social influences 7 Flashcards
What is social influence?
when, why and how our attitude/ behaviour is influenced by the presence of others
What is compliance?
behaviour change in response to an implied social norm (without attitude change)
What is conformity?
attitude or behaviour change in response to an implied social norm
What is obedience?
attitude or behaviour change in response to a direct or explicit order
What is reward power?
the ability to give or promise rewards for compliance
What is coercive power?
the ability to give or threaten punishment for non-compliance
What is interntional power?
the target’s belief that the influencer has more info than oneself
What is expert power?
the target’s belief that the influencer has generally greater expertise and knowledge than oneself
What is legitimate power?
the target’s belief that the influencer is authorised by a recognised power structure to command and make decisions
What is referent power?
identification with, attraction to, or respect for the source of influence
What is expert power (Bochner and Insko, 1966)?
more accepting of info about sleep when the info came from a nobel prize winning physiologist than from a less prestigious source
What is Milgram’s obedience to authority, 1963, study?
p’s had to shock learner with different levels of volts if they got the answer wrong
p’s though the c was a real p but they were an actor
65% obeyed to the end
- cultural norm to obey authority- people are generally rewarded for obeying authority and expect authority figures to be trustworthy and legitimate
- gradual change in instructions
-shift in agency
- people no longer regard themselves as personally responsible
determinants of obedience: gender differences, status of context, status of experimenter (lab coat), proximity, social support
ethical legacy: they believed they were really giving shocks, briefed, 83.7% were glad to have taken part
How do groups come to have what are apparently consensual and homogenised beliefs?
sherif (1935) norm development, autokinetic effect, the development of a social norm, norms as group attitudes, role of uncertainty
What did Postmes, Spears and Lea 2002 research?
similar effect for attitides towards legalization of drugs, monarchy, research on homosexuality
provided you could relate to other p’s
What did Sherif’s research find?
-norms as group attitudes- individual’s attitudes can change and adapt to form a set of beliefs that define a group. group attitudes= social norms
-role of uncertainty- p’s were uncertain. when uncertain other people’s judgements are useful to help us be accurate.. the majority is right.
What is Asch’s, 1951 conformity experiment?
when private and public views diverge
-explaining conformity- informational vs normative influence
- factors influencing conformity- group cohesiveness, group size, social support
- moderators of conformity- self confidence, task difficulty, cultural norms
What is the conformity Asch experiment?
- p’s required to call out the letter corresponding to the line that was equal in length to the standard line
-18 judgements
-p was always 7th of 8 p’s with the other 7 people, confederates - first 2 judgements, confederates choose the correct line but unanimously lie in 12 of the remaining 16 trials
What are the results of Asch, 1951 experiment?
- when on their own, only 1% p’s made errors
- 24% remained independent throughout with the group norm not changing their answer
- 76% of p’s conformed on at least one trial
- 50% conformed on 6 trials and 5% on all trials
when public and private views diverge: - factors influencing conformity- group cohesiveness, group size, social support
-moderators of conformity- self confidence, task difficulty, cultural norms
What did Deutsch and Gerard, 1955 research?
suggested two sources of social influence that could account for convergence on the group norm in both Asch and Sherif experiments
-informational influence: conformity to group norm occurs as a way of gaining info
- normative influence: conformity to group norms occur due to desire to gain acceptance and praise and avoid exclusion
both produce different types of conformity
What is the influence of gender in social conformity?
when a task is male stereotypical more women conform- vice versa
What did Allen, 1975 research?
- when the single p is a singular minority compliance is 33%
- when there is a correct supporter as confederate compliance drops to 5.5%
What did Moscovivi et al, 1969 research?
-minority influence
- consistency and confidence
-how minorities exert influence
- social comparisons
- divergent thinking
a minority can shift the views of the majority if they are consistent and confident
4 real p’s , 2 confederates
Asch’s experiment would lead us to think the minority, the confederates, would have very little influence on the majority, the p’s
a minority can shift the views of the majority if they are consistent and confident
the minority are going against the majority and therefore getting a hard time for it and foregoing informational advantages of going along with the consensus… they must know something we don’t
consistency and confidence is key to being credible
minorities who are consistent and confident will encourage majorities to think and change. however majority still subject to normative influence so only private conformity
What did Nemeth, 1986 research?
convergent- divergent thinking
- minorities encourage more cognitive processing= better judgement
-broader range of thoughts
- question the majority view
What did Latane, 1981 research?
attempt to explain conformity and obedience in terms of:
-number= more people/ sources is more impact
-strength= status, expertise, power lead to more impact
-immediacy= closer in time and space lead to more impact
