Social Influence Key Terms Flashcards
Compliance
When an individual accepts influence because they hope to achieve a favourable reaction from those around them. An attitude or behaviour is adopted not because of its content, but because of the rewards or approval associated with its adoption.
Conformity
A form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position and leads to compliance with that position. It is the tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group.
Identification
A form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group.
Internalisation
When an individual accepts influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour proposed is consistent with their own value system.
Informational Social Influence
A form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right - looking to others as a way of gaining evidence and information about reality.
Normative Social Influence
A form of influence whereby an individual conforms with the expectations of the majority in order to gain approval or to avoid social disapproval (compliance).
Social Roles
The behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a given social position or status.
Agentic State
When a person sees themself as an agent for carrying out another person’s wishes.
Legitimate Authority
A person who’s perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation.
Authoritarian Personality
A distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority.
Dispositional
Explanations of behaviours emphasise them being caused by an individual’s own personal characteristics rather than situational influences within the environment.
F-scale
Also known as the ‘California F scale’ or the ‘Fascism scale’, the F scale was developed in California in 1947 as a measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies.
Right-wing Authoritarianism
A cluster of personality variables (conventionalism, authority submission and authoritarian aggression) that are associated with a ‘right-wing’ attitude to life.
Externality
Individuals who tend to believe that their behaviour and experience is caused by events outside their control.
Internality
Individuals who tend to believe that they are responsible for their behaviour and experience rather than external forces.
Locus of Control
People differ in their beliefs about whether the outcomes of their actions are dependent on what they do (internal) or on events outside their personal control (external).
Social Support
The perception that an individual has assistance available from other people and that they’re part of a supportive network.
Commitment
The degree to which members of a minority are dedicated to a particular cause or activity. The greater the perceived commitment, the greater the influence.
Consistency
Minority influence is effective provided there is stability in the expressed position over time and agreement among different members of the minority.
Flexibility
A willingness to be flexible and to compromise when expressing a position.
Minority Influence
A form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours as a result of their exposure to a persuasive minority.
Social Change
When a society or section of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm.
Social Norms Interventions
These attempt to correct misperceptions of the normative behaviour of peers in an attempt to change the risky behaviour of a target population.
