Social Influence

Types of Conformity & Explainations for Conformity Pg 19

• Key Terms
  • Conformity - A form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and leads to complience with that position.
  • Complience - An individual accepts outside influence in hope of favourable reaction from peers. The individual only wants approval and to be liked. It has weak influence the individual doesn't adopt any new beliefs and are only seen to conform publicly. This is temporary.
  • Identification - An individual adopts an attitude of behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular group. These people conform to be right.The individual begins to take on the beliefs of the group as their own and agrees publicly and privately while they are associated with the group therefore it is temporary.
  • Internalisation - An individual accepts influence because the content of th attitude or behaviour proposed is consistent with their own value system.These people conform to be right. The individual begins to take on the beliefs of the group as their own and agrees publicly and privately perminantly.
  • Informational Social Influence - A explaination of social influence where the individual wants to be right. This is used to explain Identification & Internalisation.  
  • Normative Social Influence - A explaination of social influence where the individual wants to be liked. This is used to explain Complience.
• Evaluation:
  • Difficult to distinguish between complience and internalisation.
  • Research support.
  • NSI may be in their own behaviour and not in the pressure to conform.
  • ISI may be for being liked by being right

Variables Affecting Conformity Pg 21

• Experiments
• Line Test (Asch, 1956)
  • Procedure: To test conformity to majority Acsh devised this experiment: In total, 123 male US undergraduates were tested. Participents were asked to identify one line out of the three infront of them which was the same as the normal line. And they repeated this a few times. Each participent was actually in a separate study so they were alone in a group of confederates who were all instructed to gave the wrong answer.  
  • Findings: The average conformity rate was 33%, 25% never conformed, 50% conformed to 6 or more trials and 5% conformed the entire time.
• Varaitions:
  • Group size - Under the majority of 3 or more confederates conformity was 33% whereas befor this there was an insignificant rate of conformity.
  • Unanimity - When the confederates chose more random answers which differed from each other the conformity dropped to 5.5% 
  • Difficulty - With a more difficult task the conformity increased.
  • Allience
• Evaluation:
  • May be due to social factors like McCarthyism (no one wants to be wrong)
  • Limited range of group size
  • Could be independent behaviour rather than majority
  • Confederates weren't convincing
  • Cultural Differences

Conformity to Social Roles Pg 23

• Key Terms:
  • Social Roles - Behaviours epected of an individual who occupies in a given social position or status.

• Experiments

• The Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1973)
  • Procedure: To test conformity to…