Definition
Many people will act as what they believe the social norm is, for
example university students may think the norm is to drink a lot and
thus they will do it as well to fit it in. Behaviour is then based of what
people think others do (perceived norm) and not on real beliefs and
actions that people actually do (actual norm). The gap between these
two norms is known as the misperception, correcting this is known as
social norms interventions.
These work by identifying the widespread misperception related to a
specific risk. For example young adults misperceive the amount their
peers drink and thus justify their own heavy drinking with this
misperceived information. These can be fixed in social media
campaigns and promotional material, with the aim of communicating
the actual norm to the group who are misperceiving.
, State and explain each factor that
State the definition of conformity
affects levels of conformity
Outline the process of a
Give an example of a social norm
majority influence on social
intervention
change
2 of 24
Definition
'Most of us don't Drink & Drive' was a campaign in the US to reduce
drinking and driving in young adults. A survey found that only 20%
admitted to drinking and driving in the past month, 92% of people
actually believed that their peers had done so. By correcting this
misconception with the message '4/5 don't drink and drive' they found
that it was reduced by 14%.
State and explain the three types of Outline two other studies into
conformity conformity
Give an example of a social
State the definition of conformity
norm intervention
, 3 of 24
Definition
Proximity - In this variation the teacher and the learner were sat i the
same room, he found that obedience levels fell 40% this was as the
teacher was now able to experience the learners pain more directly. In
a second variation the teacher was required to push the learners hand
onto the plate, here obedience dropped a further 30%. Milgram also
changed the proximity of the experimenter (authoritative figure), giving
orders over a telephone the cast majority of participants defied the
instructions wit only 21% continuing to maximum shock level.
Location - When Milgram conducted his experiment at Yale University
several participants remarked that the location gave them a sense that
what they were doing was acceptable. Thus Milgram did his experiment
again but this time in a run down office, obedience rates dropped
slightly but not a significant amount where this time 48% delivered the
full 450v.
Power of Uniform - Bushman conducted an experiment where a
women in either a police style uniform, business attire or dressed as a
beggar asked people to give a man change for his parking ticket.
When in a uniform 72% agreed, 48% as a business women and 52% as a
beggar.
State and explain each factor that
Outline Milgram & Elms Study
affects levels of conformity
, Outline Milgram's Variations on Outline the process of a majority
his original experiment influence on social change
4 of 24
Definition
Milgram had 40 participants at a time over a series of conditions each
varying in different ways.
At the beginning of the experiment the participants were introduced to
an experimenter in a lab coat and a confederate who they believed
was another participant, the two drew straws to decide who would
take the role of the 'learner' and who would take the role of the
'teacher', however this was rigged so that the real participant always
was the teacher.
They were taken to a room and shown an electric chair that the learner
would be strapped to, the teacher was then bought into a room beside
this where there was an instrument panel on a table with switches
varying 15v - 450v (XXX). The teacher was told by the experimenter to
ask the learner a series of paired words to test his memory through a
microphone. The confederate/learner was told to get the answers
mainly wrong, and when he did the experimenter gave the teacher
instructions to increase the voltage each time. The learner was not
actually receiving any shocks but through a microphone had to act out
screaming in pain and after 315v stopped saying anything and left it as
dead silence. If the teacher wanted to stop the experimenter would
say things such as "It is absolutely essential that you continue" etc.