7 - Social Influence

Question 1

Social Influence?

Answer 1

Process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or implied presence of other people

Question 2

Two main aspects encompassed by social influence?

Answer 2

1. the impact of others’ presence, even leaders or groups
2. the influence exerted by social pressure and norms

Question 3

Norms?

Answer 3

Attitudinal and behavioural uniformities that define group membership and differentiate between groups

Question 4

Compliance?

Answer 4

Superficial, public and transitory change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure

Question 5

Conformity?

Answer 5

Aligning behaviour with socially accepted conventions. Can be given by subjective validation of social norms

Question 6

Two primary functions of conformity?

Answer 6

1. Informational influence, driven by the desire for accurate judgement
2. Normative influence, stemming from the need for approval and inclusion rendering individuals subjective to social pressure

Question 7

Reference Group?

Answer 7

Kelley’s term for a group that is psychologically significant for our behaviour and attitudes.

Question 8

Membership Group?

Answer 8

Kelley’s term for a group to which we belong by some objective external criterion

Question 9

Dual-Process Dependency Model?

Answer 9

General model of social influence in which two separate processes operate - dependency on others for social approval and for information about reality

Question 10

Power?

Answer 10

Capacity to influence others while resisting their attempts to influence

Question 11

Agentic State?

Answer 11

A frame of mind thought by Milgram to characterise unquestioning obedience, in which people as agents transfer personal responsibility to the person giving orders

Question 12

Conformity? (2)

Answer 12

Deep seated, private and enduring change in behaviour and attitudes dues to group pressure (

Question 13

Frame of Reference?

Answer 13

Complete range of subjectively conceivable positions on some attitudinal or behavioural dimensions, which relevant people can occupy in a particular context

Question 14

Informational Influence?

Answer 14

An influence to accept information from another as evidence about reality

Question 15

Normative Influence?

Answer 15

An influence to conform to the positive expectation of others, to gain social approval or to avoid social disapproval

Question 16

Referent Informational Influence?

Answer 16

The pressure to conform to a group norm that defines one’s identity as a group member

Question 17

Meta-Contrast Principle?

Answer 17

The prototype of a group is that position within the group that has the largest ratio of ‘differences to in-group positions’ to ‘differences to out-group positions’

Question 18

Minority Influence?

Answer 18

Social influence processes whereby numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority

Question 19

Conformity Bias?

Answer 19

Tendency for social psychology to treat group influence as a one-way process in which individuals or minorities always conform to majorities

Question 20

Three social influence modalities that define how people respond to social conflict?

Answer 20

1. Conformity
2. Normalisation - mutual compromise leading to convergence
3. Innovation - a minority aims to create and accentuate conflict to persuade the majority to adopt the minority viewpoint

Question 21

Conversion Theory?

Answer 21

Provides a cognitive account of how members of the majority process messages from the minority

Question 22

Majority Influence?

Answer 22

• Results in direct public compliance, primarily due to normative or informational dependence. Individuals engage in a comparison process, focusing on others’ opinions to fit in
• Majority views are often accepted passively without much critical thought, leading to public compliance with little or no change in private attitudes

Question 23

Minority Influence?

Answer 23

• leads to indirect, often hidden internal opinion change due to cognitive conflict and restructuring caused by deviant ideas
• validation process, carefully evaluating the validity of their beliefs
• may be little over public agreement with the minority to avoid association, there can be a degree of private attitude change that emerges later
• minorities can provoke a conversion effect in the majority, characterised by a sudden and significant internal shift in attitudes

Question 24

Conversion Effect?

Answer 24

When minority influence brings about a sudden and dramatic internal and private change in the attitudes of a majority

Question 25

Empirical evidence for conversion theory can be organised around three testable hypotheses:

Answer 25

1. Direction of attention -
2. Content of thinking
3. differential influence

Question 26

Social Impact?

Answer 26

The effect that other people have on our attitudes and behaviour, usually as a consequence of factors such as group size, and temporal and physical immediacy