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.
He used a lab experiment to study conformity. He put participants in a dark room and projected a small spot of light onto a screen. The light was still, however it appeared to move. He discovered that when participants were individually tested, their estimates of how far the light moved varied considerably. The participants were then tested in groups of three.
Social Influences on Behavior Social influences on behavior This paper will attempt to explore and explain basic concepts of human interactions regarding a perspective on psychology and examples given regarding how human behaviors change based on different social situations, including specific behaviors, environments in which the behaviors occurred, associated phenomenon associated with behaviors, and if the behavior exhibits any necessary therapeutic intervention. Social Influences on Behavior Social psychology and sociology are very similar and travel the same path. Conformity may make a new situation easier and combining the identity to a group is a social identity theory. An individual’s behavior often changes by changing the individual’s environment or group setting. Humans crave social interactions; to withhold social interaction is a squandered effort.
Social Psychology: Long Answer Question- Response a) Describe two research studies investigating obedience. Two research studies that demonstrate the influence of obedience are Milgram’s lab experiment and Hofling’s field experiment. Stanley Milgram’s aim was to examine the impact of an authority figure, as he focused on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. Similarly, Hofling’s aim was to research obedience levels in a real life social setting, a hospital. Milgram’s experiment tested how much pain people were willing to inflict upon others, simply because they were ordered to do so by an authority figure.
Behaviourists want results, by which they can check measure and observe on the stimulus and the reacted response. McLeod, (2007) suggests humanistic, humanism and humanist are terms in psychology relating to an approach which studies the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual. Essentially, these terms refer the same approach in psychology. This relates to the belief on genetics and the experiences we go through in life are different from each other. Through ‘ethics’
There are many different constructions and theories on personality which all have their own strengths and weaknesses and all of which try to offer an explanation to the differences in people’s behaviour. This essay will look at Hans Eysenck’s Trait Theory (1965) which is interested in measuring people’s personality through traits. According to this perspective, traits are stable over time and differ between individuals. We will also look at George Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory (1955.) He believed that people develop constructs as internal ideas of reality to help them understand the world around them and that the way the world is viewed is based on individual experiences, interpretations and observations.
Shawna McAnally Professor Spencer English 101-E102 4 September 2012 The Perils of Obedience In the article “ The Perils of Obedience”, written in 1963, Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, explains the experiments he conducted to see how people would react when they would inflict pain on another individual. Obedience can be somewhat of a problem for people, when it comes to obeying a higher authority. The point of Milgram conducting these experiments was to show that obedience is stronger than moral and ethical conduct. The experiment he set up was to test human behavior on how one would react to obedience. Milgram’s experiment was taking two individuals – a teacher and a learner- and he would see how much the teacher would inflict pain upon the learner simply because he was following orders.
Normative social influence refers to instances where someone conforms in order to fit in and gain approval or avoid disapproval from other group members and this leads to conformity. This is known as compliance. Compliance is when an individual is exposed to the views or actions of a majority, they engage in social comparison. Because identifying with a majority is desirable, they change their views/actions to fit in with them. They go along with the majority without analysing why there is a difference.
Conformity, obedience and the social influences involved This essay examines the likely outcomes of human behaviour. By analysing Asch’s study into conformity and Hofling’s experiment about obedience, the extent to which individuals can avoid such social influences is investigated. There’s been great research into why people conform; following Asch’s study Deutsch and Gerald found that there are two types of social influence which makes people conform. Normative social influence; where individuals conform to be accepted and belong to the group. Benefits come from belonging in a group, individuals may conform on the surface but disagree with the group internally.
Lucy Ramos 09/10/12 Social Psychology We often try to match our ideal self with our social self in order to feel more accepted in the social world. Social perception is known as the process by which people come to understand one another. In order to learn how others perceive us, we must first look at how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive others. The social comparison theory discussed by Leon Festinger (1954) states that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others. People often compare themselves to others to feel more socially accepted or to set themselves apart from others.