Social Influence Notes PDF

Attributions and Social Influence Actor-Observer Discrepancy When we assess ourselves, compared to others: ○ Dispositional attributions are weaker ○ Situational attributions are stronger Why? ○ Knowledge across situations ○ Visual orientation...

Attributions and Social Influence Actor-Observer Discrepancy When we assess ourselves, compared to others: ○ Dispositional attributions are weaker ○ Situational attributions are stronger Why? ○ Knowledge across situations ○ Visual orientation Self-Serving Bias Attributions for positive vs. negative events Social Influence Continuum Obedience = change in behavior in response to direct commands from an authority figure Milgram (1960) Study supposedly on the effect of punishment on learning ○ Two participants, “randomly” assigned to either the teacher role or the learning role ○ Teacher is instructed to give Learner increasingly powerful “shocks” for wrong answers Factors Influencing Obedience Loss of responsibility ○ When told responsible for learner’s welfare, obedience declined Legitimacy of authority ○ When study moved to New Haven instead of Yale campus, obedience declined Proximity ○ If experimenter was not in the room, obedience declined ○ If teacher had to hold learner’s arm to shock him, obedience declined Models ○ If confederate went to the end, 93% followed ○ If confederate refused, only 10% obeyed to the end Ethical Issues  Deception Protection of participants Right to withdrawal Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Conformity = change in behavior as a result of (real or imagined) group pressure Asch (1955) Only one real participant, along with several confederates Confederates give a clearly wrong answer So what does the real participant do? Results: ○ 70% were swayed by confederates on at least 1 critical trial. ○ On average, participants conformed on 37% of the critical trials Social Influence 2 Asch (1955) Conclusion: People faced with strong group consensus sometimes go along even though they think the others may be wrong. Two Motivations for Conformity Informational Influence ○ We conform to others’ opinions because we think they know something we don’t ○ Motivation: We want to be correct Normative influence ○ We conform so as not to stand out ○ Motivation: We want to be accepted/be part of a group Informational or Normative? 1. You are walking down the street when a crowd of people run past you, screaming. You also decide to run away. 2. All of your friends start to wear purple shoes. You think purple shoes look silly, but you decide to wear purple shoes, too. Factors Influencing Conformity Group size: More people = more conformity (up to ~4) Unanimity: In Asch study, conformity dropped to 5% when at least one confederate deviated from the majority Expertise/Status: Conform more to people with high status or high expertise Ambiguity: Conform more when situation is ambiguous Compliance = changing one’s behavior in response to a request Compliance So how do we get people to do what we want them to do? ○ Tactic 1: Reciprocity People are more willing to comply with requests from those who have already done something for them. ○ Tactic 2: Commitment/Consistency We want our actions to be consistent with our previous commitments  People are more likely to comply with a request when they’ve already made a small commitment ○ Tactic 3: Authority People are more willing to follow recommendations from figures who are viewed as an authority ○ Tactic 4: Social Proof People are more willing to comply if they see evidence (social proof) that others have acted the same way ○ Tactic 5: Scarcity People find objects attractive if they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in availability ○ Tactic 6: Liking/Friendship People are more likely to comply with a request from a friend or someone they like Compliance-Enhancing Techniques More principles in action… ○ Foot-in-the-Door First make a small request, then ask a larger one ○ Door-in-the-Face First make an overly large request (which the person will almost certainly say “no” to), then make a smaller, more reasonable one ○ Labeling First label the person, then make a request that’s consistent with that label. ○ Persuasion Pitfall Reactance Theory: We prize our freedom to decide how to act, so when something threatens that freedom we often respond by doing the opposite of what we are being pressured to do Emphasize choice. “Of course, it’s up to you…” Prosocial Behavior What is Altruism? Psychological perspective ○ Helping in response to another’s need with no personal benefit, sometimes even at a cost to oneself Why Do People Help Others? From an evolutionary perspective, what is the function of helping others? Evolutionarily, we should behave prosocially toward those who promote the survival and reproduction of ourselves and our genetic relatives Why Do People Fail to Help? Why DON’T People Help Others? Not noticing help is needed ○ Attentional limits Pluralistic ignorance ○ Majority of group members privately reject a norm but incorrectly assume that others accept it ○ If no one else seems alarmed, we may assume that no action is required ○ → What type of social influence is this? Bystander effect / diffusion of responsibility ○ The more people who are around, the less likely any one individual is to provide help ○ Assuming that someone else will help, so you don’t have to ○ → Simply knowing about this effect can be enough to counteract it!