A level aqa psychology social influence notes which include AO1 and AO3 (descriptive evaluation points on each subtopic of social influence. These notes can be used to answer short answer questions and even 16 mark essays.
Outline and evaluate normative and informational influence explanations of conformity.
Conformity- form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and
leads to compliance with that position. It is the tendency to adopt behaviour, attitudes and
values of other members of a reference group. Three types of conformity:-
Compliance - occurs when an individual accepts influence because they hope to achieve a
favourable reaction (reward and approval) from those around them. An attitude behaviour is
adopted not because of its content, but because of the rewards or approval associated with its
adoption. They do not result in any change in the person’s underlying attitude, only in the views
and behaviours they express in public.
Internalisation- individuals accept influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour is
consistent with their own value system. Exposure to views of other members encourages
individuals to engage in a validation process, examining their own beliefs to see if they or the
others are right.The acceptance of the group’s point of view both publicly and privately.
Identification- an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be
associated with a particular group or person. It has elements of compliance and internalisation,
as the individual accepts the attitudes and behaviours they are adopting as right and true
(internalisation), but the purpose of adopting them is to be accepted as a member of the group
(compliance).
Explanations for conformity:-
Normative social influence- form of influence whereby an individual conforms with the
expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or to avoid social disapproval. An
important condition for normative social influence to occur is that the individual must believe that
they are under surveillance by the group so people tend to conform to the majority position in
public but do not necessarily internalise this view as it does not carry over into private settings
nor does it endure over time.
Informational social influence- form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right-
looking to others as a way of gaining evidence about reality. As well as having a need to be
accepted, human beings also have a need to feel confident that their perceptions and beliefs
are correct. Informational influence is more likely if the situation is ambiguous or where others
are experts. Individuals not only comply in behaviour alone but also change their behaviour in
line with the group position.
A03
1) Research support for informational influence- One strength of informational social
influence as an explanation for conformity is that it is supported by research conducted
by Wittenbrink and Henley (1996) who found that participants exposed to negative
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