M3. Explain why conformity and obedience are important in the public services, with reference to research studies. Conformity and obedience are forms of social influence which strongly affect our behaviour is social situations, from following fashions and unwritten social norms which organise our behaviour, to committing immoral acts because we are commanded to by someone who appears to be in a position of authority. This essay looks at the similarities and differences between the three, looking specifically at the factors that influence each two. Conformity within a group entails members changing their attitudes and beliefs in order to match those of others within the group.
Why do people conform? Explanations(theories of conformity) There are two type of social influence. One of it is normative social influence, it is based on our desire to be liked. We conform because we want to be appear ‘normal’ and we think that others will approve of and accept us. Going against the majority might lead to exclusion or rejection from the group.
Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Basically, it can be summed up as yielding oneself to group pressures and differs based on the social setting and pressures thereof. A person adjusts his/her thinking or behavior to coincide with a particular group’s standard. Explaining Sherif’s Results • Why did Sherif’s participants change their estimates when they had to call out their answers in the presence of other people?
Although this research has helped many psychologists (Erickson et al, Everett waters) with their experiments this one may not be very valid, because the results may not apply to infants with different cultures and beliefs, therefore we cannot generalize the results as it was only tested on middle-class US children. Another fault in the experiment was that it didn’t take into account the extraneous variables which may have
Individual differences were important in this variation as those who were more confident were less likely to conform. A limitation of Asch’s study is whether it is valid or not. Asking students to judge the length of lines is an insignificant task. On a more important task, conformity is likely to drop Asch’s findings may only tell us about conformity in special circumstances and the study also lacks mundane realism. Having said this, the study was still well controlled and systematic.
The presence of others affects our behaviors through influence. Peer pressure being the best example of this. Through peer pressure our peers influence us by encouraging use to change our attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs in order for us to conform to the group norm. A person who is influenced by peer pressure may not want to actually be a part of the groups or associate with them and as such change their behavior accordingly to the group behavior when around that group. A person may change his or her attitudes and behaviors when around social groups in order to feel accepted even if they don’t particularly believe in the group behaviors.
This makes laboratory experiments highly reliable as they are replicable. The laboratory experiment has major advantages as the method can be used to establish cause and effect relationships. For this reasons positivist sociologists use laboratory experiments as they favour a more scientific method. Positivist sociologists however also acknowledge the short comings of laboratory experiments, such as, it is often impossible or unethical to control the variables. Also their small scale means that results may not be representative or generalisable to the wider population.
Could have been the clothes or the living conditions, a change that could have been made to do the experiment better could be to use normal clothes or have the researchers play the guards. Whether you call it uninformed consent or deception I think this is the most problematic issue in the video. This type of experiment is an important one in the history of social research because it demonstrates how easily one can become wrapped up in research and forgets about the values of the participants. Although because it is sometimes difficult to address social ethical issues you must not choose to ignore
Since then social influence has become a field of study devoted to discovering the principles that determine our beliefs, create attitudes, and move us to action. Two forms of social influence are conformity (majority influence) and minority influence. Conformity is where a larger group of people change the behaviour (but not necessarily the attitudes and beliefs) of an individual or smaller group while minority influence is where a small group or an individual change the behaviour and usually the beliefs of an individual. The difference is both in the size of the ‘group’ causing the influence and the type of change it creates in the individual (compliance or conversion). As stated above majority influence is when adapt the behaviour, attitudes or values of the majority after being exposed to their values or behaviour.
Social influence involves/includes the study of conformity, compliance and it also involves a bit of obedience. Social influence is the way a group or an individual changes your beliefs, interests, thoughts, and perception. Conformity is the act of following a group’s behaviours and attitudes to match the group’s norm. It is a study of social influence involving a change in beliefs, behaviour and personal thinking. One example is from Solomon Ach’s study; he made an experiment to ask a couple of very simple questions with a group of about 7 to 10 people.