Social Psychology

Compliance - acting in accord with social pressure but privately disagreeing

Identification - adopt a behaviour as you value group membership and is temporary

Internalisation - a true change of private views

Evaluation

• Hard to distinguish between compliance and internalisation

Normative Influence - conforms to gain approval and avoid social disapproval, must believe they are under suvelliance

Informational Influence - desire to be right looking, need to feel confident in their own views and beliefs

Evaluation

• Exposure of a non-smoking poster to adolscents
• Exposure to negative views about African Americans

ASCH - asked 123 male volunteers to judge which two lines were the same length, conferderates gave an incorrect answer on 12/18 trials and the participants always answered second to last

Findings - conformity rates were 33%

Group size - jumped by 30%

Unanimity of the Majority - 33% to 5.5%

The Difficulty of the Task - High self efficiancy and low self efficiancy

Evaluation

• Findings are down to the specific time period they were taken in
• Problem with determing the true effects of group size
• Only 1/3 of participants conformed

Stanford Prison Experiment - guards became abusive, prisoner became passive and 5 prisoner were released early due to extreme reactions

BBC Prison Experiment - prisoners identified as a group to overcome the prisoner-guard system

Evaluation

• Conformity to social roles may not be as automatic as Zimbardo believed
• Responses shown may be down to demand characteristics
• How ethical was Zimbardo's study

Milgram

Proximity - dropped to 40% when in the same room, 30% when forcing their hand on the plate and 21% over the phone

Location - 48% gave the 450 volt shock

Power of Union - police officer 72%, executive 52%, beggar 48%

Evaluation

• Criticised for his lack of concern
• Participants have learnt to distrust experimenters
• Individual differences

Agentic State - process of shifting responsibilities to another

Agentic State and Self Image - refrain if it reflects a person self image

Binding Factors - social factors

Definition of the Situation and Instiution

Evaluation

• Fails to explain the gradual and irreversible shift
• Give a basis for the justification of harm
• Believed Milgram detected cruelty not agentic shift

F-Scale -2000

Authoriatarianism Personality - Rigid Thinkers, see the World in Black and White , Follow Rules and a Hierarchy, Comtempt for Lower Social Classes

Elm and Milgram - 20 obedient and 20 disobedient

Evaluations

• Research comes from a link between obedient participants and the authoriatarian personality
• Milgram believed it was due to a dispositional factor
• Suggests some important characteristics of obedient participant

Support and Resisting Conformity - ally 33% to 5.5%

Locus of Control - Internal High (independant) and External High (take less responsibility)

Evaluations

• There is a historical trend in locus of control scores
• Research was done into the position of the person providing the support
• Meta anaylsis research support the locus of control

Conversion Theory - Conflict, Majority try to reduce this conflict, minority pushes forward their message for the majority to internalise it

Minority must be committed, consistent and flexible

Moscovici - 4 naiive participants and 2 confederates judging slide colour intensity

Findings - 8% in the consistent condition conformed

Evaluation

• Research into the role of flexibility
• May be due to the openness of the mind
• The view of the minority don't bring about social change as fast as the majority

Minority - draw attention to the issue, creates cognitive conflict, remain consistent in their position, the augmentation principle and the snowball effect

Majority - people change views inline with the majority, mispeception between the norm and the actual belief

Social Norms Intervention - identifies a wide spread misperception within a target population and use media campaigns to correct this

Evaluation

• History challenges minorities bring about social change quickly (potential for change)
• Minorities may be seen as deviant
• Social norms intervention do not always work