83 Questions
What is the definition of conformity?
A change in behavior due to the real or imagined influence of others
What is an example of classic research on conformity mentioned in the text?
Sherif autokinetic effect
In North American culture, what is the preferred importance in terms of behavior?
Nonconformity
What factor led to a drop in compliance in the variation of the Milgram study?
Seeing peers disobey the authority figure
What makes refusal difficult, especially with authority figures, according to the text?
Normative pressures
What did Milgram find regarding the influence of gender in obedience?
No real gender effects
What factor leads to less obedience according to the text?
Distance from the victim
What is informational social influence?
Conforming due to belief in others' interpretation of an ambiguous situation
In Sherif's autokinetic effect research, what happened to people's estimates in a small group?
Moved closer to the group norm
What is public compliance in social influence?
Conforming publicly without necessarily believing in what is said
When are people more likely to conform to informational social influence?
Ambiguous situations, crises, and when others are perceived as experts
What is normative social influence?
Conforming to be liked or accepted by the group
What are social norms?
Implicit or explicit rules for acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs
What did Asch's line judgment studies in 1951 show?
37% of participants agreed with an incorrect answer given by confederates
What can violation of social norms lead to?
Ridicule, rejection, punishment, or unwanted attention
What factors determine the strength of normative pressures in a group?
Strength, immediacy, and number of other people
In which type of cultures do Asch-type conformity studies show high conformity rates?
Collectivist cultures
What does obedience involve in social influence?
Conformity in response to the commands of an authority figure
What percentage of participants delivered the maximum shock in Milgram's experiments?
62.5%
According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of Persuasion, what are the two main routes to persuasion?
Central Route & Peripheral Route
What influences individuals in the peripheral route to persuasion, according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model?
Incidental cues, such as the speaker’s attractiveness
What characterizes the central route to persuasion in the Elaboration Likelihood Model?
Systematic processing of the message
What determines whether or not people will pay attention to a persuasive message, according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model?
The strength of arguments and presence of peripheral cues
What is reactance?
A motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom
What is attitude inoculation?
Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available
What is the 'boomerang effect' in the context of social pressure?
When a 'hard sell' approach leads to reactance and resistance
How does attitude inoculation work?
Stimulates commitment, challenges beliefs, and allows people to develop counterarguments
What is the purpose of forewarning of persuasive intent?
To help people form counterarguments and build resistance to persuasion
How does biased assimilation affect opposing views?
Opposing views are devalued
What is selective exposure in the context of resisting social pressure?
Choosing to be exposed only to information that aligns with existing beliefs
What does biased assimilation lead to?
Opposing views are devalued
What are the factors influencing deep processing in persuasion?
Fatigue, motivation, personality, and mood states
Which are considered peripheral cues in decision-making?
Length of argument, expertise of the person making the argument, and emotional tone of the argument
What does a typical persuasion study on comprehensive final exams research involve?
Experimental manipulations of motivation, argument strength, and expertise
What does the use of emotions and humor serve as in advertising?
Peripheral cues
What is the effectiveness of fear appeals in advertising dependent on?
The need to provide a way to decrease fear in the appeal
What is the comparison between subliminal advertising and regular advertising mentioned in the text?
Ineffectiveness of subliminal advertising compared to regular advertising
What are the indoctrination tactics and elements of persuasion in cults?
Charismatic leaders, emotional messaging, and the target audience
What are the mechanisms of indoctrination mentioned in the text?
Compliance breeding acceptance and the foot-in-the-door phenomenon
How do cults shape members' views and behavior?
Through group influence
What are the methods mentioned for resisting social influence in the text?
Reactance, attitude inoculation, and asserting uniqueness
What is the focus of persuasion assignment questions mentioned in the text?
Ad effectiveness, tailored advertisement type, humor, presentation of facts, and use of celebrity endorsers
What are the instructions for a persuasion assignment mentioned in the text?
Involving finding examples of central and peripheral route processing in ads and evaluating their effectiveness
How does social arousal affect performance on tasks?
It leads to improved performance on well-learned or simple tasks and worsened performance on new or complex tasks
What is the effect of mere presence of others on individual performance?
It depends on the task, sometimes facilitating better performance and sometimes worse
What is the impact of social arousal on social facilitation?
It creates social arousal which can either motivate or distract individuals depending on the task
What does the presence of others create, according to the text?
Social arousal, which is both physiological and psychological in nature
What phenomenon occurs when individuals work towards individual outcomes, while social loafing is more likely in group efforts?
Social facilitation
What can make social loafing less likely in a group?
Working with friends
What psychological phenomenon in a group leads to dysfunctional decision-making due to the desire for harmony or conformity?
Groupthink
What can lead groups to make riskier decisions than individuals?
Group polarization
What are symptoms of groupthink?
Illusion of invulnerability
In what context can groupthink occur?
Cohesive and isolated groups with a directive leader
What influences decision-making, leading individuals to behave differently when part of a group compared to when alone?
Group dynamics
What phenomenon can occur in communities, elections, and virtual groups, with informational and normative influences playing a role?
Group polarization
What leads to increased self-awareness when we believe others are evaluating us, potentially interfering with performance?
Evaluation apprehension
What can lead to less total output in a group than if individuals worked individually, often due to decreased evaluation apprehension?
Social loafing
What can lead to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcomes due to the desire for consensus or group harmony?
Groupthink
What can make social loafing less likely in a group?
Working with friends
What are some factors contributing to groupthink?
Ignoring risks and biased information processing
What led to the tragedy in the 1996 Everest Disaster?
An unexpected blizzard trapping the climbers high on the mountain
What is deindividuation?
Forgetting ourselves in a crowd and abandoning our normal restraints
What characterizes transformational leaders?
Articulating high standards, being inspirational, and offering personal attention to subordinates
What is the opposite of deindividuation?
Increased self-awareness
What are the types of leadership mentioned?
Transactional and autocratic
What is the focus of task leadership?
Directive, goal-oriented, and order-driven
What is the impact of crowd size and visibility on deindividuation?
Diminished self-awareness
What is the opposite of social leadership?
Transactional leadership
What is the process of guiding and motivating groups of people?
Leadership
What is the focus of social leadership?
Democratic, communication-driven, and team-oriented
What is the primary goal of transformational leaders?
Articulating high standards and being inspirational
What are some factors contributing to groupthink?
Ignoring risks and biased information processing
What led to the tragedy of the 1996 Everest Disaster?
Unexpected blizzard trapping the climbers
What are some factors contributing to deindividuation?
Diminished self-awareness and anonymity
What characterizes task leadership?
Directive, goal-oriented, order-driven
What are the traits of transformational leaders?
Articulating high standards and being inspirational
What is the opposite of deindividuation?
Increased self-awareness
What is the focus of transactional leadership?
Using extrinsic motivation to guide performance
What is the characteristic of laissez-faire leadership?
Absence of leadership and letting people 'do their own thing'
What is the main strength of social leadership?
Democratic, communication-driven, team-oriented
What is the impact of diminished self-awareness on deindividuation?
Forgetting ourselves in a crowd
What are the types of leadership defined in the text?
Task and social
What is the process of guiding and motivating groups of people defined as?
Leadership
Study Notes
Social Influence in Psychology
- Informational social influence involves conforming because of the belief that others' interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct
- Sherif's classic research on the autokinetic effect in 1936 demonstrated how people's estimates moved closer to the group norm when in a small group
- Public compliance is conforming to others publicly without necessarily believing in what they say, while private acceptance is conforming out of a belief that others are doing the right thing
- People are more likely to conform to informational social influence in ambiguous situations, crises, and when others are perceived as experts
- Normative social influence involves conforming to be liked or accepted by the group, and it can lead to public compliance without private acceptance of group norms
- Social norms are implicit or explicit rules a group has for acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members
- Asch's line judgment studies in 1951 showed that 37% of participants agreed with an incorrect answer given by confederates
- Violation of social norms can lead to ridicule, rejection, punishment, or unwanted attention
- Conforming to social influence depends on the strength, immediacy, and number of other people in a group, with normative pressures stronger when groups are important or attractive to us
- Asch-type conformity studies show high conformity rates in collectivist cultures and declining conformity rates in individualist cultures
- Obedience involves conformity in response to the commands of an authority figure, as demonstrated by Milgram's shock experiments in 1963
- In Milgram's experiments, 62.5% of participants delivered the maximum shock, and 80% continued after the learner screamed to be let out
Understanding Persuasion and Social Influence
- Factors influencing deep processing in persuasion: fatigue, motivation, personality, and mood states
- Peripheral cues in decision-making: length of argument, expertise of the person making the argument, and emotional tone of the argument
- Typical persuasion study on comprehensive final exams research involving experimental manipulations of motivation, argument strength, and expertise
- Results of the persuasion study showing the impact of motivation and expertise on attitudes toward exams and argument strength
- Use of emotions and humor as peripheral cues in advertising, including examples of "sadvertising" and fear appeals
- Effectiveness of fear appeals in advertising and the need to provide a way to decrease fear in the appeal
- Ineffectiveness of subliminal advertising compared to regular advertising
- Persuasion assignment questions focusing on ad effectiveness, tailored advertisement type, humor, presentation of facts, and use of celebrity endorsers
- Instructions for a persuasion assignment involving finding examples of central and peripheral route processing in ads and evaluating their effectiveness
- Indoctrination tactics and elements of persuasion in cults, including charismatic leaders, emotional messaging, and the target audience
- Mechanisms of indoctrination, including compliance breeding acceptance and the foot-in-the-door phenomenon
- Effects of group influence in cults, including shaping members' views and behavior, and susceptibility to weak arguments. Resisting social influence through reactance, attitude inoculation, and asserting uniqueness.
Group Dynamics and Decision Making
- Evaluation apprehension leads to increased self-awareness when we believe others are evaluating us, potentially interfering with performance.
- Social facilitation occurs when individuals work towards individual outcomes, while social loafing is more likely in group efforts.
- Social loafing occurs when individuals in a group produce less total output than if they worked individually, often due to decreased evaluation apprehension.
- Factors that make social loafing less likely include appealing, challenging tasks, working with friends, and valuable group rewards.
- Group dynamics can influence decision-making, leading individuals to behave differently when part of a group compared to when alone.
- In a group exercise, participants are asked to advise a writer on whether to pursue a potentially significant novel based on the probability of success.
- The "Risky Shift" phenomenon and group polarization can lead groups to make riskier decisions than individuals, but this may not be universal and depends on group members' perceptions of risk.
- Group polarization can occur in communities, elections, and virtual groups, with informational and normative influences playing a role.
- Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which the desire for harmony or conformity within a group leads to dysfunctional decision-making.
- Groupthink may occur in cohesive, isolated groups with a directive leader, in a provocative context, and under high external threat.
- Symptoms of groupthink include an illusion of invulnerability, unquestioned belief in the group's morality, and self-censorship of misgivings.
- Groupthink can lead to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcomes due to the desire for consensus or group harmony.
Test your knowledge of social influence in psychology with this quiz. Explore topics such as informational and normative social influence, social norms, conformity studies by Sherif and Asch, and Milgram's obedience experiments. See how well you understand the factors that influence conformity and obedience in group settings.
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