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Essay Unit 11 - Psychological Perspectives
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Criteria included - P5, P6, M3, D2,D3. I have achieved all of the criteria stated up to a distinction standard.
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P5:The different psychological perspectives in different health and social care setting can be used while we are
delivering care and support to different service user.
A role is defined as the number if expectations that are set out and are associated with a specific social position, such
as being a mother or doctor would come with different particular expectations that need to be adhered to. The
concept of role is when an individual will step outside of their other roles and takes on a new role such as, a patient.
An example of where this can be seen in health and social care is through a doctor. For example, a doctor when into
work would have to take on that specific role by behaving in ways that are comforting, nurturing and also
professional. However, the doctor can also take on the role of a mother or a father, this would require a different set
of expectations and behaviours than a doctor in their place of work. Conformity to minority is when an individual will
conform to minority influence because they may believe that the minority group has better knowledge or even
information that the majority. There was an experiment that was carried out by Serge Moscovici to test out
conformity to minority influence. It was played out by him showing 6 individuals a series of blue slides and everyone
in the room stated which colour the slides were. However, Moscovici placed two confederates in the group to say
that they were green. The results of the experiment showed that the rest of the group who the thought slides was
blue eventually conformed to minority influence by agreeing with the confederates that the slides were green. An
example, of where this can be seen in health and social care settings could be seen through care plan meetings. For
example, the majority of professionals in the meeting could all agree on a method of care that they thought was
most effective. However, there could be two professionals that think a different method of care is most effective, by
explaining why and giving information the rest if the professionals could agree with them and change their plans,
this is conformity to minority influence. Conformity to majority influence is where an individual may change their
behaviour or even views in order to fit in or be in line with the other members of the group. There could be a
number of reasons why an individual may conform to the majority influence such as, the desire to not stand out, or
the desire to fit in and also peer pressure. There was an experiment that was conducted by Solomon Asch to test out
the conformity to majority influence, he did this by using groups of around 6 to 9 individuals and all of them apart
from one was a confederate. The test was to identify whether a target line matched to one of a set that consisted of
three lines. All of these cards where shown 18 times and the confederates were to give the wrong answer 12 times.
The results were that he found that actual participants were to give the same wrong answers that the confederates
gave 37% of the time. Conformity to majority can be seen within health and social care through my case study Laura.
For example, it can be seen that she is significantly influenced by the older individuals that she is hanging around
with by smoking and doing drugs, this is conforming to majority influence by the desire to fit in and belong with her
older friendship group. This could be because she is lonely and wants to be accepted and welcomed by the group, so
she conforms to their influence, even though it may have serious negative impacts on her. Influence can be seen
through Asch’s experiment, for example, he tested the influence of individuals through using groups of around 6 to 9
people. With these groups they were all confederates apart from one individual. The test that he put into place
involved expressing out loud whether a target link matched one of three different lines with different lengths, they
were labelled A, B and C. in total, these lines where presented to the groups around eighteen times. The results were
that he found that the participants gave the same wrong answer as the confederates 37% of the time. After being
interviewed they expressed that they were confident in their own right answer and though t the other was wrong
but did not want to speak out. This shows that groups have a large influence when changing and shaping our
behaviour. An example, of where this can be seen within health and social care is during a care plan meeting. Such
as, two nurses could have an idea of a care strategy that would be best for the service user that the meeting is a
about. However, the other professionals in the meeting believe that another method of care would be better, ever
though the two nurses are correct, and they are confident in their strategies, they may not put it forward due to a
fear of speaking out. Instead, they may just agree with the other professionals’ strategies. Conformity to social roles
can be identified through Zimbardo’s experiments. He carried out a famous study that took place within the
basement of Stanford University that was called the Stanford prison simulation experiment. He did this because he
wanted to see how behaviour could change according to the roles that may be taken on by individuals. He
allocated 24 male college students the role of prisoner or guard. In the beginning the prisoner’s behaviour was
confident, the guard’s behaviours became quite assertive and aggressive. During this the guards would punish the
prisoners quite harshly. The experiment had to come to end after 6 days due to the fact that the psychological health
and physical health of the prisoners was rapidly deteriorating. The results of this showed that situational factors
have great power. An example of where this can be seen in health and social care is through doctors. For example,
when they come into work, they take on the social role of a doctor and professionalism. The means they will have to
conform to that role to change their behaviour than the social role they would have at home, such as a parent. For
,example, while in work they would have to conform to the role of a professional by acting understanding, patient etc
and at home being a parent they would have to act warm and loving. Obedience can be seen through Milgram’s
study that took place in 1963. The experiment involved placing male participants in front of a shock generator, they
were told to deliver shocks from 15 to 450 volts. It was a fake generator, and no actual shocks were administered,
however, the participants weren’t told it was fake and thought that it was real. Milgram asked the participants to
deliver shocks to what they thought was another person every time that person got a question wrong. The results of
the experiment showed that 65% of participants were obedient when delivering the shocks and delivered ones up to
450 volts, this is potentially lethal. An example of where this can be seen in health and social care can be seen
through a nurse in a hospital following a doctor’s orders because the position of doctor is seen as more advanced
than a nurse due to the more qualifications. It would involve the nurse following all of the doctor’s order including
ones that the nurse may disagree with or is unethical as doctor is seen as the superior position. Attitude change can
be used to predict our behaviour. For example, if we enjoy running and we believe that running will have positive
impacts on our lives then my behaviour is most likely to mirror this and frequently run. However, if I have a negative
attitude towards a group of individuals within my school then I am more likely to display negative behaviours to that
group. Leon Festinger created a theory that is known as cognitive dissonance. It says that if we believe two
contradictory concepts, then we create a state of discomfort (dissonance). An example of this is in health and social
care can be seen when a healthcare professional smokes but has that attitude that it is bad or disgusting, knowing
the side effects due to their role in health care. however, the health care professional may continue to persist in
smoking, this creates cognitive dissonance. Factors influencing hostility and aggression can be seen through the
frustration-aggression hypothesis that was brough to light by Dollard Et Al. they proposed the idea that aggression is
created when we have a goal in mind that is frustrated. An example of this that could be seen within health and
social care is that when a service user wants to be discharged from hospital in time for an event, however, they don’t
meet that goal and are not discharged in time. This would frustrate that goal and may be cause that service user to
display aggressive behaviours.
In conclusion there a number of similarities and differences between these experiments and approaches for
example, conformity to minority and majority could be compared to conformity to social roles as they have a
number of similarities and differences. A similarity of conformity to minority and majority and conformity to social
roles could be that they both involve changing individuals’ opinions/behaviours. for example, conformity to
majority/minority involves individuals conforming to either the majority or minority opinion and basing their
behaviours around that opinion. This is similar to conformity to social roles because it also involves changing your
behaviour and conforming to what is needed of you and changing your behaviours around what you would conform
to. However, there can also be a number of differences with conformity to minority/majority and conformity to
social roles. Such as, conformity to minority/majority involves changing your opinion to either the minority influence
or the majority influence. This is different to conformity to social roles as this involves someone conforming to a
different role in society and changing their behaviours, not opinions, to fit that role. For example, a doctor when in
work would have to conform to that level of professionalism, whereas at home they would have to conform to the
social role of mother or father. They can both influence service user’s behaviour through them conforming to a
specific role. For example, in conformity to majority/minority a service user would maybe have to conform with
either majority or minority surrounding which method of care they would think is best for them. With conformity to
social roles, they would have to conform to the social role of patient/service user which may be different than their
social role at home, such as parent. Therefore, both involve a service user changing their behaviours in order to
conform to different influences and opinions. There are also a number of similarities and differences between
influence by Asch and obedience by Milgram. For example, a similarity between the two approaches/experiments
could be that during Asch’s study it was shown that the actual participants would 37% of the time agree with the
confederate’s wrong answers, this could be argued that they are being obedient to the confederates and not
wanting to argue with them. It is similar to Milgram’s obedience study where he would get participants to be
obedient by administering shocks to what the participants thought were real people. Alternatively, there are also a
number of differences between influence and obedience, for example, Asch’s study on influence was seen as ethical
whereas, Milgram’s obedience study was considered unethical. Another difference of the two was that Asch’s
experiment was to test the influence of groups of people on other people, for example, the participants saying the
wrong answer even though they were confident in their own out of fear of standing out or speaking out. Whereas
Milgram’s experiments were to test out how far an individual’s obedience would go even if it meant killing another
individual. They can both influence service user’s behaviours through obedience and influence. For example, Asch’s
study shows that often individuals don’t want to stand out so they may follow the influence of groups and be
obedient to their answers, so therefore service user’s behaviour may follow the influence of others. Milgram’s
obedience study can influence service user’s behaviour through identifying how far individuals may go to be
, obedient. Therefore, it can help to influence service user’s behaviour because they may become increasingly
obedient to authority. Lastly, there are also a number of similarities and differences between factors that influence
hostility and aggression as well as attitude change. A similarity between the two is that they both state that feelings
of aggression/uncomfort can be caused by something underlining. For example, Dollard Et Al created the frustration-
aggression hypothesis which states that aggression is caused by a goal becoming upset and Festinger stated that if
we believe in two contradictory concepts it can create a state of cognitive dissonance or discomfort, this may create
feelings of aggression or frustration. Therefore, the two concepts are both similar. However, there are also some
differences between the two, for example Festinger’s theory states that we only create cognitive dissonance (which
is only discomfort not aggression), when we believe two concepts that contradict each other. Where as Dollard Et Al
said that we may become aggressive when we dint reach a goal due to that goal being frustrated. They can both
influence service user’s behaviours through explaining why individuals may act certain ways. For example, Dollard Et
Al’s frustration-aggression hypothesis says that an individual may become aggressive when a goal they have in mind
is frustrated or unachievable. Such as, being dispatched from hospital on a certain date but it isn’t possible.
Festinger’s theory can influence service user’s behaviours because it states that when an individual experiences
cognitive dissonance, they will try to reduce the discomfort that is associated with it by rationalising their behaviour
by changing their attitude or even behaviour.
P6, M3 and D2:
Compliance/non-compliance:
P6:
Laura frequently displays noncompliance throughout her different specific behaviours. for example, she can be seen
displaying non-compliant behaviours towards her schooling. This is because she is seen being non-compliant with
attendance rules as she is rarely attending school and when she does, she displays very aggressive behaviours that
are directed towards her classmates and teachers. This frequently results in her being isolated from them. This can
be used effectively by health and social care professionals to improve Laura’s social functioning through her
schooling. For example, if the school were to promote Laura to comply it could have a number of benefits. Such as, it
would help her to achieve high grades and extra support which would have a positive impact on her future. It can
also help her improve her social functioning be enabling her to make friends with children her own age if she was to
comply with school. Such as, if she complies by behaving and regularly attending, she will not be isolated, and it will
allow her to make friends with her classmates. This will help improve her social functioning through possibly stop her
from taking recreational drugs by allowing her to make friends with other individuals rather than the older group she
is hanging around with now. Benjamin can also display non-compliant behaviours such as through not taking his
medications. For example, he is seen being non-compliant with his GP as he has been prescribed medication but
does not take it. This is because he was informed by a colleague that the medication would not help him, even
though it was prescribed by a medical professional. This can be used effectively by health and social care
professionals in order to improve Benjamin’s social functioning through his medications. For example, if the GP was
to promote the benefits of compliance by taking his medications it can have a positive impact on his physical health.
Such as, if Benjamin was to be compliant with his GP it would improve his physical health and mental wellbeing. If he
was to become compliant, he may find that the medications that he was prescribed was actually effective and
improved his social functioning more than CBT.
M3:
There are a number of strengths in this approach in improving the social functioning of Laura’s behaviours. for
example, this approach could encourage Laura to become compliant with the school that she attends. This is a
strength because it would have a number of benefits to her physical health and wellbeing as it would enable her to
make friends with her classmates her own age. This would possibly prevent Laura from further drug or alcohol
consumption which will have a number of health benefits for her. Another strength in this approach for Laura would
be that the GP could get her to comply with them in order for her to effectively manage her diabetes. This is a
strength because it would promote and enable Laura to accurately take her medications in order to effectively
improve her physical and mental health. However, there is also a number of disadvantages to this approach in
improving Laura’s social functioning of behaviour. For example, there is no actual way to ensure that she complies
with what she is being presented with. This is a disadvantage because without accurate methods on how to get her
to comply then her physical health and wellbeing will continue to be affected due to her drug and alcohol
consumption. Another disadvantage for Laura is that if she chooses not to comply her physical health may
deteriorate due to her not effectively managing her diabetes. There are a number of strengths of using this approach
in improving the social functioning of Benjamin’s behaviour. For example, the GP could promote Benjamin to be
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