A-Level Psychology - Paper 1 - Social Influence
Compliance – Publicly conforming to a behavior or view but privately disagreeing.
What are the 3 types of CONFORMITY ?
compliance, identification, internalisation
Key Terms
What are the 3 types of CONFORMITY ?
compliance, identification, internalisation
What is COMPLIANCE ?
weakest form
changing behaviour to be accepted
have these views publicly not privately
Give an example of compliance.
e.g. you say you like a band to your friends but don’t listen to them at home
What is IDENTIFICATION ?
intermediate level
temporary change in belief
you do it both publicly and privately to be accepted
is strong because it involves ...
Give an example of identification.
e.g. soldiers in the army may adopted certain behaviour but lose it when they return home
What is INTERNALISATION ?
deepest level
permanent change
take on new attitudes / beliefs
Related Flashcard Decks
Study Tips
- Press F to enter focus mode for distraction-free studying
- Review cards regularly to improve retention
- Try to recall the answer before flipping the card
- Share this deck with friends to study together
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
What are the 3 types of CONFORMITY ? | compliance, identification, internalisation |
What is COMPLIANCE ? | weakest form changing behaviour to be accepted have these views publicly not privately |
Give an example of compliance. | e.g. you say you like a band to your friends but don’t listen to them at home |
What is IDENTIFICATION ? | intermediate level temporary change in belief you do it both publicly and privately to be accepted is strong because it involves private change |
Give an example of identification. | e.g. soldiers in the army may adopted certain behaviour but lose it when they return home |
What is INTERNALISATION ? | deepest level permanent change take on new attitudes / beliefs |
Give an example of internalisation. | e.g. sometimes people start going to church and their attitudes and beliefs change so they become Christians |
What are the 3 variables that affect conformity ? | size unanimity difficulty |
What is the AGENTIC STATE ? | putting the responsibility of our actions on someone else |
What is the AUTONOMOUS STATE ? | when we take responsibility for our own actions |
What are BINDING FACTORS ? | aspects of situation that allow a person to ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour |
What is LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY ? | we are more likely to obey when we believe an authority is legitimate |
What are the two explanations for obedience ? | agentic state and legitimate authority |
What are the traits of someone with an authoritarian personality ? | hostile fairly rigid in beliefs conventional / traditional (Adorno F-scale) |
What are the characteristics of INTERNAL LoC ? | independent active seekers of info less likely to conform / obey don’t rely on external opinions |
What are the characteristics of EXTERNAL LoC ? | less independent rely on others for info more likely to conform / obey rely on external opinions |
Who studied conformity ? (1) | ASCH (1951) |
How did ASCH study conformity ? | LINE STUDY 123 US males Answer: 3 lines Answer: match with comparison line |
What were the results of ASCH’S study ? | 74% at least once 26% never 5% every time |
What was the conclusion of ASCH’S study ? | COMPLIANCE = NORMATIVE influence |
Who studied conformity ? (2) | SHERIF |
How did SHERIF study conformity ? | AUTO-KINETIC EFFECT make estimates alone make estimates in groups of 3 make estimates alone |
What were the results of SHERIF’S study ? | ALONE = own stable estimates GROUP = estimates converged and became more alike ALONE = estimates were more like the group |
What was the conclusion of SHERIF’S study ? | INTERNALISATION = INFORMATIONAL influence |
Who studied conformity to social roles ? | ZIMBADO - Stanford Prison Experiment |
How did ZIMBADO study conformity to social roles ? | converted basement into prison prisoners arrested in homes no physical contact £15 per day |
What were the results of ZIMBADO'S study ? | prisoners and guards took on roles quickly | - prisoners treated very poorly by guards |
What is OBEDIENCE ? | within HIERARCHY emphasis on POWER pp embrace obedience to explain behaviour |
What is CONFORMITY ? | between EQUAL STATUS emphasis on ACCEPTANCE pp deny conformity |
Who investigated obedience to an authority ? | MILGRAM (1963) - Electric shock |
How did MILGRAM study obedience to an authority ? | teacher / learner (always teacher) read word pairs read first word and match second wrong = shock |
What were the results of MLGRAM'S study ? | 240 volts - 100% 300 volts - 87.5% 360 volts - 76.6% 420 volts - 65% 450 volts - 63% |
What are the STRENGTHS of legitimate authority ? | APPLICATIONS Kelman and Hamilton My Lai Massacre power hierarchy of US Army RESEARCH EVIDENCE Tarnow (2000) dependence on captain second officer didn't bring up odd behaviour |
What are the WEAKNESSES of legitimate authority ? | OTHER EXPLANATIONS gradual commitment obey small requests leads to bigger ones cannot assume legitimate authority is the only reason JUSTIFY HARMING OTHERS no longer feel own moral values |
What is the STRENGTH of authoritarian personality ? | SUPPORT RESEARCH Dambrun & Vatine correlation between pps RWA score maximum voltage shock administered to the victim highest score = most obedient |
What are the WEAKNESSES of authoritarian personality ? | SOCIAL CONTEXT MORE IMPORTANT explains obedience better than disposition EDUCATION MAY DETERMINE AUTHORITARIANISM AND OBEDIENCE less educated are more obedient lack of obedience may be responsible rather than authoritarianism NOT ALL OBEDIENT P's SHOWED ALL THE FEATURES OF AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY not all obedient pps had difficult relationship with fathers |
What are the STRENGTHS of LoC ? | RESEARCH EVIDENCE Atgis meta-analysis avg. correlation between LoC and conformity = 0.37 genuinely is a higher rate of conformity within externals RESEARCH EVIDENCE Oliner and Oliner compared 406 who had rescued jews with 126 who didn't rescuers had higher internal internal is a factor in resisting pressure to obey authority |
What are the WEAKNESSES of LoC ? | CORRELATION METHOD don't know cause and effect LACK OF CONTROL Oliner and Oliner no cause and effect |
What are the STRENGTHS of social support ? | RESEARCH SUPPORT Allen and Levine = similar study to Asch, dissenter allowed conformity to decrease Gamson = did not obey when asked to give evidence - pps where in groups |
What are the STRENGTHS of reasons to conform ? | RESEARCH EVIDENCE Asch normative social influence 75% at least once 5% every time RESEARCH EVIDENCE Sherif informational social influence LABORATORY EXPERIMENT extraneous variables controlled replicated = reliable |
What are the WEAKNESSES of reasons to conform ? | SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY alternate explanation part of an 'in-group' more likely to conform from pressure within our group LAB EXPERIMENT lacks ecological validity demand characteristics |
What are the STRENGTHS of Zimbado's study ? | CLEAR ROLES randomly given avoids researcher bias INFORMED CONSENT INTERNAL VALIDITY 90% of conversation was about prison life |
What are the WEAKNESSES of Zimbado's study ? | UNETHICALLY SOUND prisoners psychologically damaged POPULATION VALIDITY only male students VALIDITY guard based role on film character not all guards conformed |
What are the STRENGTHS of Milgram's study ? | LABORATORY EXPERIMENT high control cause and effect reliable RESEARCH EVIDENCE Bickman uniforms provide coin for parking metre |
What are the WEAKNESSES of Milgram's study ? | LACK INTERNAL VALIDITY Orne and Holland extra manipulation = demand characteristics ETHICAL ISSUES deception protection from psychological harm |
What are the STRENGTHS of the agentic state ? | APPLICATIONS nazi criminals defended in court just following orders RESEARCH EVIDENCE Milgram pp demonstrated moral strain disobeyed no longer had strain emotions in autonomous state |
What are the WEAKNESSES of the agentic state ? | OTHER EXPLANATIONS French and Raven 5 different types of power Answer: Milgram's conclusion may be inaccurate DESCRIBES RATHER THAN EXPLAINS does not say HOW agentic takes over harder to carry out research to test theory |
What are the WEAKNESSES of social support ? | SUPPORT MUST BE GIVEN EARLY from the start conformity drops from 32% to 5.5% later only drops to 8.5% PRACTICAL APPLICATION you don't always copy the behaviour people around you might litter but you may disagree with it |
What are the STRENGTHS of minority influence ? | METHODOLOGY lab experiment high control cause and effect internal validity RESEARCH SUPPORT Wood et al = meta-analysis - minority are still persuasive when compared to 'control' conditions APPLICATIONS social change votes for women |
What are the WEAKNESSES of minority influence ? | ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY not normally asked if slides are green or blue consistent minority might not always be able to influence majority OTHER THEORIES people move to members if their 'in-group' we feel we share a membership |