4.2 Compliance and Obedience

A set of flashcards covering key concepts related to social influence techniques, compliance, and obedience, based on lecture notes.

Compliance

The act of changing one's behavior in response to a request or demand.

Reciprocity

A social influence technique where people feel obliged to return a favor.

Commitment/Consistency

People are more likely to comply with requests that are consistent with their previous commitments.

Social Proof

The influence people have on one another when they observe others' behavior in social situations.

Scarcity

The principle that people find objects more attractive when they are scarce or in limited supply.

Liking/Friendship

The tendency of individuals to comply more with requests from friends or those they like.

Obedience

A change in behavior in response to direct commands from an authority figure.

Foot in the Door Technique

A compliance method that involves getting a person to agree to a small request first before presenting a larger one.

Low-Ball Technique

A compliance strategy where the requester first gets a person to agree to a favorable deal and then raises the cost of the deal.

Milgram’s Study

A famous experiment that investigated obedience to authority figures, examining how far individuals would go in administering shocks to others.

Ethical Issues in Research

Considerations regarding deception, participant protection, the right to withdrawal, and whether the benefits of the research outweigh the risks.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to take action when others are present, believing someone else will intervene.

Legitimacy of Authority

The perception that authority figures are credible and deserve to be followed, which influences levels of obedience.

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, often influencing obedience.

Social Influence Continuum

A spectrum of behaviors ranging from yielding to influence (obedience, compliance, conformity) to resisting influence (independence, assertiveness, defiance).