Week 6: Social influence

What is audience effects

How the presence of others can change an individual’s performance or
behaviour and or the presence of others encourages behaviours that are culturally normative

What is social facilitation

• Improvement in performance in the presence of others
• Typically occurs with easy, simple, or well-learned tasks

What is social inhibition

• Deterioration in performance in the presence of others
• Typically occurs with difficult, complex, or poorly-learned tasks

What is drive theory

Proposes that the presence of others heightens individuals’ physiological
arousal (e.g. alertness, readiness). Increased arousal, in turn, energises our dominant (habitual) response

What is social learning

By observing models, we learn how behaviours are performed. This information serves as a guide for action

What is the necessary conditions for social learning

• Attention : Attending (paying attention) to a given behaviour
• Retention : Retaining (memorising) the given behaviour
• Reproduction : Reproducing or having the ability to reproduce the given behaviour
• Motivation : Being motivated to reproduce the given behaviour
◦ Perceived rewards → more likely to reproduce
◦ Vicarious learning: learning about rewards and punishment through observing others

What is conformity

Change in thoughts, feelings, and behaviour to be in line with group norms

What are some processes of conformity

Informational Influence and Normative influence

What is Informational Influence

• Conform to others because we think they have correct information and know better than us
• Under conditions of subjective uncertainty/ambiguity

What is normative Influence

• Conform to others to be liked or accepted, or to avoid disapproval
• Even if conforming goes against
• what we believe to be correct
• Under non-ambiguous conditions

What are descriptive norms

• What is done (what is common)
• How others typically behave
• Reflect perceptions of what most people actually do

What are injunctive norms

• What ought to be done (what is moral)
• How we believe others want/ expect us to behave
• Reflect perceptions of what others approve/disapprove of

What is compliance

A favourable response to a request or coercion from others

What is power

A person’s capacity or ability to influence others

What are the 7 bases of power

• reward

• coercive

• legitimate

• expert

• informational

• connection

• referent

What is social commitment

An explicit promise or felt obligation to others

What is obedience

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

What is great person theory

• Assumes great leaders are natural-born
• Many people intuitively hold this theory about leaders

What is identity leadership

• Social identity approach to leadership
• Effective leadership centres on a leader’s understanding of the shared group
membership they have with followers
• Leaders who create a sense of “us” or “we” have the greatest influence and
inspire the most positive outcomes

What are the four dimensions of identity leadership

• Identity entrepreneurship
• Identity prototypicality
• Identity advancement
• Identity impresarioship

What is evaluation apprehension theory

• Audience produces feeling that one is being socially evaluated/judged
• This evaluation apprehension produces physiological arousal
• Physiological arousal produces social facilitation/inhibition

What does providing a picture of “watching eyes” do

reminds people other may be watching and elicit socially desirable and prosocial behaviour too

What is reward power

Whether requester has the capacity to reward us for compliance

what is coercive power

Whether requester has the capacity to punish us for non-compliance

what is legitimate power

Whether requester is authorised by a recognised power structure to
command and make decisions
• Being in an authority position usually grants reward/coercive power too

What is expert power

Whether the requester has greater expertise and specialised skills than us

What is informational power

Whether the requester has important information
• Comply because we think they know better than us
• Comply because we want their information
• Comply because we don’t want them to share sensitive information

what is connection power

Whether the requester has connections to influential or important people
• Comply to gain connections
• Comply to avoid a bad reputation

what is referent power

Whether we identify with, like, or respect the requester

What are some factors that increase conformity

1. Individual characteristics: high self monitoring, high need for social approval, high social anxiety

2. gender

3. culture: collectivist vs. individualistic

4. group size

5. group membership: members are competent, are friends

6. group unanimity: unanimous groups vs one dissenter

7. group identification: low vs high identifiers

What is engaged-followership

• Participants were willing to perform the unpleasant task if they saw it as
  aligned with collective goals and an ultimate “social good”

• Sometimes participants could identify with the learner instead
  • Less obedience in these instances