PSY 306 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Define conformity and give some examples. Discuss American cultural views of
conformity and cite some examples of how situational pressures can lead to conformity
despite these views. - Answers :def: A change in one's behavior due to the real or
imagined influence of other people
ex. Saying you agree with something even though you don't because other people are
all in agreement.
American culture stresses the importance of NOT conforming.
Identify the motivation underlying informational social influence. - Answers :ISI def: The
influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of
information to guide our behavior; we conform because we believe that other's
interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us
choose an appropriate course of action.
Describe Sherif's (1936) experiment. Discuss why Sherif chose to use the autokinetic
effect in his experiment. Describe the results of Sherif's experiment. - Answers
:Experiment: Alone in a dark room, participants estimated how much a light 15 feet
away moved.
By using the autokinetic effect, it was controlled because it didn't actually move. It would
be harder to establish conformity if they used a light that actually moved. ???
Individually, each person set up a norm for measuring how much the light "moved."
Once they were placed in a group, their measurements changed to compromise to the
groups. Later, they were removed from the group and measured individually again, but
still retained the groups norms.
Explain whether being motivated to be right makes you more or less susceptible to
informational social influence - Answers :More, because informational social influence is
more common in ambiguous situations, where no one is sure of the answer. Thus,
being unsure, with a goal of being right, would lead one to conform to a group norm,
rather than their own.
Explain how informational social influence can backfire and give examples of social
contagions such as crisis and mass psychogenic illness situations. - Answers
:Informational social influence can backfire when one's personal safety is involved, the
need for information is acute- and the behavior of others is very informative.
Def: A contagion is the rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd.
During a crisis, we don't have time to stop and think- we need to act.
If we feel scared/panicked, we look to other people to see how they are responding and
then do the same. (usually also panicking, thus it spreads)
Def: Mass psychogenic illness is the occurrence, in a group of people, of similar
physical symptoms, with no known physical cause.
, Describe three conditions that make people more likely to conform to informational
social influence. - Answers :when the situation is ambiguous.
when the situation is a crisis
when other people are experts.
Identify the motivation underlying normative social influence. Define and give examples
of social norms. - Answers :Def (NSI): The influence of other people that leads us to
conform in order to be liked and accepted by them; this type of conformity results in
public compliance with the group's beliefs and behaviors but not necessarily private
acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors.
Def (SN): The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values,
and beliefs of its members.
ex:
Describe Asch's (1956) experiment. Identify how the situation in Asch's experiment
differed from the situation in Sherif's experiment. Describe the basic findings of Asch's
experiment. Explain why these findings were surprising. - Answers :line experiment: In
this experiment, the situation was not ambiguous- it was clear as to which line matched
and which ones didn't.
Alone- people were almost always correct, but when placed with other people, they
tended to copy them and select obviously wrong answers.
76% of participants conformed on at least one trial.
"In contrast to informational social influence, normative pressures usually result in public
compliance without private acceptance- people go along with the group even if they do
not believe in what they are doing or think it is wrong"
Explain whether being motivated to be right makes you more or less susceptible to
normative social influence. - Answers :When it's important for people to be accurate,
they conform less to the obviously wrong answers of the group, BUT they still conform
sometimes!
Discuss examples of normative social influence from harmless trends and fads to more
sinister forms of conformity. Describe the changes in cultural standards for physical
attractiveness in the last century both for women and for men. - Answers :manbuns,
uggs, emo, etc.
women's attempts to conform to cultural definitions of an attractive body.
heavy women used to be preferred because it meant they had a reliable food supply. As
food supply increased, preferences for heavy-to-moderate bodies decreased.
ALSO, now that women have lots of choices among men, men had to adapt to focus on
physical attractiveness.
Define conformity and give some examples. Discuss American cultural views of
conformity and cite some examples of how situational pressures can lead to conformity
despite these views. - Answers :def: A change in one's behavior due to the real or
imagined influence of other people
ex. Saying you agree with something even though you don't because other people are
all in agreement.
American culture stresses the importance of NOT conforming.
Identify the motivation underlying informational social influence. - Answers :ISI def: The
influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of
information to guide our behavior; we conform because we believe that other's
interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us
choose an appropriate course of action.
Describe Sherif's (1936) experiment. Discuss why Sherif chose to use the autokinetic
effect in his experiment. Describe the results of Sherif's experiment. - Answers
:Experiment: Alone in a dark room, participants estimated how much a light 15 feet
away moved.
By using the autokinetic effect, it was controlled because it didn't actually move. It would
be harder to establish conformity if they used a light that actually moved. ???
Individually, each person set up a norm for measuring how much the light "moved."
Once they were placed in a group, their measurements changed to compromise to the
groups. Later, they were removed from the group and measured individually again, but
still retained the groups norms.
Explain whether being motivated to be right makes you more or less susceptible to
informational social influence - Answers :More, because informational social influence is
more common in ambiguous situations, where no one is sure of the answer. Thus,
being unsure, with a goal of being right, would lead one to conform to a group norm,
rather than their own.
Explain how informational social influence can backfire and give examples of social
contagions such as crisis and mass psychogenic illness situations. - Answers
:Informational social influence can backfire when one's personal safety is involved, the
need for information is acute- and the behavior of others is very informative.
Def: A contagion is the rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd.
During a crisis, we don't have time to stop and think- we need to act.
If we feel scared/panicked, we look to other people to see how they are responding and
then do the same. (usually also panicking, thus it spreads)
Def: Mass psychogenic illness is the occurrence, in a group of people, of similar
physical symptoms, with no known physical cause.
, Describe three conditions that make people more likely to conform to informational
social influence. - Answers :when the situation is ambiguous.
when the situation is a crisis
when other people are experts.
Identify the motivation underlying normative social influence. Define and give examples
of social norms. - Answers :Def (NSI): The influence of other people that leads us to
conform in order to be liked and accepted by them; this type of conformity results in
public compliance with the group's beliefs and behaviors but not necessarily private
acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors.
Def (SN): The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values,
and beliefs of its members.
ex:
Describe Asch's (1956) experiment. Identify how the situation in Asch's experiment
differed from the situation in Sherif's experiment. Describe the basic findings of Asch's
experiment. Explain why these findings were surprising. - Answers :line experiment: In
this experiment, the situation was not ambiguous- it was clear as to which line matched
and which ones didn't.
Alone- people were almost always correct, but when placed with other people, they
tended to copy them and select obviously wrong answers.
76% of participants conformed on at least one trial.
"In contrast to informational social influence, normative pressures usually result in public
compliance without private acceptance- people go along with the group even if they do
not believe in what they are doing or think it is wrong"
Explain whether being motivated to be right makes you more or less susceptible to
normative social influence. - Answers :When it's important for people to be accurate,
they conform less to the obviously wrong answers of the group, BUT they still conform
sometimes!
Discuss examples of normative social influence from harmless trends and fads to more
sinister forms of conformity. Describe the changes in cultural standards for physical
attractiveness in the last century both for women and for men. - Answers :manbuns,
uggs, emo, etc.
women's attempts to conform to cultural definitions of an attractive body.
heavy women used to be preferred because it meant they had a reliable food supply. As
food supply increased, preferences for heavy-to-moderate bodies decreased.
ALSO, now that women have lots of choices among men, men had to adapt to focus on
physical attractiveness.
