social influence

conformity- when an individual changes their attitudes or behaviour due to real or imagined pressure from a person or group

aschs baseline procedure: 36.8% of trials were incorrectyl answered 25% of ptts didnt conform atv all

unanimity when there was a dissenter the conformity decreased to a quater of what it had been when they were unnimous majority

task diffculty: the more ambiguous the task the less they conformed

group size: at 3 confederates the conformity is 31.8% but after doesnt make much difference

evaluation

Lewis takes into account individual differences affect conformity like confidence which asch ignores

there is artifical takss leading to demand characterisitics which affect internal valditiy. Also there is low ecological valdiity as fiske says the roup is not groupy so this doesnt represent conformity in real life

research suppport from LEWIS THAT WHEN tassk were harder the ppts looked at wrong answers and conformed more

low application as all middle class american male so doesnt accoun tofr womens conformity and collectivist culturess conformity

reasons for conformity

obedience- when we obey someone of direct authority as they have the power to punish us if we disobey

dispositional explanations- take into account personality in why we obey

situational variables of obedience- features of the immediate social and physical environemtn thatlead to a persons obedience

situational explanations

resistance to social influence

social influence and social change

minority influence

locus of control - the sense we have of what controls our life (rotter)

social support- acts as a model for disssent that allows us to also

found in milgrams when when there was a disobedient ppt obedience went down from 65% to 10%

found in aschs research as when there was a dissenter conformity went to a quater of what it had been when it was unanimous

evaluation of social support as an explanation of resistance

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continuum theory- that no one is either internal or external as there is a scale and each individual is varying degrees of each

external locus of control- that events in our life are controled by external forces

internal locus of control- beleive that they have control over their actions and events that occur in their life

uniform

location

proximity

when tre is an electro shock plate: 30%

when the experiementer is on a telephone giving instructions: 20.5% and they pretend to give shocks

when researcher and teacher in the same room: 40% conformity rate

when the experimenter in the grey lab coat exchnaged for a civilian: 20%

in a run down office block comapred to yale: 20%

evaluation of study

deutsch and gerrard two process theory - there are two reasons why we conform

authoritarian personality: that we obey due to the personality that we are submissive to people of authority and dismissive of inferioriy. we baelieve that there must be authority figures as society is weak and we need to enforce traditional values.

the legitimacy of authority- that we are more likely to obey someone with authority legitimised by their position of power abobve us in the social hierarchy

agentic state- the mentality that we are able to conform as we are an agent for an authority figure. This allows us to inhibit our conscience and follow destruictive authority figures.

milgrams baseline procedure: all went to 300 volts. 125% stopped at 300 and 65% went to the maximum 450v. qualitative data is that many experienced signs of stress.

features that make minority effective

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people with internal locus of control less likey to conform as they beleive that they are in control of events in their life and so rely on their own principles ratehr than the opinions of others. Also a leader so less likely to conform due to not needing soicuak support. Also they have traits usch as high intelligence achievement oriented.

evaluation of locus of control explaining resistance

holland replicated milgrams experiment and found their locus of cotnrol and found that 37% of internals didnt go to highest voltage while only 21% of externals didnt go to highest voltage

however twenge did a 40 year analysis of loc studies and found that although external locus of control went up so did resistance so this decreases the credibility as internal lcous doesnt always lead to more reistsance

agentic shift: the shift from autonomy to agency

autonomic state: we beleive that we are in contorl of our own behaviour so act on our own principles and feel moral strain

binding factors: factors of the situaiton that llow us to minimise or ignore thenegative effects of our behaviour and therefore feel moral strain and act in the agentic state

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Npormative social influence- that we confomr to be liked and accpeted.It is an emotional process. People do it in stressful situations where they need social support. It leads to compliance.

information social influence: when people conform to be right as they beleive that the majority is more right. This is a cognitive process. it leads to internalisation.

evaluation

types of conformity (Kelman 1958)

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