Psychology social influence

?
What is obedience?
following an explicit demand by an authority figure.
1 of 51
What is conformity?
changing opinions or behaviour in the direction of the majority, in the absence command.
2 of 51
What is internalisation?
people genuinely accepting the group's POV. This results in a change in behaviour publicly and privately(i.e. there is a permanent change,even without the group). Under ISI
3 of 51
What is identification?
people changing their public behaviour and their private beliefs, but only while in presence of the group. This is ST & under NSI.
4 of 51
What is compliance?
people changing their public behaviour but not their private beliefs. This is usually ST & NSI.
5 of 51
Use ISI to explain conformity
explanation that says we agree with the majority because we believe it is correct. we accept it because we want to be correct as well. this can lead to internalisation.
6 of 51
Use NSI to explain conformity
an explanation that says we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and to be liked. can lead to compliance.
7 of 51
Describe some research to support ISI
Lucas asked students to give answers to math problems that were easy or more difficult. There was greater conformity with the more difficult problems than the easier ones. This was most true for p's who described their math ability as poor.
8 of 51
Describe some research of individual differences in NSI
McGhee and Teevan(1967) found that student nAffilators(people who care more about being liked) are more likely to conform; they have a greater need for being in a relationship with others(i.e. afflation).
9 of 51
Describe some research to support NSI
Asch's participants said they conformed as they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer as they were afraid of social disapproval. when p's wrote their answers down instead of saying them out loud conformity rates fell to 12.5%
10 of 51
Define the Agentic State
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure(as their agent). This frees us from the demands of our consciousness.
11 of 51
Define Legitimacy of authority
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by the person's position on the social hierarchy.
12 of 51
What is the autonomous state?
the opposite of the agentic state- a person in autonomous state is free to behave according to their own principles and therefore feel a responsibility for their own actions.
13 of 51
What is the agentic state?
the shift from autonomy to "agency". milgram suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure. This person has a greater power due to their position in the social hierarchy.
14 of 51
What are binding factors?
reasons why people stay in the agentic state. aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effects of their behaviour, reducing the "moral strain" they feel. Someone could blame the victim or denying the damage
15 of 51
Outline Gradual Commitment as an explanation of obedience
This explains obedience in terms of the individual being asked to perform trivial, seemingly harmless tasks. Once the person has complied with such requests, they find it increasingly difficult to refuse to carry out more serious reques
16 of 51
How may Milgram explain his participants behaviour by "Gradual Commitment"
Milgram’s participants were encouraged to obey the experimenter by the gradual steps they were asked to take. They started with a practice session’. The first ‘shock’ administered was ONLY 15 volts.Each further ‘shock’ increased by ONLY 15V
17 of 51
Outline buffers as an explanation of obedience
buffers such as physical distance protect an individual from at least some of the distress they may experience when they carrying out actions that harm others.
18 of 51
How may Milgram explain his participants behaviour by "Buffers"
when the teacher and learner were in different rooms, the basic obedience rate was 65%. When they were in the same room (i.e. no physical buffer) the obedience rate dropped to 40%. E.g. in WW2, the person obeying may not observe the results.
19 of 51
Outline the Locus of Control
Rotter proposed that some people(internals) believe that the things that happen to them is controlled by themselves. Others(externals) believe that the things that happen to them are not controlled by them(luck, fate)
20 of 51
Describe the continuum of the Locus of Control
With high LOC and low LOC at opposite ends of the continuum, low internal and low external are lying in between.
21 of 51
What is the application of LOC to social pressures?
people with an internal LOC are more likely to resist social pressures(conform,obey). If a person takes more responsibility for their actions, they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs.
22 of 51
What is the application of LOC to personality?
people with an internal LOC tend to be more self-confident, have less need for social approval and are more achievement orientated. These personality traits tend to lead to greater resistance to social pressures.
23 of 51
Describe some research to support the LOC
Holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether p's were internal or external. 37% of internals and 23% of externals did not go upto 450V(internals showed greater resistance to social pressure), increasing validity.
24 of 51
Describe some other research to contradict the LOC
Twenge analysed american obedience over a 40year period. This showed people had become more external and more resistant to obedience. If Rotter's theory was true, we would expect that people had become more internal. this shows a changing society
25 of 51
What is minority influence
a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. This leads to internalisation(private attitudes are changes as well as public behaviour)
26 of 51
What are the factors that effect minority influence
consistency,commitment,change and flexibility
27 of 51
Outline consistency as a factor that effects minority influence
the consistency in the minority's views increases the amount of interest from others and make them rethink their views. synchronic consistency(they're all saying the same thing)&diachronic synchony(they've been saying the same thing for some time)
28 of 51
Outline commitment as a factor that effects minority influence
engaging in extreme activities draws attention to their views. it is important that these extreme activities are at some risk to the minority as this demonstrates commitment. the augmentation principle is when the majority pay more attention.
29 of 51
Outline change as a factor that effects minority influence
if you hear something you believe in, it doesn't make you stop and think; if you hear something new, you might think about it especially if it's consistent and passionate. in this deep process, there is conversion to the minority's POV.
30 of 51
Outline flexibility as a factor that effects minority influence
Nemeth says that being extremely inconsistent and repeating the same arguments can be seen as inflexible. this is off-putting to the majority; the minority need to be prepared adapt their view, accept counter arguments(balance consistency,commitment)
31 of 51
What is the snowball effect
over time increasing numbers of people convert from the majority to the minority position. the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion. gradually the minority viewpoint becomes the majority viewpoint.
32 of 51
Describe research for minority influence
wood carried out a meta-analysis of nearly 100 studies similar to moscovici finding that minorities that were consistent were the most influential, suggesting that consistency is a major factor in minority influence.
33 of 51
Describe research evidence for interalisation
in a variation of moscovici's study, p's wrote their answers down. private agreement with minority was greater in these circumstances.p's were reluctant to admit this publicly because they didn't want to be associated with minority position
34 of 51
what is the augmentation principle
if there are risks involved in putting forward a particular viewpoint then those who express those views are taken more seriously than others. as a result, the impact of their position is strengthened or "augmentated"
35 of 51
what is social support
the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. these people act as models to show others that resistance to social pressure is possible
36 of 51
describe social support with conformity
asch shows the non-conforming p doesn't have to be giving the "right" answer but simply not follow the majority appears to enable a person to be free to follow their own conscience- acting as the model. if the confederate conforms, so does the p
37 of 51
describe social support with obedience
in milgram's variation, the genuine p was joined by a disobedient confederate, the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10%. the confederate's disobedience acts as a "model" for the p to copy that frees them to act from their own conscience.
38 of 51
describe research that supports resistance to conformity
allen and levine found that conformity decreased when a confederate wore thick glasses and said he has difficulty with his vision. this supports that resistance enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group
39 of 51
describe research that supports resistance to obedience
gamson found higher levels of resistance in their study than milgram. the p's were in groups, p's had to produce evidence to be used to help a company run a campaign. 29/33 groups rebelled. this shows peer support is linked to greater resistance.
40 of 51
describe the role of minority influence in social change
drawing attention, consistency, deeper processing, the augmentation principle, the snowball effect and social crypomnesia
41 of 51
what lessons have been learnt from conformity research
asch: in a variation where one confederate always gave correct answers, this broke the power of the majority encouraging others to dissent, leading to social change.
42 of 51
what lessons have been learnt from obedience research
milgram: disobedient models in the variation where a confederate refused to give shocks, the rate of obedience dropped to 10%
43 of 51
what lessons have been learnt from conformity research for NSI
environmental and health campaigns exploit conformity by providing info about what others are doing(i.e. recycling) by printing normative messages on bins(bin it, others do).social change is encouraged by drawing attention to the majority's behaviour
44 of 51
what lessons have been learnt from obedience research for gradual commitment
zimbardo: suggested that obedience can create social change because if a small instruction is obeyed, it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one. people "drift" into a new kind of behaviour.
45 of 51
describe some research supporting the role of NSI in social change
nolan: hung messages on front doors of houses saying that most residents were trying to reduce energy usage. significant decreases in evergy compared to control group who saw messages to save energy with no reference to other people's behaviour.
46 of 51
describe a weakness into explaining social change by minority influence
nemeth: suggests minority influence is delayed(effects are not seen for some time) and indirect(the majority is influenced only on matters related to the central issue and not the issue itself), it took decades for attitudes about smoking to shift.
47 of 51
what is the authoritarian personality
a type of personality that adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. such people are thought to be submissive to those of a higher status and dismissive of inferiors
48 of 51
according to adorno, what is the origin of authoritarian personality
from childhood: a result of harsh parenting(extremely strict discipline, impossibly high standards, severe criticism on perceived failure). based on conditional love(parents love and affection depends on how their child behaves)
49 of 51
according to adorno, why is this the origin of the authoritarian personality
these experiences create resentment and hostility but the child cannot express this to the parents because of a fear of reprisals. the fear is displaced onto others who are perceived as weaker(spacegoating).
50 of 51
what does adorno's origin of the authoritarian personality explain?
this explains a central trait of obedience to higher authority, which is a dislike for people considered to be socially inferior or who belong to other social groups. this is a psychcodynamic explanation
51 of 51

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is conformity?

Back

changing opinions or behaviour in the direction of the majority, in the absence command.

Card 3

Front

What is internalisation?

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 compliance?

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 »