Influence of Others Flashcards
Self-perception theory
we don’t necessarily have a special insight into ourselves
Strack, Martin and Stepper experiment - self perception theory
subjects were under experimenter-induced facial expression and were told not to formulate an attitude or be put in an emotional state when analyzing a cartoon;
results = subjects with a smile reported significantly higher amusement ratings than those with a frown
Cognitive dissonance
our attitudes aren’t always accurately reflected in our behaviours
Festinger and Carlsmith experiment - cognitive dissonance
complete an extremely boring task, then told to tell the next subject that it was actually very exciting; the group paid 1$ to lie rated the experiment higher than control or 20$ group
Overjustification
attitudes are less likely to change when external motivations overjustify the behaviour
Factors of a good communicator
high credibility, trustworthiness, physical attractiveness, relatability, similarity, eye contact, concise speech, fast speech speed
Similar vs. credible communicator
similarity is more persuasive for matters of personal lifestyle choice;
credibility is more persuasive for matters of objective fact
One-sided argument
tends to be more effective when the audience initially agrees
Two-sided argument
tends to be more effective when the audience initially disagrees
Central appeal
academic, intelligent audiences tend to value a well-reasoned, factual, 2-sided argument
Peripheral appeal
non-academic, less intelligent audience tend to value a well-presented, easy-to-understand argument
Foot in the door
using a gradual escalation of demands to increase compliance
Low ball
escalation of the terms of an agreement after someone has already agreed to comply
Door in the face
start by asking for something completely unreasonable, and then greatly scaling back your request
Persuasion in advertising
appeal to individual’s needs, using buzzwords, desire for prestige
Sunk cost trap
unrecoverable investments of resources leading to further investment
Ben Franklin effect
ask a person who has negative feelings toward you for a favour
Milgram’s experiment results
65% of all subjects continued to the end delivering a shock labelled “danger, high voltage” to a non-responsive man with a heart condition
Lessons of Milgram’s experiment
strong tendency of obedience to authority;
you are not always an accurate judge of how you would behave; controversial ethics
Manipulations of Milgram’s experiment
prestige of an institution, authority figure, proximity to learner, proximity to experimenter
Holfling experiment results - obedience
95% obeyed the order, even though 5% said that they would;
tendency to obey can be irresistable under a variety of circumstances;
never know how you would act until placed in a given situation
Autokinetic effect
stationary light in a pitch black room will appear to move about randomly
Sherif’s norm function
leads to convergence in behaviour, even in the presence of outliers
Asch’s conformity experiments
most participants conformed to group’s incorrect answer at least once;
dissention by another confederate worked to reduce the conformity even when the dissenter gave an incorrect response;
when the group size was reduced to just 1 confederate, conformity was reduced
Normative function
the role of others in setting standards for our conduct based on a fear of rejection
Comparative function
the role of others in providing information about an ambiguous situation
Deutsch and Gerard - comparative function
subjects were in separate cubicles and their responses were anonymous;
however, subjects still went with the wrong answer because they doubted their own perceptions
Norms
the commonly accepted but unwritten rules of behaviour;
depend on context, culture, social roles
Purpose of Zimbardo’s prison
look at behaviour of normal people under situations of authority
Zimbardo’s prison results
demonstrates incredible power that circumstance and assigned role can have on human behaviour
Deindividuation
losing sight of individuality and act as a part of the crowd when belonging to a bigger group
Wilson and Kelling - deindividuation
in an area with broken windows, people would be more likely not to pay much attention to crimes;
however, when windows are fixed, respectable residents take responsibility for their own behaviour and behaviour of others
Social loafing
individuals seem to be less motivated when working in a group than when working alone; eg. tug of war, making noise
Norman Triplett experiment
cyclists raced faster when competing in a group; presence of others is important factor in performance of the actor
Co-actor
another individual performing the same task
Audience
a group of people watching an individual perform a task
Social facilitation
the increased performance that occurs in the presence of co-actors or an audience
Zajonc’s resolution
presence of others increases arousal to improve performance on well practiced tasks but decreases performance on complex tasks
Social learning theory
we learn appropriate behaviours by modeling and imitating the behaviour of others
Bobo doll experiment
children who viewed the aggressive play model were more likely to display aggressive behaviour with no reinforcement or encouragement
Risky shift effect
individuals made risk assessments on hypothetical situations, then came together in a group to reach a consensus;
the group decisions were riskier than the mean decision of the individuals
Group polarization
group decision making strengthens the original inclinations of the individual group members
Robber’s cave study
interactions within each group (intra-group) and between groups (inter-group) were observed; to repair inter-group relations, kids from both groups were put into situations where they had to work together
When groupthink is likely to occur
when the group is highly cohesive and shut off from non-group members;
when the leader is directive and subordinates are not encouraged to challenge the leadership;
when the group is under pressure to make a decision
Groupthink
a group decision making environment that occurs when group cohesiveness becomes so strong it overrides realistic appraisals of reality and alternative opinions
Preventing groupthink
be impartial;
encourage critical evaluation (devil’s advocate);
subdivide the group;
provide a second chance
Wisdom of crowds
groups of eyewitnesses gave more accurate accounts of an episode than an individual
Altruism
an unselfish regard for the welfare of others, a willingness to put your neck on the line to help
Norm of reciprocity
we are expected to reciprocate when someone else treats us well; tend to return favours
Norm of social responsibility
as a member of society, we are expected to contribute to its welfare in a positive way
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
altruism results from empathy; subjects in high empathy condition were equally likely to help whether or not it was beneficial to them
Negative state relief model
we help because we would feel distressed and guilty if we didn’t
Kitty Genovese
woman was being stabbed repeatedly despite the presence of 38 people who witnessed the crime from their apartment windows;
most did not intervene due to the fear of personal injury
Collective ignorance
when each individual in a group sees nobody responding in a given situation, they conclude that the situation is not an emergency
Diffusion of responsibility
in deciding whether we have to act, we determine that someone else in the group is more qualified
Getting help
being direct about asking for help avoids the bystander effect;
seeing helpful behaviour increases your probability of helping others in the future; people from societies that are more collectivist are more likely to help
Whom do we help - gender stereotypes
female bystanders are equally likely to help males and females
males are significantly more likely to help females
Whom do we help - others
we tend to be more likely to help people who we perceive as similar to ourselves;
we are more willing to help those who are in need because of problems that are beyond control than those whose need arose from their own doing
Heroes
research on the personality of individuals who perform acts of heroism suggests that their personalities are no different than other average individuals
Aggression
behaviour that is intended to harm someone else and that is not socially justifiable
Learning to be aggressive
witnessing violence also seems to desensitize due to habituation;
although it has been found that kids who watch more aggressive acts on television do act more aggressively, many of the findings are correlational
Relational aggression
involves personal interaction;
engaged in an attempt to make others dislike someone; more common in girls
Hostile aggression
involves behaviours that are directly confrontational
