Lecture 9 Social influence

Question 1

What is Social Influence

Answer 1

Process of change in behaviour that is produced by the presence of people and social interaction

Question 2

What is conformity?

Answer 2

When you decide (self made decision) to change attitude or behaviour to be more like those around you

Question 3

What experiment tests conformity?

Answer 3

Asch’s experiment where one participant is in a room of confederates (fakes) that give the wrong answer on purpose to make the participant follow.

Question 4

What is the informational influence?

Answer 4

When you think someone else has more useful knowledge on a topic than you, and so you are more likely to go along with their opinion.

Question 5

What is Referent informational influence?

Answer 5

similar to informational influence but in relation to a larger group that you believe have more useful knowledge on a topic than you

Question 6

What is normative influence?

Answer 6

Wanting to get social approval and be liked by a group, doing what you think others want you to do

Question 7

What is obedience and why do we do it?

Answer 7

When you receive a directive/order and obey it, helps us to learn social behaviours and can provide safety when in the context of thinks like the law (seatbelts)

Question 8

What experiment looked at obedience?

Answer 8

Milgram experiment involving a shock board that was to be used when the confederate got a wrong question.

Question 9

What is compliance and how does it differ from conformity and obedience?

Answer 9

Compliance is when you get people to say yes to your request. It differs from conformity as it is a specific request (not a trend), and differs from obedience as it isn’t a demand (is a request)

Question 10

What is the door in the face technique?

Answer 10

People say no to a big request, and then are given a smaller more realistic request and as a result are more likely to say yes.

Question 11

What is the norm of reciprocity?

Answer 11

We feel compelled to comply when someone has helped us in the past

Question 12

What is the ‘But wait….there’s more’ technique?

Answer 12

The addition of a supposed freebie along with a request to make it more appealing (reward for just saying yes)

Question 13

What are the 3 types of group dynamics?

Answer 13

• Mere presence effect
• Deindividuation
• Minority group influence

Question 14

What is the mere presence effect?

Answer 14

Just being around someone else can change your performance on a task. Improve (social facilitation) or worsen (social inhibition). Depends on the task and your confidence.

Question 15

What is deindividuation and what experiment looks at it?

Answer 15

Where your sense of personal identity and self-awareness weakens in the presence of a group you are in. Leads to increase in impulsivity. Zimbardo’s prison experiment looks at this.

Question 16

What is the minority group influence and what experiment is related?

Answer 16

When members of a minority can influence the attitudes and behaviours of the majority. An ash type study that replaced the majority of lying confederates into a minority in the group of participants.

Question 17

What are some factors that increase the impact/success of the minority group influence?

Answer 17

• Forceful
• Consistent
• Logical argument

Question 18

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 18

acts that are positively valued by society

Question 19

What is help?

Answer 19

acts that intentionally benefit someone else

Question 20

What is altruism?

Answer 20

help given without any expectation of personal gain

Question 21

What are the 4 major theoretical approaches to prosocial behaviour?

Answer 21

• Evolutionary (nature/innate)
• Social learning (nurture/learnt through reinforcement)
• Social-cognitive
• Cognitive-physiological

Question 22

What is social loafing?

Answer 22

Where people working together on a task generate less total effort that they would have if they had worked alone

Question 23

What is the bystander effect?

Answer 23

People are less likely to help in an emergency when they are with others than when alone. The greater the number, the less likely it is that anyone will help. (diffusion of responsibility is a reason for this.)

Question 24

What is the social-cognitive approach?

Answer 24

Looks at the element of an emergency (unusual, unforeseen, costly…), and suggests that to help we must

• attend to what is happening
• Define event as emergency
• Assume responsibility
• Decide what can be done

Question 25

What is the cognitive-physiological approach?

Answer 25

1. Arousal
2. Label arousal (causes e.g. I’m in trouble and scared)
3. Evaluate costs (of helping or not helping)

Question 26

What are perceiver-centred determinants?

Answer 26

shows if bystanders are more likely to help.

• Personality
• Mood
• Competence

Question 27

What is the negative state relief model?

Answer 27

proposes that we help other in order to lift us out of a bad mood (by smiling, good gestures, nice social interaction….)

Question 28

What is the empathy-altruistic hypothesis?

Answer 28

States that we help for one of two reasons

1. Personal distress and we help to reduce our own distress
2. Empathic concern and we help to reduce the other person’s distress

Question 29

What are some recipient-centered determinants?

Answer 29

• If recipient is attractive you’re more likely to help
• If you feel empathy towards recipient you’re more likely to help
• Responsibility of misfortune (e.g. natural disaster vs man-made disaster)