2023-2025 Year 12 A-Level Psychology Social Influence: Explanations of Conformity Part 1
This flashcard deck covers key concepts and findings from Asch's study on conformity, including explanations of conformity such as Normative Social Influence (NSI) and Informational Social Influence (ISI).
Asch’s study only used males in the sample for his experiment. What type of bias does the study have?
Gender Bias
Key Terms
Asch’s study only used males in the sample for his experiment. What type of bias does the study have?
Gender Bias
Asch’s study is gender bias, how do you know?
Because he used a male only sample
Asch’s study was only conducted on males, why is this a problem?
It is difficult to generalise the findings to females
Why is it difficult to generalise Asch’s results on conformity to females?
Females may conform more as research suggests they are more concerned about social relationships & liked by peers showing NSI explains conformi...
In Asch’s study, the participant was joined by…
7 - 9 confederates
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Asch’s study only used males in the sample for his experiment. What type of bias does the study have? | Gender Bias |
Asch’s study is gender bias, how do you know? | Because he used a male only sample |
Asch’s study was only conducted on males, why is this a problem? | It is difficult to generalise the findings to females |
Why is it difficult to generalise Asch’s results on conformity to females? | Females may conform more as research suggests they are more concerned about social relationships & liked by peers showing NSI explains conformity for some groups of people rather than others (females more than males). |
Give two ways in which the methodology can be criticised in Asch’s research into conformity. | 1) Gender Bias 2) Lacks Ecological Validity |
In Asch’s study, the participant was joined by… | 7 - 9 confederates |
Asch’s sample? | 123 American Male Students |
When did participants give their answer? | Last or second to last - heard all the confederate answers first |
Asch’s Task | Match the comparison line to the standard lines a/b/c in terms of length |
How many times did they confederates give the identical wrong answer? | 12/18 times - called the critical trials |
Asch’s findings… | Participants gave the wrong answer 37% of the time |
Post-experiment interviews on Asch’s participants found hat they conformed …. | publicly not privately to avoid ridicule |
Asch’s research supports which explanation of conformity? | NSI |
Why did Asch’s results support NSI? | As the task was unambiguous, participants conformed publicly to be accepted by the group |
Name the two explanations of conformity | ISI; NSI |
ISI stands for… | Informational Social Influence |
NSI stands for… | Normative Social Influence |
ISI is driven by the desire… | To be right |
When does an individual conform according to ISI? | When they lack knowledge |
In ISI, when we lack knowledge, what do we seek from who? | Information from the group on how to behave and assume it is right |
What kind of process is ISI? | Cognitive |
ISI is linked to which type of conformity? | Internalisation |
NSI is driven by a desire… | To be liked |
According to NSI, why will a person go along with the groups behaviour? Give 3 reasons | Avoid ridicule; Gain acceptance; Fit in |