Herbert Kelman (1958) suggested there
were three ways in which people conform
to the opinion of a majority
Identification
Conform to the opinions of a group
because it is something they value.
Publicly change opinions but don't privately agree.
Internalisation
When a person genuinely accepts
the group norms.
Results in private as well as public
change in opinions or behaviour.
Compliance
Superficial change in behaviour to fit in.
Simply ' going along' with people but
keeping own opinions.
Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard (1955)
developed a TWO PROCESS THEORY. Two
main reasons for conformity.
INFORMATIONAL SOCIAL INFLUENCE (ISI)
NEED TO BE RIGHT
When a person conforms to
gain knowledge or they
believe someone is 'right'
Cognitive process
NORMATIVE SOCIAL INFLUENCE (NSI)
NEED TO BE LIKED
Dependant on norms, people will
conform if they want to appear more
socially acceptable.
Emotional process
Evaluation
Strengths
Research support for ISI. Lucas et al (2006)
asked students to give answers to
mathematical processes. There was
greater conformity to incorrect answers
for harder questions than easier ones.
Shows that people conform in situations where
they feel other people will help them succeed.
Support for NSI. Asch found that many
people went along with the incorrect
answer just because they felt self
conscious giving the correct answer.
When asked to write the answer instead,
conformity fell to 12.5%
Limitations
Idea of the 'two way process' is that
behaviour is EITHER NSI or ISI. In truth
both processes are involved.
Asch experiment the dissenting
participant may reduce the power
of NSI by providing social support or
ISI because there is an alternative
source of information.
Individual differences
in the NSI.
Research shows that NSI does not affect
everyone's behaviour in the same way. People
who have a need for for association are
described as 'AFFILIATORS'. Shows that the
desire to be liked underlies conformity for
some people more than others.
Individual
differences with ISI.
Asch found that students were less
conformist than those who werent students.