Exam 2: Chapter 6 Flashcards
What are the three main categories of social influence?
Conformity, compliance, and obedience
What happens as you move through the categories of social influence?
The pressure increases
What is conformity?
Changing ones behaviors to match the responses or actions of others to fit in (Asch)
Can you also conform without overt social pressure?
Yes
What is compliance?
Changing behavior in response to a direct request
What is obedience?
Changing behavior in response to directive from figure of authority (Milgram)
What happens when people are faced with strong group consensus?
They will sometimes go along with it even if they think they are wrong if others are confident enough
What is the pain of independence?
Defying ones peers produces a painful emotional state that causes participants to avoid nonconformity
What is the foot-in-the-door technique?
Starting with a small request and advancing to larger ones to increase compliance
What is reciprocation?
More willing to comply with requests from people that previously did something good for them
What is commitment/consistency?
More willing to be moved in a particular direction if they see it as consistent with existing commitment
What is authority?
Automatic tendency to follow authority
What is social validation?
If people see evidence that other people, especially others similar to them are taking a step they are more willing to
What is scarcity?
People find objects and opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in ability
What is liking/friendship?
People prefer to say yes to those they know and like
What do conformity, compliance, and obedience all refer to?
Not the act of wielding influence but yielding to it
Why do people yield to social influence?
Choosing correctly, gaining social approval, and managing self-image
What is the motive for competence?
Master our environments so we can consistently gain desired rewards and resources
What are the two powerful principles we rely on?
Authority and social validation
How do people shift their conversational voice and speech style?
Towards the style of individuals in positions of power and authority
What are the two reasons that we follow authority?
The person has power over you, they are experts in that area
What is expert power?
Comes from acknowledged competence in the matter at hand
How do we use authority as a decision-making heuristic?
We just accept authorities advice because we think that they will know more
What is a con for using authority as a decision-making heuristic?
Can lead us to respond to symbols rather than genuine authority, risk performing unethical or unwise actions
What happens when we aren’t thinking hard in a situation?
Can be easily steered in the wrong direction by false authorities
Why are authorities formidable sources of social influence?
They are often expert, following directions offers a shortcut route to choosing directly
What is social validation?
Way to locate and validate the correct choice
Why is herd mentality not always a bad thing?
Most of the time it sends us in the right direction
What are the factors that spur people to use the actions of others in the process of trying to choose correctly?
Consensus and similarity
Why does even a single dissenter embolden others to resist conformity?
Reduces the confidence that they grip has the right answer and urges others to looks for the correct answer and beyond the group
Why do people want to follow the actions of those similar to themselves?
Because we want to follow the lead of others that make good choices for themselves so we want to follow others like us that would make those similar choices
Why do consensus and similarity influence conformity?
Give us confidence that the other choices are also good choices for us as well
What happens when you are unfamiliar with the situation you are in?
You are more likely to look to others for guidance
When do people feel the most uncertain?
When they face a task that is difficult to solve
What happens when people feel unsure of their grasp on reality?
More likely to look at authority figures
What happens when people are unsure of their judgements?
More likely to conform
What is the critical difference between sure and unsure individuals?
Whether they felt if relying on themselves or on others was the best route to choosing correctly
When does the motivation to be accurate push us to conformity?
Only when we are unsure of our own judgements
What are the two methods for being accurate?
Accuracy and being social accepted
What happens when you place someone into the situation that doesn’t agree?
Will shift toward group consensus to be accepted and avoid rejection by the larger group
What is the effect of love bombing?
The willingness of some members to remain in groups
What are descriptive norms?
What is typically done
What are injunctive norms?
What is typically approved or disapproved
What can descriptive norms inform us of?
What is likely to be an effective action
What goal do descriptive norms connect to?
Goal of choosing correctly
What can injunctive norms inform us of?
What is likely to be acceptable to others