Social influence (Psychology)
What is ISI?
Informational Social Influence- (Deutsch & gerad (1955))-explanation for conformity-motivated by the desire to be right- leads to permanent changes in behaviour and beliefs (internalisation)- when an individual accpets information from someone and conforms to it- Jenness (1938) - Jelly beans- Lucas et al. (participants confrom to correct answer when maths was harder) - ambiguous situations
What is NSI?
Normative social influence- (Deutsch & Gerad (1955))- motivated by the desire to be right- where a person changes their behaviour in order to be accepted by the group- evidence= Schultz et al. (2008) - Hotel guests more likely to reuse towels, once told other guests did- Perkins (2003) adolescents less likely to smoke when told their peers didn't.
What are the three types of conformity
Kelman (1958) - Complaince, inddentification, internalisation
What is conformity and obedience?
Conformity- (Myers 1999) - The change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined pressure; yielding to the majority influence
Obedience- the complaince with an order from a legitimate authority
What is compliance?
Complaince is the weakest type of conformity. This is where an individual changes their behaviour in order to fit in with a group, however doesn't agree with the majority and their underlying beliefs are not chnaged, but wants to avoid social dissaproval- complaince is temporary and public. E.g following the latest trend.
Outline the differences between identification and internalisation.
Identification is when an individual changes their behaviour and belief to fit in with the group or role, however they revert back to their old ways, when the group isn't present. Internalisation is different becuase the individual changes their belief because they believe the group is right. Identification is temporary, public and sometimes private; internalisation is private and permanent.
Briefly explain Asch's study into conformity.
Asch (1951) - Aim: to investigate the extent in which social pressures from a group majority can cause a person to conform- set up a simple task with an obvious answer- lab experiemnt- 123 male students- asked to take part in a task of visual perception- participants seated around large table- all confederates- participant sat second to last- asked to identify the mathcing lines- repeated 18 times- confederates gave wrong answers 12/18 times- critical trials- conformity rate= 37%, 25% independednt- gave right answers- most participants said theyb knew participants were wrong but didn't want to stand out- shows compliance.
Give two strengths and two weaknesses of Asch's study.
Strengths: extranuous variables controlled (lab experiment), replicable- can be repeated
Weaknesses: Low ecological validity- lab is artifical, findings can't be generalised to real life situations, Sample bias- findings can't be generalised to everybody.
What are factors that effect conformity? (Asch)
Group size- Asch varied the number of confderates- CURVILINEAR- group size increase= so does conformity, until a point
Unanimity- Asch investigated if a non-conforming confederate would change confomity rates- lowered conformity rate- less social pressure
Task difficulty- varied the lengths of the lines, more ambiguity= more conformity (ISI) - Supports Lucas et al.'s study (maths problems) (ISI)
Asch did not research the roles of individual factors.
Briefly outline Zimbardo's study.
Zimbardo et al. (1973)- believed it is the situation that makes people act the way they do not their disposition- set up mock prison- Stanford Univeristy California - ad in newspaper- scrrening- 24 white middle class student males- signed some of their civil rights away- guards and prisoners were chosen at random- study stopped after 6 days (supposed to be 14) - psychological harm to participants
What are strengths and weaknesses of Zimbardo's study
Strengths: Qualitative and Qunatitative data used, high internal validity (including the selection of participants), mundane realism- (got a ex-criminal to judge the realism)- some agree, some disagree
Weaknesses: informed consent , psychological harm, sample bias - non-representative, researcher bias, LACK OF REALISM- BANAUZZI & MOHAVEDI (1975) - Play-acting, not conforming to the role.
What are the ethical guidelines?
1. Right to Withdraw - failed
2. Informed consent - failed
3. Data protection
4. Protection from harm -failed
Zimbardo's exp. caused these guidelines to be more prominent in society
Outline and explain Milgram's 5 variables in his base-line study
1. Teacher and learner in the same room: obedience rated dropped from 65 to 40%
2. touch proximity conditon (placing learner's hand down on electorcuting plate: obedience rates dropped form 65 to 30%.
3. Remote instruction condition (experimenter gives instructions through the phone: obedience rates dropped from 65 to 20.5%.
4. Uniform condition (Experimenter leaves room urgently and is replaced with someone is regular clothing): obedience rates dropped from 60 to 20%.
5. Location (study was moved from Yale uni to a run down builidng): obedience rates dropped from 65 to 47.5%.
What study supports Milgram (1963)'s findings?
Bickman (1974) - field study- experimenter asked passers by to do small, inconveinient tasks. Experiemnter wore a suit and tie and then changed to a guards uniform. More people obeyed his orders when he wore a guards unifrom compared to the suit. conclusion: uniform conveys the legitimate authority of an individual- increases obedience rates.
Briefly outline Milgram's (1963) baselines study
Milgram (1963) wanted to know why so many Germans obeyed Hitler's orders- are germans "different" or more obedient- conducted a study to see how obedient people are- 40 american men -ad in newspaper- yale uni- Lab experiemnt- volunteers arrived and where introduced to participants (confederates)- participant was always the teacher, confederate a learner- observed by an experimenter- participant asked questions to learner (who they can only hear), every time learner (confederate) answered incorrectly, participant must shock them from 15v till 450v- 12.5% participants got to 300v- 65% continued to 450v (fully obedient)- more than expected (14 students estimated no more than 3% would get to 450v).
Outline and explain the replication of Milgram (1963)'s baseline study.
Hofling et al. (1966) - field study- hospital - 22 nurses were phoned by a doctor (with a fake name), who asked to give their patients a new drug not on theifr ward list - 95% obeyed-
Rank & Jacobson (1977)- replicated Hofling et al.- altered some aspects of original procedure that might have maximised obedience - doc was in person, asked to increase prescription- nurses disccused with eachother - 2/18 obeyed.
What is agentic state?
A mental state- an individual feels no responsibility for their behaviour- because they are acting for an authority figure- Frees them from the damnds of their consciences, allowing them to obey even a destructive authority figure.
What is the autonomous state?
A mental state-opposite to agentic state- independence- feeling responsible for own actions.
What is agentic shift?
The switch from autonomy to agency. Milgram suggests this occurs when an individual perceives someone else as an authority figure- authority figure has greater power- higher in social hierarchy
What is legitimacy of authority?
An explanation for obedience - we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us- those in uniform (unifrom conveys the legitimate authority an individual has).
What are binding factors?
Aspects of the situation that allow individuals to ignore/minimise the damaging effect they are causing - reducing moral strain.
Milgram identified 2 binding factors: Shifting blame to victim (he shouldn't have signed up) and denying the damage.