Social Influence Research

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Social Influence Research

• Is it ethical?
• Is it valid?
• Campbell Russell

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The four big boys

• Asch
• Milgram
• Zimbardo
• Moscovici

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• Series of experiments most done with 1
  participant and 5-8 confederates
• Real participant would give their judgment after
  several confederates had already given theirs

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Asch

• What did he do for us?
• He told us the amazing fact that people will
  conform to a majority influence.
• He set up individual students to conform to a
  majority in an unambiguous setting.

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Milgram

• What did Milgram do for us
• He gave us some shocking results!
• He demonstrated just how obedient we are
• He showed that obedience can be explained in a
  number of ways

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Zimbardo

• What did Zimbardo do for us?
• He showed us that we might all adopt roles in
  certain settings.
• His prison simulation showed how easy it is to
  get prisoners to acquiesce and guards to
  become brutal bullies.

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Were they ethical?

• Asch
• No. He caused embarrassment to his subjects
  (harm) and he certainly deceived them.

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Were they ethical?

• Milgram
• Get out! Ethical? He had grown men weeping.
  There was deception, of course, as well.

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Were they ethical?

• Zimbardo
• Now youre having a laugh. Lets just think
  about it. There was no deception, but I think
  the methods might just be described as harmful!

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Were they justified?

• Costs against benefits

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Were they justified?

• Asch showed that conformity was not just about
  being led because we are not sure an ambiguous
  situation.
• Asch demonstrated that we conform because we want
  to be part of the group that well conform even
  if the group is wrong and we know it. This is a
  real insight into human behaviour.

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Were they justified?

• Milgram showed the power of obedience
• He showed us that those who obeyed in such
  extremes as the Nazi death camps were a bit like
  you and me scary or what?

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Were they justified?

• Zimbardo showed us the power that roles can
  influence on us. You might think you wouldnt do
  such a thing, but Zimbardo makes you re-think
  this.

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Were they justified?

• If you were asked whether you would conform to a
  majority that you knew was wrong, what would you
  do?

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Were they justified?

• If you were asked whether you would continue to
  electrocute someone who was clearly in distress
  because you were told to continue, what would you
  say?
• Or if you were asked how you might behave if you
  were a prison guard?

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Were they justified?

• This is what Aronson did. On the Milgram
  question he asked his students how many would
  have continued to the end not even the local
  psychopath was present it seems!

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Were they justified?

• Three arguments basically
• Some were, some werent
• All were
• None were

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Were they justified?

• Think about what the research added to our
  understanding against the cost.
• It is legitimate to argue that the benefits of
  Milgram increasing our understanding of
  obedience (if not of the Holocaust) outweighs
  the pain endured by the individuals. Anyhow we
  are told (by Milgram admittedly) that most said
  they were glad to have taken part.

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Were they justified?

• And what did big Phil say about locking kids up
  .
• It was unethical, but there were benefits

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Is the research valid?

• What is validity?
• Does it really measure what it claims? In
  particular here, were the participants fooled

• People sure seemed fooled!
• Look at the faces of the ps in Aschs
  experiment.
• In Milgram ps sweated, had a convulsion in one
  case, swore at Milgram .. Was this just
  over-acting?

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Is the research valid?

• Does it seem real?
• Is there a problem with the setting or the real
  world context that could make the results not
  suitable for generalisation?

• Aschs experiment was a child of our times.
  (Perrin and Spencer 1980)
• Does this make it invalid, or is it a warning
  against the culture of witch-hunts?

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Is the research valid?

• Asch
• Was he measuring conformity or how important
  being accepted into a group of strangers is to
  us?
• How often are we in this situation? Simplicity
  and stranger argument.
• We dont have to give an opinion is real life.

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Is the research valid?

• Milgram
• Is the obedience a demand characteristic?
• Were they fooled?
• Is it real life?
• Hofling is often quoted as showing real life
  obedience but beware.
• There is cross-cultural support for Milgram.

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Is the research valid?

• Zimbardo
• What was he measuring?
• Everyone knew it wasnt real
• Yet his simulation seems to have reflected the
  reality in many prisons

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Questions

• Consider whether the findings from social
  influence research (e.g.Asch, Milgram, Zimbardo)
  can justify the methods used to obtain such
  findings. (18 marks)

• Do you have to use Asch et al?
• Do you need to argue it is justified or not?

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Questions

• Outline some criticisms of majority influence
  research and consider whether these are fair. (18
  marks)

• What does some mean?
• Which research can you use?
• What does outline mean?