Social Influence Week 6 Lecture

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards from the Week 6 lecture on Social Influence, covering audience effects, conformity, compliance, power, obedience, and leadership theories.

Audience Effects

How the presence of others can change an individual’s performance or behaviour.

Triplett (1898)

Conducted the very first studies in social psychology, finding that cyclists ride faster when racing others than when racing alone against the clock.

Social facilitation

An improvement in performance in the presence of others compared to being alone; typically occurs with easy, simple, or well-learned tasks.

Social inhibition

A deterioration in performance in the presence of others; typically occurs with difficult, complex, or poorly-learned tasks.

Drive Theory (Zajonc, 1965)

The theory that the presence of an audience leads to arousal, which increases the tendency to produce a dominant response.

Dominant response

The most likely response to occur; in Drive Theory, its boost leads to correct performance in easy tasks but incorrect performance in difficult tasks.

Evaluation Apprehension Theory (Cottrell, 1972)

The assertion that an audience produces physiological arousal because it creates a feeling that one is being socially evaluated or judged.

Watching eyes effect

The phenomenon where pictures of eyes remind people others may be watching, eliciting socially desirable and prosocial behaviours like reducing littering or theft.

Social Learning Theory

The theory that we learn by observing others (models), which serves as a guide for action.

Necessary conditions for social learning

Four steps required to learn by observation: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation.

Vicarious learning

Learning about rewards and punishment through observing the outcomes of others' behaviours.

Norms

Social rules that govern and guide how we should think, feel, and behave in a given context, usually unspoken.

Conformity

A change in thoughts, feelings, and behaviour to be in line with group norms.

Asch’s Line Study (1951)

A study where $76\%$ of participants conformed to an incorrect group answer at least once during critical trials involving length comparison.

Informational influence

Conforming because we believe others have correct information and know better, often occurring under conditions of subjective uncertainty.

Normative influence

Conforming to be liked, accepted, or to avoid disapproval, even if it goes against what we believe to be correct.

Descriptive norms

Perceptions of what people actually do or how others typically behave in a given context.

Injunctive norms

Perceptions of what ought to be done or how we believe others want and expect us to behave.

Compliance

A favourable response to a request or coercion from others.

Power

A person’s capacity or ability to influence others, which determines the types of social influence they can exert.

Reward power

Power derived from the requester's capacity to reward the social target for compliance.

Coercive power

Power derived from the requester's capacity to punish for non-compliance.

Legitimate power

Power authorized by a recognized power structure, such as a lecturer or police officer, to command and make decisions.

Expert power

Power resulting from the requester having greater expertise and specialized skills than others.

Informational power

Power based on the requester possessing important or sensitive information others want or want protected.

Connection power

Power based on the requester’s links to influential or important people.

Referent power

Power based on others identifying with, liking, or respecting the requester.

Social Commitment

The tendency to remain consistent with statements or promises made in front of others to avoid perceived social pressure or accusations of hypocrisy.

Obedience

Performing an action under the direct request or order of an authority figure.

Milgram’s Obedience Study (1963)

A study finding that $65\%$ of participants administered the maximum, potentially fatal shock of $450V$ when ordered by an authority figure.

Agentic shift

Moving from an autonomous state to an agentic state where the individual perceives the authority figure as responsible for their actions.

Engaged-followership

Willingness to perform unpleasant tasks if they are seen as virtuous, noble, and aligned with collective goals and social good.

Leadership

A social influence process through which an individual enlists the aid of others in attaining a collective goal.

Great Person Theory

The assumption that leaders are born with inherent, distinctive attributes that cannot be learned.

Identity Leadership

A social identity approach where effective leaders create a shared sense of group membership ("us" or "we").

Identity Entrepreneurship

The leadership component focused on "crafting a sense of us" and increasing cohesion.

Identity Prototypicality

The leadership component focused on "being one of us" by representing core attributes and values of the group.

Identity Advancement

The leadership component focused on "doing it for us" by prioritizing and addressing the shared interests and needs of the group.

Identity Impresarioship

The leadership component focused on "making us matter" by facilitating contact and bringing the group together.