Discuss what psychological research has told us about why people conform.
AO1 Deutsch And Gerard 1955
- dual process theory explains people conforming as a result of feeling subject, either
normative or informational social influence
normative social influence - the desire to fit in and be accepted
- Wants to feel accepted by the group and avoids rejection
- Changes their public behaviour, but not the private believes
- Compliance
- Temporary behaviour change
- For example, smoking to fit in with the group, although you don’t agree with it
Informative social influence - desire to be right
- look at others who they believe may have more information.
- Occurs when a person is unsure of the situation or lacks knowledge.
- Internalisation
- For example, not knowing how to use the cutlery at a fancy restaurant, look at others and
copy them
AO3 normative social influence
Asch’s (1956) study into conformity
- Found that many of the participants went along with the majority and provided an
obviously incorrect answer on a line judgement task.
- When questioned in post-experimental interviews, ppts said that they changed their
answer to avoid disapproval from the rest of the group which shows that NSI had
occurred, as the participants conformed to fit 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.
Research shows different results than Asch’s study
- Perrin and Spencer 1980
- Conducted an asch style experiment and found conformity levels of 0.25%.
- Therefore, suggesting that the original results do not represent conformity and the idea of
normative social influence entirely.
Informational social influence
Jenness (1932)
- Participants asked to make independent judgements about the number of jelly beans
contained in a jar and then discuss their estimates in a group.
- After discussion, participants then made another individual estimate.
- Found that this second private estimate moved closer to the group estimate
- This shows that ISI will occur in unfamiliar situations as the participants believed they
gained knowledge from the group and are now more likely to be right.
Jenness’s experiment is criticised for lacking ecological validity
- estimating a number of beans in a jar is a mundane task with no social consequences.
- Therefore, not reflecting informational social influence in real life
Outline and evaluate conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo.
AO1 conformity to social roles = identification (changing both your public and private reviews to fit in)
Zimbardo aims to investigate reasons for high levels of aggression in American prisons
- fake prison in the basement of Stanford University.
- 21 participants 10 prisoners, 11 guards
- Prisoners were given a realistic arrest at their homes, and were fingerprinted, stripped etc
, - They were given uniforms and identification numbers in attempts to dehumanise them and
had to follow strict rules during the day.
- The guards worked an eight hour shift and were also given uniforms handcuffs etc
Findings:
- prisoners and guards quickly began conforming to their social roles.
- By six days, the experiment was cancelled early due to fears of the prisoners mental
health
Therefore, showing the situation or power of the present environment changes behaviour
AO3 lacking population validity
- Zimbardo only used 24 US male participants.
- This means his sample was gender biassed and unrepresentative of the general
population as it consisted of only males – it cannot be applied to females
- Additionally, the study was only included people from America so it wasn’t representative
of other cultures
- Therefore, Zimbardo’s study lacks population validity, reducing the validity of his findings
A strength of Zimbardo’s study is that there was some good control over variables
- For example, Zimbardo controlled for emotional stability because all participants were
rated as emotionally stable before the experiment and randomly assigned to either the
prisoner or guard group
- This helped to rule out individual differences as an explanation of group differences
(guards vs. prisoners) Thus, any differences in behaviour are due to social roles, not
individual differences
- This increases the validity of the study as it increases our confidence in the cause and
effect relationship between social roles and behaviour
However, it lacks internal validity
- It is thought that the prisoners and guards cted according to stereotypes rather than
conforming to social roles imitating depictions of prisoners and guards seen in the media
such as prison films.
- These films showed controlling and aggressive guards which may have influenced the
guards to act similarly.
- In Zimbardo's study, only one third of the gods were aggressive whilst the rest were either
neutral or tried to help prisoners.
- Therefore, the study may lack internal validity
Outline and evaluate explanations for obedience
AO1 legitimacy of authority
- had by someone with the right to order and discipline in a social hierarchy, eg. teachers,
through cues.
- We learn to trust these authority figures through childhood for my parents and teachers
Agentic state
- when someone leaves their autonomous state and becomes agents to the authority
figures, who has power due to the social position in the hierarchy
- without taking responsibility for themselves and therefore becoming de-individualised.
AO3 legitimacy of authority
- bickman studied how social cues, eg uniform, affects obedience by having experimenters
wear different outfits
- Found that 19% followed orders of people dressed in everyday clothes, while 38%
obeyed, people wearing uniform
- Therefore, supporting that legitimacy of authority can be seen through social cues
Furthermore, this explanation can help to explain real-life obedience.
AO1 Deutsch And Gerard 1955
- dual process theory explains people conforming as a result of feeling subject, either
normative or informational social influence
normative social influence - the desire to fit in and be accepted
- Wants to feel accepted by the group and avoids rejection
- Changes their public behaviour, but not the private believes
- Compliance
- Temporary behaviour change
- For example, smoking to fit in with the group, although you don’t agree with it
Informative social influence - desire to be right
- look at others who they believe may have more information.
- Occurs when a person is unsure of the situation or lacks knowledge.
- Internalisation
- For example, not knowing how to use the cutlery at a fancy restaurant, look at others and
copy them
AO3 normative social influence
Asch’s (1956) study into conformity
- Found that many of the participants went along with the majority and provided an
obviously incorrect answer on a line judgement task.
- When questioned in post-experimental interviews, ppts said that they changed their
answer to avoid disapproval from the rest of the group which shows that NSI had
occurred, as the participants conformed to fit 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.
Research shows different results than Asch’s study
- Perrin and Spencer 1980
- Conducted an asch style experiment and found conformity levels of 0.25%.
- Therefore, suggesting that the original results do not represent conformity and the idea of
normative social influence entirely.
Informational social influence
Jenness (1932)
- Participants asked to make independent judgements about the number of jelly beans
contained in a jar and then discuss their estimates in a group.
- After discussion, participants then made another individual estimate.
- Found that this second private estimate moved closer to the group estimate
- This shows that ISI will occur in unfamiliar situations as the participants believed they
gained knowledge from the group and are now more likely to be right.
Jenness’s experiment is criticised for lacking ecological validity
- estimating a number of beans in a jar is a mundane task with no social consequences.
- Therefore, not reflecting informational social influence in real life
Outline and evaluate conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo.
AO1 conformity to social roles = identification (changing both your public and private reviews to fit in)
Zimbardo aims to investigate reasons for high levels of aggression in American prisons
- fake prison in the basement of Stanford University.
- 21 participants 10 prisoners, 11 guards
- Prisoners were given a realistic arrest at their homes, and were fingerprinted, stripped etc
, - They were given uniforms and identification numbers in attempts to dehumanise them and
had to follow strict rules during the day.
- The guards worked an eight hour shift and were also given uniforms handcuffs etc
Findings:
- prisoners and guards quickly began conforming to their social roles.
- By six days, the experiment was cancelled early due to fears of the prisoners mental
health
Therefore, showing the situation or power of the present environment changes behaviour
AO3 lacking population validity
- Zimbardo only used 24 US male participants.
- This means his sample was gender biassed and unrepresentative of the general
population as it consisted of only males – it cannot be applied to females
- Additionally, the study was only included people from America so it wasn’t representative
of other cultures
- Therefore, Zimbardo’s study lacks population validity, reducing the validity of his findings
A strength of Zimbardo’s study is that there was some good control over variables
- For example, Zimbardo controlled for emotional stability because all participants were
rated as emotionally stable before the experiment and randomly assigned to either the
prisoner or guard group
- This helped to rule out individual differences as an explanation of group differences
(guards vs. prisoners) Thus, any differences in behaviour are due to social roles, not
individual differences
- This increases the validity of the study as it increases our confidence in the cause and
effect relationship between social roles and behaviour
However, it lacks internal validity
- It is thought that the prisoners and guards cted according to stereotypes rather than
conforming to social roles imitating depictions of prisoners and guards seen in the media
such as prison films.
- These films showed controlling and aggressive guards which may have influenced the
guards to act similarly.
- In Zimbardo's study, only one third of the gods were aggressive whilst the rest were either
neutral or tried to help prisoners.
- Therefore, the study may lack internal validity
Outline and evaluate explanations for obedience
AO1 legitimacy of authority
- had by someone with the right to order and discipline in a social hierarchy, eg. teachers,
through cues.
- We learn to trust these authority figures through childhood for my parents and teachers
Agentic state
- when someone leaves their autonomous state and becomes agents to the authority
figures, who has power due to the social position in the hierarchy
- without taking responsibility for themselves and therefore becoming de-individualised.
AO3 legitimacy of authority
- bickman studied how social cues, eg uniform, affects obedience by having experimenters
wear different outfits
- Found that 19% followed orders of people dressed in everyday clothes, while 38%
obeyed, people wearing uniform
- Therefore, supporting that legitimacy of authority can be seen through social cues
Furthermore, this explanation can help to explain real-life obedience.
