Compliance

Types and Explanations

• Internalisation: When a person genuinely accepts group norms. It results in a private as well as a public change of behaviour. The change is more likely to be permanent and persist in the absence of group members attitudes have become part of how the person thinks.
• Identification: When we identify with a group that we value, we want to become part of it, so we publically change our behaviour, even if we don't privately agree with everything the group stands for.
• Compliance: Involves 'going along with others' in public, but privately not changing behaviour. This results in only a superficial change and the behaviour stops as soon as group pressure ceases.

Informational Social Influence (ISI)

• ISI is about information, a desire to be right. Often we are uncertain about what behaviours or beliefs are right or wrong. You may not know the answer to a question in class, but if most of the other students agree, you go along with them because you feel they are probably right. ISI is a cognitive process - people generally want to be right.
• ISI occurs in situations that are ambiguous. ISI is most likely in situations which are new or where there is some ambiguity, so it isn't clear what is right. It may happen when decisions have to be made quickly and when one person or group is regarded as being more expert.
• A strength of ISI is that there is research support. Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers to easy and more difficult maths problems. There was more conformity to incorrect answers when the problems were more difficult. This was most true for students who rated their maths ability as poor. People conform in situations where they feel they don't know the answer. We look to others and assume they know better than us and must be right.
• A limitation of ISI is that there are individual differences. Asch (1955) found that students were less conformity (28%) than other participants (37%). Perrin and Spencer's (1980) research also found less conformity in students - in this study they were engineering students. People who are knowledgeable and/or more confident are less influenced by the apparently 'right' view of a majority, therefore there are differences in how individuals respond to ISI.

Normative Social Influence (NSI)

• NSI is about norms, a desire to behave like others and not look foolish. NSI concerns what is 'normal' or typical behaviour for a social group. Norms regulate the behaviour of groups or individuals and so it is not surprising that we pay attention to them. NSI is an emotional rather than cognitive process - people prefer social approval rather than rejection.
• NSI occurs in unfamiliar situations and with people you know. NSI is most likely in situations where you don't know the norms and look to others about how to behave. It is more important with people you know rather than strangers because people are concerned about the social approval of friends. It…