Social Influence Key Words Flashcards
Conformity
A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a group of people
Internalisation
A deep type of conformity where we take on the majority view because we accept it as correct . It leads to a permanent change in behaviour even when the group is absent
Identification
A moderate type of conformity where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be a part of it. But, we don’t necessarily agree with everything
Compliance
A superficial and temporary type of conformity where we outwardly go along with the majority view, but privately we disagree with it. The change in our behaviour only lasts as long as the group is monitoring us.
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
An explanation of conformity that says that we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be correct as well. This may lead to internalisation.
Normative Social Inflence (NSI)
An explanation for conformity that says that we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to be accepted, gain social approval and be liked. This may lead to compliance.
nAffiliators
People who have a need for affiliation, i.e. assosciation with others; preferring the company of others
Group Size
Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. Conformity increased with group size, but only up to a point, levelling off when the majority was greater than three.
Unanimity
The extent to which all the members of a group agree. In Asch’s studies, the majority was unanimous when all the confederates selected the same comparison line. This produced the greatest degree of conformity in the naïve participants.
Task difficulty
Asch’s line-judging task is more difficult when it becomes harder to work out the correct answer. Conformity increases because the naïve participants assume that the majority is more likely to be right.
Social roles
The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. Everyday examples include parent, child, student, passenger and so on. These are accomplished by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role, for example caring, obedient, industrious etc.
Obedience
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.
Two-process theory
Used to describe the two processes that explain a subject including conformity and phobias
Confederate
An individual in an experiment who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by the researcher
Social norms
Something that is standard, usual or typical of a group
Demand charcateristics
Any cue from the researcher or the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation
Individualist culture
A culture where people are more concerned about themselves than their social group
Collectivist culture
Where the social group is seen as more important than the individual
Stereotypes
A perception of an individual in terms of some readily available feature, such as their group membership or physical attractiveness, rather than their personal attributes
Social Identity Theory
A theory that suggests your behaviour is motivated by your social identity. Social identity is determined by the various social groups which you belong to
Situational Variables
In his research Milgram identified several factors that he believed influenced the level of obedience shown by participants. They are all related to the external circumstances rather than to the personalities of the people involved, and include proximity, location and uniform.
Proximity
The physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to. Also refers to the physical closeness of the teacher to the victim (learner) in Milgram’s studies.
Location
The place where and order is issued. The relevant factor that influences obedience is the status or prestige associated with the location.
Uniform
People in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of their authority, for example police officers and judges. This indicated to the rest of us who is entitled to expect our obedience.
Cross-cultural research
A kind of natural experiment where the IV is different cultural practices and the DV is a behaviour
Agentic State
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves o be acting for an authority figure, i.e. as their agent. This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure.
Autonomous State
Being aware of the consequences of one’s own actions and therefore taking voluntary control of one’s own behaviour. This explains why some individuals act independently rather than obediently,
Legitimacy of Authority
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy.
Agentic shift
Changing from being in an autonomous state to being in an agentic state i.e. moving from taking personal responsibility for one’s actions to believing one is acting on behalf of an authority figure
Binding Factors
Aspects of a situation that allow a person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and therefore reduce the ‘moral strain’
Social Hierarchy
A structure with a few people at the top having power over those at the lower levels of the structure
Dispositional explanation
Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality (i.e. their disposition). Such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
Authoritarian Personality
A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.
Anti-Semitism
Hatred or discrimination of Jews as a religious or cultural group
Cognitive Style
An individual’s characteristic way of thinking
Displaced/Displacement
A form of ego defense where the individual unconsciously redirects the threatening emotion from the person or thing that has caused it onto a third party
Acquiescence bias
Tendency for a person to respond to any questionnaire/interview item with agreement regardless of the actual content
Resistance to social influence
Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.
Social Support
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help other to do the same. These people acts as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.
Locus of Control (LOC)
Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in or lives.
Internals (LOC)
Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them (internal locus of control).
Externals (LOC)
Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces (external locus of control).
Minority Influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just one person) persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours.
Commitment
Minority influence is more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position, for example, by making personal sacrifices. This is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self-interest. This is called the Augmentation Principle.
Flexibility
Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influence is more effective is the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.
Consistency
Minority influence is most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority. It’s effective because it draws attention to the minority view.
Synchronic Consistency
Where the individuals that form the minority are all saying the same thing
Diachronic Consistency
Where the whole minority group have been saying the same thing for a long time
Snowball Effect
A process that starts from an initial state of small significance and increasingly becomes larger, such as starting with only a small group of people supporting an idea and gradually more and more people are supportive
Augmentation Principle
If a person performs an action where there are known constraints, their motive for acting must be stronger
Meta-analysis
Refers to the process of combining results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view. This may be quantitative and/or qualitative
Social Influence
The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours - includes conformity, obedience and minority influence.
Social Change
This occurs when whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new beliefs and ways of doing things. Examples include accepting that the Earth orbits the sun, women’s suffrage, gay rights and environmental issues.
Social Cryptomnesia
When social change occurs, the new attitude becomes an integral part of the society’s culture and the source of the minority influence that led to it is often forgotten
