Social influence

What is conformity?‘A change in behaviour or belief as a result of

real or imagined group pressure’

Definition for 2 AO1

Mention whether private beliefs are changed or not and whether the change is long lasting.

Give an example.

• Refers to instances where a person may agree in public with a group of people but the person actually privately disagrees with the group’s viewpoint or behaviour. This type of conformity therefore does not lead to a change in a person’s private beliefs and is temporary.

Compliance

• Refers to instances when the individual takes on the views of a group they join or they admire. It does not necessarily result in a change of a person’s private beliefs.

Identification

• refers to instances where a person behaves or agrees with a group of people because they have actually accepted the group’s point of view or beliefs. This type of conformity does result in a change in the persons’ private beliefs and attitudes as a result it may have longer lasting effects than public compliance (conversion).

Internalisation

Shallowest

Deepest

Studies into complianceAsch (1951)Sherif (1935)

Asch’s Results

VariationsAt one point the experiment was modified to determine if the size of the group affected the participants’ reactions. (the confederate group varied in size from one to fifteen)

Studies into minority influenceInternalisation

Moscovici (1969) Clark (1998/1999)

Conditions for ConversionConsistency

The minority must be consistent in their opinion

FlexibilityThe minority must not appear to be rigid & dogmatic

RelevanceThe minority will be more successful if their views are

in line with social trends

CommitmentA committed minority will lead people to rethink their

position.

Study into identification

Zimbardo (1973)

Why do we conform?

Normative influence

This refers to instances where someone conforms in order to fit in and gain approval or avoid disapproval from other group members. Leads to conformity.

Informational social influence

This refers to instances where people conform because they are uncertain about what to do in a particular situation, so they look to others for guidance. This explanation tends to lead to internalisation.

Factors influencing conformity

Size of the majorityHow did the results change when Asch

changed the number of confederates?

The importance of timeWhen Asch carried out his

research, the USA was very conservative, schools

were more hierarchical than they are now

Gender: Larsen et al. (1979)Males conform more in higher status groups, Women conform more in peer groups

Individual characteristics: confidencePerrin & Spencer (1981)

Culture: Smith

and Bond (1996)

Obedience“a person who carries out orders that are given

by a legitimate authority figure.’

Milgram’s studySample:40 male, American participants with various educational backgroundsRecruited by advertisement in local paper, paid $4

Experimenter:Dressed with a laboratory coat

PS told that the experiment was aimed to find out the effects of punishment on learning

Task:The Ps were ordered to give the learner an electric shock if he made a mistake in the pairs of words he had to learn from 15v to 459v in steps of 15 v

Ethics of Milgram’s study•Psychological harm (stress during the study) and

learning something unpleasant about themselves but a year later did not present any long-lasting effects. Most said they were pleased that they had taken part.

Protection of participants

•The participants gave consent to take part but it was not informed consent as they were not told the real aim of the study.Consent

• The participants could withdraw before reaching 450V and 35% of them did but the experimenter put them to continue using prods such as “the experiment require that you continue” and “you have no choice”.

Withdrawal

Ethics of Milgram’s study

• The participants were told that the study was about the effect of punishment on learning and it was in fact about obedience.

• The participants did not know that Mr Wallace (the learner) was a confederate.

• They were told that they administering real electric shocks when they were not.

Deception

• The participants were debriefed thoroughly and met Mr Wallace the learner.

• They were also assessed by a psychiatrist a year later.

DebriefingMilgram did not break any ethical guidelines as they had not been

created

3

10

20

23

30

40

47

65

Teacher choses shock level

Teacher sees two other teachers rebel

Experimenter leaves the room and ordinary person gives orders

Experimenter leaves the room and gives order by telephone

Teacher forces learner's hand onto the shock plate

Teacher and learner in the same room

Office building instead of Yale University

Original setup

Variations on Milgram's Experiment(percentages)

Why do people obey?1. Gradual commitment

2. Agency theory

3. Buffers

4. Perception of legitimate authority

5. Personality factors

Gradual commitmentAlso referred to as the ‘foot in the door phenomenon’. This refers to instances where a person might show some sort of commitment to a particular task e.g. by starting something and then as they continue it becomes harder to back down/change their mind.

30v15v45v60v75v90v105v.....v450v

Agency theory• Milgram explained the behaviour of his participants by suggesting that

people actually have two states of behaviour when they are in a social situation:

• • The autonomous state – people act according to their own values, and they take responsibility for the results of those actions.

• • The agentic state – people allow others to direct their actions, and the pass off the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving the orders. In other words, they act as agents for another person’s will.

• Milgram suggested that two things must be in place in order for a person to enter the agentic state:

• • The person giving the orders is perceived as being qualified to direct other people’s behaviour. That is, they are seen as legitimate.

• • The person being ordered about is able to believe that the authority will accept responsibility for what happens.

BuffersAny aspects of a situation that protects people from having to confront the consequences of their actions.What aspect of the situation acted as a buffer in the original experiment?

When the participant was ordered to hold the “learner’s hand on the shock plate only

30% of the Ps went up to 450v. Use the concept of

buffers to explain this result.

Perception of legitimate authority

We feel obligated to those in power because we respect their credentials and assume that they know what they are doing.

What evidence is there that this factor influenced

the participants?

310

2023

3040

4765

Teacher choses …

Experimenter …

Teacher forces …

Office building …

Variations on Milgram's Experiment

(percentages)

Hofling(‘66) study,Bickman (1974) support the importance of legitimate authority.

Personality factorsAuthoritarian personality

Hostile to people seen as inferior Intolerant of ambiguity

Servile to people seen as superior Unwilling to introspect

Contemptuous of weakness Upholder of conventional values

Rigid and inflexible

Traits found in authoritarian personality

Upbringing:Harsh, punishing , disciplinarian upbringingLittle affection shownLatent hostility towards parents Unconscious hostility towards parents

displaced onto minority groups and /or projected onto these groups (the authoritarian fells threatened by them)

Independent behaviour

Individuals behave independently when they act according to their own values, they might conform or obey but only if they agree with the norms or orders.

Two categories of factors influence independent behaviour.

Situational factors: factors relating tot he situation they are in.

Dispositional factors: factors relating to the individual i.e. Locus of control

Situational factors1. Gradual commitment2. Size of the majority3. Buffers4. Perception of legitimate authority5. Reactance

In exam:Describe the factor (AO1)Quote some research evidence i.e. Variations of Milgram’sexperiment or Asch (AO2)

Dispositional factors• Locus of control

• Gender

• Moral development

• Personality factors

Locus of ControlThe extent to which an individual believes they are in control of their destiny (internal LOC) or are at the mercy of events (external LOC)

Key characteristics of individuals with a high internal locus of control:•They tend to be active seekers of information and are less likely to rely on the opinions of others (this would imply that such individuals are less likely to conform)

•They also tend to be more achievement-oriented and as a result are more likely to be leaders. •They are also better able to resist coercion (control) from others (this implies that they are less likely to obey).

GenderIn Milgram’s research, females obeyed at the same rates as males. However, other studies show that females can be less obedient than men. For instance, Kilham and Mann (1974) found that Australian females (10% obedience rate) were less obedient than men (40% obedience rate) in a Milgram-type procedure.

Moral development• The extent to which individuals take into

account moral values, the impact of their decisions and actions on others and on society as a whole.

• The higher the moral development the more likely an individual is to act independently.

Personality• Crutchfield (1955) proposed that people who are more

likely to show independent behaviour have higher self-esteem and intelligence, and less need for social approval, than people who obey/conform.

• People who score low in the need for social approval (measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale) are more likely to show independent behaviour than those high on the scale (Crowne and Marlowe, 1964).

• People who are more likely to show independent behaviour score higher on a social responsibility scale than people who conform/obey (Elms and Milgram, 1974).

Social change“When society adopts a new

belief or way of behaving which

then becomes widely accepted

as the norm”

Examples of recent social change:

• Ban on smoking in public places

• Recycling

Majority vs Minority Influence

• Majorities maintain the status quo, promoting uniformity and exerting pressure on those deviating

• Minority influence is associated with change & innovation as the ideas cause a social conflict

• For minority influence to work there must be a conversion in those from the majority

Conditions for ConversionConsistency

The minority must be consistent in their opinion

FlexibilityThe minority must not appear to be rigid & dogmatic

RelevanceThe minority will be more successful if their views are

in line with social trends

CommitmentA committed minority will lead people to rethink their

position.

Snow ball effectThis occurs when a minority convert a small group of people to their views, this small group convert other people. Over a period of time the original minority view can become the view of the majority.

Social crypto amnesiaMinority ideas are assimilated into the majority viewpoint without those in the majority remembering where the ideas came from.This often happens when the minority ideas are so strongly associated with the source that to adopt the message risks assuming the negative identity of the source.

Social changeInformational social influence

i.e. Effects of smoke inhalation on health

Internalisation: conversion of a few

people who then become a minority.

Snowball effect:The minority becomes the

majority

Compliance to the majority

norm.

Crypto amnesia

Conditions for Conversion

Normative social influence