...certain pre-selected responses. Careful experimental construction placed a varying amount of peer pressure on the individual test subject. Asch Experiment - Figure 1The experiment was simple in its construction; each participant, in turn, was asked to answer a series of questions, such as which line was longest or which matched the reference line. (Fig 1) The participants gave a variety of answers, at first correct, to avoid arousing suspicion in the subject, but then with some incorrect responses added. This would allow Asch to determine how the answers of the subject would change with the added influence of peer pressure. The Asch Experiment results were interesting and showed that peer pressure could have a measurable influence on the answers given. The control group, those not exposed to peer pressure where everybody gave correct answers, threw up only one incorrect response out of 35; this could probably be explained by experimental error. The results for the other groups were interesting; when surrounded by people giving an incorrect answer, over one third of the subjects also voiced an incorrect opinion. At least 75% of the subjects gave the wrong answer to at least one question, although experimental error may have had some influence on this figure. There was no doubt, however, that peer pressure can cause conformity. It was debated...
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...The experiment[edit] Milgram Experiment advertisement Three individuals were involved: the one running the experiment, the subject of the experiment (a volunteer), and a confederate pretending to be a volunteer. These three people fill three distinct roles: the Experimenter (an authoritative role), the professor (a role intended to obey the orders of the Experimenter), and the Learner (the recipient of stimulus from the Teacher). The subject and the actor both drew slips of paper to determine their roles, but unknown to the subject, both slips said "teacher". The actor would always claim to have drawn the slip that read "learner", thus guaranteeing that the subject would always be the "teacher". At this point, the "teacher" and "learner" were separated into different rooms where they could communicate but not see each other. In one version of the experiment, the confederate was sure to mention to the participant that he had a heart condition.[1] The "teacher" was given an electric shock from the electro-shock generator as a sample of the shock that the "learner" would supposedly receive during the experiment. The "teacher" was then given a list of word pairs which he was to teach the learner. The teacher began by reading the list of word pairs to the learner. The teacher would then read the first word of each pair and read four possible answers. The learner would press a button to indicate his response. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to...
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...relation to individual differences • Skills of analysis, evaluation and application in relation to individual differences • Knowledge and understanding of research methods associated with this area of psychology • Knowledge and understanding of ethical issues associated with this area of psychology. |Content outline | |Social influence |Conformity (majority influence) and explanations of why people conform, including informational | | |social influence and normative social influence | | | | | |Types of conformity, including internalisation and compliance | | | | | |Obedience to authority, including Milgram’s work and explanations of why people obey | |Social...
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...Outline and evaluate research into conformity: (12 marks) Asch carried out a key study in the field of conformity in 1951, looking at whether people will conform to the group and give an incorrect answer to a simple question. Asch used 50 male college students overall, and in each group there were 7 students - one oblivious participant, and 6 confederates of the experimenter. Asch showed each group a series of cards in pairs - one card had a vertical line on it, and the second card had 3 lines of differing lengths on it, one of which matched the line on the first card. One by one, the students were asked aloud which line matched the one on the first card - A, B or C. The six confederates of the experimenter gave the same wrong answer, and Asch observed whether the oblivious participant conformed to the group and gave the incorrect answer. Asch found that around 75% of participants conformed to the incorrect answer at least once, showing that even in situations where the correct answer is obvious, there is still huge pressure to conform, especially when the group is unanimous. A weakness of this study is that the sample was small, unrepresentative and biased - Asch used only male students, all the same age and all from the same college, meaning that the results can’t be generalized to females or older or younger people. Another issue is that the task was artificial, meaning that the study had low ecological validity and the findings can’t be generalized to other real-life...
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...My 30 minute trial - Nuremberg style... In opening, let me state quite unreservedly that I eat and use animal products without compunction. Over the years I have thought about my moral stance on these matters and happily come to the informed conclusion that my consumption and use of animal products sits with my moral values and vice versa. The interview began quite innocuously. As the interview continued I was questioned about my consumption of animal product, then asked if had any companion animals (I have two for my children's sake). As the questioning proceeded I was lead through a faulty path of logic and reason such that the next question not only assaulted my moral stance but appeared to be extraordinarily judgemental. The offending question was, "Would you ever knowingly do something that caused harm to animals when alternatives were readily available?" Dissonance was firmly afoot; my having to answer in the affirmative if I were to be consistent, or answer 'no' in case I be judged as a murderer. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! So having chosen to be true to myself I chose to don the murderer's mantle. The interview continued by warning me that I may learn information that I have not been exposed to in the past and experience emotional challenges if I elected to proceed. Being the reasonable self-aware psychological adventurer I had nothing to lose so was then set upon by statements about 'unnatural practices'. In the meantime I continued to feel judged...
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...The Studies of Non-Conformity Brandon Connell Colorado Technical University Professor: Ashraf Esmail SOCL102-1404B-08 Phase 3 IP The Studies of Non-Conformity Conformity is a normal in this day and age. This is largely due to aggressive marketing campaigns, however those campaigns target a natural human flaw. The majority of the population holds this flaw, but we are starting to see many more break free. Influence without Marketing During the Asch experiment, the line test showed that about one third conformed to the majority opinion despite the fact that the answer was wrong. (McLeod, 2008). Keep in mind that these results were achieved by just having the participant in the room with others who influenced their opinions. The results that could have been achieved if the participants were brainwashed with marketing could have been unimaginable. Consider the fact that every year, millions of people we call “sheep” line up for the latest release of the iPhone. Consider also that hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on political advertising, and there is weight supporting the fact that people are easily influenced. Following Orders During the Milgram experiment, unethical tests were done using shock therapy. The findings showed that participants would allow themselves to be severely shocked simply because they were told to continue by someone with an air of authority. (McLeod, 2007). This brings to mind the litmus tests given to American Generals by the Obama...
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...was inspired by the classic conformity study that has been done by Asch (1951,1956) and studies that have looked at gender differences in conformity and social pressures. There has been conflicting evidence in literature about whether there are gender differences in conformity, with some studies concluding that there is and that women in particular more likely to conform whereas other studies have concluded that there are not any gender differences in conformity. Other past studies concluded that age is...
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...Core study 1 Asch 1955 : Aims and Context Summarise the aims and context of Asch’s 1955) research opinions and social pressure An individual is said to conform if they chose to study a course of action that is favoured by the majority or that is considered socially acceptable .When an individual is influenced by how the majority of people think this is considered socially acceptable Conformity is a form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position , the tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference groups, This was a study of conformity in an ambiguous situation ‘unclear’. Jenness asked students to guess how many beans there were in a jar,they were then asked to discuss in groups. Lastly they were asked to give their estimates again, individuals estimates tended to converge to the group norm.It seems reasonable that when in an ambiguous situation (were the answer isn't obvious ) we look to others to get some ideas about behaviour . Jenness's research is limited as he specifically asked participants to produce a group estimate rather than just observing if they would produce group estimates. Sherif conducted a similar investigation into responses to an ambiguous stimulus using the auto kinetic effect ( this is where a stationary spot of light projected on to a screen appears to move) Sherif told participants he was going to move the light , he asked the pp’s to estimate by how far the spotlight...
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...when and how people defy authority in the face of clear moral imperatives” ( 4). Milgram found that there are social forces which allow populations to commit morally conflicting acts against other populations. The fundamental variable for this influence is ideology; which is defined in Webster’s dictionary as “a systematic body of concepts, especially about human life or culture”(“ideology”). Ideologies accompanied by social contagions, admit ordinary individuals to transgress in inhumane conformed evils. The obedient subjects of Milgram’s studies and the Nazi soldiers alike are not all necessarily sadistic psychopaths. Rather, they’re a result of ideological social conformity. It has been a commonly accepted idea that those who participated in the holocaust were all individually psychopaths, but conformity to a corrupt authority’s dogma influences ordinary people to behave malevolently. Between 1941- 1945, fifty-five thousand Nazi soldiers worked at death and work camps (Wikipedia, World War 2 casualties). Considering that there were so many participants in this genocide, it is not logical to simply label all of them as psychotic. Hannah Abrendt , the author of ”Eichmann is Jerusalem” , became baffled at Eichmann’s role in coordinating the final solution of the Jewish population; because he was by no means a psychopathic master mind. To Arendt ,...
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...Abstract The use of power to influence others within a social group has evolved over centuries. Gaining dominion, wealth and social standing are central motives for gaining power over others within a communal group. Those with power can leverage off humans innate psychological leanings toward normative and informative influences to create the norms which others in society will accede to. Psychological experiments by Stanley Milgram and Solomon Asch demonstrate humans predisposition to obedience and compliance, in order to secure their acceptance within society, mean many can are influenced by those in power. It is an astonishing power, to influence another person or a whole society to buy into a reality created by another. To first understand how those in power can influence others, an understanding of ‘power’ is required. Power is a currency, a power currency, that’s desired by others which affords the holder the ability to exert both influence and dominion over people and surroundings. The ‘currency’ can be power of knowledge, love, charisma, wealth, fear, acceptance, social status, strength, or beauty to identify just a few. An individual or group possessing a power currency desired or feared by others ultimately holds a social balance of power and subsequently gains the ability to influence. Those in power use the media to tell others how they should look, who they should like, how they should act and what they should believe. The powerful use media to sell...
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...Assignment 2 In the 1950′s a psychology professor, Solomon Asch, conducted a study too see if the power of Group Dynamics would affect the decision of an individual. In the Asch Paradigm, a group of people was told to identify which line was the longest, shortest or the same as a reference line. Before the participant could answer, he had to listen to the responses of 5 or 7 actors, and sometimes as many as 15 actors. The actors were told in advance whether to answer correctly or incorrectly to the questions. This was the independent variable or what Asch controlled. Some rounds or trials the answers from the actors were correct, but many times their responses were deliberately wrong answers. This was intentional, but the participant was completely unaware of the deception. Each participant had no way of knowing the outcome. Professor Asch wanted to see how the group of actors, or more specifically, how they answered the questions, would influence the behavior of the participants. Asch thought that most of the participants would not give an incorrect answer to something so obviously wrong just because the actors did. However, the results would prove Asch wrong. The dependent variable was seen in whether the participants conformed to what the actors said. Results proved that the majority of participants conformed on 37% of the so-called trials. About 25%, or roughly one-fourth of participants, did not conform on any trial. Three-fourths...
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...Introduction Gordon Allport stated that social psychology means “...to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings...” (1985). In this essay I am going to explain the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals as influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings. I will be talking about theories and experiments carried out by Charles Cooley, Michael Argyle, Muzafer Sherif, Solomon Asch and Stanley Milgram. The essay will focus on their theories and experiments carried out in relations to self concept, conformity and obedience. Self Concept Self concept is a term used by psychologists; it means the way in which we identify ourselves. In the early 1900’s Charles Cooley developed the ‘looking-glass self’ theory. He explained how we see ourselves as the result of how others see us. Cooley’s theory; ‘looking-glass self’, consists of three major stages. 1. I imagine how my personality and appearance will look to other people. 2. I imagine how other people judge the appearance and personality that I think I present. 3. I develop a self-concept. For example 1. A group of bullies comment on a girl’s appearance. 2. The bullies think she is ugly. 3. The girl believes she is ugly. A positive change can happen when the opposite is done; when people think the girl looks pretty, people say...
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...observers or individual exerts that encourages others to change their attitudes, values, or behaviors to conform the group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, in which individuals are "formally" members (such as political parties and trade unions), or social cliques in which membership is not clearly defined. A person affected by peer pressure may or may not want to belong to these groups. They may also recognize dissociative groups with which they would not wish to associate, and thus they behave adversely concerning that group's behaviors.[citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 In Youth 2 Asch conformity 3 The Third Wave 4 Neural mechanisms 5 Explanation 6 References In Youth[edit] Peers become an important influence on behavior during adolescence, and peer pressure has been called a hallmark of adolescent experience.[1][2] Peer conformity in young people is most pronounced with respect to style, taste, appearance, ideology, and values.[3] Peer pressure is commonly associated with episodes of adolescent risk taking (such as delinquency, drug abuse, sexual behaviors,[4] and reckless driving) because these activities commonly occur in the company of peers.[2] Affiliation with friends who engage in risk behaviors has been shown to be a strong predictor of an adolescent's own behavior.[5] Peer pressure can also have positive effects when youth are pressured by their peers toward positive behavior, such as volunteering for charity [6] or excelling in academics...
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...[pic] Definition “Conformity is a type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes, beliefs or behaviours to adhere to existing social norms” Baron et al, 2006 Explanation of social norms (you must learn this for small mark answer) ➢ Social norms are one of the key causes of why people conform to the majority view. ➢ Social norms (group norms) are the standard rules of behaviour for individuals in any given society/culture. ➢ Unspoken rules develop spontaneously, unconsciously usually through force of habit and if you do not conform to these rules you will be excluded… ➢ For example, behaviour at a bus stop, the type of clothes that are popular, the type of drinks to be drinking, the type of music to listen to, the places to travel in the world Jenness (1932) The first informal experimental study of conformity where participants were asked to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. When asked for a group estimate they almost all changed their individual guesses closer to the group estimate. This persisted when asked again individually. They conformed. NB: Remember for every study in this topic and obedience try to give a methodological and ethical issue (or advantage) for each study |Methodological issues |Ethical issues | | ...
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...The “Asch Conformity Experiment” and the book Lord of the flies shows that people will go along with the crowd whenever there are unacquainted people there. In the book Lord of the flies a bunch of British boys are flying in a plane and shot down. The pilot dies and the go down on an island, so they are left to fend for themselves without adult supervision. When the plane first crashes the boys are scattered all over the island and then Ralph, the main character, finds a conch shell, then he blows it and all the boys regroup. Ralph focuses on important things like building signal fires and things, while Jack and his boys want to focus on things like hunting and the fun things. Eventually they get into an argument about it and Jack ends up leaving Ralph group and taking all of the crowd except for Ralph....
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