the
occurs to see who’s beliefs are correct. Underlying influence of social norms on their energy conservation
attitude doesn’t change, only the views expressed behaviour
in public (E) They found that people believed behaviour of the
neighbours had the least impact, research showed it
had the largest impact
(L) Thus suggests people underestimate the impact of
normative social influence on their behaviour
(P) The power of normative social influence is
supported by research on adolescent smoking
(E) This showed a relationship between people’s
normative beliefs and them starting to smoke
(E) Linkenbach found that adolescents who were told
that most of their peers did not smoke were less likely
to start smoking
(L) This shows that people change their behaviour to
fit in with the majority
Internalisation - an individual accepts the views (P) Informational social influence helps to explain why
and beliefs of a group as their own. examination of social stereotypes develop
the group’s position may convince the individual (E) Research shows that exposure to others’s beliefs
that they are wrong and the group is right. This impact the way we stereotype others
leads to acceptance of the group’s POV both (E) Wittenbank found that people exposed to a
publicly and privately negative yet supposedly majority view later reported
more negative views about black individuals
(L) This suggests that we are influenced by others
when we believe they know more than we do
(P) Informational social influence also explains how
political opinions are shaped.
(E) Research shows that people’s judgements about
politicians can be influenced by their knowledge of
others reactions
(E) Fein found judgements about presidential
candidates in a debate were influenced by others’
reactions towards them
(L) This suggests that we are influenced by others
when we believe they know more than we do
Identification - a form of influence where an
individual adopts an attitude or behaviour in order
to be associated with a particular group or person.
Has elements of compliance (wanting to be
accepted as a member of the group) and of
internalisation (adopting behaviours because they
believe them to be right and true)
, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Normative Social Influence (NSI) - going along
with the majority without actually adopting their
POV. Humans have a need for social
companionship and a fear of rejection. It is
important that the individual feels like they are
under surveillance in order for NSI to occur. Does
not carry on in private or for a long time
Informational Social Influence (ISI) - an individual
accepts information from others as evidence about
reality. Humans need to feel that their behaviour
and beliefs are correct. They rely on the opinion of
others, especially if the situation is ambiguous or
they think others have more knowledge than them
Variables Affecting Conformity
KEY STUDY: ASCH (1956)
Aim: To see how the ‘real’ participant would react to the behaviour of the confederates
Procedure: 123 male US undergraduates. All but one were confederates. Told to look at three
lines of different lengths and say which one matches the ‘standard’ line. The real participant
answered second to last. 12 out of 18 trials (critical trials) the confederates were told to give
unanimously wrong answers
Findings: On the 12 critical trials, the average conformity rate was 33% (⅓ of the trials). ¼
never conformed, ½ conformed on 6 or more and 1 in 20 conformed on all 12 critical trials. He
performed a control condition without confederates giving wrong answers, participants made
mistakes 1% of the time, did not explain conformity rate of main study. In an interview after, he
found that the majority of participants who had conformed continued to privately trust their own
answer but changed their public behaviour (compliance)
Conclusion: He found that conformity was lower when the group size was smaller and
increased as group size increased, up to a point
KEY TERMS AO1 AO3
Group Size - Found that there was very little (P) Asch’s study gives support for
conformity when the majority was just independent behaviour rather than
1 or 2 confederates conformity
- Under the pressure of 3 (E) In ⅔ of trials, participants did not conform
confederates, the proportion of to the overwhelming majority, despite them
conforming answers jumped to 30% having a completely different view
- Further increasing the size of the (E) Ash argued this indicated a tendency for
majority did not increase the level of participants to show independent behaviour
conformity substantially. Shows size of rather than simply conform
majority is important up to a point (L) This suggests that majority influence is not
as strong as it might seem as a higher
proportion of trials produced an independent
response rather than conforming to the
majority
(P) Asch’s research is criticised for being a
‘child of its time’
(E) It’s possible that Asch’s findings are unique
, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
because the study took place during a period
of US history when conformity was more
important
(E) The USA was affected by McCarthyism
where people were scared to go against the
majority, so were more likely to conform
(E) Another similar study was conducted in the
1980s and only had one conforming response
in 400 trials. However it was done again using
youths on probation and probation officers and
got similar results
(L) This confirmed that conformity is more likely
when the threat of not conforming is higher,
and that conformity levels change over time
(P) One weakness of research in conformity is
that studies have only used a limited rage of
majority sizes
(E) Asch believed that a majority of three was a
sufficient number for maximum influence
(E) Bond said that only asch used a majority
greater than 9 and most studies have used a
majority of between 2 and 4
(L) This suggests that we know very little about
the effect of a larger majority on conformity
rates given that most research has studied only
the influence of smaller majorities
Unanimity of the - When the real participant was given
Majority the support of another real participant
or confederate, conformity levels
dropped significantly, reducing the
percentage of wrong answers from
33% to 5.5%
- If the confederate (dissenter) gave
an answer different from the majority
and the true answer, conformity rates
dropped to 9%. This was nearly the
same as when the dissenter gave
support to the real participant by
giving the right answer
- Asch concluded that it was breaking
the group’s unanimous position that
was the major factor in conformity
reduction
Difficulty of Task - In one variation, Asch made the
difference between line lengths much
smaller. The level of conformity
increased (harder task)
- A study also found that the difficulty
of the task is moderated by an
individual’s self-efficacy (self
confidence / belief)
Types and Explanations for Conformity
KEY TERMS/AO1 AO3
Compliance - an individual accepts influence (P) Support for normative social influence is shown as
because they hope to gain approval and avoid it has real life applications and makes people
disapproval. Fitting in is desirable and this becomes behave more environmentally friendly
the motivation for conformity. Social comparison (E) Nolan investigated whether people detected the
occurs to see who’s beliefs are correct. Underlying influence of social norms on their energy conservation
attitude doesn’t change, only the views expressed behaviour
in public (E) They found that people believed behaviour of the
neighbours had the least impact, research showed it
had the largest impact
(L) Thus suggests people underestimate the impact of
normative social influence on their behaviour
(P) The power of normative social influence is
supported by research on adolescent smoking
(E) This showed a relationship between people’s
normative beliefs and them starting to smoke
(E) Linkenbach found that adolescents who were told
that most of their peers did not smoke were less likely
to start smoking
(L) This shows that people change their behaviour to
fit in with the majority
Internalisation - an individual accepts the views (P) Informational social influence helps to explain why
and beliefs of a group as their own. examination of social stereotypes develop
the group’s position may convince the individual (E) Research shows that exposure to others’s beliefs
that they are wrong and the group is right. This impact the way we stereotype others
leads to acceptance of the group’s POV both (E) Wittenbank found that people exposed to a
publicly and privately negative yet supposedly majority view later reported
more negative views about black individuals
(L) This suggests that we are influenced by others
when we believe they know more than we do
(P) Informational social influence also explains how
political opinions are shaped.
(E) Research shows that people’s judgements about
politicians can be influenced by their knowledge of
others reactions
(E) Fein found judgements about presidential
candidates in a debate were influenced by others’
reactions towards them
(L) This suggests that we are influenced by others
when we believe they know more than we do
Identification - a form of influence where an
individual adopts an attitude or behaviour in order
to be associated with a particular group or person.
Has elements of compliance (wanting to be
accepted as a member of the group) and of
internalisation (adopting behaviours because they
believe them to be right and true)
, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Normative Social Influence (NSI) - going along
with the majority without actually adopting their
POV. Humans have a need for social
companionship and a fear of rejection. It is
important that the individual feels like they are
under surveillance in order for NSI to occur. Does
not carry on in private or for a long time
Informational Social Influence (ISI) - an individual
accepts information from others as evidence about
reality. Humans need to feel that their behaviour
and beliefs are correct. They rely on the opinion of
others, especially if the situation is ambiguous or
they think others have more knowledge than them
Variables Affecting Conformity
KEY STUDY: ASCH (1956)
Aim: To see how the ‘real’ participant would react to the behaviour of the confederates
Procedure: 123 male US undergraduates. All but one were confederates. Told to look at three
lines of different lengths and say which one matches the ‘standard’ line. The real participant
answered second to last. 12 out of 18 trials (critical trials) the confederates were told to give
unanimously wrong answers
Findings: On the 12 critical trials, the average conformity rate was 33% (⅓ of the trials). ¼
never conformed, ½ conformed on 6 or more and 1 in 20 conformed on all 12 critical trials. He
performed a control condition without confederates giving wrong answers, participants made
mistakes 1% of the time, did not explain conformity rate of main study. In an interview after, he
found that the majority of participants who had conformed continued to privately trust their own
answer but changed their public behaviour (compliance)
Conclusion: He found that conformity was lower when the group size was smaller and
increased as group size increased, up to a point
KEY TERMS AO1 AO3
Group Size - Found that there was very little (P) Asch’s study gives support for
conformity when the majority was just independent behaviour rather than
1 or 2 confederates conformity
- Under the pressure of 3 (E) In ⅔ of trials, participants did not conform
confederates, the proportion of to the overwhelming majority, despite them
conforming answers jumped to 30% having a completely different view
- Further increasing the size of the (E) Ash argued this indicated a tendency for
majority did not increase the level of participants to show independent behaviour
conformity substantially. Shows size of rather than simply conform
majority is important up to a point (L) This suggests that majority influence is not
as strong as it might seem as a higher
proportion of trials produced an independent
response rather than conforming to the
majority
(P) Asch’s research is criticised for being a
‘child of its time’
(E) It’s possible that Asch’s findings are unique
, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
because the study took place during a period
of US history when conformity was more
important
(E) The USA was affected by McCarthyism
where people were scared to go against the
majority, so were more likely to conform
(E) Another similar study was conducted in the
1980s and only had one conforming response
in 400 trials. However it was done again using
youths on probation and probation officers and
got similar results
(L) This confirmed that conformity is more likely
when the threat of not conforming is higher,
and that conformity levels change over time
(P) One weakness of research in conformity is
that studies have only used a limited rage of
majority sizes
(E) Asch believed that a majority of three was a
sufficient number for maximum influence
(E) Bond said that only asch used a majority
greater than 9 and most studies have used a
majority of between 2 and 4
(L) This suggests that we know very little about
the effect of a larger majority on conformity
rates given that most research has studied only
the influence of smaller majorities
Unanimity of the - When the real participant was given
Majority the support of another real participant
or confederate, conformity levels
dropped significantly, reducing the
percentage of wrong answers from
33% to 5.5%
- If the confederate (dissenter) gave
an answer different from the majority
and the true answer, conformity rates
dropped to 9%. This was nearly the
same as when the dissenter gave
support to the real participant by
giving the right answer
- Asch concluded that it was breaking
the group’s unanimous position that
was the major factor in conformity
reduction
Difficulty of Task - In one variation, Asch made the
difference between line lengths much
smaller. The level of conformity
increased (harder task)
- A study also found that the difficulty
of the task is moderated by an
individual’s self-efficacy (self
confidence / belief)
