Chapter 8 Flashcards
Social Influence
- we are all affected by the people we interact with, a lot of the time by people we dont know personally - multitude of sources
- social environment play a significant role in how we view ourselves, and how we view ourselves impacts how we view the world
Defining social influence
- the process by which attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours can be influenced by the real or impliedd presence of others
- the way in people charge their behaviour or attitudes due to the direct or indirect influence of other
Groups vs collectives
- groups are 2 or more people who interact with and influence each other and work towards a common goal
- collections of people who exert menial influence on each other and dont interact with every other person in the collective
Social hierachies
Status- refers to the importance of one in a group
Power- refers to the controk and influence one has in a group
Social Hierachy- order of dominance of different members in a group. It is determined by status power and individual roles
types of social power
1- Reward power, ability to give positive consequences or remove negative consequences
2- Coercive power, ability to give negative consequences or remove positive consequences
3- Legitimate power, status gives the right to exercise their power
4- Referent power, individuals that you identify with, want to be like, or liked by this person
5- Exert power, having special knowledge and skills that are desirable or needed
6- Informational power, having resources or information that are useful and are not available elsewhere
Groupthink
- when group members desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important that making the best choice
Groupthink symptoms
illusions of invulnerability
self - appointed mind guards
illusion of unanimity
self- censorship
direct pressure on dissenters
outgoing stereotypes
belief in the groups inherent morality
collective rationalisation
groupthink symptoms- illusions of invulnerability
- group displays excessive optimism and takes significant risks, they feel that they are perfect and anything the do will turn out successful
groupthink symptoms- self- appointed mind guards
- some members of the group take it upon themselves to discourage alternative ideas from being expressed in the group
groupthink symptoms- illusion of unanimity
- disageeing members may choose to remain silent when they oppose the groups decision, but silence from some members is considered acceptance of the majoritys decisions
groupthink symptoms- self- censorship
- they believe that if they are the only one disagreeing with the groups decision, then they must be the wrong one
groupthink symptoms- direct pressure on dissenters
- majority of the group directly threatens members who question the groups decisions, the group applies pressure to get the dissenters to agree
groupthink symptoms- outgoing stereotypes
- members believe that members who disagree do it on purpose, they stereotype members ho disagree as incapable of making the right decision
groupthink symptoms- belief in the groups inherent morality
- members believe that what the group does will be suitable because they all know the difference between right and wrong, causing members to overlook the consequences of their decisions
groupthink symptoms- collective rationalisation
- rationalise thoughts or suggestions that challenge what the majority is thinking
Factors that influence groupthink
- High similarity among group members
- A powerfull and compelling leader commands the group
- People lack personal knowledge or feel other members are more qualified
- The group experiences extreme stress or moral dilemmas
Groupshift
- occurs when discussion leads a group to adopt attitudes or actions that are more extreme than the initial attitudes or actions of the individual group members
Explanations of groupshift
- diffusion of responsibility
- social status
- familiarity of risk
Explanations of groupshift- diffusion of responsibility
- responsibility is diffused within the group
- individual members are not held responsible for the groups ultimate decisions
- as a result greater risk may be accepted (as no single member can be held entirely accountable for the decision)
Explanations of groupshift- social status
- risk taking is linked to social standing in groups
- we admire people who are ready to take chances
Explanations of groupshift- familiarity of risk
- group members become more familiar with one another through the debate, and they become bolder and more radical as they become more at ease
Deindividuation
- when a person alters their behaviour due to the anonymity provided by a group e.g riotsm sporting crowds, mobs ect
- the persons group identity overrides their own personal, individual identity and self awareness
How does deindividuation occur
1- a suffiently sized group gathers
- an individual starts to feel anonymous
- the individual feels decreased self-awareness
- DEINDIVIDUATION
- can then lead to loss of normal inhibitions
2- a suffiently sized group gathers
- interaction within the group leads to social arousal inthe individual
- the individual feels responsibility diffusing to others
- DEINDIVIDUATION
- leads to increased responses to situational factors
Conformity
- tendency to adjust ones thoughts, feelings or behavour in ways that are in agreement with those of a particular individual or group, or to social norms e.g swearing, standing ovation
What affects conformity
- group size
- unanimity
- informational influence
- normative influence
- culture
- social loafing
Conformity- group size
- the amount of confederates in the groups drastically changed the conformity rates
- in more cases, the more, the better
- best group size was 4, worst was 15
Conformity- unanimity
- refers to complete agreement among the group members
- WWYD? would you disagree with everyone? How certain would you be?
- people dont want to be the individual to go against the group
Conformity- informational influence
- individuals are more likely to conform to group members when they are unsure what the correct response is
- informational influence occurs when conformity results from a need for direction and information on how to respond in a specific situation
Normative Influence
- occurs when our response in a group is influenced by one or more social norm
Conformity- culture
- asch’s experiment yeilded different results in different cultures, showing that culture has an influence on conformity
- asian and african countries showed more conformity than north american and western europe
Conformity- social loafing
- refers to the tendency of an individual to make less effort when involved in a group activity than when working alone
Modern day media types and sources
- Advertising
- Television
- social media
- video games
- news sources
Positive influence of media onn social connections
- improved connections
**Allows ‘like-minded’ individuals to find each other*
- expanded social networks
**development of global friendships*
- platforms to voice opinions, raise money/awareness
negative influence of media on social connections
- absence of face-to-face contact -> poor social skills
- difficulty identifying emotions and responding emotionally
- difficulty distinguishing between real (meaningful) and virtual relationships
- physical detachment from others hinders social development and may lead to poorer physical and mental health outcomes
What is social comparison and its pros and cons
- a behaviour where we compare certain aspects of ourselves to other people to assess ourselves better
pro- can check if we are ‘on track’
cons- can lead to negative thoughts/behaviours due to unrealistic standards -> lower self-esteem
Upwards social comparisons
- my neighbour inspires me. If he can run a half marathon, then so can I
- my friend is smarter than I am. She just gets it
Downward social comparisons
- I feel happy knowing that I beat my neighbour in the half-marathon
- My colleague struggles all the time with the same topics, while it just clicks for me
Symptoms of FOMO
- a feeling of anxiety or insecurity over the possibility of missing out on something
- always on phone
- never says no
- uncomfortable being home alone
- takes pictures of everything
- worry abt being left out
- overly full social schedule
addictive behaviours
- the state in which a person feels an uncontrolled motivation to perform behaviours and devotes so much time and effort to these behaviours that it impairs other important life areas
e.g shopping addictions
- it releases dopamine which reinforces the behaviour, this is consistent across most addiction disorders
using media for info access pros
- vast knowledge availability
- global news coverage
- diverse perspectives
- educational resources
- citizen journalism
- enhanced communication
using media for info access cons
- misinformation and fake news
- filter bubbles and echo chambers
- privacy concerns
- information over load
- cyberbullying and online harassment
- digital divide
- credibility challenges
- dependence and addiction
Non-conformity and its factors
- any behaviour that is not conformity
independence- a situation in which a person percieives group pressure but doesnt respond to it at either the private or public level
anti conformity- deliberate behaviour that acts against the position of one or more people
4 Factors that affect anti-conformity
- Minority versus the majoriy
**the majority will try to persuade a non-conformer to conform to group norms, but when this does not occur, the majoruuty will isolate the non-conformer*
**Individual independence/anti-conformity may come at the price of ridicule and isolation from the majority*
**The majority are more likely to accept minority non-conformers views as legitimate*
- task ambiguity
**when the task itself is ambiguous participants are more likely to behave independently of the group*
- personality factors
Emotions- conformers = mre anxious, non-conformers = less anxious
**Self-concept- conformers = lack self-confidence and are less insightful, non-conformers = have realistic self-perception
**IQ- conformers = less intelligent, non-conformers = more intelligent*
- culture
**people from individualistic (western) cultures are more likely to engage in anti-conformity behaviours than those from collectivist cultures*
Explanations for non-conformity
- psychological reactance theory
**an unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their freedom*
- the need for uniqueness
**a psychological state in which individuals feel indistinguishable from others, which motivates compensatory acts to restore a sense of uniqueness*
- social impact theory
**a theory suggesting that the degree of influence that a person experiences in group settings depends on three factors:*
1- the groups strength (power and status)
2- the groups immediacy (closeness)
3- the nimber of people within the group exerting the social influence
obedience
- occurs when people change their behaviour in response to direct commands from an authority figure
Results
- all subjects obeyed up to the 360 volt level (lablled extreme shock where the “learner” had been screaming in pain)
- 65% obeyed all the way to the 450 volt level (labellef XXX well above the “danger” level and by this time the “learner” has become silent)
- Subjects visibly upset and nervous at the situation
Criticisms of Milgram
- his work on obedience was attacked on ethical grounds, saying he decieved people and caused unreasonable distress
- volunteers often showed extreme stress- sweating, trembling, stammering even having uncontrollable fits
Factors that interact to influence why we obey
- social proximity
- legitimacy of the authority figure
- group pressure
social proximity
- the closer the ‘victom’ was to the “teacher”, the more likely the person was to refuse to send the shock
- when the “teacher” was in the same room, the number of fully obedient teachers dropped from 65% to 40%
Legitimacy of authority figure
- authority figure seems legit and like they have power= more obedient
- symbols of authority e.g uniform = more obedient
group pressures
- little to no group support to resist authority figure = more likely to be obedient
- group support for authority figure = more likely to be obedient