Social influence key terms list Flashcards
Agentic shift
People may move from being in a state where they take personal responsibility for their actions to a state where they believe they are acting on behalf of an authority figure.
Agentic state
A state where people believe they are acting on behalf go an authority figure.
Augmentation principle
If a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and taken more seriously by others.
Authoritarian personality
Aggressive feelings towards people who violate conventional norms.
Authoritarian submission
A personality type characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belied in absolute obedience or submission to authority.
Autonomous submission
An uncritical submission to legitimate authorities.
Autonomous state
A state where people take responsibility for their actions.
Boomerang effect
An unintended consequence of social norms interventions where people adopt the opposing position to that intended.
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.
Compliance
Going along with others to gain their approval or avoid their disapproval. There is no change in the person’s underlying attitude, only their public behaviour.
Confederate
An individual in a study who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to bah by the investigator.
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 the other members of the reference group.
Consistency
Minority influence is effective provided there is consistency in the expressed position over time and agreement among different members of the minority.
Conventionalism
An adherence to conventional norms and values.
Deception
This occurs when a participant is not told the true aims of a study. Thus, the participant cannot truly give informed consent.
Demand characteristics
Cues that makes participants aware of what the researcher expects to find to how participants are expected to behave.
Dispositional explanation
An explanation of behaviour that emphasises the individuals own personal characteristics rather than situational influences within the environment.
Dissent
Holding an opposing view to that of the majority.
Dogmatic
Refusing to consider that other options might also be justified.
Ecological validity
A form of external validity . The ability to generalise a research effect beyond the particular setting in which it demonstrated to other settings.
Externality
Individuals who tend to believe that their behaviour and experience is caused by events outside their control.
F scale
Also known as the ‘California F scale’ or ‘Fascism scale’ the F scale was developed in California as a measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies.
Flexibility
A willingness to compromise then expressing a position.
Historical validity
The extent to which a research finding can be generalised over time.
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.
Informational social influence
Is a form of influence, which is the result of a desire to be right- looking to others as a way of gaining evidence about reality.
Informed consent
In terms of ethics, participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of a study and their role in it. This is necessary in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to participate.
Internalisation
Going along with others because we accept their point of view. This is a result of examining the group’s position, which may lead to validation of our own views, or acceptance of the group’s view, both in public and in private.
Internality
Individuals who tend to believe that they are responsible for their behaviour and experience rather than externally; forces.
Legitimate authority
A person or organisation who has been given command through legislation or general agreement.
Locus of control
An aspect go our personality. People differ in their beliefs about whether the outcome’s of their actions are dependent on what they do or events outside their personal control.
McCarthyism
The practice of making accusations of disobidience and treason without proper regard for evidence, based on the activities of American Senator McCarthy in the 1950’s.
Meta-analysis
A researcher looks at the findings from a number of different studies in order to reach a general conclusion about a particular hypothesis.
Minority influence
A form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviour due to the actions of one or a few people.
Normative social influence
The result of wanting to be liked and be accepted as part of a group by following its norms.
Obedience to authority
A type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct order. There is also the implication. that the person receiving the order is made to respond in a way the would not have done without the order.
Protection from harm
During a research study, participants should not experience negative physical effects, such as physical injury, nor physiological effects, such as lowered self-esteem or embarrassment.
Right-wing authoritarianism
A cluster of personality variables that are associated with a right-wing attitude to life.
Self-efficacy
A persons belief that they can perform competently in a given situation.
Social change
Occurs when a society as a whole adopts a new belief or behaviour, which then becomes accepted as the norm.
Snowball effect
Minority influence initially has a relatively small effect but this then spreads more widely as more and more people consider the issues being promoted.
