samedi 4 juin 2022
Social in uence 16 markers
Joseph and Kate are two newly quali ed teachers who recently joined Christ the King
College. Their colleagues are going on a one-day strike due to pay and conditions. When
Kate was asked why she went on strike, she said, “After sitting in the sta room and
hearing the arguments from my colleagues, I realised they were right, and the conditions are
de nitely getting worse for teachers”. When Joseph was asked, he said, “I just fancied a
day o and didn’t want to be the only one sitting in the o ce alone, so I thought I would
join everyone else”.
Discuss explanations of conformity. Refer to Joseph and Kate in your answer. (16
marks)
There are two key explanations of conformity: informational social in uence and normative
social in uence. Normative social in uence (NSI) an emotional process which is de ned
by conformity to the majority (or a group) for the sake of group membership and social
approval. NSI explains that a person conforms because it is socially rewarding, or to avoid
social rejection: for example feeling like they don’t ‘ t in’. Finally NSI is associated with
compliance suggesting a super cial and temporary change in behaviour.
Asch’s (1956) study into conformity provides research support for NSI. He found that
75% of the participants conformed to the majority and provided an obviously incorrect
answer on a line judgement task at least once, moreover 36% conformed on every
occasion. When questioned by Asch in post‐experimental interviews, participants said
that they changed their answer to avoid rejection from the rest of the group which clearly
shows that NSI had occurred, as the participants conformed to t in. Furthermore, Asch
demonstrated that when the pressure to publicly conform is removed, by asking
participants to write down their answers on a piece of paper rather than say them
aloud, the conformity rates fell to 12.5%. This provides further evidence for NSI because
the reduction in public pressure reduced the rate of conformity furthermore the drop in
conformity can be explained as NSI often results in super cial change hence the change
in answers between conditions.
Joseph is demonstrating NSI because he is conforming so that he isn’t alone and so
as to join in with everyone else. The extract doesn’t suggest that he believes the strike is
right, which would be linked to informational social in uence, and therefore he is
conforming to be accepted and belong to the group. Furthermore as there is only a
temporary change in Joseph’s public behaviour rather than his beliefs, NSI can further
explain his behaviour as it is associated with compliance, a type of conformity which results
in short term super cial change.
However, NSI is not the only reason that people conform and some people conform for
informational reasons. Informational Social In uence (ISI) is when a person conforms to
gain knowledge, or because they believe that someone else is ‘right’. ISI is usually
associated with internalisation, where a person changes both their public behaviour and
their private beliefs, on a long‐term basis. This semi‐permanent change in behaviour and
1
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, belief is the result of a person adopting a new belief system, because they genuinely
believe that their new beliefs are ‘right’ or that the majority are ‘experts’.
One strength of this explanation is that there is research to support it. Lucas et al (2006)
found that when presented with di cult maths problems to solve, participants were more
likely to conform to the majority answer (even though these were actually incorrect)
especially the participants who had rated their own maths ability as poor. This supports ISI
as an explanation for conformity as it supports the idea that people conform in ambiguous
situations where they believe someone else is more of an expert than they are.
Kate is demonstrating ISI because she is conforming because she believes her
colleagues are right. The extract states: “I realised they were right, and the conditions are
de nitely getting worse for teachers”. Furthermore, Kate is also demonstrating
internalisation as she has changed her public behaviour (by going on strike) and her
private beliefs (‘I believe they are right’) which is likely to result in a long‐ term semi‐
permanent change in behaviour.
2
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Social in uence 16 markers
Joseph and Kate are two newly quali ed teachers who recently joined Christ the King
College. Their colleagues are going on a one-day strike due to pay and conditions. When
Kate was asked why she went on strike, she said, “After sitting in the sta room and
hearing the arguments from my colleagues, I realised they were right, and the conditions are
de nitely getting worse for teachers”. When Joseph was asked, he said, “I just fancied a
day o and didn’t want to be the only one sitting in the o ce alone, so I thought I would
join everyone else”.
Discuss explanations of conformity. Refer to Joseph and Kate in your answer. (16
marks)
There are two key explanations of conformity: informational social in uence and normative
social in uence. Normative social in uence (NSI) an emotional process which is de ned
by conformity to the majority (or a group) for the sake of group membership and social
approval. NSI explains that a person conforms because it is socially rewarding, or to avoid
social rejection: for example feeling like they don’t ‘ t in’. Finally NSI is associated with
compliance suggesting a super cial and temporary change in behaviour.
Asch’s (1956) study into conformity provides research support for NSI. He found that
75% of the participants conformed to the majority and provided an obviously incorrect
answer on a line judgement task at least once, moreover 36% conformed on every
occasion. When questioned by Asch in post‐experimental interviews, participants said
that they changed their answer to avoid rejection from the rest of the group which clearly
shows that NSI had occurred, as the participants conformed to t in. Furthermore, Asch
demonstrated that when the pressure to publicly conform is removed, by asking
participants to write down their answers on a piece of paper rather than say them
aloud, the conformity rates fell to 12.5%. This provides further evidence for NSI because
the reduction in public pressure reduced the rate of conformity furthermore the drop in
conformity can be explained as NSI often results in super cial change hence the change
in answers between conditions.
Joseph is demonstrating NSI because he is conforming so that he isn’t alone and so
as to join in with everyone else. The extract doesn’t suggest that he believes the strike is
right, which would be linked to informational social in uence, and therefore he is
conforming to be accepted and belong to the group. Furthermore as there is only a
temporary change in Joseph’s public behaviour rather than his beliefs, NSI can further
explain his behaviour as it is associated with compliance, a type of conformity which results
in short term super cial change.
However, NSI is not the only reason that people conform and some people conform for
informational reasons. Informational Social In uence (ISI) is when a person conforms to
gain knowledge, or because they believe that someone else is ‘right’. ISI is usually
associated with internalisation, where a person changes both their public behaviour and
their private beliefs, on a long‐term basis. This semi‐permanent change in behaviour and
1
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, belief is the result of a person adopting a new belief system, because they genuinely
believe that their new beliefs are ‘right’ or that the majority are ‘experts’.
One strength of this explanation is that there is research to support it. Lucas et al (2006)
found that when presented with di cult maths problems to solve, participants were more
likely to conform to the majority answer (even though these were actually incorrect)
especially the participants who had rated their own maths ability as poor. This supports ISI
as an explanation for conformity as it supports the idea that people conform in ambiguous
situations where they believe someone else is more of an expert than they are.
Kate is demonstrating ISI because she is conforming because she believes her
colleagues are right. The extract states: “I realised they were right, and the conditions are
de nitely getting worse for teachers”. Furthermore, Kate is also demonstrating
internalisation as she has changed her public behaviour (by going on strike) and her
private beliefs (‘I believe they are right’) which is likely to result in a long‐ term semi‐
permanent change in behaviour.
2
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