Types of conformity: >Internalisation = when a person generally accepts the group norms >Identification = people conform to opinions or behaviour because there is something about the group that we value >Compliance = superficial change
Explanations of conformity: >Informational social influence (ISI) = who has the better information, the person or the rest of the group? People follow behaviour of a group because they want to be right >Normative social influence (NSI) = following the normal or typical behaviour (norms)
Asch's research on conformity: (1951,1955) -Participants were shown two large white cards at time -On one card was a standard line & the other card three comparison lines -Participants asked to say which of the three lines matched the standard -123 American male undergraduates -Each participant was tested with a group of six to eight confederates -The participant gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time -75% of participants conformed at least once -When interviewed afterwards most participants said they conformed to avoid rejection
Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo's research -Set up a mock prison in the basement of a psychology department at Stanford university -Students were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners -To heighten realism, the prisoners were arrested in their homes by real police and were delivered to the prison -Social roles of the two types of participants were strictly divided Results: -Guars took upon their roles with enthusiasm -Prisoners rebelled against their harsh treatment by the guards -Rebellion was put down and prisons became subdued Conclusion: -The stimulation revealed the power of the situation to influence people's behaviour -Everyone conformed to their roles
Obedience: Milgrams research (1963) -Voltage experiment
Resistance to social influence: Social support: >Conformity: social support can help people to resist conformity. The pressure to conform can be reduced if other people are around not conforming. >Obedience: social support can help to resist obedience. The pressure to obey can be reduced if someone else is seen to disobey.
Minority influence: Refers to the situation where one person or a small group of people influence the beliefs and behaviour of other people. This is distinct from conformity where the majority is going the influence. Minority influence often leads to internalisation (both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed by the process) Consistency: Over time the consistency of the minority's views increases the amount of interest of other people. Such consistency makes other people question their views. Commitment: Minority groups often engage in extreme activities to draw attention > majority group members then pay more attention. Flexibility: Members of a minority need to be open to adapt their point of view.
Pedagogy: -Recreate a number of the experiments - particulary easy to do with Asch's experiement - ask students to set up their own version -Create a treasure hunt around the room, where students work in groups in order to gather information in regards to social influence -Show clips of each experiment, ask students to interpret for themselves what is going on and the strengths and weaknesses - do this as a carousel task where students move around tables in groups to add information about a piece of research