W1 - Influence

Question 1

what is social influence?

Answer 1

influence of a person’s attitude or behaviour by another person / persons

• it has a wide variety of forms
• obedience/ conformity/ social loafing
• think of Milgram’s shock experiment w/ authority

Question 2

What does Milgram’s experiment and studies of obedience show?

Answer 2

how willing humans are to follow orders of those in authority

Question 3

How does obedience link to social influence

Answer 3

we can be influenced to do things we know are wrong due to a form of social pressure

social influence can take the form of conformity - such as the bystander effect (doing nothing because no one else is doing smth)

social influence in the form of obedience, conformity or bystander effect are examples of automatic social influence

Question 4

what is automatic social influence

Answer 4

when people are influenced by others automatically they are not aware it is happening

aka implicit social influence

usually take a long amount of time to change with the forming of new habits

Question 5

what is controlled social influence

Answer 5

this is the opposite of automatic

individuals are aware of the influence attempt and will pay attention to the message

aka explicit social influence

verbalised explicit attitudes can change with persuasion or education

Question 6

what is the dual process model

Answer 6

this is both automatic and controlled model coming together

this approach forms the basis of the nudge theory

Question 7

what is the nudge theory

Answer 7

this approach proposes that automatic decisions can be systematically triggered to produce certain outcomes.

nudges are small changes in environment that are easy and inexpensive to implement and can influence behaviour in a predictable way

(look at photo)

Question 8

linking influence to OD

Answer 8

OD is about increasing effectiveness through leveraging human capital in the company

a key part of leveraging human capital is through influence

it is about trying to change employees behaviour and attitudes to align with the goals of the company

from day one an employee will be influenced by those around them

Question 9

leaders role effects influence

Answer 9

leaders want to encourage followers to act in a way that benefits them and the company

effective ethical leadership includes role modelling ethical behaviour and acting with respect and care for others

research shows that if a leader is viewed as moral employees are more likely to behave ethically themselves

Question 10

team collaboration effects influence

Answer 10

working with others will influence employees

social norms are a key factor of influence - provide clues on what behaviour is acceptable or not (if everybody is doing it I can too)

may conform to social norms of the workplace

research shows that other workers acting unethically makes unethical decisions more likely

Question 11

what is TPB model?

Answer 11

it is a model for predicting behaviour
(look at diagram)

starts with
- definition of the behaviour in interest
- the behaviours target
- action involved
- context in which it occurs
- time frame

once the behaviour has been defined the model can be used to predict behaviour using three types of belief that affect intention:
- behavioural beliefs
- normative beliefs
- control beliefs

Question 12

behavioural intention / belief

Answer 12

this is the intention to perform the behaviour

stronger the intention the more likely the behaviour will follow

many reasons can prevent people from acting on intentions
- money
- time
- resources

the greater the individuals control over their behaviour the more likely it is that the intention will be carried out

Question 13

predictors of intentions

Answer 13

behavioural intentions are determined by three factors
- attitude toward the behaviour
- subjective norm concerning the behaviour
- perceived behavioural control

Question 14

attitudes towards the behaviour

Answer 14

refers to the degree to which a person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of the behaviour of interest

performing the behaviour will come out with a positive or negative outcome which produce a positive or negative attitude towards the behaviour

Question 15

subjective norm

Answer 15

whether most people approve or disapprove of the behaviour

2 types of subjective norm:
- injunctive
- descriptive

injunctive is the approval or disapproval from a close individual to perform the behaviour interest

descriptive are behaviours likely to be performed by themselves

Question 16

perceived behavioural control

Answer 16

a persons perception of how easy or difficult performing the behaviour will be

control factors include:
- skills
- time
- money

Question 17

how can interventions motivate individuals to engage in the desired behaviour

Answer 17

1. can influence behavioural or normative beliefs leading to more favourable attitude towards the behaviour, increasing motive
2. can increase perceived behavioural control and elevate the effects of attitude towards the behaviour
3. can change the importance of attitude and subjective norm

Question 18

why do people conform?

Answer 18

• to fit in and be liked (normative influence)
• desire to be right and have lack of knowledge (informational influence)

Question 18

negatives of conformity in the workplace

Answer 18

• low levels of creativity (everyones doing the same thing)
• can lead to unethical or negative behaviours at work (copy other behaviours)

Question 19

obedience in the workplace

Answer 19

• workers tend to obey those who have authority
• leaders can influence by using their positional power to gain obedience

(think zimbardo and prison)

Question 20

outcomes of obedience in authority

Answer 20

• resistance from those who don’t want to comply with new behaviours (reactance theory - when someones freedom is of high importance they will react greater)
• compliance from those who don’t want to do behaviour but they do
• commitment from those who agree but also support the behaviour

Question 21

persuasion in the organisation

Answer 21

persuasion is the process where a person’s attitudes are influences by communications from others

underlying mechanisms used in persuasion:
- reciprocity - people are obliged to give back what they have received (David Strohmetz et al, 2002 - left candies at a diner the more candies the more the tips increased)

• scarcity - people want more of the things they get less of - providing access to information that limited ppl know about creates a sense of exclusiveness which can be seen as a favour to an individual
• authority - people follow the lead of a credible and knowledgable individual
• consistency - people feel pressure to be consistent within their own words and actions (Freedman & Fraser 1966 - people were more likely to put up billboards in their gardens if they had shown their support for the drive safely campaign the week before - the initial commitment to he cause)

Question 22

Druckman (2022) persuasion framework

Answer 22

1. Actors - refer to the people involved, either speakers or receivers (direct/indirect/motivation/ attitudes)
2. treatments - refer to the message itself and includes the topic, the message content and the medium
3. outcomes - refer to the effects that the persuasion attempt has which includes change sin attitudes, behaviour and emotion
4. settings - refers to the context in which a message is delivered, involving many aspects such as space, time, culture, competition

Question 23

interpersonal influence tactics

Answer 23

categorised in to hard and soft tactics

hard tactics threaten the autonomy of the target - get someone to do smth by ‘pushing’ them in that direction
- controlling and coercive

soft tactics use integration and rationality they share large amounts of freedom and the target is allowed to choose whether they want to comply

• soft tactics are more effective