Summary A* Social Influence - AQA A level Psychology Notes
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Course
Social Influence
Institution
AQA
A* notes on all the topics in social influence for AQA Psychology Paper 1 (A level).
Includes: Types of Conformity; Conformity Studies (i.e., Asch's line study); Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment; Obedience studies (Milgram); Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority; The Authoritarian Person...
Mrs McClay
Tuesday 31st January 2023
Social Influence
Types of Conformity
Conformity =
“A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagine pressure from a
person or a group of people”
Jenness, 1932
o Conducted one of the earliest experiments examining conformity
o Used an ambiguous (vague/unclear) situation involving a glass
jar filled with 811 white beans
His sample consisted of 101 psychology students
1. Individually estimate the number of beans in the jar
2. In a group of 3, discuss the task and provide a group estimate
3. Second opportunity to individually estimate
The purpose was to see if they changed their original answer
Found that females were more likely to change their answer
when influenced by other people
Types of conformity
1. Compliance
2. Internalisation
3. Identification
1. Compliance
= involves simply “going along with others” in public, but privately not changing personal
opinions and/or behaviour
Compliance results in only a superficial change
Also means that a particular behaviour or opinions stops as soon as group pressure
stops
2. Internalisation
= occurs when a person genuinely accepts the group norms
This results in a private (as well as public) change in opinions/behaviours
This change is likely to be permanent because attitudes have been internalised
i.e. becomes part of the way that person thinks, changed their mindset
The change in opinions/behaviour persists even in the absence of other group
members
, 3. Identification
= sometimes we conform to the opinions/behaviours of a group because there is
something about that group that we value
We identify with the group, so we want to be part of it
This may mean we publicly change our opinions/behaviours to achieve this goal,
even if we don’t privately agree with everything the group stands for
May result in internalisation, may not
Conformity (3 marks)
Individual changes behaviour to fit with group, may not necessarily agree with it but go
along with it publicly, not a permanent form of social influence, only when the group are
public, fits with NSI
Explanations for conformity
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
= all about norms
i.e. what is “normal” or typical behaviour for a social group
Norms regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals
o People prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected, therefore NSI is
emotional rather than cognitive
o NSI is most likely to occur in situations with strangers where you may feel concerned
about rejection
o It may also occur with people you know because we are most concerned about the
social approval of our friends
also might be more pronounced in stressful situations where people have a greater need
for social support
TEMPORARY
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
= where you look to someone else to inform you how to behave
following the majority of group behaviour because you believe that what they’re doing
is right
o ISI = cognitive process, to do with what you think
o ISI = most likely to happen in situations that are new to a person/situations where
there is some ambiguity – so it’s clear what is right
o Also typical in crisis situations where decisions have to be made quickly
o Occurs when one person (or group) is regarded as being more of an expert
Believe that they are right, and so mimic actions because they believe action is right
PERMANENT
,Steph + Jeff essay (A01 + A02)
Conformity is where a person’s behaviour or opinions change as a result of a real or
imagined pressure from a person or a group of people, and this can be in the form of
compliance, identification, or internalisation. One explanation for conformity is Normative
social behaviour. This is where an individual mimics the behaviour of a group because it is
the typical norm, and they would rather gain the groups approval by acting like them than
be rejected for acting differently. This explanation for conformity is emotional as the
individual conforms to the group as they are concerned about the approval of the group,
and this can be pronounced in stressful situations where there is a greater need for social
support but is temporary.
Another explanation for conformity is Informational social influence. This where you look
to others to inform you how to behave because you believe that their actions or beliefs
are correct. Isi is a cognitive processes and is most likely to occur when the individual is in a
new situation where they are uncertain how to behave. ISI occurs when one person in the
group is regarded as being more knowledgeable than the rest and this is likely to occur
more frequently in a crisis situation when the decisions have to be made quickly.
In the discussion, Steph decides to strike because of ISI. She said that when she listened to
the other teacher’s argument, she became quite passionate about it herself, meaning she
believes that their reasons for striking are correct. This is a form of internalisation as she
now publicly and privately agrees with them, and this behaviour is permanent.
Jeff on the other hand conforms due to NSI, he was new to the staff members and only
joined in with the strike because everyone else seemed to be striking. He was worried that
he was going to be the only one who wasn’t and so decided to adopt their behaviours in
order to gain their approval. This could lead to compliance, which is a temporary form of
conformity because he only agrees with their opinions publicly.
STRENGTH: NSI
There is a wide variety of research to support the idea of NSI.
For example, Asch conducted a study where a group of confederates would answer the
obviously wrong answer to the question “which line matches the example”, misleading
participants. As a result of this, 36% of the participants conformed to the wrong answer and
75% of participants conformed at least once
Consequently, it can be assumed that the participants changed their answers in order to
gain the approval of the majority of the group, showing NSI as they went along with the
typical behaviour.
However, it could be argued that Asch’s study is not reliable as it is gender and culture
bound and lacks temporal validity. He used a biased sample of 50 male students from the
same college in America, and the study took place in 1951 when conformity rates were
exceptionally high due to paranoia about communism. Therefore, the findings cannot be
generalised.
Despite this, the supporting research suggests that NSI is a reliable explanation for
conformity.
, STRENGTH: ISI
There is also a bank of reliable research that support ISI in conformity.
Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy
or more difficult to answer.
He found that the participants conformed more when the math problem was more difficult
compared to when the maths problems were considered easier due to the students being
ambiguous about the answers, and not wanting to appear wrong.
This was particularly true for those who rated their maths ability as poor.
In addition to this, Jenness’ bean jar experiment, where participants were asked to estimate
how many beans they thought were in a jar individually and then as a group, also supports
ISI. Jenness found that the participants would change their answers to roughly the same as
other peoples because the ambiguity of the situation made them look to others for the
right answer.
These studies successfully show how people conform in situations when they feel that they
don’t know the answers and allow themselves to be influenced by others because they
believe that they’re right. These studies also show how ISI can lead to internalisation as the
participants believed that the other’s answers were right.
WEAKNESS:
However, some research shows that NSI does not affect everyone’s behaviour in the same
way.
People who have a need for association with others can be described nAffilitators. These
are people who have a greater need for affiliation.
For example, McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students high in need for affiliation
were more likely to conform.
This shows that the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than
others, therefore suggesting there are individual differences in the way people respond
On the other hand, Shultz et. al’s 2007 study found that when hotel guests saw a message
that 75% of other hotel guests refused new towels, they too decided to keep their old ones.
This suggests that NSI has ecological validity and can explain daily situations where people
conform.
Although this is true, it could be argued that only a certain sample was used in this
experiment as the study was within one hotel and therefore cannot be generalised as they
do not consider individual differences.
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