Topic

CONFORMITY:
TYPES AND
EXPLANATIONS

Outline (A01)
TYPES OF CONFORMITY
Internalisation the deepest type of conformity
where a person genuinely accepts group norms
resulting in the change of both private and public
opinions/behaviour. The change is more likely to be
permanent and remains once group members leave.
Identification when we identify with a group that we
value and want to become a part of. This results in a
public change of opinions/behaviour even if we dont
privately agree with what the majority stands for
Compliance A superficial and temporary type of
conformity where a person changes their public
opinions/behaviours however their private views
remains unchanged. When group pressure stops,
behaviour also stops.
EXPLANATIONS FOR CONFORMITY
Informational social influence - The desire to be
right when we conform because we are unsure of the
situation or lack knowledge, so we look to others who
we believe may have more information than us. This
tends to lead to internalisation.
Normative social influence - The desire to be liked
when we conform to gain social approval. This may lead
to compliance and tends to happen in situations with
strangers.

Evaluation (A03)
STRENGTHS:
Research support for ISI
Lucas et al. asked students to give answers to easy and
difficult maths problems.
Greater conformity to incorrect answers when problems
were difficult
Shows that people conform when they dont know the
answer.
Research support for NSI
Asch asked why the participants agreed with the wrong
answers. Some said they felt self-conscious giving the
right answer.
When asked to write the right answers conformity rate fell
12.5%
Supports participants report= conforming because of NSI
LIMITATIONS
Individual differences in ISI
Asch found that students were less conformist (28%) than
other participants (37%)
People who are more confident and/or knowledgeable are
less influenced by the correct view of the majority.
Therefore, there are differences between individuals
response to ISI.
Two process approach oversimplified
States that behaviour is due to either to NSI or ISI
Conformity was reduced when a dissenting partner was
present.

CONFORMITY:
ASCHS
RESEARCH

KEY STUDY: ASCH CONFORMITY RESEARCH:

Method:
Asch recruited 123 male American students. Each
was individually tested with a group of between 6-8
confederates (they were unaware that the others
were confederates).
On each trial the nave participants identified the
length of a line.
First few trials confederates gave correct answers
then they started giving incorrect answers Each
participant completed 18 trials. On 12 critical trials
confederates gave the wrong answer.
Findings:
Nave participants gave participants wrong answer
36.8% of the time shows a high level of conformity
Overall 25% of participants never gave the wrong
(didnt conform), so 75%conformed at least once.

LIMITATIONS:
Child of its times
Perrin and Spencer repeated Aschs study on engineering
students and found just one student conformed out of the
396 trials.
1950s were a conformist time in America and people
might be less conformist today.
Shows that Aschs effect is not consistent overtime
therefore it lacks temporal validity.

KEY STUDY: ASCH CONFORMITY VARIATIONS:

Group size- number of confederates varied
between 1 15. Three confederates raised
conformity levels to 31.8%. but the addition of
further confederates made little difference.
Unanimity- introduced a confederate who
disagreed with the others. The presence of the
dissenting confederate reduced conformity whether
they were giving a right or a wrong answer.
Task difficulty- Asch made the lines similar in
length and found that conformity increase when the
task was more difficult ISI plays a great role.

Findings only apply to certain groups

Only men were tested. Women might be more conformist
possibly because they are more concerned about social
relationships
Participants were from the US, an individualist society.
Smith and bond suggests that conformity is higher in
collectivist cultures such as china which are more
concerned with group needs
Suggests that conformity levels are sometimes higher.
Findings limited to American men.

Artificial situation and task

Participants knew they were in a study and mightve gone
along with the demands of the situation (demand
characteristics).
Line task was trivial no reason to conform.
Findings do not generalise to everyday situations where
consequences of conformity are important.

Findings only apply to certain situations

Participants answered out loud and were with a group of
strangers they wanted to impress. Conformity could be
higher than usual.
Williams and Sogon found conformity was higher when
majority were friends rather than strangers. Therefore,
Asch effect varies depending on circumstances.

CONFORMITY
TO SOCIAL
ROLES:
ZIMBARDOS
RESEARCH

KEY STUDY: THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT:

Method:
Recruited 24 emotionally stable students and randomly
assigned them he roles of guards or prisoners. To create
realism, the prisoners were arrested at home and
taken to the prison. There, they were blindfolded,
strip-searched, deloused and given a uniform with a
number.
Social roles were divided- prisoners names were never
used, only their numbers. Guards had their own
uniform, and told that they had complete power over
the prisoners.
Findings
Within 2 days, prisoners rebelled against their
treatment.
Guards harassed prisoners constantly by conducting
frequent head counts at night.
Guards highlighted differences in social roles b
creating opportunities to enforce the rules and
punish slight wrongdoings
Guards took up their roles with enthusiasm; this
threatened the prisoners psychological and
physical health.
After the rebellion, prisoners became subdued,
anxious and depressed
Released early showed early signs of
psychological disturbance.
Study stopped after 6 days instead of 8.
Conclusion
The Simulation showed the power of the situation to
influence peoples behaviour. Guards, prisoners and
researchers all conformed to their roles.
The more the guards identified with their roles, the
more aggressive they became.

STRENGTH(S)
Control over variables
Some control over variables such as selection of
participants. Only those who were emotionally stable
could take part.
Participants were randomly assigned roles of guards or
prisoners so behaviour was due to the pressures of the
situation and not their personalities.
Control increases internal validity making it easier to
draw conclusions about the influences of social roles
on behaviour.
LIMITATION(S)
Lack of realism

Banuazizi and Mohavedi suggested that participants were

only play-acting and that their performances reflected
stereotypes of guard and prisoners meaning that the
findings cannot be reasonably generalised to real life,
such as prison settings.
Zimbardo understated dispositional influences
Only a third of the guards behaved brutally and another
third applied the rules. The rest supported the prisoners
and sympathised with them.
Conclusion that participants conformed to social roles
may be over-stated, exaggerating the power of the
situation.
Differences in behaviour shows that they could exercise
right or wrong choices despite situational pressures.
Lacks research support and has been contradicted by
subsequent research
Reicher and Hassam partially replicated the study
tajfel

OBEDIENCE:
MILGRAMS
RESEARCH

Key study: Milgram (63)

Method
40 male PPs by advertising for volunteers to take part
in a study of how punishment affects learning at Yale
university. Everyone was paid ($4.50) and told that they
could quit during the study.
2 confederates: experimenter (authority figure) &
learner.
PP drew lots with 2nd confederate and always ended
up being the teacher. Told to administer shocks to the
learner each time he got an answer incorrect. Machine
tested on the learner first.
Learner sitting in another room gave mostly wrong
answers and received fake shocks until they reached
300 volts. If the teacher stopped the experimenter
would give set prods e.g., The experiment requires for
you to continue.
Findings
Prior to the experiment, colleagues of Milgram
predicted that only 4% of PPs would reach 300 volts.
In reality, 65% went to 450 volts. All PPs went to 300
volts.
Conclusions
Ordinary people are astonishingly obedient to
authority.
Work suggests that crimes against humanity may be
the outcome of situational rather than dispositional
factors i.e., when a person finds themselves in a
subordinate position within a powerful social hierarchy,
their capacity to make decisions is suspended.

Ethics: lack of informed consent, harm to PPs, right to

withdraw?
Lack of realism (internal validity): Orne and Holland
(68) claimed that PPs in studies have learned to distrust
experimenters because they know the true purpose of the
study may be disguised. In Milgrams study, despite the
fact that the learner cried out in pain, the experimenter
remained cool and distant. This led to the PP to suppose
that the victim could not really be suffering.
Gender: Milgram found no differences between men and
women in their obedience rates, though women
experienced greater stress.
Historical validity: would the same results be apparent
now? Burger (09) found levels of obedience almost
identical to those found by Milgram.

SITUATIONAL
FACTORS

Situational variables
Proximity: both teacher and learner were seated in
the same room. Obedience levels fell to 40% as the
teacher was now able to experience the learners
anguish more directly.
Location: studies conducted at Yale Uni. Several PPs
said that the location of the study gave them
confidence in the integrity of the people involved with
many indicating they would not have shocked the
learner if this study had been carried out elsewhere.
Milgram moved the study to a run-down warehouse and
obedience rates dropped to 48% (450v).
Uniform: refer to Zimbardo here.
Ethics: lack of informed consent, harm to PPs, right to
withdraw?
Lack of realism (internal validity): Orne and Holland
(68) claimed that PPs in studies have learned to distrust
experimenters because they know the true purpose of
the study may be disguised. In Milgrams study, even
though the learner cried out in pain, the experimenter
remained cool and distant. This led to the PP to
suppose that the victim could not really be suffering.
Gender: Milgram found no differences between men
and women in their obedience rates, though women
experienced greater stress.
Historical validity: would the same results be apparent
now? Burger (09) found levels of obedience almost
identical to those found by Milgram.