Group of 6 people asked to name the colour if slides that were various shades of blue
2 of the 6 were conferates
When the cs answered green every time the ps also names it as green in 8% of trials
Nemeth 1987 - minority social influence
Nemeth argued that flexibility is more important than consistency
Found that when te consistent minority give some way towards the.majority position he has more influence than when he remained consistent and refused to change his position
AO2 minority influence
ps in lab exps are usually students - they are very different from minority groups in te.wider society who seek to change majority opinion and have something at stake
So limits the extent to which the findings can be generalized to real life settings
Also its to simplistic to assume that minority influence is demonstrated openly and immediately
The influence exerted by a minority may be hidden invisible to simplistic behavioural measures but still present
The suffragettes minority influence
History has shown that a minority can be very persuasive
The suffragettes changed public and political opinion and eventually gained the women the vote
The snowball effect - minority influence
If minority can get a few people on their sie more and more people change there opinion to that of the minority
The minority then begins to gather momentum (and then eventually become the majority viewpoint)
Conformity
Choosing to behave in a way that the majority of the group does and in a way that is considered socially acceptable
Complicance
Going along with others to gain approval and avoid their disapproval - no change in thoughts just their behaviour such as laughing at an unfunny joke
Internalisation
Going along with others as you accept their point of view - accept their view both in public and in private - eg changing religion
Normative social influence
The desire to be liked to be accepted and to avoid rejection - Complicance
Informational social influence
The desire to be right to have an accurate perception of reality - internalisation
Asch - line study - Complicance
Male students in 'visual test'
Sat around a table 1 ps and 7 cf each had to say out.loud which of the three lines were the same as the standard line
Real ps answered last or second last
Of the 12 critical trials the participant conformed 37% of the time
Ao2 Asch
Lab experiment
Only used male participants women are known to act differently and to generally be more compliant than men
On 2/3 of the trials where the majority gave the wrong answer the participants didn't conform - shows most inds are nother conformist
Sherif 1935 - Internalisation
Lab experiment - used autokinetic effect
Asked participants how far the light moved - individually
Asked participants how far the light had moved in group of three (each person in the group had to say aloud how far they thought the light had moved)
Asked participants how far the light moved - individually
Findings: - when the participants were asked individually how far the light moved the measurements were varied considerably (20cm to 80cm)
when individuals were asked again their answers reflected the groups norm.
Conclusion: -a person will look to others for guidance
Sherif AO2
Lab experiment so lacks ecological validity - may not have acted as they would have in the real world
All male participants - unable to generalise to the whole of the population as women may have acted differently
Era bias - findings may no longer be relevant
Obedience
following orders from a figure in authority
Milgram 1963
40 males volunteers recruited via newspaper ad
Participants always assigned role of 'Teacher' and tape recording was the learner
Participants instructed to administrate an electric shock every time they got an answer wrong increasing by 15v each time
Participants didnt realise the shocks were real until the end of the experiment
Findings: - all participants went to at least 300v
65% went to the max of 450v
most complained they didnt want to continue but the 4 prods were used
Many became very anxious and distressed (one had an seizure)
Milgrams AO2
Did participants believe it was real:
Yes - the different ethical issues that were broken shows that the study could prove reliable results (protection from harm - participants showed distressing signs, one had a seizure)
No - demand characteristics - may have guess what was being studied so acted how they thought they should - may not have believed they were delivering shocks (BUT participants were interviewed afterward and gave every indication their distress was real)
Lacks ecological validity as the research setting was not like real life
All participants male - unable to generalise to the wider population
Milgrams ethical issues
Deception - Milgram didnt tell the participants the true aim of the study
Milgrams defense: - After the study M sent a questionnaire to over 1000 people who had taken part in the study 92% responded and 84% said they were glad to have taken part and only 1.3% said they were sorry to have taken part
Right to withdraw -prods implied that they must continue 'you have no other choice you must continue'
Milgrams defense: - Milgram stated the participants they were free to leave as shown by the 35% who did
Protection of participants - Many participants experienced considerable distress (one even had a seizure)
Milgrams defense: - He provided a debriefing at the end of the experiment also the participants were visited and interviewed by a psychiatrist one year after the experiments and there was no evidence of psychological harm
Locus of control -general
Perception of how much control and individual has over an event in their life
Measured on a scale from right internal to high external
Locus of control AO1
People with high internal LOC feel they are in control of the events in there lives and responsible for their actions
People with high external LOC feel the events in their lives are controled by external factors
Evidence shows that these high internal LOC show more independent behaviour - this may be because they have more self confidence to resist social influence
Those with high external LOC have lower self esteem and need Korea social approval
Locus of control AO2
Migrams research shows that disobedient participants had Hugh internal LOC
BUT research has shown that the relationship between LOC and conformity is not as consistent - as it is not always linked
Measuring LOC is difficult - questionaires
Self esteem has been associated with individuals behaviour - high internal have high self esteem so hard to know if LOC or self esteem is a crucial factor
Dissent AO1
Research shows conformity will be significantly reduced if the majority is not unanimous in its opinion
As soon as the unanimity of the majority group is weakened non conformity is likely to be seen
The dissenter represents a form of social support
It liberates the participants from the need to conform to the majority
Dissent AO2
Support for the role comes from a variation of the Asch study
The presence of a dissenter was a crucial variable for increasing independent behaviour - when a confederate agreed with a participant conformity dropped by 5.5%
Even if the dissenter gave a different answer but still incorrect conformity decreases by 12%
Concluded that it is the unanimity of that group is crucial
Legitimate authority AO1
most societies are ordered in a hierarchical way with some members having social powers
This power is held by authority figures whose role is defined by society
It is extremely difficult to deviate from social roles which are learnt through childhood
Legitimate authority AO2
Supporting a variation - setting was changed from Yale university to a run down office block
Obedience rates dropped to 47% from 65% - because legitimate authority was diminished
Bickman 1974 - field experiment in new York 92% of pedestrians obeyed an order to give a stranger money for a parking meter when the researcher was dressed as a guard compared to 49% when dressed in civilian clothing
Gradual commitment AO1
Migram had found that once participants had committed to lower levels of shocks they felt they had entered an agreement so were unable resist further demands (to give shocks at increasingly higher and higher levels)
Stopping was madras more difficult as there was a gradual transition from one shock to another
Known as the foot in the door approach once someone has signalled their willingness to agree to a small request their ability to refuse larger requests from the same source diminished
Gradual commitment
Lifton 1986 found evidence of gradual commitment among the Nazi doctors first required to carry out sterilisation of individuals considered to be mentally defective and then to carry out increasingly extreme experiments in death camps
Also supported by the abusive behaviour of the guards in Abu Graib prison in iraq (it was gradual)