Conformity

Question 1

what is conformity?

Answer 1

conformity is when someone changes their behaviour, attitudes, or beliefs to fit in with a group, It is also known as majority influence because people tend to conform to larger groups

Question 2

why do people conform to majority groups more?

Answer 2

because larger groups provide ‘safety in numbers’, making majority influence stronger than minority influence

Question 3

what is compliance?

Answer 3

publicly agreeing wit or behaving like the group but privately disagreeing

Question 4

give examples of compliance.

Answer 4

laughing at an unfunny or offensive joke because others are laughing

Question 5

why is compliance the weakest type of conformity?

Answer 5

because it is surface level, temporary, and stops once the person is no longer with the group

Question 6

what is identification?

Answer 6

temporarily adopting the behaviours, attitudes or habits of a group because you value the group and want to belong

Question 7

what else can identification involve?

Answer 7

conforming to the expectations of a social role, such as police officers, teachers, or nurses

Question 8

give examples of identification.

Answer 8

dressing like a friendship group at college
using similar body language or phrases as influencers

Question 9

why is identification short term?

Answer 9

because the person does not full agree privately - their internal beliefs don’t completely change

Question 10

what is internalisation?

Answer 10

the deepest level of conformity, the person agrees publicly and privately, accepting group norms as their own

Question 11

give example if internalisation.

Answer 11

changing hobbies, attitudes and personal style to match the group but not changing back when away from the group
fully adopting a new group’s norm and rejecting previous belief e.g. political or religious

Question 12

why is internalisation the strongest type of conformity?

Answer 12

because it leads to true, long term change in both behaviour and belief

Question 13

what are the two main explanations of conformity?

Answer 13

normative social influence (NSI) - need to be liked/accepted; fear of rejection
informational social influence (ISI) - need to know what to do; fear of being wrong

Question 14

when is a person more likely to experience NSI?

Answer 14

when they feel their attitudes or behaviour dont match the groups, causing anxiety or fear of exclusion

Question 15

what conformity is NSI inked to?

Answer 15

compliance and identification - both involve public agreement even if private beliefs differ

Question 16

what is the core basis of NSI?

Answer 16

emotional - rooted in the need to feel accepted, liked, and included

Question 17

what is information social influence (ISI)?

Answer 17

ISI occurs when an individual conforms because they are unsure what to do and believe others have ore knowledge about the correct behaviour

Question 18

what is normative social influence (NSI)?

Answer 18

NSI is conformity driven by the desire to be liked, accepted, or approved by the group and to avoid rejection

Question 19

why does ISI happen?

Answer 19

the individual looks for guidance because they assume the group knows better

Question 20

which type of conformity does ISI lead to?

Answer 20

internalisation - adopting the groups beliefs both publicly and privately

Question 21

what is the core basis of ISI?

Answer 21

cognitive - based on processing information and believing others have more accurate knowledge

Question 22

what research supports ISI? AO3 +

Answer 22

Jenness (1932) - Ps estimated beans in a jar, discussed in groups, then gave a second estimate
second estimates shifted closer to the group estimate, showing ps relied on others when uncertain

Question 23

what real world evidence supports NSI? AO3 +

Answer 23

Shultz et al (2008) - hotel rooms displaying “75% of guests reuse their towels” produced a 25% increase in towel reuse vs control room
guests conformed to group norms - has high ecological validity

Question 24

why is ISI/NSI limited by individual differences? AO3 -

Answer 24

not everyone conforms - some people resist both ISI and NSI which means it cannot explain all human behaviour which limits generalisability

Question 25

why is research into conformity explanations often limited? AO3 -

Answer 25

most studies (e.g. Asch) occur in lab settings -> artificial tasks, low mundane realism this reduces external validity and limits how well ISI/NSI generalise to real wold behaviour

Question 26

AO3 overview of ISI and NSI?

Answer 26

+ Jenness (1932) - ISI Shultz et al (2008) - NSI - individual differences lab based research

Question 27

what was the aim of Asch's (1951, 1955) study?

Answer 27

to investigate majority influence and see whether group pressure would cause individuals to conform to an obviously incorrect answer in an unambiguous task

Question 28

who took part in Asch's study?

Answer 28

123 male American college students, each naive ps tested with 6 to 8 confederates

Question 29

what task were ps given in Asch's study?

Answer 29

the judged line lengths, identifying which of three comparison lines matched a target line

Question 30

how did Asch structure the trials?

Answer 30

there were 18 trials per ps, 12 critical trials where all confederates deliberately gave the same incorrect answer

Question 31

what was the overall conformity rate in Asch's study?

Answer 31

ps conformed on 36.8% of the critical trials

Question 32

how many ps conformed at least once?

Answer 32

75% - shows strong majority influence

Question 33

how many ps never conformed?

Answer 33

25% - showing resistance to social influence

Question 34

hat did Asch conclude about conformity in unambiguous situations?

Answer 34

people will conform to a clear wrong answer due to group pressure, even when the correct answer is obvious

Question 35

why did ps conform according to Asch?

Answer 35

due to NSI and ISI

Question 36

how did Asch's study support NSI?

Answer 36

ps conformed to avoid rejection despite knowing the group was wrong - compliance

Question 37

how does Asch's study support ISI?

Answer 37

some ps reported doubting their own judgement and believing the group must be correct - internalisation tendency