Week 6-Social Influence Flashcards
When Adolf Eichmann was on trial he said “I never did anything, great or small, without obtaining in advance express instructions from Adolf Hitler or any of my superiors”. According to Milgram he can be said to be …
In an agentic state
Deutsch & Gerard (1955) distinguished between normative influence and informational influence, concluding…
Both normative and informational influence conformity rates…
Conformity Bias
The tendency to assume that minorities always conform to majorities
What is social influence?
The process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.
Social influence can be obvious and explicit-E.g., persuasion, making requests, exerting authority
Social influence can be subtle-conformity to the implied standards (norms) of society or specific social groups
What are the DIFFERENT TYPES of social influence?
Compliance/obedience-change that goes against one’s own beliefs (i.e., public behavioural change not accompanied by private attitude change)
Conformity-change that restructures one’s underlying beliefs (i.e., public behavioural change that is accompanied by private attitude change)
Minority influence-Process whereby numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority
Why are Classic experiments important?
1) Because they capture the essence of what social psychology is.
2) Because they provide some of the most interesting, powerful and challenging findings in the field.
3) Because they seem particularly (and alarmingly) relevant to our everyday lives.
4) Because as a result of the above they demand some satisfactory theoretical analysis (explanation).
Milgram’s Obedience to Authority (1963)
People seem alarmingly willing to go against their own beliefs and harm another when instructed to by an authority (Milgram).
After WW2 and Holocaust- How do ordinary people involve in evil actions. Dark side of human nature
2/3 of participants went all the way- shocking people. CONFORMITY
AGENTIC STATE-Not taking responsibility for blaming it on the experimenter.
PROXIMITY
Milgram assigned people to the role of “teacher” in a “learning experiment.”
The “teacher” to administer electric shocks to a “learner” in an adjacent room.
Shock intensity increased at each mistake, from 15 to 450 volts (marked on the machine as “danger: severe shock”).
Only individualism can resist this
Sherif- The autokinetic effect
People use the opinions of others as a guide to reality in situations that are ambiguous and uncertain. (Sherif)
Subtle forms of social influence
Asked participants to estimate how far the light moved on several trials:
Estimates converged on an idiosyncratic value (typical to that individual).
Then asked people to estimate how far the light moved in groups of 2 or 3,
Estimates converged on a normative value (typical to that group).
, would people be less influenced if they could objectively measure movement?
Asch’s conformity experiment
But, even in situations that are clear and certain, social pressures can produce conformity to the majority. (Asch)
Which line is longer? Conforming to the majority opinion.
On 12 different occasions, the confederates unanimously give what is clearly the wrong answer.
When asked their own opinion, 75% of participants follow the group and give the wrong answer, at least once. EFFECTIVE GROUP PRESSURE LEADING TO DOUBT; FEAR OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION; CHANGE OF PERCEPTION.
Unanimity- everyone agrees, essential for conformity.
Anonymity- Conformity reduces
Who conforms? (Asch experiment)
Women more likely to conform.
Average rate of conformity was 33%, thus there is a range of people not conforming
Individual differences: People are more likely to conform when they have low self-esteem, high need for social support, a need for self-control. Low IQ, high anxiety.
Cultural norms: Conformity is less prevalent in individualistic cultures (US, Europe; 25.3%) and more prevalent in inter-dependent/ collectivistic cultures (Asia, South-America; 37.1%)
Situational factors: Group unanimity, group size, deviants
Theories of Social Influence: Normative and Informational Influence (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955)
Social influence can occur via two distinct and qualitatively different paths:
-Informational influence is influence to achieve accurate perceptions - scientific truths(e.g., Sherif)
People want to be right
- Normative influence is influence to gain approval and avoid rejection (e.g., Asch)-social
- People want to be liked
Stimuli and motive
People are influenced by others because they depend on them for information that removes ambiguity or because they need social approval and acceptance (dual-process dependency model of social influence)
Why do people conform?
Want approval and avoid rejection
Turner’s self-categorization theory (single process)
Informational Influence
According to Turner’s self-categorization theory, group memberships are not necessarily external influences
The influence of social groups is informational and normative at the same time:
-The values and standards of our group tell us what is right and wrong; correct and incorrect
-Values of self-defining groups become internal standards and guide thought and action from within
Groups are part of the self and provide people with social identity, a sense of who they are and what that means:
1) Self-categorization
2) Discovering ingroup stereotypes
3) Cognitively represent ingroup norms
4) Self Stereotyping
5) Ingroup normative behaviour
“The wrong answer is what we do here”
Studies have demonstrated that social influence is most likely when the source and target share a salient group membership (group of students)
Ingroup sources are valid sources of information and influence without the need for surveillance (i.e., conformity)
Outgroup sources can be effective with power/surveillance (i.e., obedience)
Without these outgroup sources typically ineffective or create reactance
MINORITY INFLUENCE
Suffragette movement; Gandhi; MLK.
Many times minorities fail, at personal cost.
Theories of minority influence-Serge Moscovici (1969) criticized “conformity bias”
- Individuals have agency, and individuals can influence large majorities.
- Conflict, innovation and change are also important features of society
Moscivici (1980) developed a dual-process model to account for this difference:
Majority influence—> direct public compliance
People accept what the majority has to say because…
little or no private attitude change
short-term change
Minority influence—-> Indirect, latent private change
People have to think about the minority and try to understand them more enduring occurs through the process of conversion.
CONSISTENCY (Disrupts majority norm)
Conversion effect- internal effect,Maas and Clark (1983): public views mirror majority but private views reflect own opinions-pro and against gay rights
Convergent-divergent theory: Same answer different kinds of social change.
