Social Psychology: Power and Obedience

Power and Influence

• Power is defined as the capacity to influence others even when they resist influence.
• Social power refers to the capacity to produce the intended effect in interpersonal contexts.

The Stanford Prison Study and Milgram's Shock Studies

• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison study illustrates the concept of power and influence.
• Milgram's Shock studies demonstrate how people obey authority figures readily, even when they are instructed to administer harmful shocks.

Factors Affecting Obedience

• Occupying a lower power position than the experimenter.
• Being in an unfamiliar situation.
• The authority figure appears to know what is going on, leading to "trust the expert".
• The authority figure takes full responsibility.

Applications and Replications

• People in a subordinate role will likely obey authority figures without question unless they are specifically trained to question the authority.
• Training people to resist high-status authority figures is necessary.

Sources of Power in Groups

• According to French and Raven, there are six sources of power in groups:
  • Reward power: the ability to give or offer rewards.
  • Coercive power: the ability to threaten or punish people.
  • Legitimate power: the sanctioned right to influence based on position.
  • Referent power: the power to influence people because they like and respect you.
  • Expert power: having the skills and abilities necessary.
  • Informational power: access to and control of information (added later).

Power Tactics

• Power tactics are specific methods used to achieve personal goals of influencing others.
• Types of tactics include:
  • Hard-soft tactics: collaboration and socializing (soft) versus bullying, threats, and bribes (hard).
  • Rational-irrational tactics: reasoning, logic, and persuasion (rational) versus evasion and ingratiation (irrational).
  • Unilateral-bilateral tactics: discussion and negotiation (bilateral) versus fait accompli, demands, and disengagement (unilateral).

Techniques of Influence

• Foot-in-the-door technique: a small request is followed by a much larger one.
• Behavioral commitment: asking for commitment before revealing costs.
• Brainwashing: combining a series of compliance tactics with physical threats.

Status and Group Dynamics

• Status refers to the prestige of each group member relative to one another and is unevenly distributed.
• Group members can claim status, but other group members must grant them status.
• Power is negotiated through interpersonal maneuverings (politics) and the group's hierarchical structure defines who is dominant and who is submissive.
• Status generalization: members unfairly allow irrelevant characteristics (e.g., race or ethnicity) to influence status allocations.

Keltner's Model of Power

• Power can be psychologically transformative, leading to uninhibited approach, behaviors, positive affect, and attention to rewards.
• Powerlessness is associated with a threatening or punishing social environment, leading to constrained behaviors, inaction, negative affect, and attention to threats.

Kelman's 3-Stage Model of Conversion

• Compliance: reacting to power by conforming to external demands.
• Identification: internalizing the values and beliefs of the power holder.
• Internalization: fully embracing the values and beliefs of the power holder.

Resistance to Influence

• Revolutionary coalitions: forming alliances to resist powerful individuals or groups.
• Reactance: actively resisting influence and pushing against the power holder.
• Conflict and rebellion: openly opposing and challenging the power holder.