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Understanding Conformity in Social Psychology

Apr 22, 2025

Edexcel Psychology A-level: Social Psychology

Unit 1: Types of Conformity and Explanations for Conformity

Definition of Conformity

  • Social influence: yielding to group pressures.
  • Change in behavior/opinion due to real or imagined pressure.
    • Real pressure: consequences exist.
    • Imagined pressure: no consequences.

Types of Conformity (Kelman)

  • Internalisation:
    • Adopting group's beliefs as one's own.
    • Permanent change, often due to informational social influence.
    • Example: adopting religion from upbringing.
  • Identification:
    • Temporary change in presence of group.
    • Example: workplace professionalism.
  • Compliance:
    • Public agreement with private disagreement.
    • Temporary change due to normative social influence.
    • Example: social drinking under peer pressure.

Explanations for Conformity

  • Informational Social Influence (ISI):
    • Desire to be correct, looking to others for guidance.
    • Often leads to internalisation.
    • Example: following crowd in confusion.
  • Normative Social Influence (NSI):
    • Desire to be liked/accepted, avoiding disapproval.
    • Example: smoking to fit in.

Evidence of Social Influence

  • Fein et al.: Impact of informational social influence in voting.
  • Garandeau and Cillissen: Links between NSI and bullying.
  • Lucas et al.: Greater conformity to wrong answers in difficult tasks.
  • Deutsch and Gerrard’s Two Process Model: NSI and ISI are complementary, not exclusive.

Variables Affecting Conformity (Asch)

Asch’s Study

  • Participants: 123 male American undergraduates.
  • Aim: Investigate conformity and majority influence.
  • Procedure: Line length comparison tasks with confederates giving incorrect answers.
  • Findings:
    • 36.8% conformity.
    • Influence of group size, unanimity, and task difficulty.

Factors Affecting Conformity

  • Group Size:
    • Conformity rises with group size up to 3.
    • Larger groups increase confidence in group's correctness.
  • Unanimity:
    • Conformity falls with dissenting opinions.
    • Unanimous groups reinforce NSI.
  • Task Difficulty:
    • Increased difficulty enhances reliance on others (ISI).

Evaluation of Asch’s Study

  • Strengths: High internal validity, controlled variables, lab experiment.
  • Weaknesses: Lacks ecological and population validity, ethical issues.

Conformity to Social Roles (Zimbardo)

Zimbardo Study

  • Participants: 24 male undergraduates.
  • Aim: Investigate conformity to social roles.
  • Procedure: Simulated prison experiment.
  • Findings:
    • Rapid role adoption and internalisation.

Evaluation

  • Strengths: Real-life applications, debriefing provided.
  • Weaknesses: Lack of ecological and population validity, ethical issues.

Explanations for Obedience

Agentic State

  • Shift from autonomous to agentic state.
  • People more likely to obey when they believe they're not responsible.

Legitimacy of Authority

  • Obedience linked to authority's credibility.
  • Example: Milgram's study and expert authority.

Situational Factors

  • Uniform, Location, Proximity:
    • Uniform increases perceived legitimacy.
    • Prestigious locations encourage obedience.
    • Proximity to authority affects obedience levels.

Evaluation of Milgram's Study

  • Strengths: Debriefing, real-life applications, internal validity.
  • Weaknesses: Ethical concerns, lack of ecological validity.

Dispositional Explanations for Obedience

Authoritarian Personality

  • Traits linked to obedience, measured by F-scale.
  • Influenced by childhood experiences.
  • Critique: Limited explanation, ecological validity issues.

Resistance to Social Influence

Locus of Control (Rotter 1966)

  • Internal: Less conformity/obedience, personal control.
  • External: More conformity/obedience, external control.

Social Support

  • Reduces conformity/obedience.
  • Example: Asch and Milgram's variations.

Minority Influence

Moscovici’s Study

  • Importance of consistency, commitment, and flexibility.
  • Minority influence stronger with consistent position.

Evaluation

  • Real-life applications, methodological concerns.

Social Influence Processes in Social Change

  • Minority influence, internal locus of control, and disobedience can drive social change.
  • Snowball Effect: Minority view gains traction, becomes majority.
  • Real-life examples: Shift in norms about race and sexuality.