Social Influence and Conformity Quiz

Social Influence

• Conformity: Changing one's behavior to match the behavior of others, often due to social pressure.
  • Asch Experiment: Participants conformed to the incorrect answers of a group, highlighting the power of social influence.
• Obedience: Following orders from an authority figure, even if it goes against personal morals.
  • Milgram Experiment: Participants administered electric shocks to another person, highlighting the power of obedience to authority.
• Social Loafing: Reducing effort when working in a group, as individual contributions are not identifiable.
• Deindividuation: Losing self-awareness and personal responsibility in a group setting, leading to increased aggression and antisocial behavior.

Attitudes

• Definition: A relatively enduring evaluation of a person, object, or idea.
• Components:
  • Cognitive: Beliefs and knowledge about the attitude object.
  • Affective: Emotions and feelings towards the attitude object.
  • Behavioral: Tendencies to act in a certain way towards the attitude object.
• Attitude Change: Can occur through:
  • Persuasion: Changing attitudes through messages or information.
  • Cognitive Dissonance: Changing attitudes to reduce discomfort from conflicting beliefs or behaviors.

Persuasion

• Definition: The process of changing attitudes or behaviors through messages or information.
• Persuasion Principles:
  • Reciprocity: People are more likely to comply with a request if they have received a favor.
  • Commitment and Consistency: People tend to behave consistently with their commitments.
  • Social Proof: People are more likely to adopt a behavior if they see others doing it.
  • Liking: People are more likely to comply with requests from people they like.
  • Authority: People are more likely to comply with requests from authority figures.
  • Scarcity: People place a higher value on things that are scarce.

Social Influence

• Conformity is the tendency to change one's behavior to match the behavior of others, often due to social pressure.
• The Asch Experiment demonstrated the power of social influence, as participants conformed to the incorrect answers of a group.
• Obedience is the act of following orders from an authority figure, even if it goes against personal morals.
• The Milgram Experiment showed the power of obedience to authority, as participants administered electric shocks to another person.
• Social loafing occurs when individuals reduce effort when working in a group, as individual contributions are not identifiable.
• Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and personal responsibility in a group setting, leading to increased aggression and antisocial behavior.

Attitudes

• An attitude is a relatively enduring evaluation of a person, object, or idea.
• Attitudes have three components: cognitive (beliefs and knowledge), affective (emotions and feelings), and behavioral (tendencies to act in a certain way).
• Attitudes can change through persuasion, which involves changing attitudes through messages or information.
• Cognitive dissonance can also lead to attitude change, as individuals seek to reduce discomfort from conflicting beliefs or behaviors.

Persuasion

• Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes or behaviors through messages or information.
• Six key principles of persuasion include:
• Reciprocity: people are more likely to comply with a request if they have received a favor.
• Commitment and consistency: people tend to behave consistently with their commitments.
• Social proof: people are more likely to adopt a behavior if they see others doing it.
• Liking: people are more likely to comply with requests from people they like.
• Authority: people are more likely to comply with requests from authority figures.
• Scarcity: people place a higher value on things that are scarce.

Test your knowledge of social influence, conformity, and obedience, including the famous Asch and Milgram experiments. How well do you understand the power of social pressure and authority?