Chapter 8- Social Influence

Question 1

Social Influence

Answer 1

Efforts by one or more persons to change the behavior, attitudes, or feelings of one or more others

Question 2

Conformity

Answer 2

A type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behavior to adhere to existing social norms

Pressured to behave in ways that are viewed as acceptable or appropriate by a group or society in general

Question 3

Compliance

Answer 3

A form of social influence involving direct requests/ efforts from one person to another to get others to change their behavior in specific ways

Question 4

Symbolic social influence

Answer 4

Social influence resulting from the mental representation of others or our relationships with them rather than their actual presence or overt actions

Question 5

Obedience

Answer 5

A form of social influence in which one person simply orders one or more others to perform some action(s)

Question 6

Social norms

Answer 6

Rules indicating how individuals are expected to behave in specific situations

How we should or ought to behave

Question 7

Introspection illusion

Answer 7

Our belief that social influences plays a smaller role in shaping our own actions than it does in shaping the actions of others

Question 8

Cohesiveness

Answer 8

The extent to which we are attracted to a social group and want to belong to it

Question 9

Descriptive norms

Answer 9

Norms simply indicating what most people do in a given situation

Question 10

Injunctive norms

Answer 10

Norms specifying what ought to be done; what is approved or disapproved behavior in a given situation

Question 11

Normative focus theory

Answer 11

A theory suggesting that norms will influence behavior only to the extent that they are focal for the people involved at the time the behavior occurs

Question 12

Normative social influence

Answer 12

Social influence based on the desire to be liked or accepted by other people

Question 13

Informational social influence

Answer 13

Social influence based on the desire to be correct (i.e, to possess accurate perceptions of the social world).

Question 14

Foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 14

A procedure for gaining compliance in which requesters begin with a small request and then, when this is granted, escalate to a larger one (the one they actually desired all along).

Question 15

Low-ball procedure

Answer 15

A technique for gaining compliance in which an offer or deal is changed to make it less attractive to the target person after this person has accepted it

Question 16

Door-in-the-face technique

Answer 16

A procedure for gaining compliance in which requesters begin with a large request and then, when this is refused, retreat to a smaller one (the one they actually desired all along)

Question 17

That’s-not-all technique

Answer 17

A technique for gaining compliance in which requesters offer additional benefits to target people before they have decided whether to comply with or reject specific requests

Question 18

Playing hard to get

Answer 18

A technique that can be used for increasing compliance by suggesting that a person or object is scarce and hard to obtain

Question 19

Deadline technique

Answer 19

A technique for increasing compliance in which target people are told that they have only limited time to take advantage of some offer or to obtain some item

Question 20

Pro social behavior

Answer 20

Actions by individuals that help others with no immediate benefit to the helper

Question 21

Empathy

Answer 21

Emotional reactions that are focused on or oriented toward other people and include feelings of compassion, sympathy, and concern

Question 22

Empathy- altruism hypothesis

Answer 22

The suggestion that some prosodias acts are motivated solely by the desire to help someone in need

Question 23

Negative-state relief model

Answer 23

The proposal that prosocial behavior is motivated by the bystander’s desire to reduce his or her own uncomfortable negative emotions or feelings

Question 24

Empathic joy hypothesis

Answer 24

The view that helpers respond to the needs of a victim because they want to accomplish something, and going so is rewarding in and of itself

Question 25

Kin selection theory

Answer 25

A theory suggesting that a key goal for all organisms- including human beings- is getting our genes into the next generation

Question 26

Defensive helping

Answer 26

Help given to members of out groups to reduce the threat they pose to the status or distinctiveness of one’s own ingroup

Question 27

Diffusion of responsibility

Answer 27

A principle suggesting that they greater the number of witnesses to an emergency the less likely victims are to receive help and the greater the delay before help occurs (the bystander effect)

This is because each bystander assumes that someone else will do it

Question 28

Factors affecting conformity

Answer 28

1) Group size- the smaller = less conformity
The bigger=more conformity
2) unanimity- agreement among group members
3)information influence-

Question 29

Choosing not to go along

Answer 29

Nonconformity- refusing to go along with the group

Question 30

Asch study

Answer 30

Asch conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.

Result: more people conformed to answer along with the group. Those who answered wrong, answered wrong due to conformity

Apparently, people conform for two main reasons: because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence) and because they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence).

Question 31

Compliance principles

(Willing to comply to requests factors)

Answer 31

1) Friends/liking-more willing to comply to requests from friends or someone we like
2) commitment/consistency- more willing to comply with requests for behaviors that are consistent with this position or action/commitment
3) scarcity- more willing to comply to requests that will help us get something that is valuable but hard to obtain
4) reciprocity- more willing to comply with a request from someone who had previously provided a favor
5) social validation- more willing to comply with requests that makes us correct by thinking and acting like others
6) authority

Question 32

Ingratiation

Answer 32

Getting others to like us so that they will be more willing to agree to our requests

Question 33

Compliance tactics

Answer 33

1) friendship/liking- impression management, ingratiation, self promotion, incidental similarities
2) commitment/consistency- the foot in the door, the low ball
3) scarcity- playing hard to get, the deadline
4) reciprocity- the door in the face, that’s not all approach

4)

Question 34

Milgram experiment

Answer 34

Research indicates that many people readily obey orders from a relatively powerless source of authority, even if these orders require them to harm another innocent person

Question 35

Empathic accuracy

Answer 35

The ability to accurately understand others feelings and thoughts

Gleason hypothesized that the higher we are in empathic accuracy- the better their skill in what has been termed “everyday mind reading” (accurately understanding what others are thinking and feeling) the better their social adjustment

Empathic accuracy➡️ responding effectively to others ➡️good social relationships
↩️
↘️good social adjustment

Question 36

Decline of empathy?

Answer 36

Empathy is indeed declining, and that this trend can have important implications for the incidence and scope of all forms of prosocial behavior

Reasons: “winner takes all”
“ put yourself first and heck with others”

Question 37

Competitive altruism

Answer 37

This view suggests that one important reason why people help others is that doing so boosts their own status and reputation and, in this way, ultimately brings them large benefits, ones that more than offset the costs of engaging in prosocial behavior

Question 38

Genetic determinism

Answer 38

We help others who are related to us because this increases the likelihood that our genes will be transmitted to future generations

Question 39

Five “steps”

Answer 39

1) notice that something unusual is happening
2) interpret the event as an emergency
3) accept or assume responsibility to provide help
4) decide that you have the required knowledge and skills needed to help
5) decide to actually help

Question 40

Kitty Genoveses murder

Answer 40

A young woman was assumed by a man in a location where many people could see and hear what was going on, yet despite the fact that the attacker continue to assault the victim for many minutes and even left and returned, not a single person reported the crime to the police

Example of diffusion responsibility

Question 41

Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 41

Refers to the fact that because none of the bystanders respond to an emergency, no one knows for sure what is happening and each depends on the other to interpret the situation

Question 42

Situational factors that increase or decrease the tendency to help

Answer 42

1) helping people we like
2) helping those who are not responsible for their problem
3) helping people who are similar to ourselves or in our own social group

Question 43

Modeling

Answer 43

Others are helping so I should too

Question 44

Indoctrination

Answer 44

the process of persuading recruits to accept a group’s views without question

used by cults to exert their influence on followers

Question 45

Softening up

Answer 45

an indoctrination technique; breaking down a recruit by isolating from friends/family and taking away sleep/nourishment

Question 46

Internalization

Answer 46

an indoctrination technique; the use of cognitive dissonance to accept the group’s views

Question 47

Consolidation

Answer 47

an indoctrination technique; costly acts will increase commitment (an extension of consistency)