Conformity

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

a change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imaginary pressure from a person or a group of people

Question 2

internalisation

Answer 2

• the deepest level of conformity

- where the beliefs of the group become part of the individual belief system

Question 3

identification

Answer 3

• temporary or short term change of behaviour or beliefs only in the presence of the group
• acting less silly at work
• Zimbardo’s study

Question 4

compliance

Answer 4

• when you follow other peoples ideas to gain their approval
• aschs study

Question 5

informational social influence

explanations for conformity

Answer 5

• desire to be right
• conform when we have a lack of knowledge so we look to people who we believe have more information than us
• Jenness bean jar experiment
• Lucas et al - conformity is higher for questions that were difficult
• conformity to an obviously incorrect maths answer was greater when the question was more difficult and the participant rated their own maths ability unfavourably

Question 6

normative social influence

explanations for conformity

Answer 6

• want to fit in
• not appear foolish
• approval from the group drives compliance
• need to be liked
• aschs study
• doesn’t affect everyone as some don’t care about relationships and rather be unique

Question 7

aim JENNESS (1932)

Answer 7

to examine whether individuals will change their opinions in an ambiguous situation, in response to a group discussion

Question 8

procedure JENNESS (1932)

Answer 8

1) glass bottle filled with 811 beans
2) 26 students individually estimated
3) ppts divided into groups of 3 and provided an estimate through discussion
4) then ppts were able to change their answer if wanted to

Question 9

findings JENNESS (1932)

Answer 9

• Jenness found that nearly all participants changed their original answer
• males changed answer by = 256
  females = 382
• range decreased by 75%

Question 10

conclusion JENNESS (1932)

Answer 10

• individuals changed their initial estimate due to informational social influence as they believed that the group estimates were more likely to be correct