Conformity

Question 1

what are the 3 types of conformity

Answer 1

• compliance
• identification
• internalisation

Question 2

explain what compliance is

Answer 2

• when an individual agrees publicly but their private beliefs remain in disgareement
• the individual changes their behaviour to be accepted by a group

Question 3

explain what identification is

Answer 3

• private and public acceptance but is generally temporary
• individuals adjust their behaviour because membership of that group is desirable

Question 4

explain what internalisation is

Answer 4

• individual agrees publicly and privately
• deepest type of conformity where and individual permantly changes thei r beliefs

Question 5

what is the key study for research into conformity

Answer 5

asch

Question 6

explain the procedure of aschs study

Answer 6

• 123 male participants
• the participants was in a group of 6 to 8 people and thought all people were like himself
• there was only one real participant and the others were conferderates
• participants asked to judge which of the three comparison lines was equal in length to the standard line
• the confederates gave wrong answers on 12 out of the 18 trials
• particpants was usually second to last to answer

Question 7

what were the findings of aschs study

Answer 7

• average conformity rate was 36.8%
• 25% did not conform once

Question 8

what are the 3 situational variables that affect conformity

Answer 8

• size of group
• unanimity
• task difficulty

Question 9

what were the findings of aschs study when he varied the number of confederates

Answer 9

• when there was one real particpant and one confederate, only 3% conformed
• when the number of confederates increased to three, conformity rose to 32%
• confderate level of 15 led to lower levels of conformity because participants became suspicious

Question 10

what were the findings of aschs study when he changed the unanimity of the confederates

Answer 10

• asch disrupted the unanimity by including a dissenter (confederate who went against the majority view) and found conformity dropped from 36.8% to 5.5%

Question 11

what were the findings of aschs study when he increases the task difficulty

Answer 11

• aschs made the comparison lines more similar to eachother
• this made participants more likely to conform

Question 12

what are some weaknesses of aschs experiment

Answer 12

• social desirability
• ethical issues
• artificial environment - lacks mundane realism
• demand characteristics

Question 13

what are some strengths of aschs experiment

Answer 13

• controlled
• support from other studies

Question 14

what are the two explanations for conformity

Answer 14

• normative social influence
• informational social influence

Question 15

explain what normative social influence is

Answer 15

• based on the desire to be liked - an individual conforms because they have the need to be accepted
• involves compliance

Question 16

how was normative social influence shown in aschs study

Answer 16

• some particpants later admitted that they knew the confederates answers were wrong but they didnt want to be the odd one out

Question 17

explain what informational social influence is

Answer 17

• based on the desire to be right
• this often occurs when an individual is unaare of hw to behave in a social situation so look to other for guidance

Question 18

explain research that supports the role of informational social influence

Answer 18

jennes

• participants asked to make independant judgements about the number of beans contained in a jar
• they then discussed their estimates in a group
• participants then made a second estimate
• it was found this second estimate moved closer to the group estimate

Question 19

what did asch change to his study to support normative social influence and what were the findings

Answer 19

• he asked the participants to write their answers down
• conformity dropped to 12.5%
• this demonstrates they were conforming to win social approval

Question 20

what is the key study into research of social roles

Answer 20

zimbardo

Question 21

what is dispositional

Answer 21

they have sadistic personalities

Question 22

what is situational

Answer 22

the situation creates behaviour

Question 23

explain the procedure of zimbardos study

Answer 23

• mock prison in stanford university
• 21 male student volunteers randomly assigned role of guard or prisoner
• prisoners spend 23 hours a day locked in their cells for two weeks
• guards had a uniform with handcuffs, wooden club and mirror shades. The guards had complete power over the prisoners

Question 24

how were the social roles strictly divided in zimbardos study

Answer 24

• prisoners were given 16 rules to follow
• prisoners only referred to by number
• guards had complete power

Question 25

what were the findings of zimbardos study

Answer 25

* study was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14 because the guards behaviour became a threat to the prisoners health * guards, prisoners and researches all conformed to their social roles * prisoners rebelled within 2 days * one prisoner went on a hunger strike

Question 26

explain a study that discredits zimbardos research

Answer 26

movahedi * argued participants were just play acting * behaviours were based on sterotypes suggesting the findings tell us little about conformity to social roles

Question 27

explain a study that supports zimbardos research

Answer 27

mcdermott * argues the participants behaved as if the prison was real * 90% of the prisoners onversations were about prison life * this suggests the study did replicate social roles

Question 28

what are some strengths of zimbardos study

Answer 28

* supporting research * practical applications - prison systems

Question 29

what are some limitations of zimbados study

Answer 29

* ethical issues * demand characteristics * male sample * small sample * lack of realism

Question 30

# strength give a PEELH for explanations of conformity | ISI

Answer 30

* P - supporting evidence for ISI * Eg - Jennes conducted a study where participants made indepednant guesses about the number of beans in a jar. they then discussed this with a group and made a second estimate. It was found the second estimate became closer to the group estimate * Ex - This shows that when people arent asure how to act in a social situation they lok to others for guidance, supporting the idea we conform to be right * L - therefore, thisa increases the validity for the explanation * H - artifical task had no real consequence so may lack ecological validity

Question 31

# strength give a PEELH for explanations of conformity | NSI

Answer 31

* P - supporting evidence for NSI * Eg - asch asked some of the particiopants in his study why they conformed and some of them admitted it was because they didnt want to be the odd one out * Ex - this shows the desire to be liked and fit into a group made the indiviudal hide their real beliefs * L - therefore, this increases the validity for the NSI explanation * H - the use of an artifical task may lack ecological validity so the findings may not be able to be applied to a real life situation

Question 32

# strength give a PEELH for aschs research

Answer 32

* P - lab experiment with controlled conditions * Eg - variab;es likle group size ad unanimity were carefully manipulated * Ex - allowed asch yo isolate the effects of these variables whihc improves the internal validity of the findings * L - the study provides stromg evidence for how specific social pressurs influence behaviour * H - because the study took part in the 1950s america, a place known for strong conformity norms, the findings may not reflect how people behave today. Decreasing temporal validity

Question 33

# limitation give a PEELH for aschs research

Answer 33

* P - lacks ecological validity * Eg - the task of judging line lengths was trivial and had no real consequences * Ex - in real life, conformity usually happens in situations involving moral or social stakes * L - the study may underestimate or overestimate how people conform in real life settings * H - the simplicity of the task allowed researchers to focus purely on social pressure which was the aim of the study

Question 34

# strength give a PEELH for zimbardos research

Answer 34

* P - supporting research * Eg - mcdermott re analysed partcipants conversations during the study and found that many believed the prison was real, with 90% of conversations involving prison life * Ex - this suggests particpants behaved as if the situation was real, rather than acting * L - this increases the validity of the research as the particpants displayed real confomrity to social roles * h - some behaviours may have been exaggerated due to demand characterisitics as participants knew it was an experiment

Question 35

# limitation give a PEELH for zimbardos research

Answer 35

* P - challenged by other research * Eg - movahedit argued participants may have simply been acting in line with sterotypes of how guards and prisoners are expected to behave * Ex - this means participants werent truly conmforming to social roles but were performing based on what the researchers wanted * L - this challenges the internal validity of the study meaning the findings may tell us little about conformity to social roles in real life * H - the emotional reactions in the participants suggest at least some level of genuine psychological effect