REVIEW OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE SO FAR Get your white boards at the ready

ASCH FOUND THAT A MAJORITY OF 12 HAD A LOT MORE INFLUENCE OVER THE PARTICIPANT THAN A MAJORITY OF THREE True False

ASCH FOUND THAT THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TASK WAS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DECISION TO CONFORM TO THE MAJORITY VIEW. True False

ASCH MADE THE TASK MORE DIFFICULT BY INCREASING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE STANDARD AND COMPARISON LINES. True False

THE PARTICIPANTS IN ASCH'S ORIGINAL STUDY WERE AMERICAN MALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. True False

IN MILGRAM'S’ EXPERIMENT, SIX OF THE PARTICIPANTS HAD 'FULL-BLOWN UNCONTROLLABLE SEIZURES' AND HAD TO LEAVE THE STUDY. True False

THE FOURTH AND FINAL PROD GIVEN BY THE EXPERIMENTER WAS 'THE EXPERIMENT REQUIRES THAT YOU CONTINUE' True False

PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS' PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE RESULT OF THE STUDY WERE SURPRISINGLY ACCURATE. True False

MILGRAM'S STUDY MAY HAVE LACKED INTERNAL VALIDITY BECAUSE PARTICIPANTS REALISED THE SHOCKS WERE FAKE. True False

BICKMAN FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO OBEY SOMEONE WHO IS WEARING A UNIFORM THAN WHEN NOT WEARING A UNIFORM True False

MILGRAM BELIEVED THAT DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY ARE THE BEST EXPLANATION OF OBEDIENCE True False

A LIMITATION OF THE AGENTIC STATE EXPLANATION IS THAT IT CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY SOME OF MILGRAM'S PARTICIPANTS OBEYED True False

THE TERM AGENTIC SHIFT MEANS WE OBEY BECAUSE WE SWITCH FROM: 1.Seeing an authority figure as illegitimate to seeing them as legitimate. 2.An autonomous state to being an agent of an authority figure 3.Believing an authority figure cannot punish us to believing that they can. 4.Not accepting the status of an authority figure to accepting it

A LIMITATION OF THE LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY EXPLANATION IS THAT IT CANNOT EXPLAIN CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN OBEDIENCE True False

WE LEARN FROM A VERY EARLY AGE THAT PARENTS, TEACHERS AND OTHER ADULTS HAVE LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY OVER US. True False

LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY WAS PRESENT IN MILGRAM'S STUDY BECAUSE: 1.The experimenter was dressed in ordinary clothes. 2.Very few participants were prepared to take responsibility for their actions. 3.Most participants recognised that the experimenter was entitled to order them to continue giving shocks. 4.The learner had done nothing to deserve the treatment he was given

ADORNO FOUND A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN AUTHORITARIAN TRAITS AND PREJUDICE True False

MILGRAM AND ELMS FOUND THAT THEIR MOST OBEDIENT PARTICIPANTS TENDED TO HAVE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES True False

ONLY PEOPLE WITH EXTREME RIGHT- WING VIEWS CAN HAVE AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY True False

ADORNO BASED HIS EXPLANATION OF THE ORIGINS OF THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY ON WHICH APPROACH? 1.Psychodynamic. 2.Cognitive. 3.Biological. 4.All of the above

PEOPLE WITH AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY ARE COMFORTABLE DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY. True False

ADORNO AND HIS COLLEAGUES FOUND THAT PEOPLE WITH AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY: 1.Identify with the 'strong' and show contempt for the 'weak'. 2.Have very traditional attitudes towards sex and gender. 3.Are very inflexible in their outlook on life. 4.All of the above.

AN EXAMPLE OF HARSH PARENTING IS SEVERELY CRITICISING EVEN THE SMALLEST OF FAILINGS True False

HOW DO YOU THINK YOU DID??? Anything you are unsure of please make a note and look aback at the notes / PowerPoint / text books

SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND INDEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR

KEY POINTS FOR EXPLANATIONS OF OBEDIENCE Milgram explored obedience in a variety of situations  65% original baseline study obedient to 450v These experiments were criticised Proximity, location and uniform all influence levels of obedience Obedience highest when issued by people who have legitimate authority In an agentic state, individual acts as an agent Authoritarian personality have strong respect for authority and are more likely to show high levels of obedience

SO, WHAT ABOUT THOSE THAT DIDN’T OBEY? THEY WERE ACTING INDEPENDENTLY! WHAT IS INDEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR? Resistance to social influence: Ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors

RESISITNG PRESSURES TO CONFORM  Asch introduced another dissident (someone else who did not conform) – reduced conformity  Explained by informational social influence  Asch found with just one other member of the group giving the correct answer, the conformity of the participant went down to 5.5%.  Asch’s original study – 24% did not conform  More independent when making moral judgement

RESISTANCE TO CONFORMITY: EXPOSURE TO DISSENT Imagine a society where everyone thinks the same… What would happen if they were suddenly exposed to alternative ideas…?

RESISTANCE TO OBEDIENCE Factors which led to people to disobey in Milgram’s experiment: 1. location – when moved to downtown offices 2. proximity - when victim could be seen 3. when another confederate refused to carry out the task Milgram’s original experiment – 35% disobeyed Hofling’s study – 1/22 resisted Dr Smith’s charms Moral principles - more defiant Moral principles - more defiant

LOCUS OF CONTROL Locus of Control refers to a person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour It is measured along a dimension of ‘high internal’ to ‘high external’ Lets see what yours is!

INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL 1.Amanda doesn’t bother applying for the position of Head Girl because she feels she is not popular enough to win. 2.Isobel checks her horoscope every day to see if she is going to have a good or a bad day. 3.Richard feels confident that he will get the job he applied for because he has good exam results and did well in the interview.

HOW DOES LOC AFFECT CONFORMITY/OBEDIENCE? internals externals High internals are active seekers of information that is useful to them, so rely less on the opinions of others (unlike externals) internals Anderson and Schneider (1978) High internals are more achievement- oriented and so more likely to become leaders internals High internals are better able to resist coercion from others Twenge et al found that young Americans are increasingly believing that their lives are controlled by outside forces rather than their own behaviour. Linked to low self-esteem, poor school achievement.

SOCIAL SUPPORT Social support can help people not conform…. Dissident introduced then conformity decreased The person acts as a model This could be seen in Asch’s variation In obedience studies the pressure to obey reduces if another person is seen to disobey Obedience rates dropped from 65% - 10% May not copy but see them as model to act free from own conscience

EVALUATION Supported by Allen and Levine who found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter (replicated Asch type experiment) even when they said they had problems with their vision Takes pressure away Gamson found higher levels of resistance to obedience because they were in groups and peer support is linked to greater resistance

RESEARCH THAT HAS EXPLORED LOC AND SOCIAL SUPPORT Using your text books, please complete the handout – including  Elms & Milgram(1974)  Oliner & Oliner (1988)  Williams & Warchal (1981)  Avtgis (1998)

ADDITIONAL TASKS 1. Using the studies you have looked at for LOC, write an answer to the following question: Is there research support for the claim that differences in LOC can explain individual differences in independent behaviour? (6 marks) 2. Think of a specific example of the following that could/does occur in real life (e.g. In school):  Informational social influence  Internalisation  Normative social influence  Compliance  Obedience to authority 3. Write your own examples of conformity and obedience in everyday life. Using your knowledge of psychological research how could you reduce obedience/conformity in these situations. (6) 3. Write your own examples of conformity and obedience in everyday life. Using your knowledge of psychological research how could you reduce obedience/conformity in these situations. (6)