Outline and evaluate research examining conformity. (16 marks)
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Course
Social Influence
Institution
AQA
I finished my psychology A-level last year with an A*. I have compiled a list of improvised essays I done as mocks and each of these essays fall into band 4 (13-16 marks)
Outline and evaluate research
examining conformity. (16 marks)
Informational social influence and normative social influence are the two main theories
explaining why people conform. A person who conforms to fit in and feel like a member
of the group is said to be under the influence of normative social norms (NSI). In this
case, a person acts in conformity out of social pleasure or to prevent social rejection,
such as feeling like they don't "fit in."
The conformity study conducted by Asch in 1956 lends scientific support to NSI. On a
line judgement task, he discovered that many of the participants followed the crowd and
gave an incorrect response. Individuals in Asch's post-experimental interviews stated
that they adjusted their answers to escape the group's judgement, which demonstrates
that NSI had taken place because the participants conformed to fit in. Asch also showed
that the conformity rates decreased to 12.5% when the pressure to publicly conform
was eliminated by instructing participants to write their responses rather than speak
them loudly. Because the amount of public pressure decreased, the rate of
conformance decreased, adding further support for NSI.
The Asch study supports the idea of NSI, however more recent research has produced
conflicting findings. For instance, Perrin and Spencer (1980) discovered a compliance
level of 0.25% after conducting an Asch-style experiment. Therefore, it might be claimed
that Asch's findings reflect a different time period and do not really reflect conformity or
the idea of NSI in 2017. It should be noted, though, that Perrin and Spencer utilised a
totally different sample from Asch, one made up of math and engineering students.
Therefore, it's possible that the participant's proficiency with problem-solving activities
had an impact on the lower levels of compliance. Though not everyone conforms for
NSI-related reasons; others do so for informational ones as well. When someone
complies under the influence of information or because they think that someone else is
"correct," this is known as informational social influence (or ISI). ISI is typically linked to
internalisation, a long-term shift in a person's private ideas as well as their public
behaviour. A person adopting a new belief system as a result of sincerely believing that
their new beliefs are "correct" or that the majority are "experts" leads to this semi-
permanent shift in behaviour and belief.
Outline and evaluate research examining conformity. (16 marks) 1
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