Social Influence: Key Terms + Points Flashcards
Social Influence
the process by which an individuals attitudes, beliefs or behaviour are modified by the presence or action of others
Conformity
yielding to group pressure or the tendency to change what we do, think or say in response to the influence of others, the pressure to conform can be real or imagined
Majority Influence
an individual is said to conform if they choose a course of action that is favoured by majority of other group members or is considered socially acceptable
3 Variables Affecting Conformity
group size, unanimity, task difficulty
3 Types of Conformity, Kelman (1958)
compliance, identification, internalisation
Compliance
- publicly conforming to behaviour or views of group but privately maintaining ones own views
- temporary
- shallowest type
Identification
- adopting views or behaviour of group both publicly and privately because you value membership of group
- new attitudes and behaviours are temporary and not maintained on leaving group
Internalisation
- conversion or true change of private views to match those of the group
- new attitudes aren’t dependent on presence of group
- deepest type
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
- based on desire to be right
- cognitive process
- look to others we believe to be correct - particularly in novel or ambiguous situations
- links to identification or internalisation
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
- based on desire to be liked
- emotional process
- conform becuase we think others will approve of us so we can be accepted
- links to compliance
Why do we conform?
ISI: when we move from one group to another and experience situational ambiguity
NSI: according to Latames (1981) social impact theory, when group is important to us and when we spend a lot of time with it
Obedience
the result of social influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure, it’s assumed that without such an order the person wouldn’t have acted in this way, motivated by fear of punishment or belief in the legitimacy of authority
Situational Variables
related to external circumstances rather than the personalities of the people involved
3 Situational Variables that Affect Obedience
1) location
2) proximity
3) uniform
How Location Affects Obedience
- the relevant factor that influences obedience is the status or prestige associated with the location
- variation of Milgram: run-down office instead of lab in university
- obedience dropped to 47.5%
How Proximity Affects Obedience
- variation of Milgram: teacher and learner in same room instead of adjoining rooms
- obedience dropped to 40%
How Uniform Affects Obedience
- Bickman (1974) found that participants were more likely to obey experimenter dressed as a guard than milkman or civilian
- Bushman (1988) found 72% obeyed “police”
Situational Explanations
look at external reasons for a behaviour eg environment
2 Situatoinal Explanations for Obedience
1) agentic shift
2) legitimacy of authority
Agency Theory
- states people operate on 2 levels: autonomous state (behaving voluntarily and aware of consequences of actions) and agentic state (see themselves as agents of others and not responsible for their actions)
- obedience due to move from autonomous to agentic (agentic shift)
- occurs in hierachal social systems where individuals act as agents on behalf of those with perceived higher ranks than themselves
- remain in agentic due to binding factors: fear of appearing rude or arrogant, fear of increasin anxiety levels
Research to Support and Refute Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority
- Milgram (1963): supports, teacher autonomous at start but became agent of experimenter, experimenter above them in social hierachy, wore uniform
- Hofling et al (1966): supports, nurses became agents of doctor, doctors above them in social hierachy
- Rank and Jacobson (1977): refutes, 16/18 remained in autonomous state, didn’t obey those above them in hierachy
Legitimacy of Authority
- obey as we feel obligated to those in power
- respect credentials and assume they know what they’re doing
- legitimate social power is held by an authority figure whose role is defined by society
- usually gives person in authority right to exert control over behaviour of others who usually accept it
- legitimacy increased by visible signs of authority eg uniform
Disposititonal Explanations
look for internal reasons for behaviour eg personaluty characteristics
Dispositional Explanation for Obedience
authoritarian personality