Chapter 8 Social Influence

Social Influence

• Encompasses the various ways individuals affect one another
• Results in changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors
• Can stem from comments, actions, or the presence of others

Types of Social Influence

• Conformity: Adjusting behavior to match real or imagined group pressures
• Compliance: Responding favorably to an explicit request
• Obedience: Submitting to demands in an unequal power dynamic
• Social influence can range from implicit to explicit

Key Functions of Social Influence

• Promotes social learning, helping individuals understand social norms
• Facilitates group cohesion by aligning individual behavior
• Shapes moral and cultural norms by transmitting values
• Regulates social behavior by encouraging conformity and discouraging deviance

Informational Social Influence

• Occurs when individuals use others' comments or actions as a source of information
• Helps determine what is correct, proper, or effective
• Tends to be prescriptive, guiding behavior

Normative Social Influence

• Stems from the desire to avoid disapproval and social sanctions
• Driven by the need to adhere to social norms

Normative vs. Informational Social Influence

Conformity

• Adjustment of behavior/beliefs due to explicit or implicit pressure
• Negative conformity is driven by fear of rejection
• Informational conformity arises when others are viewed as accurate sources
• Conformity can be private (internal acceptance) or public (outward compliance)

Compliance

• Favorable response to an explicit request
• Occurs even without authority

Obedience

• Submission to the demands of authority in an unequal power relationship
• Evident when individual follows orders from authority figures

Similarities in Social Influence

• All involve influence by others
• All can lead to changes in behavior, thoughts, or feelings
• All are often driven by social norms or pressure

Differences in Social Influence

• Source of influence varies: authority (obedience), peers/group (conformity), individual (compliance)
• Explicitness: Obedience and compliance are direct, conformity is implicit
• Voluntariness: Conformity and compliance are more voluntary than obedience

Conformity Functions

• Adaptive
• Eliminates potential conflict
• Conformity makes human interaction much smoother.
• Conformity can be harmful or risky

Sherif's Conformity Experiment

• Autokinetic illusion: Stationary light appears to move in a dark room
• People's judgments converged over time
• Informational social influence is more likely in ambiguous situations or when individuals feel low in knowledge

Asch's Conformity Experiment (1956)

• Line judgment task: Identifying matching line lengths
• In a group with confederates giving wrong answers, participants conformed at least once, 75% of the time
• Overall, participants conformed 33% of the time
• Desire for approval

Factors Affecting Conformity Pressure

• Group unanimity: Conformity increases when the group is unanimous
• Anonymity: Reduces conformity by eliminating normative social influence
• Expertise and status: High-status members exert more influence
• Culture: Interdependent cultures show higher conformity rates

Tight vs. Loose Cultures

• Tight cultures have strong norms and low tolerance for deviance
• Loose cultures have weaker norms and higher tolerance for deviance

Explanation for Behavior

• Conformity decreases when the reasons behind others' behaviors are understood

Minority Opinion

• Can change majority opinions, especially when consistent and unbiased
• Minorities primarily influence through informational social influence

Static and Dynamic Norms

• Norms can be used to bring about changes by highlighting that they are changing, or that they are dynamic rather than static.
• People are influenced not only by what a norm is but also by the trends in how the norm is changing.

Norms

• Descriptive: Behavior exhibited by most
• Prescriptive: How a person is supposed to behave (injunctive norm)

Norm of Reciprocity

• People should provide benefits to those who benefit them
• Small gifts can create obligation for later requests

Emotion-Based Approaches

• Both positive and some negative moods can increase compliance
• Positive moods: more agreement to maintain the mood
• Negative state relief: agreeing to relieve negative feelings

Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority Study

• Examines obedience to commands from authority figures
• Participants instructed to administer shocks to others for wrong answers
• Fake test, the other participant pretended to feel pain
• Participants were urged to proceed even when the confederate screamed in pain
• 62.5% of participants completed the experiment, despite potential harm
• Results were consistent across ages, social classes, and genders

Reactance Theory

• People reassert prerogatives when freedoms are threatened

Tuning in the Learner

• As the learner became more present (increased feedback and proximity), the rate of obedience (shocks delivered) decreased.
• Participants' attempts to leave the situation were blocked by the authority
• Participants transferred responsibility to the experimenter or victim
• Demands were in a step-wise nature

Resisting Social Influence

• Factors increasing ability to stand firm: practice, having an ally, being wary of slippery slopes, delaying response to consider merits of the idea.