Conformity

Question 1

what is meant by compliance?

Answer 1

• most superficial and least permanent change in attitude
• publicly and privately change b+b ti fit in
• private revert back
• linked to NSI

Question 2

what is meant by identification?

Answer 2

• stronger type of conformity
• private and public acceptance
• individual looks to a group for guidance
• adjust b+b as membership is desired
• may revert back

Question 3

what is meant by internalisation?

Answer 3

• deepest most permanent type
• publicly and privately change b+b systems
• accept their attitudes into own cognitions
• eg vegan linked to ISI

Question 4

explain ISI

Answer 4

• desire to be right
• unsure about how to behave conform and seek guidance
• cognitive process
• leads to internalisation p+p change views to he inline w a group

Question 5

explain NSI

Answer 5

• desire to be liked want to fit in
• ‘go along’ w group’s behaviour to avoid ridicule
• emotional process
• leads to compliance p+p change views but privately revert back

Question 6

what is RTS for ISI?

Answer 6

+ conducted by Jenness
+ ppts asked to estimate number of JB in a jar and decide on group estimate
+ and have a private guess
+ private estimate = closer to groups estimate than their own
+ supports ISI task was AMBIGUOUS

Question 7

What does ISI lack?

Answer 7

• ecological validity took place in lab
• difficult to generalise findings to real life examples
• ppl irl might be less likely to conform as their may be consequences for their actions unlike lab
• reduces external validity questioning ISI as an explanation of conformity

Question 8

what is RTS for NSI?

Answer 8

• conducted by Asch
• a b c was closest to stimulus line ‘x’
• confederates answered first and gave wrong answer
• ppts conformed gave wrong answer 37% of the time
• task was unambiguous
• ppts wanted to avoid ridicule

Question 9

What is the downside to NSI?

Answer 9

-gender bias only males tested
-difficult to generalise findings to females
-females may be more conformist
more concerned abt sr / liked by peers
-(NETO 1995)
-weakens external validity

Question 10

how did group size affect conformity?

Answer 10

• C↑ as group size ↑
• 1 ppt and 1 confederate C 3%
• 1 ppt and 2 confederates C 13%
• 1 ppt and 3 confederates C 32%
• C plateaued after this
• size has an effect only to a certain point

Question 11

how did unanimity affect conformity?

Answer 11

-means complete agreement from a group about an answer

-varied study C went from 37% to 5.5%
>when confederate gave ✅ answer

-‘lone confederate’ gave a different answer to the majority C dropped to 9%

dissenter breaks a group’s unanimity position as conformity decreases

Question 12

how does task difficulty affect conformity?

Answer 12

-C ↑ as TD ↑
-Asch made stimulus line and comparison line more similar in length
✅ answer was less obvious

• C rates ↑
• ISI plays a great role when task becomes harder we look for guidance
• we lose confidence more likely to conform

Question 13

what is RTS for variables affecting conformity?

Answer 13

-conducted by Lucas
-students to solve ‘easy and hard’ maths problems
-ppts given 3 other answers from fake students
ppts C more to harder problems
-supports Asch’s research as task is harder C ↑

Question 14

what is the counter argument to lucas?

Answer 14

• C more complex
• ppts high confidence on maths abilities conformed less than those w low confidence
• individual level factor can influence C and interact w situational variables
• limiting Asch’s research into sv

Question 15

how can Asch’s study be criticised?

Answer 15

• culture bias
• conduced in 🇺🇸 western individualistic culture
• difficult to generalise findings to non western, collectivst cultures like 🇨🇳
• Bond and Smith 1996 found that ppl from china more likely to conform as they want to be liked by them (NSI)
• weakens external validity

Question 16

what happened to the prisoners in zimbardo’s study?

Answer 16

• arrested from their homes
• taken to prison and searched
• deloused and dressed in smocks
• referred to as numbers rather than their names

Question 17

what happened to the guards in zimbardo’s study?

Answer 17

• given uniforms nightstick mirrored 👓
• instructed to keep prisoners under strict control
• not to use physical violence
• uniforms created loss of personal identity encouraging ppts to conform

Question 18

what were the findings of zimbardo’s study?

Answer 18

• within a day prisoners rebelled ripped off numbers
• punishments of guards escalated
• 2 weeks went for 6 days
• prisoners became depressed subdued
• some were released early

Question 19

give the conclusion for z study

Answer 19

• guards researches and prisoners conformed to their role w in group
• social roles have an extraordinary power over individuals
• making even the well adjusted capable of brutality towards others

Question 20

give a criticism of zimbardo’s study

Answer 20

P - prone to demand characteristics 
E - Z took on role of superintendent 
E - Z could have influenced how ppts acted eg ppts may have conformed as they believed Z wanted them to do so
💰also paid for taking part
L - ↓ internal validity

Question 21

give another weakness of z’s study

Answer 21

P - gender bias androcentric sample (24 male)
E - difficult to generalise findings to women
E - stereotypically women are more caring and concerned for others
L - reducing external validity

Question 22

counter argument for gender bias

Answer 22

• However when Z conducted his study he was interested in explaining
• brutality within American prison systems
• majority guards were male
  may explain his choice using male only sample

Question 23

Give a strength of Z’s study

Answer 23

P - practical applications used to predict and explain behaviour in 🌍
E - actions displayed by soldiers Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq similar to Z’s as prisoners were tortured humiliated and abused
E - used to develop prevention programmes for training purposes
L - important part of applied psychology good external validity

Question 24

define conformity

Answer 24

changes in individual’s behaviours and or beliefs as a result of real of imagined group pressure