Week 12 - social influence

Question 1

What is the definition of social norms

Answer 1

’’ Attitudinal and behavioural uniformities that define group membership, and differentiate between groups’’
- accepted ways to think, feel, act
- norms form in face-to-face interacting groups when group members observe each other’s attitudes and behaviours

Question 2

What influence do norms have?

Answer 2

• Norms have a powerful influence on our behaviour and Can lead to public or private conformity
• People in power have an outsized influence on both group norms and directly on our behaviour
• BUT…. minorities can and do have an influence on our attitudes and behaviour.

Question 3

What are everyday examples of social influence

Answer 3

• TV shows and studio audience reactions
• TV ads with ‘‘average’’ people testimonials
• Street-musician tip-jars

Question 4

What was Sherifs (1936) experiment?

Answer 4

Sherif first had participants sit alone in a darkroom and focus on a point of light
- the light appeared to move erractically then disappear
- each time the light re-appeared. the participants were asked how far it moved
- estimates differed greatly from participant to participant
- the light did not move at all; an optical illusion called the autokinetic effect.
- later participants were asked to do more trials in groups of 2,3, and 4

RESULTS: as group size increased, participants coverged more to groups estimate.

Question 5

What was ASCH experiment (1951, 1956)

Answer 5

• line judgement task, 1 participant and 6 confederates.
• Confederated purposely gave incorrect responses in 12 out of 18 trials.

RESULTS: 75% made atleast 1 conforming response; overall 32% conformity on trials (1951 original study)

Question 6

what is the definition of conformity?

Answer 6

’’ the convergence of individuals thoughts, feelings, or behaviour towards a social norm ‘’

Question 7

What increases the likelihood of conformity?

Answer 7

• a group has atleast 3 members
• culture stresses respect for social norms
• admiration of a group’s status
• individuals feel incompetent or insecure
• a group is unanimous

Question 8

what is public vs. private conformity

Answer 8

public: overt behaviour consistent with social norms that are not privately accepted
private: private acceptance of social norms

private conformity more likely in the sherif experiment

Question 9

what is the difference between normative influence and informational influence?

Answer 9

NORMATIVE INFLUENCE: influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or to avoid disapproval from others

INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE: influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others opinions about reality

Question 10

how does IMPORTANCE affect informational influence?

Baron, et al. (1996)

Answer 10

Low task importance condition: no difference in % of conformity to confederates wrong answers.

High task importance: greater % of conformity when the task is difficult

Question 11

Latane and Darley (1968) had smoke pour into a room where participants were completing questionnaires - what were the results?

Answer 11

• when alone, participants sought help
• when 2 confederates were present, and did not react to the smoke, the participants did nothing as well.

Question 12

what are the 2 possible reasons why?

Answer 12

AUDIENCE INHIBITION: the fear of appearing foolish in front of others.

PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE: Bystanders’ assuming that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else looks concerned.

both related to social influence

Question 13

What were the reasons for lack of witness help in the Kitty Genovese case?

Answer 13

BYSTANDER EFFECT: the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help.

DIFFUSION OF RESPONSIBILITY: when other observers are present, responsibility is divided and each person feels less responsible for helping than when alone.

Question 14

What is obedience to authority?

Answer 14

Group norms can evolve without a leader,often people in a position of power can have a direct influence on behaviour.

• Claim that individuals enter an ‘‘agentic state’’

Question 15

What is an agentic state?

Answer 15

• a psychological state where someone gives up their autonomy and moral responsibility to an authority figure.
• In this state, the person acts as an agent of the authority figure, carrying out their commands even if it goes against their own morals.

Question 16

What is MINORITY SOCIAL INFULENCE?

Answer 16

A form of social influence where a persuasive minority exerts pressure to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours of the majority.

Question 17

What did Moscovici’s study find?

Moscovici et al. (1969) had 4 participants & 2
confederates judge the color of unambiguously blue
slides in 36 trials

Answer 17

• When confederates insisted that all slides were
  green, a significant number of participants agreed.
• When confederates deemed only 24 of 36 slides to be green, no influence was observed

Question 18

Exposure to minority views promotes systematic processing - what is that?

Answer 18

• Remember non-obvious points made by minority more than the same points by majority
• U.S. Supreme Court decisions show higher levels
  of cognitive complexity and sophistication when a
  minority dissents (Gruenfeld, 1995)

Question 19

Minorities must offer an alternative consensus

Answer 19

• Minority must remain consistent over time, but not to the point of seeming rigid or dogmatic
• the minority should show a degree of commitment - principle and sacrifice !

Question 20

Give an example of successful minority influence involving flexbility

Answer 20

• A mock jury with 3 naïve participants and 1 confederate
• Task: Decide how much compensation to award to an
  accident victim
• The confederate was instructed to suggest a much lower
  sum than the others
• When the confederate made a small increase in their
  suggestion, the majority shifted their position
• When the confederate was inflexible, then the others were less willing to change

Question 21

What is the Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (Brewner, 2003)

Answer 21

People strive to maintain an optimal balance of inclusion and distinctiveness within and between social groups
- in other words, people dont like being the same as everyone else
- they want to stand out… to some extent
- want to be like the ‘cool kids’
- people seek out groups, including thosed defined by attitudes, that meet both belongingness needs as well as the need to be distinct from the mainstream.

This can account for evolving
fashion and media trends, and
changing attitudes in the
population