Chapter 9: Social influence

Question 1

Social influence

Answer 1

… refers to the many ways people affect one another. It involves changes in behavior or attitudes that result from the comments, actions, or simply the presence of others

Question 2

conformity

Answer 2

The most familiar form of influence is …, defined as changing one’s behavior or beliefs in response to some real (or imagined) pressure from others

Question 3

compliance

Answer 3

When conformity pressure is sufficiently explicit, it blends into another type j of social influence called …, which is when a person responds favorably to an explicit request by another person. … attempts can come from people with some power over you

Question 4

obedience

Answer 4

Another type of social influence, …, occurs when a more powerful person, an authority figure, issues a demand (rather than a request), to which the less powerful person submits

Question 5

normative social influence

Answer 5

…—the desire to avoid being criticized, disapproved of, or shunned.

Question 6

Anonymity

Answer 6

… eliminates normative social influence and therefore should substantially reduce conformity.

Question 7

The expertise and status

Answer 7

… of the group members powerfully influence the rate of conformity

Question 8

Culture

Answer 8

…. As we emphasize throughout this book, people from interdependent … are much more concerned about their relationships with others and about fitting into the broader social context than people from independent …

Question 9

Tight and loose cultures

Answer 9

… Michele Gelfand and her colleagues have pursued a distinction between cultures that overlaps somewhat with the independence-interdependence dimension bur differs enough that it deserves a name of its own: tightness versus looseness.

Question 10

Compliance

Answer 10

… There are three basic types of … approaches: those directed at the head, those directed at the heart, and those based on the power of norms (which, given the impact of informational and normative influences, appeal to both the head and the heart).

Question 11

Norm of reciprocity

Answer 11

… When someone does something for us, we usually feel compelled to do something in return. Indeed, all societies that have ever been studied possess a powerful …, according to which people are expected to provide benefits for those who provided benefits for them.

Question 12

(door-in-the-face)

Answer 12

… technique. First, you ask someone for a very large favor that will certainly be refused, and then you follow that request with one for a more modest favor that you are realty interested in receiving. The idea is that the drop in the size of the request will be seen as a concession; the person being asked will feel compelled to match that concession to honor the norm of reciprocity

Question 13

reciprocal concessions technique

Answer 13

… is that the first favor is so large and unreasonable that the target inevitably refuses, slamming the door in the face of that request but keeping it open just a crack for the subsequent, smaller request to get through

Question 14

The foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 14

… All of us perform certain actions because they’re consistent with our self-image. It’s logical, therefore, that if requests are crafted to appeal to a person’s self-image, the likelihood of compliance is increased

Question 15

Positive mood

Answer 15

… A positive mood makes people feel expansive and charitable, so they’re more likely to agree to reasonable requests

Question 16

Negative mood

Answer 16

… If a good mood increases compliance, does a bad mood decrease it? It surely can (your dad is less likely to lend you the family car when he’s mad at his boss), but even the slightest introspection reveals that certain types of bad moods are actually likely to increase compliance, not decrease it.

Question 17

negative state relief hypothesis

Answer 17

… in action, which says that taking an action to benefit someone else, especially when it’s for a good cause, is one way to make ourselves feel better.

Question 18

Effective norm-based appeals

Answer 18

… Letting people know what others are doing can be used to advance the public good.

Question 19

Descriptive norms

Answer 19

In preparing norm-based compliance appeals, it’s important to be aware that there are two kinds of norms. … are simply descriptions of what is typically done.

Question 20

Prescriptive norms

Answer 20

In preparing norm-based compliance appeals, it’s important to be aware that there are two kinds of norms. …, often called injunctive norms, are what one is supposed to do. Descriptive norms correspond to what is; prescriptive norms correspond to what ought to be

Question 21

Tuning out the experimenter

Answer 21

… By physically removing himself from the scene, the experimenter lost much of his influence, and participants were less likely to obey

Question 22

Release from responsibility

Answer 22

…. The experimenter provided something to reduce their stress by taking responsibility for what was happening. When participants asked, as many did, “Who is responsible for what happens here?” the experimenter responded, “I am responsible.”

Question 23

Step-by-step involvement

Answer 23

…. Its also important to remember that the participants in Milgram’s experiments didn’t deliver 450 volts of electric shock right away. Instead, each participant first administered only 15 volts to the learner. Who wouldn’t do that? That’s feedback, not punishment. Then 30 volts. No problem there either