Sociocultural Level of
Analysis
Attitude
Attraction
Aggression
Group Behavior
Studying the way people relate to others.
• Outline the principles that
define the sociocultural level
of analysis.
Principle 1:
Human beings are social animals with a basic
need to belong.
This means that they are motivated to have important
relationships with other people. Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Conformity Studies
• Adjusting one’s
behavior or thinking
to coincide with a
group standard.
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Asch’s Study of Conformity
Outline the
principles that
define the
sociocultural
level of analysis.
Solomon Asch and his Conformity
Studies
Aim:
• Investigate the existence of conformity
Procedure
• Subject was placed into a room with 6
confederates and the experimenter.
• Subject was deceived that the 6
confederates were participants just like
them.
• The subject was placed on the second last
seat so they will be the second last to give
an answer.
• Confederates were instructed to answer
correctly on some of the cards but
answer incorrectly for most.
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Asch’s Results
• 75% conformed at least
once to the wrong answer
• 32% conformed to more
than half of the wrong
answers
• 24% did not conform at all
To strengthen conformity:
•
•
•
•
The group is unanimous
The group is at least three
people.
One admires the group’s status
One had made no prior
commitment
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Evaluation of Asch
• Ecological validity: Low, lab
conditions.
• Controlled environment
removed confounding
variables.
• Meaningless stimuli.
• Gender bias, only male
participants were used.
• Culture bias, only population
of the US were used.
• Cannot be generalized to all
population.
• Ethics: Deception, but subjects
were debriefed.
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Principle 2:
Culture influences human behavior.
This means that humans create and shape culture and
they are influenced by their culture.
Cultural norms provide general prescriptions for
behaviors that are expected in a given culture or society.
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
What are some of our group norms?
At School:
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
At Home:
Breaking a Group/Social Norm
• How does it feel to
break a group norm?
• Who feels more
uncomfortable…the
breaker or the person
breaking it?
• Can you create a new
group norm?
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Ok…give me an example that culture
influences our behavior.
• Berry (1967) took the
Asch experiment and
wanted to see if it
worked across cultures.
• In other words….does
culture affect our
willingness to conform?
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Outline the principles
that define the
sociocultural level of
analysis.
Berry (1967)
Temne in Sierra Leone (Africa)
• Agricultural economy
• Based of cooperation
• Strict child rearing practices
focusing on obedience
Inuits of Baffin Island (Canada)
• Hunters and often hunt
alone
• Need to make decisions for
themselves
• Teach self-reliance to their
children
Who do you think conformed to Asch’s study less?
Principle 3:
Humans have a social self which reflects
their group memberships.
Group memberships give rise to social identities and
comparison with other groups
This might lead to bias in information processing like
stereotyping and discrimination.
Outline the
principles that
define the
sociocultural level
of analysis.
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
• Tajfel and Turner (1979)
• Suggests that group
based social identities
are based on
categorization into
groups.
• Ingroups and outgroups
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Stereotypes, Prejudice and
Discrimination
Stereotype:
• Overgeneralized idea
about a group of people.
Prejudice:
• Undeserved (usually
negative) attitude
towards a group of
people. Ethnocentrism
is an example of a
prejudice.
Discrimination:
• An action based on a
prejudice.
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Combating Prejudice
Contact Theory
• Contact between hostile groups will reduce
animosity if they are made to work towards a
superordinate goal.
• Sherif camp study
Outline the principles that define the
sociocultural level of analysis.
Principle 4:
People's view of the world are resistant to change
.