Summary A Level Psychology - A* Essay Plans for every unit of Social Influence
40 views 1 purchase
Course
Social Influence
Institution
AQA
Book
The Complete Companions for AQA A Level Psychology 5th Edition
Having achieved an A* in Psychology A Level as well as in all my social influence end of unit assessments, i provide the exact essay plans I used and revised in order to achieve these grades .
They are easy, concise and detailed, and will definitely secure you top grades.
They contain both A01 a...
Describe and evaluate ISI + NSI as explanations for conformity (12 marks):
Paragraph 1- AO1- Explain NSI
- Need to be liked (EMOTIONAL)- compliance
- Unambiguous situations
- Agreeing with social norms to gain social approval + avoid rejection
- Under surveillance
Paragraph 2- A01- Explain ISI
- Need to be right (COGNITIVE)- internalisation
- Usually make objective check against reality but when uncertain about behaviours/ ambiguous
situations
- Agree with group’s opinions as we accept it to be correct as well
Paragraph 3- A03- Pro
- P- Research support (Schultz et al)
- E- Hotel guests exposed to normative messages that 75% reused towels each day so 25% reduced
usage daily
- E- or majority adolescents don’t smoke, so subsequently their peers do not smoke
- L- People change behaviour outside of desire to fit in with reference group- compliance
Paragraph 4- A03- Con
- P- NSI may not always be detected (Nolan et al) Don’t actually recognise behaviour of others as a
causal factor of their own behaviour
- E- Investigated whether people detected the influence of social norms on energy conservation.
- E- People thought neighbours had least impact on conservation but had the most
- L- People rely on beliefs about what should motivate behaviour, underestimates power of NSI
Paragraph 5- A03- Pro
- P- Research support (Whittenbrink + Henley 1996)
- E- ppts exposed to negative behaviour towards AA (led to believe view of majority) reported more
negative attitudes towards black individuals- exposure to negative beliefs shapes social stereotypes
- E- This suggests that exposure to majority’s beliefs influence social stereotypes + Fein- ppts
- L- Importance of ISI shaping social behaviour- concept has validity
Paragraph 6- A03- Con
- P- Individual differences in people- people are affected by NSI + ISI differently (Perrin + Spencer)
- E- Conducted the Asch experiment on engineering students and found very little conformity. Only 1/396
students conformed
- E- Perhaps this was a result of their occupation and how confident they are in measuring lines- biased
samples and therefore do not turn to others? But McGhee- naffailiators- high conformity + NSI
, - L-Suggests that not all findings on investigating ISI can be generalised as some people don’t display
conformity to ISI + NSI as clearly as others- idiographic approach
- Aim- extent to which social pressure from a majority group will affect a person to conform
- Procedures- 1 naive ppt among 6-8 confederates. Have to match one comparison to standard. Comparison
3 standard 1. 12 critical trials where confeds deliberately said the wrong answer. Naive ppt must answer
second to last/last
- Findings- 75% ppts conformed at least once meaning 25% didn’t conform at all. 37% ppts gave wrong
answer
- Conclusion- Ppts said they conformed to avoid rejection/ gain social approval- NSI
Paragraph 2- A01- Factors affecting conformity
- Group size- as confeds increase so did conformity rates- up to certain number (⅘)
- Unanimity- If a confed dissented from majority conformity rates decreased (-80% (30-5.5%)
- Task difficulty- If line lengths became more similar, task became more ambiguous, increasing conformity
rates- ISI-look to others for confirmation
- Answers in private- when answered in private, conformity rates decreased- NSI
Paragraph 3- A03- Evaluation- Pro
- P- High internal validity
- E- Lab experiment ensures strict control over variables- strong causal relationship between variables
- E- Easily replicable and repeatable- therefore reliable and so trends of conformity in diff cultures eg can be
logged over time
- L- Establishes clear predictions and a strong causal relationship between variables
Paragraph 4- A03- Evaluation- Con
- P- Child of its time
- E- Asch conducted his experiment in the 1950s- anti-communist, conformist time in America
- E- However society has changed since then- Perrin + Spencer 1980. Only 1/396 conformed. But bias
sample
- L- Limitation of findings as they aren’t consistent across time and situation- lacks historical validity-
conforming is more likely if the perceived costs of not conforming is high
Paragraph 5- A03- Evaluation- Pro
- P- Supports explanations for conformity (NSI + ISI)
- E- NSI support as conclusion was that ppts conformed as wanted social approval/ not appear foolish.
- E- ISI from factors- task difficulty. As task became ambiguous, ppt turned to group for answer
- L- Findings give high explanatory power for explanations of conformity
Paragraph 6- A03- Evaluation- Con
- P- Limited applicability across culture/gender- biased sample
- E- Asch only used male white men. But conformity might be different for women, more likely to conform due to
social relationships + don’t like conflict- social roles.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller sofiakhan1. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.87. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
