Chapter 7- Conformity (Book) Flashcards

2404304035	Social Influence	The ways that people are affected by the real and imagined pressures of others. Ex. Internet setting up flash mobs/ pillow fight or mass psychogenic illnesses. "monkey see, monkey do"	0
2404326168	3 forms of influence	1. Conformity 2. Compliance 3. Obedience	1
2404383577	Conformity	The tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms	2
2404408909	2 reasons why people resist to the conformity level	1. A characteristic of individuals who have high status and seniority within a group 2. People perceive others to be more conforming than themselves.	3
2404903852	Muzafer Sherif (1936)	- conducted an experiment on how norms develop in small groups. - male students sat in a dark room and asked how far did a small dot of light that appeared for 2 seconds move. The movement they thought they saw was merely an optical illusion known as the auto kinetic effect: In darkness, a stationary point of light appears to move, sometimes erratically, in various directions. -Initial estimates varied→ participants later converged on one common perception	4
2404938895	Solomon Asch (1951)	- tested how people's beliefs affect the beliefs of others. -Replication of Sherif's experiment -"Which comparison line is the same length as the standard line?" -After giving correct answers, confederates posing as participants started giving incorrect answers -50% of participants conformed to the majority at least once -Visual perception can be heavily influenced by others	5
2404972342	2 reasons people conform:	1. Informational Influence 2. Normative Influence	6
2404972875	Informational Influence	Influence that produces conformity when a person believes others are correct in their judgments--people conform because they want to make good and accurate judgements of reality and assume that when others agree on something, they must be right (A need to be right) -(strongest when people are in a state of uncertainty → more likely to follow collective wisdom) Ex. Sherif's experiment- four eyes are better than two	7
2404978458	Normative Influence	Influence that produces conformity when a person fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant (leads people to conform because they fear the consequence of rejection that follows deviance) -(fear of ostracism)	8
2404995807	Two types of Conformity:	1. Private Conformity 2. Public Conformity	9
2404996849	Private Conformity	The change of beliefs that occurs when a person privately accepts the position taken by others. - others cause us to change not only our overt behavior but our minds as well. AKA true acceptance/conversion	10
2405003419	Public Conformity	A superficial change in overt behavior without a corresponding change of opinion that is produced by real or imagined group pressures. - People often respond to normative pressures by pretending to agree even when privately they do not.	11
2405079412	Private v. Public conformity	-Sherif's experiment → Informational influence → Private conformity -Ash's experiment → Normative influence → Public conformity	12
2405079613	Robert S. Baron (1996)	- had people in groups of 3- 1 participant and 2 confederates - would see a picture of a person, they would try to pick that person out of a lineup	13
2408741858	Four factors that create feelings of pressure and insecurity	1. The size of the group 2. A focus on norms 3. The presence of an ally 4. Gender	14
2408746075	Group Size	Asch found that conformity increased with group size. However, beyond the presence of 3-4 others, additions to a group are subject to the law of "diminishing returns." - the more and more people express the same opinion, an individual is likely to suspect that they are acting either in "collusion" or as "spineless sheep"	15
2408757422	Focus on Norms	Social norms give rise to conformity only when we know the norms and focus on them. - knowing how others are behaving in a situation is necessary for conformity, but these norms will influence us only when they are brought to our awareness, or activated	16
2408784646	An ally in dissent: getting by with a little help	Asch found that the presence of a single confederate who agreed with the participant reduced conformity by almost 80% - it is more difficult for people to stand alone for their convictions than to be part of even a tiny minority -any dissent can break the spell cast by a unanimous majority and reduce the normative pressures to conform.	17
2408821221	Gender differences	- sex differences depend on how comfortable people are with the experimental task - 2nd factor is the type of social situation people face. When participants think they are being observed, women conform more and men conform less than they do in a more private situation.	18
2408832565	Minority influence	The process by which dissenters produce change within a group	19