SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
the influence of groups on behaviour…the basic BASICS… you need to add to this…
group
polarisation
conformity
Asch
factors
influencing
conformity
 Define group polarisation
(the strengthening of attitudes in individuals when in groups of individuals who hold similar
attitudes)
 what are advantages and disadvantages of group polarisation
 what factors contribute to group polarisation
 is there any other research significant to polarisation?
 examples from real life to show polarisation
e.g. the radicalisation of new members in extremist groups
Myers and Bishop
 put prejudiced and non-prejudiced groups to talk to each other and found that groups
that were low in prejudice became even more accepting + groups that were prejudiced
became even more so
**see notes in Connect (Elliott group ) under Social Psychology
 Define conformity
 What is Normative social influence re conformity
 What is Informational social influence re conformity
 Explain Asch’s line study (conclusions) with reference to conformity
 What factors effect conformity and why
 Types of conformity: compliance, internalisation, identification. (GroupThink as an
extreme version of conformity )
 Why do we conform: social normative influence + informational normative
influence, ingratitional conformity (to a lesser extent)
 Factors influencing conformity(e.g.) gender, culture, unamity, group size, group
cohesion, task difficulty,
Definition basic: changing our behaviour in response to group pressure or norms
 informative social influence
 the pressure on individuals in unfamiliar situations to behave in the manner of those
around them
 e.g. walking backwards in a new country, because everyone else is walking backwards
 normative social influence
 the pressure on individuals to change behaviour to conform to group standards in
order to be accepted (we inherently avoid rejection)
 e.g. peer pressure
 showed different sized lines and asked participants which lines were the same length
 participants in control had no external pressure and achieved correct answers
 in the experimental group, the single participant was surrounded by actors and listened to
them give false answers
 37% of the time, people gave the same incorrect answer
 if there was a ‘confederate’ or if people could write down the answer, significantly less
people gave the wrong answer
 found that the larger the group size (>5) the more likely the participants were to conform
 group size: conformity increases with the size of the group up to five, then levels out
 unanimity: conformity increases when the group around us is unanimous  if there is at
least one other person who disagrees, then our likelihood of conforming is substantially
reduced (think bystander effect)
 collectivist culture: cultures in which the needs and goals of the group have a higher
priority = higher levels of conformity  greater pressure to be part of the group
 individualist culture: cultures in which the needs and goals of the individual have a higher
priority = lower levels of conformity  less pressure to be part of the group
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obedience
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Milgram
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Zimbardo
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factors
affecting
obedience
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What is obedience?
Factors encouraging obedience: agentic shift, physical proximity, legitimacy, status
of location, presence of uniform, dispositional factors such as authoritarian
personality type (different books discuss different things-go with the Nelson book
and those dot pointed below)
 Examples in real life Examples in real life eg Abu Gharib,
 Issues and concerns with Milgrams research and use of deception
 definition: following the orders of an authority figure, where if you do not follow the
orders you’d expect a negative consequence  there is an explicit expectation that
you will obey
conducted the shock experiment
participants were given the role of a teacher and told to administer shocks of increasing
severity to a learner if they gave incorrect responses in a ‘memory test’
actor provided convincing sounds of pain and an ‘experimenter’ (actor in a white lab coat)
would consistently prompt them to continue
over 60% of the participants administered the highest level of shock (fatal at 450V) and
ALL participants went to at least 300V (which can cause serious damage
Stanford Prison Experiment
24 male university students (of sound mental health) volunteered to be divided into two
groups; guards and prisoners
mock prison environment was created  guards given uniforms, dark sunglasses,
whistles, handcuffs, batons and then the prisoners were publicly arrested, stripped,
sprayed for lice, given shapeless uniforms and issued numbers
four prisoners left in the first 4 days in hysterics and the experiment halted after 6 days
the assigned roles had become ‘reality’ as they conformed to social roles that weren’t
representative of their true nature
also relevant to deindividuation (yr 11)  they were not being held accountable to their
actions, so they became more and more radical
proximity to the victim
 if the participant could see the victim, obedience dropped
proximity to the experimenter
 if the experimenter was removed, obedience dropped
authority of the experimenter
 if the experiment was conducted in a non-university setting, with an experimenter not
wearing a white lab coat, obedience dropped
 Relationship between cognitive dissonance and forced conformity, obedience etc.
 Difference between obedience and conformity
Nelson Psychology: Unit 1 + 2: chapter 7 (in Connect under Social Psych)
Oxford book 1 & 2 p434 Zimbardo; p438 Obedience; p444 Conformity (in Connect under
Text book : Oxford )
Grivas + Carter: Psychology Units 1 + 2 pp 341-350
Simply Psychology: Conformity + Obedience
Simply Psychology:
Explanations of obedience: http://www.loopa.co.uk/explanations-for-obedience/
(Conformity + factors influencing)