social influence
Social influence is defined as the process whereby attitudes and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.
norms
Norms are defined as attitudinal and behavioural uniformities that define group membership and differentiate between groups.
Norms are very much group phenomena.
reference groups
Reference groups are psychologically significant and contribute to our behaviours and attitudes.
membership groups
Membership groups are groups that we belong to simply because of some objective external criterion.
types of social influence
- compliance
- obedience
- conformity
compliance
- Compliance is a superficial, public and transitory change in behaviour and attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group influence.
- The basis of compliance is power.
types of power
- There are a number of different types of power.
○ Power is the capacity to influence others while resisting their attempts to influence.
○ Power= influence
○ Reward Power= the ability to promise rewards for compliance.
○ Coercive Power= the ability to give or threaten punishment for non-compliance.
○ Informational power= the belief that the influencer has more information than oneself.
○ Expert power= belief that the influences has generally greater expertise and knowledge than oneself.
○ Legitimate power= belief that the influencer is authorised by a recognised power structure to command and make decision.
○ Referent power= identification with, attraction to or respect for the source of influence.
Mascovioi and power
- Mascovioi stated that if one has power they do not need to use influence.
strategies to ensure compliance
○ Multiple requests- the theory that if you want someone to do something for you ask one thing of them and then follow up with another. It is theorised that if they say yes to one request it is more likely that they will say yes to the following.
○ Door in the face technique is employed when you first request something ludicrous you know they will say no to and then follow it with a more reasonable request.
○ Ingratiation
○ Reciprocity
Milgram’s study
- Milgram’s obedience study.
- First began with Asch’s study where other participants estimated the length of a line, found that others went along with the majority despite having a different answer.
- While this reinforced obedience, Milgram wanted to try something that had more of in impact. He then designed a study that saw people do things that hurt others. This was prompted by the actions of many in WWII.
- The method of the experiment…
○ Recruited males via a newspaper advertisement released by an Ivy league university.
○ A small monetary payment was offered.
○ Participants were split into ‘teachers’ and ‘learners. This was decided by a rigged coin flip in which the participant was designated as the teacher.
○ Experimenters were dressed in lab coats in order to increase authority.
○ Participants were instructed to shock the learner every time they got an answer wrong. They were also told to continue despite protests of the learner.
○ The experiment found that the majority of people obeyed and administered shocks until the end (even when there was silence from the learner).
milgram’s obedience study criticisms
- This study has been criticised for its ethical issues.
○ Participants were unaware that they were allowed to leave the study. Some would say they wanted to leave and were told to continue.
○ There was no informed consent.
○ Use of deception.
NHMRC gives the current guidelines for human research.
factors influencing obedience
- Sex differences (was found that males and females obeyed as much as each other).
- Cultural differences (studies were conducted in a number of countries and it was found that there were some discrepancies with obedience).
- Commitment to course of action (foot in door obedience- more likely to say yes to a larger shock if they have said yes to the small shock).
- Immediacy (obedience is influence by the immediacy of the victim and the authority figure).
- Group pressure (was found that when the participants say another participant refuse they were more likely to refuse as well).
Legitimacy of authority figure (found that while obedience dropped a little when the study was no longer held at Yale, however, most people still obeyed).
conformity
- Conformity is defined as a deep-seated, private and enduring change in behaviour and attitudes due to group presence.
- Conformity is less direct than compliance and obedience.
- Conformity is not based on power but rather on the subjective validity of social norms.
sherif’s auto kinetic experiment
○ Theorised that group norms develop from people’s uncertainty about the social word.
○ Use of others as ‘frame of reference’.
- Method:
○ Sherif had people in groups judge a perceptual illusion when in fact it didn’t move at all.
○ Had others call out estimates in a random order and looked at whether or not people would converge on a group norm.
- Asch’s study was a response to Sherif’s.
○ He argued that the previous experiment was not correct as the light did not move at all. Instead he performed a study where confederates called out clearly wrong answers to see if the participant would conform.
○ In 18 trials, the confederates chose correctly only one third of the time.
○ 25% of people stayed with their own answer, 50% conformed on 6 or more trials, 5% conformed on all 18 trials.
social influence processes underlying conformity
- Normative and informational influence
- Informational= reality check, especially for ambiguous stimuli (true)
- Normative= gain social approval, must have surveillance by group (surface).
minority influence
Minority Influence:
- Minority influence= social influence process whereby numerical or power minorities change the attitude of the majority. - Minority groups produce true change (i.e. the view you take is less accepted and therefore more likely to be our true thoughts).
subjective acceptance and conversion
There is subjective acceptance and conversion, which produces true internal change that persists in the absence of surveillance.
reference groups
Reference groups are groups that are psychologically significant for people’s attitudes and behaviour.
legitimate power
Legitimate power is based in authority and is probably best illustrated by a consideration of obedience.
referent power
- Referent power may operate through a range of processes , including consensual validation, social approval and group identification.
leadership
- Leadership researchers distinguish leadership from power.
- Leadership is a process of influence that enlists and mobilizes others in the attainment of collective goals.
Leadership is not a process that requires people to exercise power over others in order to gain compliance or, more extremely, in order to coerce or force people.
- Leadership is a process of influence that enlists and mobilizes others in the attainment of collective goals.
agentic state
- If we enter an agentic state, we can absolve ourselves of responsibility for what happens next.
: A frame of mind thought by Milgram to characterize unquestioning obedience, in which people as agents transfer personal responsibility’ to the person giving orders.
immediacy of the victim
Immediacy may prevent dehumanization of the victim, making it easier to view a victim as a living and breathing person like oneself and thus to empathize with their thoughts and feelings.
dual-process dependency model
General model of social influence in which two separate processes operate - dependency on others for social approval and for information about reality.
