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Social Influence Revision Notes for AQA - Conformity, Milgram, Examples

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libby Moxey

06/12/2022

Psychology

Social influence revision notes

Social Influence Revision Notes for AQA - Conformity, Milgram, Examples

Social Influence in Psychology - A comprehensive examination of conformity, obedience, and social roles in psychological contexts, exploring key studies and theories that shape our understanding of human behavior under social pressure.

Key Points:

  • Explores different types of conformity including compliance, identification, and internalization
  • Examines major studies like Milgram's obedience experiment and Zimbardo's Prison Study
  • Details explanations for conformity through normative and informational social influence
  • Analyzes factors affecting social influence including personality traits and situational variables
  • Discusses the role of minority influence and resistance to conformity
...

06/12/2022

4481

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

Asch's Line Study and Variations

This page details Solomon Asch's famous conformity experiment and subsequent variations:

Asch investigated whether people would conform to an obviously incorrect majority. Using 123 American male undergraduates, confederates gave wrong answers on 12 of 18 trials. Key findings:

  • One-third of participants conformed on critical trials
  • 75% conformed at least once

Variations of the study explored different factors:

  • Perrin and Spencer tested temporal validity, finding only 0.25% conformity
  • Increasing confederates from 3 to 15 slightly increased conformity 2929% to 32%
  • Smith and Bond found higher conformity in Fiji compared to Belgium, demonstrating cultural differences
  • Unanimity reduced conformity to 5% when a confederate "friend" was present
  • Task difficulty increased conformity rates

Highlight: Asch's study is a cornerstone of social influence theory, demonstrating how people may conform even when the majority is clearly wrong.

Example: In Asch's experiment, participants had to match line lengths. Despite the correct answer being obvious, many still conformed to the group's incorrect responses.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

Stanford Prison Experiment

This page summarizes Philip Zimbardo's controversial Stanford Prison Experiment:

Zimbardo aimed to investigate how readily people conform to social roles of prisoners and guards. Key aspects of the study include:

  • 24 male volunteers randomly assigned as prisoners or guards
  • Planned for 2 weeks but stopped after 6 days due to escalating abuse
  • Prisoners given uniforms and numbers, guards given uniforms and accessories
  • Both groups quickly settled into roles, with guards harassing prisoners and prisoners becoming submissive
  • Some prisoners had to leave early due to distress

Evaluation points:

  • Possible demand characteristics - participants may have been acting
  • Lacks population validity
  • Significant ethical issues
  • Low face validity - could be investigating obedience rather than conformity
  • Zimbardo's involvement may have influenced results
  • Led to improved ethical guidelines for psychological research

Highlight: The Stanford Prison Experiment is a crucial study in social influence psychology, demonstrating the power of situational factors in shaping behavior.

Vocabulary: Demand characteristics refer to cues that may cause participants to behave in a way they think the researcher expects.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

Milgram's Shock Study

This page details Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiment:

Milgram investigated whether people would obey an authority figure's instructions to harm another person. Key aspects:

  • Lab experiment with participants as "teachers" administering shocks to "learners"
  • Shocks increased with wrong answers, with standardized prompts for hesitation
  • All participants went to 300 volts, 65% to maximum 450 volts

Variations:

  • Obedience dropped to 20% when experimenter not in uniform
  • Moved to run-down offices, obedience fell to 47.5%
  • Phone instructions lowered obedience to 20.5%, with participants often lying

Evaluation:

  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Androcentric sample
  • Provides insight into historical events like Nazi obedience
  • Standardized and replicable
  • Ethical concerns due to deception, but participants were debriefed

Highlight: Milgram's study is crucial for understanding obedience in social influence psychology, showing how ordinary people may follow harmful orders from authority figures.

Example: The Milgram obedience study summary shows that a majority of participants were willing to administer potentially lethal shocks when instructed by an authority figure.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

The Agentic State and Obedience Factors

This page introduces Milgram's concept of the agentic state and factors influencing obedience:

The agentic state, proposed by Milgram, explains participant behavior:

  • Autonomous state: People direct their own actions and take responsibility
  • Agentic state: People allow others to direct their actions and pass responsibility to the authority

Conditions for entering the agentic state:

  • Authority must be seen as legitimate
  • Belief that authority will take responsibility for actions

Supporting evidence:

  • Milgram's two-teacher condition: 92.5% shocked to maximum when instructing someone else, showing increased obedience with less personal responsibility

Definition: The agentic state is a condition where individuals allow their actions to be directed by others and pass responsibility to the authority figure.

Highlight: Understanding the agentic state is crucial for explanations of conformity A Level Psychology, as it helps explain why people may obey harmful orders.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

Authoritarian Personality

This page introduces the concept of authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience:

Proposed by Adorno, the authoritarian personality theory suggests that dispositional factors, rather than situational ones, explain obedience. Key features include:

  • Hostility towards those of inferior status
  • Extreme respect for authority
  • Belief in the need for a strong leader

Research method:

  • Used the F-scale to assess 2000 middle-class white Americans
  • Measured unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
  • Found a correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Vocabulary: The F-scale FascismscaleFascism scale is a personality test designed to measure authoritarian personality characteristics.

Highlight: The authoritarian personality theory provides an alternative explanation for obedience in social influence psychology, focusing on individual differences rather than situational factors.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

View

Page 6: Resistance to Social Influence

This section examines factors that can reduce conformity and obedience, including locus of control.

Definition: Locus of control refers to how much control people believe they have over their behavior.

Example: Conformity dropped to 5% in Asch's study when unanimity was broken, demonstrating the power of social support in resistance.

Vocabulary:

  • Internal LOC: Belief in personal control over behavior
  • External LOC: Belief that external factors control behavior

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Psychology

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Social Influence Revision Notes for AQA - Conformity, Milgram, Examples

Social Influence in Psychology - A comprehensive examination of conformity, obedience, and social roles in psychological contexts, exploring key studies and theories that shape our understanding of human behavior under social pressure.

Key Points:

  • Explores different types of conformity including... Show more

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

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Asch's Line Study and Variations

This page details Solomon Asch's famous conformity experiment and subsequent variations:

Asch investigated whether people would conform to an obviously incorrect majority. Using 123 American male undergraduates, confederates gave wrong answers on 12 of 18 trials. Key findings:

  • One-third of participants conformed on critical trials
  • 75% conformed at least once

Variations of the study explored different factors:

  • Perrin and Spencer tested temporal validity, finding only 0.25% conformity
  • Increasing confederates from 3 to 15 slightly increased conformity 2929% to 32%
  • Smith and Bond found higher conformity in Fiji compared to Belgium, demonstrating cultural differences
  • Unanimity reduced conformity to 5% when a confederate "friend" was present
  • Task difficulty increased conformity rates

Highlight: Asch's study is a cornerstone of social influence theory, demonstrating how people may conform even when the majority is clearly wrong.

Example: In Asch's experiment, participants had to match line lengths. Despite the correct answer being obvious, many still conformed to the group's incorrect responses.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Stanford Prison Experiment

This page summarizes Philip Zimbardo's controversial Stanford Prison Experiment:

Zimbardo aimed to investigate how readily people conform to social roles of prisoners and guards. Key aspects of the study include:

  • 24 male volunteers randomly assigned as prisoners or guards
  • Planned for 2 weeks but stopped after 6 days due to escalating abuse
  • Prisoners given uniforms and numbers, guards given uniforms and accessories
  • Both groups quickly settled into roles, with guards harassing prisoners and prisoners becoming submissive
  • Some prisoners had to leave early due to distress

Evaluation points:

  • Possible demand characteristics - participants may have been acting
  • Lacks population validity
  • Significant ethical issues
  • Low face validity - could be investigating obedience rather than conformity
  • Zimbardo's involvement may have influenced results
  • Led to improved ethical guidelines for psychological research

Highlight: The Stanford Prison Experiment is a crucial study in social influence psychology, demonstrating the power of situational factors in shaping behavior.

Vocabulary: Demand characteristics refer to cues that may cause participants to behave in a way they think the researcher expects.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Milgram's Shock Study

This page details Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiment:

Milgram investigated whether people would obey an authority figure's instructions to harm another person. Key aspects:

  • Lab experiment with participants as "teachers" administering shocks to "learners"
  • Shocks increased with wrong answers, with standardized prompts for hesitation
  • All participants went to 300 volts, 65% to maximum 450 volts

Variations:

  • Obedience dropped to 20% when experimenter not in uniform
  • Moved to run-down offices, obedience fell to 47.5%
  • Phone instructions lowered obedience to 20.5%, with participants often lying

Evaluation:

  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Androcentric sample
  • Provides insight into historical events like Nazi obedience
  • Standardized and replicable
  • Ethical concerns due to deception, but participants were debriefed

Highlight: Milgram's study is crucial for understanding obedience in social influence psychology, showing how ordinary people may follow harmful orders from authority figures.

Example: The Milgram obedience study summary shows that a majority of participants were willing to administer potentially lethal shocks when instructed by an authority figure.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The Agentic State and Obedience Factors

This page introduces Milgram's concept of the agentic state and factors influencing obedience:

The agentic state, proposed by Milgram, explains participant behavior:

  • Autonomous state: People direct their own actions and take responsibility
  • Agentic state: People allow others to direct their actions and pass responsibility to the authority

Conditions for entering the agentic state:

  • Authority must be seen as legitimate
  • Belief that authority will take responsibility for actions

Supporting evidence:

  • Milgram's two-teacher condition: 92.5% shocked to maximum when instructing someone else, showing increased obedience with less personal responsibility

Definition: The agentic state is a condition where individuals allow their actions to be directed by others and pass responsibility to the authority figure.

Highlight: Understanding the agentic state is crucial for explanations of conformity A Level Psychology, as it helps explain why people may obey harmful orders.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Authoritarian Personality

This page introduces the concept of authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience:

Proposed by Adorno, the authoritarian personality theory suggests that dispositional factors, rather than situational ones, explain obedience. Key features include:

  • Hostility towards those of inferior status
  • Extreme respect for authority
  • Belief in the need for a strong leader

Research method:

  • Used the F-scale to assess 2000 middle-class white Americans
  • Measured unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
  • Found a correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Vocabulary: The F-scale FascismscaleFascism scale is a personality test designed to measure authoritarian personality characteristics.

Highlight: The authoritarian personality theory provides an alternative explanation for obedience in social influence psychology, focusing on individual differences rather than situational factors.

Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Page 6: Resistance to Social Influence

This section examines factors that can reduce conformity and obedience, including locus of control.

Definition: Locus of control refers to how much control people believe they have over their behavior.

Example: Conformity dropped to 5% in Asch's study when unanimity was broken, demonstrating the power of social support in resistance.

Vocabulary:

  • Internal LOC: Belief in personal control over behavior
  • External LOC: Belief that external factors control behavior
Social influence revision notes
!? Types of conformity
conformity - when someone changes their attitude or behaviour due to group
pressure
●

Sign up to see the contentIt's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Social Influence Types and Explanations

This page introduces key concepts related to social influence in psychology. Conformity is defined as changing one's attitude or behavior due to group pressure. Three types of conformity are outlined:

  1. Compliance - agreeing publicly but disagreeing privately
  2. Identification - agreeing publicly and privately only when with the group
  3. Internalization - agreeing both publicly and privately

Two main explanations for conformity are provided:

  • Normative social influence - conforming to fit in with a group
  • Informational social influence - conforming due to a desire to be correct

Definition: Conformity is when someone changes their attitude or behavior due to group pressure.

Example: The Jenness study on estimating beans in a jar demonstrates informational social influence, as participants changed their estimates to align with the group.

Highlight: Understanding different types of conformity and the reasons behind it is crucial for social influence psychology A level studies.

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Stefan S

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This app is really great. There are so many study notes and help [...]. My problem subject is French, for example, and the app has so many options for help. Thanks to this app, I have improved my French. I would recommend it to anyone.

Samantha Klich

Android user

Wow, I am really amazed. I just tried the app because I've seen it advertised many times and was absolutely stunned. This app is THE HELP you want for school and above all, it offers so many things, such as workouts and fact sheets, which have been VERY helpful to me personally.

Anna

iOS user

Best app on earth! no words because it’s too good

Thomas R

iOS user

Just amazing. Let's me revise 10x better, this app is a quick 10/10. I highly recommend it to anyone. I can watch and search for notes. I can save them in the subject folder. I can revise it any time when I come back. If you haven't tried this app, you're really missing out.

Basil

Android user

This app has made me feel so much more confident in my exam prep, not only through boosting my own self confidence through the features that allow you to connect with others and feel less alone, but also through the way the app itself is centred around making you feel better. It is easy to navigate, fun to use, and helpful to anyone struggling in absolutely any way.

David K

iOS user

The app's just great! All I have to do is enter the topic in the search bar and I get the response real fast. I don't have to watch 10 YouTube videos to understand something, so I'm saving my time. Highly recommended!

Sudenaz Ocak

Android user

In school I was really bad at maths but thanks to the app, I am doing better now. I am so grateful that you made the app.

Greenlight Bonnie

Android user

very reliable app to help and grow your ideas of Maths, English and other related topics in your works. please use this app if your struggling in areas, this app is key for that. wish I'd of done a review before. and it's also free so don't worry about that.

Rohan U

Android user

I know a lot of apps use fake accounts to boost their reviews but this app deserves it all. Originally I was getting 4 in my English exams and this time I got a grade 7. I didn’t even know about this app three days until the exam and it has helped A LOT. Please actually trust me and use it as I’m sure you too will see developments.

Xander S

iOS user

THE QUIZES AND FLASHCARDS ARE SO USEFUL AND I LOVE THE SCHOOLGPT. IT ALSO IS LITREALLY LIKE CHATGPT BUT SMARTER!! HELPED ME WITH MY MASCARA PROBLEMS TOO!! AS WELL AS MY REAL SUBJECTS ! DUHHH 😍😁😲🤑💗✨🎀😮

Elisha

iOS user

This apps acc the goat. I find revision so boring but this app makes it so easy to organize it all and then you can ask the freeeee ai to test yourself so good and you can easily upload your own stuff. highly recommend as someone taking mocks now

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