Social Influence Revision

Majority Influence/Conformity A form of social influence When people adopt beliefs of the majority group More likely to influence public behaviour than private opinion See ASCH APFCC (also Zimbardo)

Explanations of Conformity Normative – changes public but not private Informational – changes public and private Compliance – changes behaviour but not your mind Identification – Change behaviour to fit in with the group. Internalisation – Change your mind and your behaviour

Factors that influence conformity Culture Individualist vs. collectivist Historical ‘Child of its time’

Minority Influence Majority shifts to the view of the minority Usually involves shift in private opinion and public behaviour See Moscovici APFCC

Explanations of Minority Influence Commitment Relevance Strength Status and Knowledge Time

Differences Majority Compliance Takes place immediately High need for approval Minority Conversion Takes place over time Low need for approval

Obedience Behaving as instructed to do. Agentic state (situational factor) – people not blame, merely following orders of authority figure Authoritarian Personality (psychological process) – rigid beliefs, intolerance of ambiguity, hostile to other groups. See Milgram APFCC and methodological criticisms

Resisting Obedience with Milgram Situational Factors Location Orders by telephone Disobedient role model Psychological Processes Voice feedback Proximity Touch proximity

Validity Experimental validity Does it measure what it set out to measure? Does it generalise to real life? Does it generalise to other populations? Ecological Validity Does it generalise to other settings?

Ethics and Dealing with Ethics Issues Lack of consent Deception Harm to participants Confidentiality Leaving experiments Dealing with issues Right to withdraw Informed consent Protection Debrief Confidentiality

Do the ends justify the means? Consider Asch, Zimbardo, Moscovici & Milgram Costs vs. benefits Positive and negative evaluation.

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