social influence

Conformity- a change in behaviour or opinion in order to fit in with a group involving social influence

Reasons for conformity-

• Compliance- avoid punishment (Asch)
• Normative- peer pressure/ fear of rejection (Asch)
• Informational- looking for guidance (Sherif)
• Ingratiational- gain acceptance/ impress

Experimental research- Asch (1951)

• Aim- 
  • Investigate the conformity of participants to majority social influence by giving incorrect answers when the correct answers are blantantly obvious
• Procedure- 
  • 7 male students looked at two cards with vertical lines and were asked to state which line was the same length as the test line
  • All participants except one were accomplices of Asch
  • Accomplices gave incorrect answers on 12/18 trials
• Results- 
  • Participants conformed on 32% of critical trials
  • 74% of participants conformed at least once
  • 26% never conformed 
  • Some conforming participants claimed to have seen the "correct" answer as true
  • Others felt compelled to accept the mistake to avoid being rejected
  • Some experienced informational pressure and doubted their own judgement
• Evaluation-
  • All participants were male and college students therefore can be said to be bias
  • Time and place may have affected findings as 1950s america was very conservative

Obedience- following instructions or co-operating

Reasons for conformity

• Milgram proposed that when we act as the agent of an authority figure we can easily deny personal responsibility for our actions
• It is deeply ingrained from early childhood that we should be obedient toward authority

Experimental research- Milgram (1992)

• Aim-
  • Investigate whether American citizens would obey an unethical order from an authority figure that involves inflicting pain upon another person
• Procedure-
  • 40 male volunteers, paid $4.50 and asked to participate in a study about learning that would involve giving someone an "electric shock"
  • The participant…