Psychology aqa
Revision guide
, Key topic one
Social influence
Types of conformity
Compliance: conforming to gain approval
Internalization: conforming because of an
acceptance of views
Identification: accepting influence because of a
desire to be associated with a group Variables affecting conformity
Identification has elements of compliance and
internalization Key study (ASCH 1956)
Procedure: participants viewed lines of different lengths and compared them to a
Explanations for conformity standard line
Normative social influence: conformity - confederates were second to last and game same wrong answer on 12/18 trials
based on the desire for approval Findings: conformity rate approx 33%
More likely to occur when an individual - without confederates mistakes made was only 1%
believes they are under surveillance by - participants conformed to avoid disapproval.
the group
Informational social influence: based on - Group size: increased to 30% with majority of three
an acceptance of information from others - campbell and fairey: group size has different effect depending on type of judgement
as evidence about reality and motivation.
More likely if the situation is ambiguous or - Unanimity of the majority: with one dissenter giving the right answer, conformity 5.5%
where others are experts - dissenter giving different wrong answer conformity 9%
- difficulty of task: if correct answer less obvious conformity was higher.
AO3 - Lucas et al - influence of task difficulty moderated by individuals self-efficacy
- difficulties distinguishing between
compliance and internalization. AO3
- research support for normative influence - Asch research a ‘child of its time’ (Perrin and spencer)
eg smoking take up (linkenbach and Perkins). - we know very little about the effects of larger majority sizes on conformity levels
- research support for informational - independent behavior rather than conformity- participants maintained their
influence, eg attitudes towards African independence on 2/3 of trials
Americans (writtenbrink and Henley). - Unconvincing confederates: mori and arai over came this problem. Similar results to
- people underestimate impact of normative Asch
influence on their behavior. (Nolan et al). - cultural differences in conformity - smith et al found conformity rates higher in
- informational influence is moderated by collectivist cultures.
AO3 - evaluate
type of task (Laughlin).
BBC PRISON STUDY
Conformity to social roles (reicher and haslam) - conformity to roles is not automatic: haslam and reicher Argue the guards
Key study: the Stanford prison experiment - procedure: make volunteers, chose how to behave, rather than blindly conforming to their social role.
- procedure: male volunteers assigned matched on social and clinical - demand characteristics: banuazizi and movahedi argue that the participants
roles of either prisoners or guards. measures, assigned roles of behavior in the spe was a response to powerful demand characteristics
- prisoners referred to as numbers only, prisoners or guards. - were these studies ethical? Zimbardo’s study followed ethical guidelines but
guards given uniforms and power to make - findings: unlike SPE, neither participants still suffered. Greater steps to minimize potential harm to
rules. guards nor prisoners conformed participants in the bbc study.
- findings: guards became tyrannical and to their assigned role. - the spe and it’s relevance to abu ghraib: similarities between the spe and
abusive towards the prisoners. - prisoners worked collectively to prisoner abuses at abu ghraib.
- prisoners conformed to their role with challenge authority of the guards, - what did we learn ? Zimbardo claims unthinkingly conformity can lead to a
some showing extreme reactions of crying resulting in power shift. drift into tyranny - disputed by reicher and haslam.
and rage.
, Agentic state and
legitimacy of authority
The agentic state
* person who acts as an agent to carry out another persons
Situational variables affecting obedience wishes.
* binding factors operate to maintain obedience, eg social
Key study: Milgram (1963) etiquette.
- Procedure: 40 volunteer participants in each condition. * demonstrated in actions at My Lai.
- Real participant acted as a teacher, confederate as a learner.
- Teacher administered increasing shock levels up to 450V. Legitimacy of authority
- Findings: in voice feedback condition, 65% wen to maximum 450v
- All participants went to 300v level. * person must perceive an individual in a position of social
control.
Proximity: obedience levels decreased with increasing proximity. * people accept definitions of a situation offered by
Location: obedience levels dropped to 48% in lower status setting. legitimate authority figure.
The power of uniform: people more likely to obey someone in a * legitimate commands arise from institutions, eg a university
uniform (Bushman) or the military
AO3 AO3
- internal validity: Orne and holland claim many participants saw * the agentic state does mot explain gradual transitions
through the deception. found in nazi doctors.
- historical validity: Milgram’s findings still relevant today. No * agentic state or cruelty? Obedient behavior may be due to a
relationship between year of study and obedience levels found desire to inflict harm on others.
(blass). * agentic shift is a common response when a person loses self
- proximity: reserve police battalion 101 control (Dennis and arts)
- location: high levels of obedience not surprising * legitimacy can serve as the basis for justifying harm to
- the power of uniform: research support others.
* tarnow provides support for power of legitimate authority
in aircraft cockpits.
Au!orit"ian personality
- people scoring high on f scale raised within authoritarian family
background (Adorno et al.)
- RWA: conventionalism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian
aggression (altemeyer).
Key study: elms and Milgram (1966)
- procedure: 20 obedient participants and 20 defiant participants.
- completed mmpi and f scale, and asked open-ended questions.
- findings: little difference between obedient and defiant participants on
mmpi.
- higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient participants.
- obedient participants reported being less close to Father’s
AO3
- research Evidence: correlation between rwa scores and maximum voltage
shock (dambrun and vatine)
- social context explanations more flexible.
- differences: many fully obedient participants had good relationships
with their parents
- education may determine authoritarianism and obedience (middendorp and
meloen.)
- left wing views associated with lower levels of obedience (begue et al)
, Resistance to social influence
Minority influence
Minority influence and behavioral style
Social support - minority influence effective with a consistent, committed and
- presence of social support enables individual to resist flexible style.
conformity (ASH) - wood et al: minorities who were especially consistent were
- social support breaks unanimity and provides an independent most influential
assessment of reality - commitment important as it suggests certainty and confidence.
- disobedient peers act as role models - flexibility more effective at changing opinion rather than
- obedience rates dropped 10% when two confederates defied rigid arguments.
experimenter (Milgram)
Locus of control Key study: moscovici et al. (1969)
-internal loC: greater independence and less reliance on the - procedure: groups of four naive participants and two
opinions of others confederates.
- external loc: more passing and greater acceptance of the -shown blue slides varying in intensity but confederates called
influence of others them green.
- high internals less vulnerable to influence and better able to - group one confederates answered consistently, group two
resist coercion (Hutchins and etsey) confederates answered inconsistently.
- findings: consistent minority influenced naive participants to
AO3 social support say green on 8% of trials.
- social support in conformity studies more effective when it - inconsistent minority exerted very little influence.
was from first responder in group
- research demonstrates importance of social support in AO3
resisting pressure to drink (Rees and Wallace) - research support for flexibility (nemeth and brilmayer).
- the rosenstrasse protest showed power of social support - the real value of minority influence is that it “opens the
mind” (nemeth).
AO3 locus of control - mAckie argues that it is the majority rather than the minority
- locus of control related to normative but not informational that processes information more.
influence (Spector) - tipping point for commitment - percentage of committed
- young people far more external than in 1960s opinion holders necessary to ‘tip’ the majority was 10% (xie et
- research support: people high in externality more easily al).
persuaded and more likely to conform. - Minority influence in name only - difficult to convince people
of the value of dissent.
Social influence proce#es in social change
Social change through minority influence AO3
- drawing attention to an issue. - social change through minority influence is
- minority creates a conflict between majority position and minority gradual.
position. - being perceived as “deviant” limits the influence
- minorities more influential when they express their views consistently. of minorities.
- augmentation principle: minorities more influential if they suffer for - social norms and the boomerang effect eg
their views. Schultz et al with electricity usage
- the snowball effect: an initial small effect spreads more widely until it - the communist manifesto: overcame issues that
reaches a “tipping point” typically limit the influence of minorities.
Social change through majority influence
- If people perceive something as the norm, they alter their behavior to fit
that norm.
- correcting misperceptions about “actual” norms using social norms
interventions.
- eg most of us don’t drink and drive campaign. Resulted in a drop of drink
driving by 13.7%
Revision guide
, Key topic one
Social influence
Types of conformity
Compliance: conforming to gain approval
Internalization: conforming because of an
acceptance of views
Identification: accepting influence because of a
desire to be associated with a group Variables affecting conformity
Identification has elements of compliance and
internalization Key study (ASCH 1956)
Procedure: participants viewed lines of different lengths and compared them to a
Explanations for conformity standard line
Normative social influence: conformity - confederates were second to last and game same wrong answer on 12/18 trials
based on the desire for approval Findings: conformity rate approx 33%
More likely to occur when an individual - without confederates mistakes made was only 1%
believes they are under surveillance by - participants conformed to avoid disapproval.
the group
Informational social influence: based on - Group size: increased to 30% with majority of three
an acceptance of information from others - campbell and fairey: group size has different effect depending on type of judgement
as evidence about reality and motivation.
More likely if the situation is ambiguous or - Unanimity of the majority: with one dissenter giving the right answer, conformity 5.5%
where others are experts - dissenter giving different wrong answer conformity 9%
- difficulty of task: if correct answer less obvious conformity was higher.
AO3 - Lucas et al - influence of task difficulty moderated by individuals self-efficacy
- difficulties distinguishing between
compliance and internalization. AO3
- research support for normative influence - Asch research a ‘child of its time’ (Perrin and spencer)
eg smoking take up (linkenbach and Perkins). - we know very little about the effects of larger majority sizes on conformity levels
- research support for informational - independent behavior rather than conformity- participants maintained their
influence, eg attitudes towards African independence on 2/3 of trials
Americans (writtenbrink and Henley). - Unconvincing confederates: mori and arai over came this problem. Similar results to
- people underestimate impact of normative Asch
influence on their behavior. (Nolan et al). - cultural differences in conformity - smith et al found conformity rates higher in
- informational influence is moderated by collectivist cultures.
AO3 - evaluate
type of task (Laughlin).
BBC PRISON STUDY
Conformity to social roles (reicher and haslam) - conformity to roles is not automatic: haslam and reicher Argue the guards
Key study: the Stanford prison experiment - procedure: make volunteers, chose how to behave, rather than blindly conforming to their social role.
- procedure: male volunteers assigned matched on social and clinical - demand characteristics: banuazizi and movahedi argue that the participants
roles of either prisoners or guards. measures, assigned roles of behavior in the spe was a response to powerful demand characteristics
- prisoners referred to as numbers only, prisoners or guards. - were these studies ethical? Zimbardo’s study followed ethical guidelines but
guards given uniforms and power to make - findings: unlike SPE, neither participants still suffered. Greater steps to minimize potential harm to
rules. guards nor prisoners conformed participants in the bbc study.
- findings: guards became tyrannical and to their assigned role. - the spe and it’s relevance to abu ghraib: similarities between the spe and
abusive towards the prisoners. - prisoners worked collectively to prisoner abuses at abu ghraib.
- prisoners conformed to their role with challenge authority of the guards, - what did we learn ? Zimbardo claims unthinkingly conformity can lead to a
some showing extreme reactions of crying resulting in power shift. drift into tyranny - disputed by reicher and haslam.
and rage.
, Agentic state and
legitimacy of authority
The agentic state
* person who acts as an agent to carry out another persons
Situational variables affecting obedience wishes.
* binding factors operate to maintain obedience, eg social
Key study: Milgram (1963) etiquette.
- Procedure: 40 volunteer participants in each condition. * demonstrated in actions at My Lai.
- Real participant acted as a teacher, confederate as a learner.
- Teacher administered increasing shock levels up to 450V. Legitimacy of authority
- Findings: in voice feedback condition, 65% wen to maximum 450v
- All participants went to 300v level. * person must perceive an individual in a position of social
control.
Proximity: obedience levels decreased with increasing proximity. * people accept definitions of a situation offered by
Location: obedience levels dropped to 48% in lower status setting. legitimate authority figure.
The power of uniform: people more likely to obey someone in a * legitimate commands arise from institutions, eg a university
uniform (Bushman) or the military
AO3 AO3
- internal validity: Orne and holland claim many participants saw * the agentic state does mot explain gradual transitions
through the deception. found in nazi doctors.
- historical validity: Milgram’s findings still relevant today. No * agentic state or cruelty? Obedient behavior may be due to a
relationship between year of study and obedience levels found desire to inflict harm on others.
(blass). * agentic shift is a common response when a person loses self
- proximity: reserve police battalion 101 control (Dennis and arts)
- location: high levels of obedience not surprising * legitimacy can serve as the basis for justifying harm to
- the power of uniform: research support others.
* tarnow provides support for power of legitimate authority
in aircraft cockpits.
Au!orit"ian personality
- people scoring high on f scale raised within authoritarian family
background (Adorno et al.)
- RWA: conventionalism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian
aggression (altemeyer).
Key study: elms and Milgram (1966)
- procedure: 20 obedient participants and 20 defiant participants.
- completed mmpi and f scale, and asked open-ended questions.
- findings: little difference between obedient and defiant participants on
mmpi.
- higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient participants.
- obedient participants reported being less close to Father’s
AO3
- research Evidence: correlation between rwa scores and maximum voltage
shock (dambrun and vatine)
- social context explanations more flexible.
- differences: many fully obedient participants had good relationships
with their parents
- education may determine authoritarianism and obedience (middendorp and
meloen.)
- left wing views associated with lower levels of obedience (begue et al)
, Resistance to social influence
Minority influence
Minority influence and behavioral style
Social support - minority influence effective with a consistent, committed and
- presence of social support enables individual to resist flexible style.
conformity (ASH) - wood et al: minorities who were especially consistent were
- social support breaks unanimity and provides an independent most influential
assessment of reality - commitment important as it suggests certainty and confidence.
- disobedient peers act as role models - flexibility more effective at changing opinion rather than
- obedience rates dropped 10% when two confederates defied rigid arguments.
experimenter (Milgram)
Locus of control Key study: moscovici et al. (1969)
-internal loC: greater independence and less reliance on the - procedure: groups of four naive participants and two
opinions of others confederates.
- external loc: more passing and greater acceptance of the -shown blue slides varying in intensity but confederates called
influence of others them green.
- high internals less vulnerable to influence and better able to - group one confederates answered consistently, group two
resist coercion (Hutchins and etsey) confederates answered inconsistently.
- findings: consistent minority influenced naive participants to
AO3 social support say green on 8% of trials.
- social support in conformity studies more effective when it - inconsistent minority exerted very little influence.
was from first responder in group
- research demonstrates importance of social support in AO3
resisting pressure to drink (Rees and Wallace) - research support for flexibility (nemeth and brilmayer).
- the rosenstrasse protest showed power of social support - the real value of minority influence is that it “opens the
mind” (nemeth).
AO3 locus of control - mAckie argues that it is the majority rather than the minority
- locus of control related to normative but not informational that processes information more.
influence (Spector) - tipping point for commitment - percentage of committed
- young people far more external than in 1960s opinion holders necessary to ‘tip’ the majority was 10% (xie et
- research support: people high in externality more easily al).
persuaded and more likely to conform. - Minority influence in name only - difficult to convince people
of the value of dissent.
Social influence proce#es in social change
Social change through minority influence AO3
- drawing attention to an issue. - social change through minority influence is
- minority creates a conflict between majority position and minority gradual.
position. - being perceived as “deviant” limits the influence
- minorities more influential when they express their views consistently. of minorities.
- augmentation principle: minorities more influential if they suffer for - social norms and the boomerang effect eg
their views. Schultz et al with electricity usage
- the snowball effect: an initial small effect spreads more widely until it - the communist manifesto: overcame issues that
reaches a “tipping point” typically limit the influence of minorities.
Social change through majority influence
- If people perceive something as the norm, they alter their behavior to fit
that norm.
- correcting misperceptions about “actual” norms using social norms
interventions.
- eg most of us don’t drink and drive campaign. Resulted in a drop of drink
driving by 13.7%
