Social Influence – Types of Influence

Question 1

Psychological Reactance

Answer 1

Psychological reactance occurs when individuals feel their freedom is threatened and respond by resisting or opposing the pressure, often by doing the opposite of what is requested.

Question 2

Obedience to Authority

Answer 2

Milgram’s research on obedience to authority found that many individuals would deliver potentially harmful electric shocks to others when ordered to do so by an authority figure, demonstrating the power of situational influences on behavior.

Question 3

Conformity to Group Norms

Answer 3

Sherif and Asch’s research on conformity showed that individuals often conform to group norms, even when those norms are clearly wrong, due to informational and normative influence.

Question 4

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Answer 4

A compliance tactic involving making a small request followed by a larger request, leveraging the principle of consistency to increase compliance.

Question 5

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Answer 5

A compliance tactic involving making a large request, which is likely to be refused, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request, leveraging perceptual contrast and the norm of reciprocity to increase compliance.