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Summary Theme 3 Social Psychology Notes
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These are the notes for Theme 3 of the Social Psychology course.
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THEME 31. Social norms
2. Compliance - public and private
3. Obedience
4. Minority influence - conversion
5. Critical refection on studies
Conformity = the tendency of people to change their perceptions, thoughts and behavior in ways
that are consistent with social or group norms. People in general find it difficult to breach social norms
What factors promote conformity versus independence and the reasons for these behaviors?
Classics:
1. Muzafer Sherif (1936) asked 'What is truth?'
Reality:
o strictly empiricist;
o religious faith;
o truth as we are able to understand it; <<mostly interested in this one
He created the Auto Kinetic Experiment which consisted of a 'moving' white dot in a room
lacking light.
autokinesis = optical illusion in which a point of light in complete darkness appears to be moving
around.
frame of reference = middle of the spectrum opinions of group members which are generally accepted
(relevant social comparative context)
The experiment had 2 phases which were put in counterbalanced order:
1. Individual experiment
2. Group experiment
Initially estimated it varied considerably, but participants later converged on a common
perception. Eventually they established their own set of norms. Individuals established a mode
and an individual median.
Theoretical significance:
• norms = social products, specific attitude guidelines for members of a group, emerge to guide
members of a group in cases of uncertainty;
• groups seem to have a binding power;
• they had no leader!
o leadership = way to mobilize people in the group to achieve a common goal.
It is an important experiment because it can be generalized.
2. Solomon Asch followed-up Sherif's research with a Conformity Experiment (1951): Why
and under what conditions do people accept/follow the social norm?
, o people are caught between the need to be right and the desire to be liked;
• People conform for 2 reasons:
o Dependency on others for social approval (normative influence) - a desire to be right;
o Dependency on others for information about reality (informational influence) - fear of
ostracism;
o Both of them together make the Dual-process Dependency Model.
• People who stray from the group's norm end up rejected, dismissed and ridiculed. This rejection
can feel like actual physical pain (social neuroscience proved the link with brain scans). This
rejection can lead to higher sensitivity to social cues and to social perception. Even young
children are sensitive to social ostracism.
• The group has the power to alter perceptions, not just behavior.
• The two sources of influence can produce two different types of conformity:
o Private acceptance = the change of beliefs occurs when a person privately accepts the
position taken by others.
o Public conformity/compliance = a superficial change in overt behavior without a
corresponding change of opinion that is produced by real or imagined group pressure.
• People can belong to 2 types of groups:
o Reference groups= psychologically significant for people's attitudes, they seek to either
copy that behavior or do exactly the same. Can be positive or negative.
o Membership groups = groups that we belong to by objective criterion.
• What creates this pressure and insecurities?
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