PSYC10004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Philip Zimbardo, Alameda County, California, Realistic Conflict Theory
29 Jun 2018
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PSYC10004 Mind, Brain & Behaviour 2
LECTURE 16 (6.1) – Social Psychology 7
Intra-group differentiation
Problem of contingency theory: leadership style as fixed characteristic
More situationally oriented theories, e.g. transformational theory
Group task performance (Ivan Steiner’s model)
Actual performance = group potential - process loss
Process loss = coordination loss + motivation loss
Types of social influence
Normative influence: conform with expectation of others to:
oGain social approval; avoid disapproval
Informational influence: accept info from others as evidence about reality
Majority influence: when a number of group members behave a certain way,
one tends to behave similarly
Minority influence: even if there is a strong majority, a consistent minority in
the group can affect group members’ attitudes and behaviour
Majority social influence
Asch’s (1951, 1956) experiment
oAlleged perpetual discrimination experiment
1 true participant, the rest were confederates
o7-9 people chose 1 from 3 lines with the same length as the standard
oWhen all confederates made wrong choices, subject often conformed
oResults
25% never conformed; ~33% conformed
Some personality characteristics related to conformity
Cultural differences in conformity (collectivism = more)
Situational characteristics have strong effects
Conformity increases from 1 to 5
Presence of social support for deviance can reduce conformity
Minority Social Influence
By Serge Moscovici
If all social influence is majority influence, no social change possible
Consistent minority
oDisrupts majority norm; increases uncertainty
oDraws attention to minority as an entity
oConveys existence of an alternative coherent point of view
oDemonstrates commitment to minority position
oShows only solution is to espouse the minority view
“Blue-Green” experiment
oMoscovici, Lake & Naffrechoux (1969)
oAlleged perception experiment
oProcedure
A, B, C, D naïve participants
1
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PSYC10004 Mind, Brain & Behaviour 2
Colour slide shown; confederates say green; another colour slide shown;
same responses
Group polarisation
Group discussions tend to produce more extreme decisions than the initial
Institution, legitimacy and conformity
When a group has a hierarchical structure its members consider to be
legitimate, this institution can produce conformity or obedience to authority
“The Banality of Evil”
oRudolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem
oProsecution claimed that Eichmann was a psychopathic sadist who executed
Jews under Nazism in cold-blood
oHannah Arendt’s report of EIchmann trial questioned this
Suggested he was unimaginative bureaucrat carrying out duty
Coined “banality of evil”
Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974)
Learning experiment
Naive participant acts as a teacher, gives electric shocks to “participant”
(confederate) when he makes a mistake
Teacher was to increase shock when learner made mistake
Electric shots went from 15 to 450 volts; 65% of participants went to 450V
Reduction in legitimacy/authority reduced level of obedience
Most people showed great deal of emotional conflict
Some people didn’t obey
When authority figure not immediately present, obedience level dropped
LECTURE 16 (6.2) – Social Psychology 8
Replicating Milgram: Burger (2009) reported replication of Milgram
Stanford Prison Experiment
Philip Zimbardo, Stanford social psychologist
Randomly assigned 24 young people into 2 groups
oPrison guards
oPrisoners
Rounded up by police; put through normal police procedure; brought to
basement of Stanford psychology building
Results
o1 prisoner became emotionally disturbed
oGuards began abusive behaviours, e.g. push-ups, marching
oPlanned for 2 weeks but stopped in 5 days
Abu Ghraib
17 US soldiers in Abu Ghraib (near Baghdad, Iraq) removed from duty after
charges of mistreating Iraqi prisoners
2
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Problem of contingency theory: leadership style as fixed characteristic. Actual performance = group potential - process loss. Process loss = coordination loss + motivation loss. Normative influence: conform with expectation of others to: Informational influence: accept info from others as evidence about reality. Majority influence: when a number of group members behave a certain way, one tends to behave similarly. Minority influence: even if there is a strong majority, a consistent minority in the group can affect group members" attitudes and behaviour. 7-9 people chose 1 from 3 lines with the same length as the standard: when all confederates made wrong choices, subject often conformed o o. Presence of social support for deviance can reduce conformity. If all social influence is majority influence, no social change possible. Conveys existence of an alternative coherent point of view. Shows only solution is to espouse the minority view. A, b, c, d na ve participants o o o o o o o o.
