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.