The attack on Pearl Harbor contributed to some of the prejudice against the Japanese/-Americans. In a Japanese Interment Document, General Dewitt even had a proposition, “I now recommend that the secretary of War provide exclusion from … military areas.. A.
Evaluate Explanations of Conformity There are two explanations for conformity: Informational social influence and normative social influence. Informational Social Influence refers to instances where people conform because they are uncertain about what to do in a particular situation, so they look to others for guidance. Sherif: during an uncertain, we desire to be correct and look to our social group for answers. This then leads to internalisation. Which is when an individual is exposed to the views of a group, which causes them to validate or examine their own beliefs.
There are three main reasons as to why people conform, normative social influence, informational social influnece and social impact theory. Normative social influence This type of social influence is associated most commonly with compliance (going along with the majority even if you don’t accept their beliefs because you want to be accepted). Normative social influence is when a majority are able to control other groups by exerting pressure on them to conform. Because the majority normally have the greatest power they can do this very easily. For example, the majority could make the minority feel uncomfortable about disagreeing, as we see in Asch’s study.
People often compare themselves to others to feel more socially accepted or to set themselves apart from others. Others perceive us how we perceive ourselves. Having higher self-esteem causes others to pick up on that confidence and they themselves have confidence in you. If you are constantly worried about what you say or if you are concerned about what others think you project the idea in people head that you have low self-esteem. Others pick up on your negative energy and can use this against you.
Evaluate research studies on conformity Conformity is a type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behaviour to adhere to existing social norms. Researchers identify to types of conformity – private or informative and public or normative. Private conformity refers to private acceptance of social norms, while public conformity is overt bahaviour consistent with social norms that are nor privately accepted. Why do people conform? On the one hand, people conform because they are members of social groups.
Asch believed that it was often to avoid social conflict and social disapproval or becoming an ‘outcast’ in the group. This type of conformity could be put into the category of compliance, in which membership of the group is valued so much that people conform to the behaviour of the others but still privately hold their own views, for example, a group of friends want to order drinks, they all choose to drink a glass of water but you want a coke, you may choose water to avoid a conflict or rejection. Asch’s study was very influential and showed he power of group influence over decision making in the brain and have implications for many aspects of group behaviour such as social interaction. His experiment showed the importance of the majority influence on people’s decisions. Asch showed the importance of normative social influence, our desire to be normal, which is based on our desire to be liked and accepted in a group, and how we conform for social acceptance and approval to avoid rejection, this is heavily linked to compliance within a group.
The relationship between the Americans and the Japanese thawed further during the outbreak of World War I. The Japanese had entered into a treaty with Germany where it got concessions China and issued a list of demands on China. This aggression by Japan received strong opposition within the US administration that foothold on China by the Japanese would nullify the Open Door Policy. The American then secretary assistant
Benefits come from belonging in a group, individuals may conform on the surface but disagree with the group internally. This is called compliance, going along with the majority despite knowing they are incorrect. Informational social influence; is powered by what people need or their motives. When people are unaware how to behave, think or feel in a social situation the need for conformity is the need to be safe. An example of psychological research in conformity is Asch (1951) line study, where there were varying amount of both participants and confederates and they were asked to state which line was bigger out of three.
There also negative attitudes that the society portrays that contribute to the stigmatization. This makes people to feel different from others, rejected, and excluded from the society. However, as part of the society victims should be embraced and supported all through the recovery time to avoid that feel of shame and embarrassment. Stigma is defined as a mark of social humiliation where people are labelled by their condition and separated from others, which can form a negative stereotype and prejudice for the person with depression disorder (WHO, 2011). Goffman (1968), did some research on stigma which he referred to as ‘spoiled identity’ and he developed some ideas about identities and how they are presented in social roles.
Groups have a powerful effect on the behavior of their members through norms. We are more likely to be influenced by the norms of groups that we strongly identify with or a group that is important to our self-concept (Jetten, Spears & Manstead, 1997; Moreland and Levine, 2001). Social norms cause people to change their attitudes or behavior to conform and adhere to the norm (Baron, Branscombe & Byrne, 2008). When people violate social norms the consequences can range from disapproval of others in the group to being kicked out of that group because not following social norms makes people’s behavior unpredictable which can be potentially dangerous to the group or society (Baron, Branscombe & Byrne, 2008). Social norms are constantly changing and for the most part people follow them or only break ones that don’t threaten the entire group.