Conformity

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  • Created by: asusre
  • Created on: 19-04-21 18:01
Which study outlined the types of conformity?
Kelman (1958) outlined the types of conformity.
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What are the types of conformity?
There are three types of conformity: compliance, identification and internalisation.
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What is compliance?
Compliance is a temporary type of conformity which is public only, where we outwardly agree with the majority view but privately disagree with it, which only lasts whilst being monitored by the group.
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What is identification?
Identification is a a private and public acceptance of majority influence to gain group acceptance. However, it is temporary, only lasting as long as we are playing a social role.
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What is internalisation?
Internalisation is the private and public acceptance of majority influence as correct, leading to permanent change in attitude and behaviour even when the group is absent.
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Which study explains conformity using a dual process dependency model?
Deutsch and Gerard (1955) developed a dual process dependency model which explains two reasons why people conform.
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What is normative social influence?
Normative social influence is based on the need for acceptance and fear of rejection. This means that people conform in order to fit in, which temporarily changes public, but not private, opinions (compliance).
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Which study supports normative social influence?
Asch (1951) interviewed participants and found that they conformed as they felt self-conscious and afraid of disapproval. When answers were written down, conformity fell to 12.5%.
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Which study is evidence of individual differences in the desire for social acceptance?
McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that nAffiliators, people who have a strong need to be liked, were more likely to conform.
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What is informational social influence?
Informational social influence is based on the need for certainty and the desire to be correct. It involves self-doubt and the assumption that the group has superior knowledge or judgement, which means that it changes private and public opinion (internali
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When is informational social influence more likely to occur?
Informational social influence is more likely to occur when the situation is ambiguous so the correct answer/behaviour is unclear, the situation is in crisis so a decision needs to be made quickly, or we believe others to be experts.
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What research supports informational social influence?
Lucas et al (2006) found that participants were more likely to conform when given more difficult maths problems to solve.
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What is one limitation of the dual process dependency model?
One limitation of the dual process dependency model is that it may be oversimplified as conformity to a group can last long after the group ceases to exist.
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What is the baseline study for investigating conformity?
Asch (1951) is the baseline study which investigated conformity to a majority which gave obviously wrong answers. Participants were asked to say out loud which of the comparison lines were the same length of the standard line after a group of confederates
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What were the results of Asch (1951)?
Asch (1951) found a 32% conformity rate to wrong answers. 75% of participants conformed to at least one wrong answer.
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Which study investigated variables which might affect conformity?
Asch (1955) extended his baseline study to investigate variables which might affect conformity.
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What factors did Asch (1955) find that affected conformity?
Group size, unanimity and task difficulty affact conformity.
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How did group size affect conformity rates?
Asch (1955) found that conformity increased with group size, but up to a point. With one confederate, conformity was 3%, and with three confederates, conformity rose to 33%, but after three, it stayed the same.
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How did unanimity affect conformity rates?
When the group of confederates had one dissenter who gave the correct answer, conformity rates decreased from 32% to 5.5%.
When the dissenter disagreed with the genuine participant, conformity dropped to 9%.
This suggests conformity is more likely when t
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How does task difficulty affect conformity?
Asch (1955) found higher rates of conformity when task difficulty was increased – he did this by making the comparison between lines harder as they were made a more similar length to each other.
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What is one strength of Asch's research?
One strength of Asch’s research is that there is research support for the effects of task difficulty on conformity.
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What research supports the influence of task difficulty on conformity?
Lucas et al (2006) found that participants were more likely to conform to majority opinion when given more difficult maths problems to solve.
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What are the limitations of Asch's research?
Asch's research may be low in population validity and temporal validity. It used an artificial situation and task so it may be low in ecological validity and mundane realism. There are also issues.
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Which study found that conformity rates are higher in collectivist countries?
Bond and Smith (1996) found that studies in collectivist countries such as China have higher rates of conformity.
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Why is Asch's research low in temporal validity?
Asch's research cannot be generalised to the present day because it was conducted in America in the 1950s, where McCarthyism meant that there was a suspicion that people who were different were secretly communists, which means that there was more pressure
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What are the ethical issues of Asch's research?
Asch's research involved deception, which means that there was a lack of fully informed consent. Also, the participnts may have experienced feelings of distress, betrayal or humiliation.
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Explain conformity to social roles.
Conformity to social roles involves identification. Social roles are the parts people play as members of various social groups, which are accompanied by expectations of what is appropriate behaviour.
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Which study investigated conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo et al (1973) set up the Stanford Prison Experiment to investigate conformity to social roles.
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What did the Stanford prison experiment show about conformity to social roles?
The guards conformed to their role by creating opportunities to enforce rules and administer punishments, becoming increasingly brutal and aggressive.
The prisoners conformed to their roles by obeying the guards and siding with the guards against rebels,
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What is one strength of the Stanford prison experiment?
One strength of the Stanford prison experiment is that the researchers had control over key variables. For example, random allocation of participants to roles controlled participant variables.
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What are the limitations of the Stanford prison experiment?
The Stanford prison experiment may have lacked the realism of a real prison, may have exaggerated the power of social roles, and was unethical.
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Which study argued that the Stanford prison experiment lacked realism?
Banuazizi and Movahedi (1975) argued that the participants were merely acting rather than genuinely conforming to the role, based on stereotypes of how they thought real prisoners and guards should behave.
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Which study argues that the participants behaved as though the prison was real?
McDermott (2019) argues that the participants behaved as though the prison was real, shown by the fact that 90% of their conversations were about prison life.
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Which study argues that most of the guards were able to resist the pressure to conform to a brutal role?
Zimbardo (2007), most of the guards did not behave brutally to the prisoners, but tried to apply the rules fairly or sympathised with them.
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How is the Stanford prison experiment unethical?
Zimbardo failed to protect his participants from harm, the prisoners were abused and the guards suffered with long-term guilt. Zimbardo did not did not allow participants to withdraw when they asked. Zimbardo facilitated the abuse of his participants by p
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What are the types of conformity?

Back

There are three types of conformity: compliance, identification and internalisation.

Card 3

Front

What is compliance?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is identification?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is internalisation?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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