Social influence Flashcards
Social influence definition
Process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or implied presence of other people
Compliance
Superficial, public and transitory change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure
-> no internal change only when under surveillance
Reference groups
Kelley’s term for a group that is psychologically significant for our behaviour and attitudes
-> source of conformity or coercive power to produce compliance
Membership groups
Kelley’s term for a group to which we belong by some objective external criterion, external designation or social consensus
Dual-process dependency model
General model of social influence in which two separate processes operate, dependency on others for social approval and for information about reality
Power definition
Capacity to influence others while resisting their attempts to influence with six bases (can also be thought of as a role in a group)
-> Reward-, Coercive-, Informational-, Expert-, Legitimate- and Referent power
Reward Power
ability to give or promise rewards for compliance
Coercive power
ability to give or threaten punishment for non-compliance
Informational power
: The target’s belief that the influencer has more information than oneself
Expert power
target’s belief that the influencer has generally greater expertise and knowledge than oneself
Legitimate power
target’s belief that the influencer is authorised by a recognised power structure to command and make decision
Referent power
Identification with, attraction to or respect for the source of influence
basis of influence processes
attachment and identification with a group
agentic state
A frame of mind thought by Milgram to characterise unquestioning obedience, in which people as agents transfer personal responsibility to the person giving orders
Factors influencing obedience
- > no gender difference
- > once committed continued commitment
- > immediacy of a victim
- > immediacy of authority figure
- > group pressure
- > legitimacy of authority figure
Conformity
Deep-seated, private and enduring change in behaviour and attitudes due to group pressure
formation and influence of norms
- > frame of reference providing behavioural or attitudinal positions relevant in particular contexts
- > normative pressure
Yielding to majority group pressure
people conform to group even if object of judgement is unambiguous
Cultural norms as conformity factor
- > intercultural variation in conformity
- > conformity can be seen as favourable and form of social glue
Group size as conformity factor
- > increase in conformity as group size increases
- > size refers to number of seemingly indepentent sources of influence of group
Group unanimity as conformity factor
- > lack of unanimity reducing conformity when supporter is there
- > supporters, dissenters and deviates reduce conformity as we feel less confident about perceptions and attitudes while legitmising possibility that there is an alternative way
Informational Influence
An influence to accept information from another as evidence about reality
- > when uncertain
- > effective when causing true cognitive change
normative influence
An influence to conform to the positive expectation of others, to gain social approval or to avoid social disapproval
-> when belief that group has power to reward or punish us
Referent informational influence
Pressure to conform to a group norm that defines oneself as a group member
(link to social identity theory)
meta-contrast principle
The prototype of a group is that position within the group that has the largest ratio of ‘differences to ingroup positions’ to ‘differences to outgroup positions
conformity effect
self-categorisation assimilates our thoughts, feelings and behaviour to the group norm and act accordingly
