Conformity in Social Psychology

This document explores the concept of conformity in social psychology, focusing on its types, influences, and a famous experiment. Types of conformity National 5 Psychology are thoroughly examined, providing valuable insights for students and researchers.

Types of Conformity

Conformity is defined as the act of changing one's behavior or beliefs to match those of the majority. The document outlines two main types:

1. Majority Influence: When individuals change their behavior to fit in with the majority.
2. Minority Influence: When people reject the majority view and side with a minority viewpoint.

Definition: Conformity is when an individual changes their behavior or belief to match the majority of others around them, yielding to real or perceived social pressure.

Kelman (1958) proposed three subtypes of conformity:

1. Compliance: Conforming publicly while maintaining private views.
2. Identification: Conforming both publicly and privately within a group.
3. Internalization: Adopting and maintaining conformity even outside the group.

Example: For compliance, agreeing with friends about Brexit in public while privately disagreeing.

Reasons for Conformity

The document explains two main reasons why people conform:

1. Normative Social Influence: Conforming to be liked and accepted by the majority.
2. Informational Social Influence: Conforming in uncertain situations, looking to others for guidance.

Solomon Asch's Conformity Experiment (1951)

The document details the famous Asch conformity experiment, which is a cornerstone study in understanding social conformity.

Highlight: Asch's experiment aimed to investigate how social pressure from a majority group could affect a person's tendency to conform.

Key aspects of the experiment:

• Method: Laboratory experiment
• Procedure: Line judgment task with one naive participant and seven confederates
• Results: 32% of participants conformed to the incorrect majority view
• Conclusion: People may give wrong answers to avoid deviating from the norm

Quote: "People will give the wrong answer even if they know it to be untrue. They will do this if giving the right answer requires deviating from the norm."

The document concludes by discussing factors affecting conformity levels, such as the presence of dissenting confederates and group size.

Vocabulary: Ecological validity - the extent to which research findings can be generalized to real-life settings.

This comprehensive overview of conformity provides valuable insights for students studying Types of conformity National 5 Psychology and those interested in famous conformity experiments.