Social Influence

Question	Answer
Types Of Conformity	Compliance: Conforming to gain approval Internalisation: Conforming because of an acceptance of views Identification: Accepting influence because of a desire to be associated
Explanations For Conformity	Normative Social Influence: Conformity based on the desire for approval More likely to occur when under the belief of surveillance Informational Social Influence: Based on an acceptance of information as evidence about reality More likely when the situation is ambiguous
Types of Conformity and Explanations for Conformity (EVALUATION)	1. research support for ISI - Lucas et al - this study shows that people conform in situations where they feel like they don't know the answer . 2. individual differences in NSI - McGhee and Teevan - found high school students in need of affiliation were more likely to conform.
Conformity - Asch (KEY STUDY)	Asch, 1956 Procedure: Participants view different lengths of lines and compare them to a standard one Group contained confederates with participants being the penultimate Confederates give wrong answer 12/18 trials Findings: Conformity rate was 33% Without confederates, a mistake was 1% Participants conform to avoid disapproval
Conformity - Asch Evaluation	1. limitation because other studies have shown that Asch's study is not consistent across situations and may not be consistent across time, and so is not a fundamental feature of human behaviour 2. Artificial task and stimuli - findings do not generalise to everyday situations 3. Limited application of findings - Asch's findings may only be relevant to America
Conformity to Social Roles (KEY STUDY)	Zimbardo, The Stanford prison experiment (1973) PROCEDURE: Male volunteers assigned roles of prisoners or guards Prisoners given numbers, guards given uniform and power FINDINGS: Guards became tyrannical and treated the prisoners inhumanly Prisoners conformed to their roles
Conformity to Social Roles - Zimbardo (EVALUATION)	1. Ethical Issues of Zimbardo, (Protection of participants, Physical harm, Confidentiality etc) 2.Demand characteristics, being to influential, Banuazizi and Movahedi 3. Not automatic, Guards chose how to act
Research on Obedience - Milgram (KEY STUDY)	Milgram, 1963 PROCEDURE: 40 volunteer participants in each condition Real participant = Teacher Confederate = Learner Teacher administering increasing shock levels up to a fatal 450V FINDINGS: In voice back condition, 65% went to maximum voltage All participants went to 300V The authority figure and its importance
Research on Obedience (EVALUATION)	1. Ethical issues due to deception and lack of informed consent 2. Internal validity- Orne and Holland claimed many saw through the deception 3. External validity- the obedience alibi
Situational Variables	Proximity: obedience levels decreased with increasing proximity Location: Obedience levels dropped to 48% in lower-status setting Power of Uniform: People more likely to obey someone in uniform
Evaluation of Milgram's variation	1. 3 confederates dressed differently asked people to pick up litter for a coin people were more likely to do it for the security guard than the averagely dressed person. supports Milgram's study and results 2. lack of internal validity - it is unclear if the results are genuine or if the ppts saw through the deception and acted accordingly 3. cross- culture replications - studies have shown that the findings are valid around the world.
The Agentic State	A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe to be acting for an authority figure. Autonomic state - the opposite of being an agentic state is autonomic state. they feel a sense of responsibility for their own actions. binding factors - aspects of the situation that allows the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the moral strain they are feeling
Legitimacy of Authority	an explanation of obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we percieve to have authority over us. this is justified by the individuals position of power within a social hierarchy. Destructive authority - problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive e.g Hitler, Stain, Pol Pot this was shown in Milgrams study when the experimenter used prods to make them keep going.
Evaluation of Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority	1. A limited explanation - the agentic state doesn't explain why some participants didn't obey . This suggests that agentic state can only explain some situations of obedience 1. cultural differences - a strength for legitimacy of authority explanation is that it is a useful account of cultural differences. it increases the validity of the research
Dispositional explanations	dispositional explanation - any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of individuals personality. such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations Authoritarian personality - a type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors
The Authoritarian personality (KEY STUDY)	Adorno - 1950 PROCEDURE: 200 middle class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards different races. and potential for fascism (F-scale) which is used to measure authoritarian personality. FINDINGS: People who scored high on the F scale identified with strong people and were generally contemptuous of the weak. authoritarian people had a cognitive style were there are no fuzziness between stereotypes about groups
Authoritarian characteristics and origins.	Characteristics - tendency to obey authority and have extreme respect for it. they have highly conventional attitudes toward, sex,gender, race. origins - thought it was formed in childhood as a result from harsh parenting typically form harsh punishment and expectations of absolute loyalty, impossible high standards and severe criticism of perceived failings.
The Authoritarian personality (EVALUATION)	1. research support - Elms and Milgram study 2. limited explanation - this is a limitation because it is clear that an alternative explanation is much more realistic that social identity explains obedience. 3. political bias - this is a limitation for adornos study because it is not comprehensive dispositional explanation that can account for obedience to authority across the whole political spectrum.
Resistance to Social influence	refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressures to conform to the majority or to obey the authority. this ability to withstand social pressures is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.
Resistance to social influence - social support	Conformity - social support can help to resist conformity. The pressure to conform can be reduced if there is another person who agrees with you Obedience - social support can also help people resist obedience. The pressure to be obedient is reduced when you see someone else who disobeys
Resistance to Social influence (Social Support and resisting obedience)	Difficult to take a stand against authority, Especially in the situation of others participating in obedient behaviour More confident in disobeying with an ally, who acts as a role model Milgram, one variation involves two confederates walking out, conformity reduced to 10%
Locus of Control	Internal LOC = greater independence and less reliance on the opinions of others (Confidence, skill) External LOC = more passive attitude and greater acceptance of the influence of others (Luck, fate) High internals less vulnerable to influence and better able to resist coercion
Resistance to Social influence (EVALUATION)	1. research to support social support - Allen and Levine, Gamson 2.contradictory evidence - Twenge 2004 -the data showed people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external. this could be because of changing society and many things are out of personal control
Minority Influence	minority influence - a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. Leads to an internalisation or conversion in which private attitudes and public views are changed.
Minority Influence procedure	consistency - minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority. It is important because it draws attention to the minority view. commitment - minority influence is more powerful if the minority demonstrate dedication to their position, for example by making personal sacrifices. This is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self interest. flexibility - relentless consistency could be a counter productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influences is more effective if the minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of a compromise
Minority Influence (KEY STUDY)	Moscovici et al, 1969 PROCEDURE: Groups of four naive participants and two confederates Shown blue slides varying in intensity but confederates called them green Group 1 confederates - consistently Group 2 confederates - inconsistently FINDINGS : Consistent minority influenced naive participants to say green on 8% of trials Inconsistent minority exerted very little influence
Minority Influence (EVALUATION)	1. artificial task - lacking external validity and are limited to what they can tell us about how minority influence works in real life social situations. 2. limited real world applications - real life social situations are much more complicated than this. There is more involved in the difference between majority and minority than just numbers.
Social influence and social change	Special role of minority influence 1. Drawing attention - Thorough social proof 2. Consistency 3. Deeper processing of the issue 4. The augmentation principle 5. The snowball effect- more people converting 6. Social crytomnesia - memory has changed but can't remember when
Social change through minority influence, Conformity	If people percieve something as the norm, they alter their behaviour to fit that norm Correcting misconceptions about 'actual norms' using social norms interventions 'Most of us dont drink and drive' - 13.7% drop
Social Influence processes in Social Change (EVALUATION)	1. minority influence is only indirectly effective - it shows that its effects are limited and fragile in its role in social influence. 2. role of deeper processing - central element has been changed or is incorrect of minority influence casting doubt on the validity of Moscovici's theory.

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