Conformity: Explain what is meant by the term conformity Explain the difference types of conformity, including internalisation and

compliance. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of explanations of why people conform, including normative and informational social influence. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research studies into conformity e.g. Sherif, Asch, (majority influence studies) Evaluate studies of conformity (in terms of methodology and ethical issues they raise) Apply knowledge and understanding of the above.

MUST: SHOULD: STUDIES: You must be show knowledge and understanding of at least two studies into conformity (the tendency to change our behaviour and/or beliefs/attitudes in response to the influence of others) including research method. For example: Sherif and Asch. You should know more studies e.g. Perrin and Spencer. You must know procedure and findings for each study.

Sherif (1935) autokinetic effect. o This is where in a completely dark room a stationary pinpoint of light appears to move. o People were asked initially on their own how much the light moved and again in groups. Peoples perception conformed to a group norm when asked together. HOWEVER: this study was criticised because the task was ambiguous. o Example of informational social influence. Asch (1956) o Aim was to see if individuals would conform to a majority when presented with an unambiguous task. o One participant and 7-9 confederates who were instructed to give the same wrong answer unanimously on 12 of 18 trials. The participant was always last or last but one to answer. Repeated with 50 male students. o Found: nave participants conformed to the incorrect answer provided by the majority on 37% of the critical trials. 74% of participants conformed to the incorrect answer provided by the majority at least once. 26% of participants never conformed at all. During debriefing Asch found that a few participants had experienced distortion of perception and did not believe they had given the wrong answer.

Some said they did not want to upset the experimenter so gave the favourable answer. Most participants said they knew they were giving the wrong answer, but could not bear to be in a minority of one. o Conclusions: Strong group pressure to conform, different reasons for conforming: Normative social influence: to avoid rejection. Informational social influence: they cant all be wrong. o Criticisms: Lacks ecological validity artificial setting artificial behaviour. Cannot be generalised. o Lacks internal validity as evidence of demand characteristics. o Lacks population validity unrepresentative all male students gender bias. o Ethics deception. You must know at least two criticisms of each of the two studies you have chosen: For example; Validity lack of internal validity (e.g. presence of demand characteristics) lack of external validity including lack of ecological validity, population validity, child of its time Ethics deception, lack of informed consent, harm to participants.

Factors affecting conformity: Size on majority Asch found that conformity increased as the number of confederates rose from 1-3, but after this the group size did not make much difference. For example, when there was just one confederate conformity was found to be 3%, with two confederates 14%, with three confederates 32%. Conformity is most likely to occur when the confederates are unanimous in their answers. When one confederate is instructed to disagree with the majority judgement, conformity decreases (Asch 1956). If the task is difficult conformity increases. However if the task is familiar, conformity is less likely as demonstrated by Perrin and Spencers study when engineers did not conform as readily as the participants did in the Asch study. Conformity has been found to be higher amongst those who have a low self-esteem, are especially concerned about social relationships, have a strong need for social approval and are attracted towards other group members. Compared to individualistic cultures such as the UK and US, conformity appears to be higher in collectivist societies where group harmony is priority. Smith and Bond (1993) found this to the case in a review of 31 studies of conformity. Conformity may be seen as a positive feature in cultures where interdependence is more highly valued than independent.

Unanimity

Type of task

Individual differences

Culture

You could know about Zimbardos research into conformity to roles. The Stanford prison experiment (Zimbardo, 1973)
In 1960s America there were many concerns about the treatment of prisoners by prison guards. Many complaints were made by prisoners of violent and brutal attacks by the guards that were meant to be protecting and caring for them. Zimbardo wanted to find out exactly what made prison guards behave in this way, and in particular was it the situation they found themselves in (referred to as situational factors) or the personalities of the guards (referred to as dispositional factors). In other words, did the guards behave violently because the rigid power-based social structure within the prison made them behave that way (situational), or because they had aggressive and sadistic personalities that led them to choose to become prison guards (dispositional)? Zimbardo aimed to investigate the difference between situational and dispositional factors in social roles by creating a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. He recruited 12 participants to play the role of prison guards and 12 to play the role of prisoners from a pool of 75 male volunteers. All participants were screened for any psychological disorders, such as mental illness and drug taking, and only theses without any indications of instability or aggressive personalities were selected.

The prison had 16 rules which prisoners were expected to obey and the guards were expected to enforce, such as

eating meals at specific times of day, needing to ask permission to write letters, or needing to ask

permission to use the toilet. The guards were given a uniform that consisted of a shirt and mirrored sunglasses. At the start of the experiment, in order to make the prison appear as realistic as possible, the prisoners were arrested at their homes and taken to the prison where they were stripped, searched, deloused and given prison uniforms to wear. The intention was to observe and film prison life for a period of 14 days, however what went on in the prison was so brutal and shocking that the experiment had to be terminated after just 6 days. Almost from the beginning the prisoners reacted to the way the guards were treating them by ripping their clothes off and shouting abuse. The guards responded by aggressively enforcing order and discipline within the prison. They used fire extinguishers against the prisoners, locked individuals in a dark broom cupboard for hours at a time, constantly harassed them, and even played prisoners off against each other. Over the few days the experiment ran for, the prisoners became more and more subdued and fell into a submissive role that feared and respected the guards. The guards began to enjoy the power associated with their roles, and their use of aggression and harassment steadily increased. Three prisoners had to be released early from the experiment due to the severe psychological distress they were showing signs of.

Conclusion
the participants selected by Zimbardo to be prison guards were all ordinary people who did not appear to be in any way sadistic, and so it would seem that the environment they found themselves in (situational factors) led them to adopt the brutal and aggressive behaviours they displayed. Both guards and prisoners rapidly conformed, in just a few days, to the social roles that the situation placed them in. It seems therefore that conformity to social roles is a powerful human behaviour, and one that it is very hard to avoid. Deindividuation is a social process in which people when placed in group situation no longer act as individuals. They no longer behave in the same way that they would when alone and instead pass all responsibility for their behaviour to the group. Their identity becomes that of the group. For example a prison guard will behave like a prison guard when in a prison and wearing a uniform, but will not behave like a prison guard in their personal life. Similarly prison inmates will behave as prison inmates when in prison, but outside prison will not behave that way.

Evaluating the Stanford prison experiment

Demand characteristics. As the participants knew they were taking part in an experiment and they knew they were being observed, they could have simply been playing what they believed was the role expected of them. In a real life situation they may not have behaved in the same way. However the level of brutal behaviour by the guards was far more extreme than would be expected when simply acting a role and individual guards were sometimes even more sadistic to prisoners when they were alone without an audience. Ethical considerations. Zimbardo has been criticised for carrying out an unethical study as he deliberately put participants into a situation that caused them physical and psychological harm.

Zimbardo argued in his defence that he stopped the experiment when he realised it had become dangerous, and that he did everything he could to minimise psychological harm by holding extensive debriefing sessions with participants. The study did however provide a valuable insight into human behaviour. Ecological validity. There are some key differences between the study and real life. For example, prison officers apply for jobs as prison officers and not as participants in an experiment where they could be either guard or inmate. Prisoners have all committed crimes and are in prison because they have been convicted, not because they are taking part in an experiment. And prison officers have families they go home to, they do not work 24 hours a day.

A Level exam tips Answering exam questions (PSYA2 AQA A specification)

Outline and evaluate research into conformity to social roles (12 marks) 6 AO1 marks come from describing the aim, procedure, results and conclusion of the Stanford prison experiment. 6 AO2 marks come from evaluating the study. Discuss demand characteristics, ethics, and the value of the study to understanding human behaviour.

You should be able to evaluate a study with another study and be able to explain criticisms. You could analyse and evaluate the studies in more depth identifying both strengths and weaknesses. You could debate the extent to which such criticisms can be justified e.g. consider whether the child of its time criticism can be justified by examining the research by Perrin and Spencer and also identifying the limitations in this research. You could consider how there are benefits of lab experiments: such as control. Consider how Asch is a strong test of conformity e.g. if the participants conformed in Aschs study (where everything that would encourage conformity is stripped away) then they would be even more likely to conform in more natural situations. Evaluation of conformity research: Both lab experiments low ecological validity because it doesnt link with everyday life. HOWEVER the experimental method can be defended. o If participants conform in this setting it will show the power of pure group pressure. Aschs experiments were conducted in the early 1950s in the USA. Can the results be generalised to other times and places? The high level of conformity found was seen as a reflection of American society in the 1950s this was a time when non-conformity was discouraged. Research by Perrin and Spencer also questioned the validity of Aschs findings over time and across cultures. In a repeat experiment in late 1970s, Perrin and Spencer found little evidence of majority influence, leading them to conclude that the Asch effect was a child of its time. However the low level of majority influence in their study may have occurred because they used engineering students who had been given training in the importance of accurate measurement and therefore have more confidence.

Cross-cultural validity different societies have different cultures. To some extent people from different cultures see the world differently. Culture can affect results of experiments in two main ways: o First, people from different cultures may have a different interpretation of the experiment. They may give different meanings to the tasks they are asked to perform. They may therefore respond differently to the same stimulus. If so the results of experiments may reflect cultural differences. o Second, the importance placed on conformity may differ from culture to culture. If so we need to understand the culture in order the results of experiments. Social psychologists have made a distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures. o Individualists: a high value is placed on individual freedom, self-help, self-reliance and individual responsibility. o Collectivists: collective responsibility, group cooperation, collective effort and dependence on social groups. As a result, group pressure to conform majority influence is greater in collectivist cultures. Ethics deception necessary debriefed. Lack of informed consent. Participants may have experienced loss of self-esteem.

EXPLANATIONS: you must be able to give explanations of why people conform, including: Normative social influence o Normative social influence is based on our desire to be liked by other members of the group. We conform so that others will accept and approve of us. This type of influence only produces public compliance. o Most likely to do this when group membership is important to us. Informational social influence o Informational social influence is based our desire to be right and involves us in looking to others for the most appropriate ways to think or behave when we are unsure. It can result in private acceptance of the groups position as a well as public compliance. o Most likely to do this in an emergency or when the majority have more knowledge or expertise about the task.

You must be able to illustrate these with research examples to show support (e.g. Asch) You must be able to evaluate these explanations. E.g. A strength of this explanation is that it is supported by research (E.g. Asch to support normative) You should be able to discuss how these explanations are limited as they do not acknowledge the importance of a sense of belonging to a group. Many studies have shown that conformity to group norms persist long after the group no longer exists.