Intro to Social Influnce

Question 1

social influence

Answer 1

the ways in which people exert influence on the behaviors, beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of others

changing one’s perspectives, opinions, or behaviors in response to real or imagined pressure from others

Question 2

what are examples of social influence

Answer 2

ads, political ads, charities asking for donations, friends asking for favors

Question 3

4 types of social influence

Answer 3

conformity, compliance obedience, persuasion

Question 4

Conformity

Answer 4

changing attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms

a passive form of influence, voluntary and unspoke

ex: escalators, walk on the left, stand on right

Question 5

Compliance

Answer 5

change in behavior due to a request from another person of the same status, like a friend asking you to send notes

Question 6

Obedience

Answer 6

change in behaviour as a result of a command from another person, typically of higher rank like a manager

Question 7

Persuasion

Answer 7

an active attempt to change the attitudes, beliefs, and/or feelings of one or more other people

conveying a message with the hopes of agreement

ex: trying to persuade someone that saving energy is a good idea

Question 8

components of social influence

Answer 8

source, message, recipient, context

Question 9

Source

Answer 9

who/what the influence is coming from, can be a group or an individual.

what is a reliable source for one person may not be for another

some important factors are the number of sources, independence vs monolith, expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness.

Question 10

message

Answer 10

the transmission of information from the source to the recipient, can vary based off the type of social influence
ex: in conformity this is just an observation, in obedience this is a command

relevant characteristics: use of emotional language, length, how request is structured

Question 11

recipient

Answer 11

the person receiving the message

their own personal factors are important to consider, need for cognition, current mood, personal relevance, knowledge about the topic, etc…

Question 12

context

Answer 12

anything that is external to the source , recipient, and message

factors like if an interaction is in person or online, distractions or time pressures, forewarning, anonymity

Question 13

2 core roots to influence/persuasion

Answer 13

1. systematic processing/controlled/central route
2. Heuristic processing/automatic/peripheral route

Question 14

systematic processing/central route

Answer 14

occurs when we think deeply about a message, being persuaded after you have spent a lot of time researching and weighing different options

attitudes are based off more systematic assessment of relevant information

systematic processing requires the motivation and ability to think deeply about the message

this form of influence tends to last longer and is more consequential so it leads to stronger attitudes and is more resistant to attempts at change

Question 15

Heuristic processing / peripheral route

Answer 15

Occurs when we donʼt think deeply about a message, being persuaded because the person talking to you is hot

When processing heuristically, we are persuaded by cues in the message or situation / factors peripheral to the message

attitude judgements made via this route are based off the easily available attributes of the source, message, or citation that are evaluated via efficient proceeding strategies

this often occurs automatically when we lack motivation, personal relevance, or the ability to process deeply

Question 16

Elaboration likelihood model

Answer 16

Elaboration: process of thinking about & scrutinizing the arguments contained in persuasive communication

The determinants and processes of attitude change depend on peopleʼs motivation and ability to process issue-relevant information

Question 17

factors that determine the processing route

Answer 17

1) ability: does the person have the ability to process systematically. Time, knowledge relevant to the issue, distractions, message presented in accessible, not overly
complex language

2) motivation: does the person want to process systematically. Personal relevance, fatigue level, need for cognition (enjoy effortful cognitive activities), behavioral
request involving minimal vs substantial effort

Question 18

judgment heuristics

Answer 18

shortcuts that allow for simplified thinking

mental shortcuts, stereotypes that allow us to classify things and make choices based off key features/cues

they can often be effective but leave us open to mistakes

an example is adapting someone’s attitude based off their expertise: if caleb says a computer thing is bad i will agree bc he knows more

Question 19

examples of heuristic processing

Answer 19

expensive=good
repetition=accuracy, the more you hear it it must be true
contrast principle

Question 20

contrast principle

Answer 20

of 2 things are presented one after the other, and differences that the second item has will be seen as more different than it really is

ex: the $10 fee for my transcript is seen as small after ive looked at tution

Question 21

giving any reason increases influence

Answer 21

this is an example of compliance, even if the reason is obvious just giving one after a request increases compliance

can i eat bc someone stole my food earlier, good
can i eat, bad
can i eat bc im hungry, obvious but good

Question 22

how is behaviour assessed?

Answer 22

observing overt behavior, self reports, self reports of behavioral intentions (can be a strong predictor)

Question 23

assessing attitudes

Answer 23

the most common is a self report scale, the issue is social desirability bias, especially when measuring things like racism

Question 24

what are some alternatives to self reports to measure attitude

Answer 24

physiological measures like fMRI, EMG, ERP

implicit measures like the IAT
ex: do they more easily associate black with bad or good
these tests can be fudged if you know how they work tho

Question 25

how does attitude strength come into play?

Answer 25

weak attitudes can be unstable overtime, vulnerable to persuasion, and are unlikely to influence behaviour
ex: i might say i like the oilers but i don’t really care so i could be persuaded and i don’t like them enough to ever watch a full game

strong attitudes are enduring and consequential, they come to memory easier and people tend to have strong attitudes for things personally relevant
ex: im trans and obviously am against anti-trans legislation, i know a lot about the bs policies and it influences my behaviour like not endorsing JK rowlling bc shes a terf

Question 26

3 measures of an attitude

Answer 26

Extremity-casual fan of scara vs me(extreme)

strength/weakness-i cannot be dissuaded from scara nation, i know all his lore (strong)

positivity/negativity-i love him, how could i ever hate him (pos)`

Question 27

social norms

Answer 27

serve as a guide/expectation for behaviours/social interactions
also applicable to attitudes, values, and cognitions

they describe and prescribe behaviour, can be universal like the norm of reciprocity, or local, like being quiet in a library

Question 28

descriptive norms

Answer 28

perceptions of which behaviors are typically performed, inferred by observation, these normative beliefs can be inaccurate but still guide behaviour

ex: seeing people lining up for coffee and joining the line if you also want coffee

Question 29

injunctive norms

Answer 29

perceptions of which behaviours are approved or disapproved of, what is acceptable

violations may lead to disapproval or social sanctions

ex: we SHOULD line up in order of who got there first but realistically you could cut the line-it’s not illegal, but this may prompt someone to yell at you (that being the social sanction)

Question 30

normative dissensus

Answer 30

disagreement between a group over important social norms

can induce uncertainty and lead to a schism, forming a new group

ex: debates on what a family is, some ppl think the nuclear family is the only valid option

Question 31

how do social norms guide behaviour

Answer 31

they can influence behaviour directly via things like conformity

but they also help empower leaders that best embody group norms
ex: you would probably want the leader of the art club be an artist that practices often and is good at what they do and passionate too

Question 32

normative social influence

Answer 32

people conforming to the group

ex: saving energy only bc you think your neighbours are

Question 33

crafting normative messages

Answer 33

try not to draw attention to a descriptive norm you are trying to discourage (like littering)

more likely to influence if the descriptive and injunctive norms are aligned

Question 34

what norms are the most influential/

Answer 34

the one that is the most salient/people are aware of, seems international students don’t know where to stand on the escalator

but some evidence that injunctive norms may be more robust and long-lasting than descriptive norms since they are more setting based, ex: if recycling encouraged at home, more likely to recycle everywhere

Question 35

personal norms

Answer 35

internalized standards that we have adopted as a guide for our own behaviour
ex: caleb thinks jorking it in the morning is wrong but i don’t

Question 36

behavioural norms

Answer 36

descriptions of common behaviors but lacking moral weight or social sanction

there is no consequence to buying an unpopular toothpaste

Question 37

social norm interventions

Answer 37

1. altering the social/physical environment so people directly observe the social norm
   ex: being in a dirty environment makes ppl more prone to littering, seeing certain candy wrappers in the trash make you more likely to eat that candy
2. communicate normative info via oral/written messages (often on mass media)
   ex: the majority of your neighbours conserve energy, can backfire if the person already does more than the norm

Question 38

uncertainty and social norms

Answer 38

social proofs are especially powerful when people are uncertain, people tend to look to others for guidance

people that are more uncertain identify with groups, esp more entitative/groupy groups

uncertainty increases physiological arousal and stress responses, identifying with a group can reduce this

Question 39

elaboration likelihood model and social norms

Answer 39

the more an issue or behavior is personally relevant, the less influential social norms are

the more cognitive resources are available, the less influential social norms are (usually)

social norms operate heuristically

Question 40

pluralistic ignorance

Answer 40

widespread misperception of the attitudes and behaviours prevalent in one’s group due to the public misinterpretation of private attitudes

ex: people thinking that 90% of uni students binge drink when in reality only 10% do
conservative lag-widespread change in attitude but not followed by behaviour change
- american civil rights movement but ppl still racist

liberal leap-widespread change in behaviour not followed by attitude change
- the sexual revolution of the 60/70s, conform behavior to attitude

Question 41

the bystander effect

Answer 41

when in an emergency bystanders are less likely to help someone in need bc others are present

Question 41

decision model of the bystander effect

Answer 41

1. notice something is wrong
2. define situation as an emergency
3. decide whether you are personally responsible to act
4. choose how to help
5. help

Question 42

combatting the bystander effect

Answer 42

the biggest issue is uncertainty, people look to others for cues when they don’t know what to do and if the situation is ambiguous then it does not look like an emergency

make the emergency known, ask specific people for help and tell them how they can help

Question 42

motivational bases for conformity

Answer 42

informational influence and normative influence

Question 43

informational influence

Answer 43

desire to make a correct interpretation of reality and behave correctly, looking for social proof, accuracy goals

people believe that the group is more correct than they are

we want to be accurate and other people’s behaviours and attitudes can be useful

ex: most people know the earth is round, kids that don’t fully understand go along with it bc they want to be right

Question 44

normative influence

Answer 44

desire to obtain social approval from others and be accepted, affiliation goals

believing there are social rewards for conformity

people pleasing behaviour, like me just going a long with being a girl sometimes

Question 45

behavioural mimicry/chameleon effect

Answer 45

conformity can be an automatic thing in any social setting

this effect is when we mimic the mannerisms, facial expressions, or vocal characteristics of the person we are interacting with

happens outside of consciousness, we are all mimicking each other, helps with building rapport and as “social glue” in relationships

it’s a pro social behaviour and attempting to block it impedes emotional recognition, making a facial expression helps us better empathize, NORMATIVE influence

Question 46

conformity and group size

Answer 46

larger group=more conformity, to an extent

at some point the group becomes big enough and seen as a monolith rather than individuals, 5 being the min number of people for max results in the window study(idk generalizability)

Question 47

conformity w/ ingroup vs outgroup

Answer 47

people are more likely to conform with ingroup members

even when the group is immoral or the ingroup is not meaningful (like randomly assigned groups)

identifying strongly with an ingroup increases the likelihood of conforming to their norms, high identifiers feeling positive emotions

Question 48

minority influence

Answer 48

when the minority affects the majority
ex: 2 friends that can’t eat meat affect where the whole friend group is likely to meet for lunch

most social changes start as a minority view like open practices in psychology

Question 49

group stability

Answer 49

can have powerful conformity effects, asch line study

deviance can lead to ridicule

Question 50

why does deviance lead to ridicule

Answer 50

1. it slows down group decisions/progress, making it harder to act and move forward
2. ingroup deviants threaten our own social identity, the groups we identify with help us understand our own identity (social identity theory) they interfere with intragroup unanimity and can pose a threat to the whole group, deviants threaten the validity of ingroup norms

Question 51

tight cultures

Answer 51

tight cultures have strong social norms and a low tolerance of deviant behaviour, germany, pakistan, singapore

they tend to be nations that have encountered more threats, such as natural disasters, war, etc… they also are more likely to have autocratic leadership that suppresses dissent, less open media, and less crime

Question 52

loose cultures

Answer 52

weaker social norms and a greater tolerance of deviant behaviour, brazil, netherlands, new zealand

generally more permissive and open, people here will be less likely to listen to the walk/stop signs

Question 53

black sheep effect

Answer 53

deviant/disloyal members of the ingroup are derogated more than outgroup members engaging in the same behaviour

helps preserve ingroup members positive evaluations of the group, greater when there is uncertainty, ppl strongly identify with the group, injunctive norms are salient, deviant is a ‘full’ group member, the group is very entitative

Question 54

shared information bias

Answer 54

information that is shared by group members is more favoured and disproportionately influential

especially when the group is large and there is more info

Question 55

hidden knowledge paradigm

Answer 55

a way to test if there is shared information bias in a group

there is a right choice that can only be reached if all the people share what they know and not just what is known by all the members

Question 56

what causes the shared information bias?

Answer 56

the group spends more time talking about shared info, easier and invites less conflict if what is being discussed is common knowledge

Question 57

how to reduce shared information bias

Answer 57

assign “experts” on topics and allow their status as expert to be known by all members of the group

prior to discussion give instructions that emphasize the importance of considering all available info

encourage lower-status members to share

time limits increase the urgency to discuss everything

fewer decision alternatives lessen the effect too

Question 58

ostracism

Answer 58

ignoring and excluding someone from the group

fear of this can increase conformity

ostracism hurts, brain areas also associated with physical pain, threatens fundamental needs of belonging,etc, worsens mood

we are highly sensitive to even subtle cues of ostracism

Question 59

ostracism hurts

Answer 59

even things like people in digital images not looking at the camera or being excluded from the game of cyberball affect people’s mood in the same way real ostracism can

Question 60

ostracism as a tool of social influence

Answer 60

the anticipation or possibility of it deters deviant behaviour from the group norms, normative influence

after experiencing ostracism people are more sensitive to social influence, they contribute more to public goods games ir asch line shit, increased obedience to authority, more persuaded even by low quality messages, increased compliance to donation requests, increased behavioural mimicry

Question 61

why is ostracism common

Answer 61

protecting the ingroup, it is directed at deviants that can harm the group, decreases things like social loafing behaviors

self reported reasons: self-perceived social norm violations

Question 62

ostracism outside of social influence

Answer 62

aggression and other antisocial responses

long term ostracism can lead to alienation, depression, and helplessness

Question 63

when is deviance tolerated?

Answer 63

when an ingroup member over achieves and endorses group norms beyond what is typical (pro-norm deviants)

leaders are also more tolerated as deviants

when there is a group norm of individualism within a loose culture

Question 64

pro-norm deviants

Answer 64

accentuate the differences between ingroup and outgroup norms

they do more than they need to, over achieve, derogated less than anti-norm deviants

think of that one church kid that is sucking up to that thang to get religious validation

Question 65

anti-norm deviants

Answer 65

ingroup member veers towards outgroup norm

under achiever relative to others in the ingroup, derogated more than pro-norm deviants

caleb trying to stretch christianity to fit in being pan and his dad getting pissed

Question 66

leaders as deviants

Answer 66

they are granted ‘innovation credit’

they define the norms

more tolerated from an incoming leader or leaders that have a history of ingroup favor

Question 67

individualism and tolderated deviance

Answer 67

some groups encourage deviance/dissent/individualism

it can result as conformity to an individualist group norm that is deviant to the wider society

ex: drinking with ur friends at 15, MAC and Scona kids being tryhards compared to everyone else, the whole GC being some level of trans

Question 68

intergroup sensitivity effect

Answer 68

group members react more positively to ingroup criticism voiced by ingroup members compared to outgroup members

the opposite of the black sheep effect

seen as more constructive and legitimate rather than hateful

ex: only i can be mean to the homies

Question 69

how do deviants influence groups

Answer 69

they influence others to deviate too, its presence encourages more deviance, infectious/contagious, also prompting systematic processing

seen in the asch studies where there is a deviant confederate, increased deviance

like-minded deviants are often rewarded for deviance, seen as more likable/smarter/etc… the only one who sees things similarly to the participant

still applicable even if people are deviant in different directions, breaking overall unanimity of the group

Question 70

what is an attitude?

Answer 70

general evaluation a person has regarding other people, places, objects, issues, etc (called the attitude object)…

you can have an attitude of the self too

Question 71

which of the 4 major types of social influence targets attitudes?

Answer 71

it is targeted by persuasion in the active attempt to change someone’s attitude

but attitude can also be affects by conformity

Question 72

how are attitudes assessed?

Answer 72

most commonly via self-report rating scales of attitudes
-issue with the social desirability bias/self presentation concerns
-especially hard when trying to measure things like racism but it is a cheap and easy
method

physiological measures like EMG, ERP, fMRI

Implicit measures like the IAT

they help to get around social desirability concerns

Question 73

components of attitude

Answer 73

attitude valence: positive vs negative

attitude extremity: mild vs extreme

attitude strength: strong vs weak

Question 74

attitude valence

Answer 74

positive vs negative of the attitude object

you can have both pos and neg things to say about the same object, ex: i like this class but not being tested

a highly ambivalent attitude has a lot of both pos and neg evaluations, where a low one has a small amount of both

ex: i am highly ambivalent of genshin but positive about neuvillette and scara

Question 75

attitude extremity

Answer 75

mild vs extreme

the degree of deviation from neutral regardless of pos or neg

ex: i really love neuvillette, extreme positive attitude

Question 76

attitude strength

Answer 76

strong vs weak

stability over time, vulnerability to persuasion, influence on behaviour and information processing

how durable and impactful an attitude is, stronger ones translate into behaviour and can impact biases, more resistant to influence, are more easily accessible in memory

ex: i have strong attitude on recycling, so i recycle often and am biased against people that don’t so it, people can’t persuade me out of this

Question 77

attitude strength and the elaboration likelihood model

Answer 77

when we use systematic processing to arrive at an attitude it tends to be stronger, elaboration (thinking deeply) increases strength

systematic processing entails acquiring more knowledge and support for your attitude, it becomes more accessible to you, people become more confident in their attitude, more likely to translate into action

Question 78

attitude certainty

Answer 78

the feeling of confidence or conviction about an attitude, might be a component of attitude strength but this is debated

when certainty is higher: it is more likely to guide behavior, more resistant to counter persuasion, more likely one will try to persuade others to adopt the same attitude

Question 79

uncertainty and persuasion

Answer 79

source uncertainty is when the sources expresses their when uncertainty, this can sometimes increase persuasion

this violates expectations and stimulates deeper thinking cough elaboration, cough, systematic processing

ex: seeing Katie as more credible as a prof because she admits when she doesn’t know something, so when she does answer a question there is legitimacy behind it and not just BS

Question 80

upsides to inconsistency in persuasion

Answer 80

message contradictions

inconsistency is not always harmful to persuasion (not always true, illusory truth effect)

trusted sources can offer opposing opinions at different points, contradicting themselves, but still boosting persuasion

violate expectations>more engagement with message> deeper thinking, attributional processing, why did the source do that?> greater persuasion

Question 81

message interruptions

Answer 81

interruptions are not always harmful to persuasion

ones that temporarily pause/delay the messages at the right times can increase processing and persuasiveness of the message because it impedes goal pursuit, the goal of hearing the message and makes the goal seem more attractive

ex: the movie you are watching starts buffing right before the big villain reveal

continuous interruptions like someone yelling in the background the whole time or take you away from the message completely are bad and will not increase persuasion

Question 82

potential, achievement, and persuasion

Answer 82

potential can be more persuasive than achievement

framing the message in terms of high but uncertain achievement can increase message processing and persuasion by stimulating interest

more exciting to ponder what this new kid with a lot of potential COULD do rather than the consistent dude that has done good but isn’t as hyped up

Question 83

message discrepancy

Answer 83

how far should the message be from the target’s existing attitude to be the most persuasive?

moderate discrepancy is better than an extremely discrepant message that could be counter productive

Question 84

cognitive dissonance theory

Answer 84

any 2 attitudes/ an attitude and behavior can be:
- irrelevant/unrelated
- consonant, relates and consistent with each other
- dissonant, related and inconsistent with each other

ex: having a positive attitude of recycling but not recycling yourself

inconsistent cognitions cause psychological tension that people want to reduce

Question 85

reducing cognitive dissonance

Answer 85

this is done by bringing attitudes and behaviors more in line with each other, this can be done in multiple ways:

-removing dissonant cognitions or adding new consonant ones
-decrease the importance of the dissonance or increase importance of consonant ones
-justifying/rationalizing behaviour
-avoiding new information
-selective memory

trying to close this rift can lead to irrational behavior like trump supporters

Question 86

belief disconfirmation

Answer 86

when new information contradicts and existing belief

ex: i thought wilbur soot was cool

oh no

Question 87

post-decisional dissonance

Answer 87

questioning whether you made the right choice

uyghur moment with alshie and francesca

can be reduced by downplaying the pros of the alternative or just trying not to think too much (bro cant do either)

Question 88

effort justification

Answer 88

when you put a lot of effort into a goal that doesn’t turn out as expected

you will try to find ways to justify the effort
ex: you go to the gym for body improvement, bur progress not as linear as you had hoped> justify that you got other things from it like better mental health

other ex: the sex psych class with the initiation, the ppl who underwent the severe one rated the class more highly

Question 89

induced compliance

Answer 89

being compelled by outside forces to act against your beliefs

there needs to be an aspect of free choice so there can be no large reward like lots of money, etc

smaller incentive lead to greater attitude change $1 vs $20

Question 90

insufficient justification

Answer 90

condition where people freely perform an attitude-discrepant behavior without receiving a large reward

ex: breaking the boycott

Question 91

what makes the black sheep least likely to occur

Answer 91

if the ingroup is clearly superior to the outgroup

Question 92

what are functions of ostracism

Answer 92

to protect, to correct, to eject

NOT DETECTION