Social Psychology

SOCIAL FACILITATION

People tend to perform better on easy or well-learned tasks in the presense of others than on their own
People tend to perform worse on difficult or poorly learned tasks in the presence of others than on their own
There are several theories for this effect: arousal theory, evaluation apprehension theory and distraction-conflict theory
According to arousal theory, the mere presence of others leads to the production of dominant responses and social facilitation/inhibition
Evaluation apprehension theory stresses that the presence of others causes evaluation anxiety
Distraction-conflict theory suggests that the presence of others is distracting

1 of 4

Conformity involves a change in behaviour due to group pressure
Sherif investigated whether people are influenced by others in a task where the answer is not clear
Asch's study looked at conformity in a situation where the answer was obvious
Asch carried out variations to his basic study. He investigated factors that may affect levels of conformity such as group size and unanimity
Deutsch and Gerard have identified 2 main reasons for conformity: informational social influence and normative social influence
2 types of conformity are internalisation and compliance
Compliance can be linked to normative social influence
Internalisation can be linked to informational social influence

2 of 4

Milgram claimed that we all have the potential to obey destructive orders
Obedience is affected by the proximity and legitimacy of the authority figure, the proximity of the victim and the social support avaliable
There are several explanations for obedience to authority: whether or not the person feels responsible for the consequences of obeying an order, the perceived legitimacy of the authority figure and order, the role of social norms and personality
Obedience can be resisted. This is more likely to occur if people have social support, exposure to disobedient models, knowledge and/or experience of the effects of obedience and question the motive of the authority figure

3 of 4

Methodological issues include external, ecological and internal validity
The external validity of much research is low but there is some evidence of high ecological and internal validity
There are a number of ethical issues raised by research into social influence: use of deception, respect for privacy, informed consent, debriefing and protection from harm
These issues have to be weighed up against a more fundamental issues, the value and importance of the work

4 of 4