Obedience and conformity PSYA2 AQA

?
Name the 3 types of conformity.
Compliance; internalisation; identification
1 of 42
What did Asch carry out and find?
Tested US male students on 12 critical trials (out of 18) and found that 36.8% of these produced a conforming response, 25% never conformed.
2 of 42
Why did people not conform?
Distortion of perception, distortion of judgement and distortion of action.
3 of 42
Outline issues of validity with this study.
Insignificant task - conformity to save face and with strangers so lacks validity. Williams and Sogon - higher conformity with people the participants know.
4 of 42
Outline ethical issues with this study.
Deception, lack of informed consent, stress.
5 of 42
Outline individual differences regarding conformity.
Females are more conformist than males. Collectivist cultures are more conformist than non-collectivist cultures.
6 of 42
Weakness of majority influence.
Asch's study was repeated and got very little conformity - but with youths on probation there was high conformity. Related to era of McCarthyism where costs of nonconformity were high. Asch's results show more independence than conformity.
7 of 42
What did Moscovici et al do?
Used 32 groups, of 6 women in each group, shown a series of blue slides. Minority of 2 confederate identified them as green
8 of 42
What were the results?
In a consistent condition, 8.42% of women conformed to minority. Inconsistency reduced conformity to 1.25% and responding in private led to increased conformity to minority position.
9 of 42
What did the meta-analysis by Wood et al show?
Meta-analysis of 97 studies of minority influence. Showed importance of consistency.
10 of 42
Outline the validity of these findings.
Evidence from 'real world' research suggests conformity to minority influence is relatively rare.
11 of 42
What does Moscovici's conversion theory state?
Minority arguments create conflict which leads to greater message processing
12 of 42
What is normative social influence?
Compliance in order to be liked.
13 of 42
What is informational social influence?
Desire to be right
14 of 42
What are the main principles of the social impact theory?
Number, strength and immediacy.
15 of 42
What did Garandeau and Cillessen find?
Normative social influence explains bullying.
16 of 42
What did Wittenbrink and Henley find?
Informational social influence changed social stereotypes about African Americans.
17 of 42
What did Sedikides and Jackson find?
High-strength and high-immediacy sources exerted more impact than low-strength and low-immediacy sources.
18 of 42
Real world application of normative social influence.
Japanese massacre of Chinese and Nanking because hatred of Chinese was an established norm among Japanese at the time.
19 of 42
Outline Milgram's study.
40 male volunteers acted as 'teacher'. All went to 300 volts, 65% continued to maximum 450 volts.
20 of 42
What do these results suggest?
That obedience is due to situational rather than dispositional factors.
21 of 42
How did results change based on the proximity of the victim?
62.5% obedience in voice feedback condition; 40% in proximity condition; 30% in touch proximity.
22 of 42
How did results changed based on the proximity of the authority figure?
21% obedience with experiment absent.
23 of 42
How did results change based on the presence of allies?
10% obedience with 2 peers rebel study.
24 of 42
How did results change based on increasing teacher's discretion?
95% refused to obey.
25 of 42
Outline individual differences.
Women report more stress during task. Cultural differences.
26 of 42
Outline ethical issues of Milgram's study.
Deception --> lack of informed consent. Right to withdraw. Psychological harm wasn't justified. Study criticised because of findings rather than procedures.
27 of 42
Outline validity of Milgram's study.
Realism. Generalisability. Obedience alibi.
28 of 42
How have these findings been applied to the real world?
Many of Milgram's findings apply to captain/first officer relationship in an airplane cockpit.
29 of 42
How is obedience explained?
Socialisation; gradual commitment; agentic shift; role of buffers; justifying obedience.
30 of 42
How is Milgram's explanation criticised?
Monocausal emphasis - obedience wasn't the only factor in the Holocaust. Agentic shift - differences between Milgram's lab study and Holocaust therefore a comparison isn't appropriate.
31 of 42
How have these explanations for obedience been applied to real life situations?
Prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib - ideology used as justification, gradual escalation.
32 of 42
What factors lead people to resist pressures to conform?
Role of allies; morally significant attitude change; nonconformist personality.
33 of 42
What factors lead people to resist pressures to obey?
Status and awareness of consequences; resistance greater in those who base decisions on moral principles; social heroism can counter obedience.
34 of 42
Outline individual differences in resisting social influence.
When seeking a partner, women conform more to others and men become more non-conformist. Milgram found obedience lower in educated people. Roman Catholics more likely to obey than Protestants.
35 of 42
How does locus of control affect independent behaviour?
Internals rely less on other's opinions, better able to resist coercion. Internals emerge and are effective as leaders.
36 of 42
How does attributional style affect independent behaviour?
Positive style linked to independence because they can resist influence.
37 of 42
Outline individual differences in independent behaviour.
High internals have greater initiative and are more successful. Men are more likely to be internals. More internal attributions in Chinese students than in US students.
38 of 42
Evaluate individual differences in independent behaviour.
Externality is increasing which has negative implications.
39 of 42
What are implications for social change from conformity research?
Change from minority to majority may decrease satisfaction and increase desire to leave a group. Terrorism is a form of minority influence, leading to social change through persistence and conformity to zeitgeist.
40 of 42
What are implications for social change from obedience research?
Obedience used as an explanation for events during Holocaust and ethnic cleansing. Disobedient models empower others. Drift to goodness - gradual commitment and using social models.
41 of 42
What are implications for social change from research into independent behaviour?
Importance of dissent. Moral convictions.
42 of 42

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What did Asch carry out and find?

Back

Tested US male students on 12 critical trials (out of 18) and found that 36.8% of these produced a conforming response, 25% never conformed.

Card 3

Front

Why did people not conform?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Outline issues of validity with this study.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Outline ethical issues with this study.

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Conformity resources »