Social Influence and Conformity in Social Psychology

Types of Social Influence

• Conformity is a type of social influence that involves a change in behaviour, belief, or thinking to be like others.
• It is the most common and pervasive form of social influence.
• There are two varieties of conformity:
  • Informational Conformity – occurs when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people
  • Normative Conformity – based on a person’s desire to fulfill others’ expectations, often to gain acceptance

Conformity Among Adolescents

• Conformity is very strong among middle and late adolescents due to the need to seek approval from others and belong to a social group.
• This tendency toward conformity can lead to either positive or negative results, depending on the beliefs, intentions, and attitudes of the group members and their influence on an individual.

Definition of Social Influence

• Social influence is defined as things such as behaviour, actions, attitude, concepts, ideas, communications, wealth, and other resources that bring about changes in the beliefs, attitudes, and/or behaviour of persons as a result of the action/s of another person.

Varieties or Types of Social Influence

• Herbert Kelman, a Harvard psychologist, identified three varieties of social influence:
  • Compliance – when a person seems to agree and follows what is requested or required, but does not necessarily really believe or agree to it
  • Identification – when a person is influenced by someone they like or look up to
  • Internalization – when a person owns a certain belief or act and is willing to make it known publicly and privately

Conversion

• Conversion occurs when an individual whole-heartedly changes their original thinking and beliefs, actions, and attitudes to align with those of the other members of a group.
• This can happen in a group when the original beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of the different members may have influenced each other to evolve into a new set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour.

Minority Influence

• Minority influence happens when a bigger number of people are influenced by a much smaller number of people and when the minority's way of looking at and doing things are accepted.
• This can happen when the minority owns and wields power economically, politically, and socially, or if the majority are uninvolved and detached from issues.

Reactance

• Reactance is a willing rejection of a social influence being exerted on an individual or group.
• It is also known as anti- or non-conformity, and is a reverse reaction to some social influence that is being imposed by a person or a group on another.