Social Influence and Conformity

Flashcards about social influence, conformity, normative social influence, informational social influence, and related concepts.

What is the term for going along with the group to avoid negative social consequences?

Normative Social Influence (NSI)

What kind of social consequences might be avoided by conforming?

Ridicule, ostracism

What kind of social favor might be gained by conforming?

Approval, inclusion

In NSI, is it necessary to believe the behavior is "right"?

No

What was the research question behind Asch's study?

Are there conditions under which people will say or do something objectively wrong in order to fit in?

In Asch's study, what did participants have to say?

Which line matched the test line in length

Were the examples in Asch's study clear and unambiguous?

Yes

In Asch's study, how did participants give their answers?

Orally

In Asch's study, on about the third trial, what happened?

The majority of "participants" all consistently gave the wrong answer

In Asch's study, most of the participants were actually what?

Confederates of the study

In Asch's study, what did the confederates do in the experimental condition?

On some trials, they all gave a consistent wrong answer

What was the control condition in Asch's study?

Participants wrote down their answers, without knowing what others in the group had said.

In the experimental condition of Asch's study, what percentage of participants conformed and gave an incorrect answer at least once?

75%

In a variation of Asch's study, participants reported their answers privately after confederates gave their answers publicly; how did this change the situation?

Conformity decreased

In a variation of Asch's study, what was the effect of group size on conformity?

Conformity increased with group size (up to a point)

In a variation of Asch's study, what was the effect of having one confederate disagree with the rest and give the correct answer?

Conformity decreased

In a variation of Asch's study, what was the effect of self-commitment?

Conformity decreased

When are we more likely to give in to Normative Social Influence (NSI)?

When our behavior is public, there is a larger number of people displaying the normative behavior, everyone else is conforming, we have to decide how to act on the spot, compared to committing how to act in advance

When do we follow social norms?

In order to avoid social reprisal

What is Informational Social Influence (ISI)?

Observing others' behavior as a guide for how to act or what to believe

Who originally studied Informational Social Influence (ISI)?

Muzafer Sherif

What type of illusion did Muzafer Sherif use in his study of Informational Social Influence (ISI)?

Autokinetic illusion

In Muzafer Sherif's study, what did participants estimate?

How far the dot moved

In Sherif's study, how did participant responses change when asked together?

Their responses tended to converge

The effects of Normative and Informational Social Influence (ISI) are often referred to as what?

"Social Proof"

What is "Social Proof"?

"Proof" that a behavior is good, right, justified, or ideal because of the number of other people who are doing it

What problem can arise from highlighting norms?

The Magnetic Middle

What are the two types of norms?

Descriptive norms and Prescriptive or Injunctive norms

What do descriptive norms describe?

What is

What do prescriptive or injunctive norms describe?

What ought to be

What happened when researchers monitored the energy consumption of 290 households in Southern California?

They sent a letter to each of the households with information about how much energy they had used in the past two weeks, a descriptive norm (average energy usage by houses in their neighborhood), and tips for reducing energy consumption.

When will norms influence our behavior?

When we are made aware of them

What theory explains when norms will influence our behavior?

Focus Theory of Social Norms

In the parking lot study, what did half the participants see?

The confederate of the study throw a crumpled piece of paper on the ground

In the parking lot study, what was the dependent variable (DV)?

What did participants do with the flyer on their windshield?

What is the effect of drawing attention to the descriptive norm?

Increases its influence on behavior

What is Pluralistic Ignorance?

A psychological state characterized by the belief that one's private thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are different from those of others, even though one's public behavior is identical.

What does it mean when norms are tied to specific social groups or contexts?

The norms we follow signal social identity

What happens when people who are not part of the group adopt a cultural practice?

It dilutes the social signaling value of that practice

Who studied dynamics of identity signaling using Livestrong bracelets?

Jonah Berger and Chip Heath

Experimentally, when did members of the Target Dorm stop wearing Livestrong bracelets?

When the geeks started wearing the bracelets

Why does Identity Signal Dilution occur?

The issue isn’t about disliking the outgroup, but being different from them

Cultural differences have a correlation to what?

Conformity

What is one of the primary features of interdependent self-construal?

A preference for options that conform and a dislike of options that are unique

What is normative social influence?

Going along with the group to avoid negative social consequences.

What is informational social influence?

Relying on others' behavior as a guide for how to act in ambiguous situations.

What is a descriptive norm?

Perceptions of how people actually behave in a situation.

What is an injunctive norm?

Perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by others.

What are the effects of interdependent cultures over independent cultures?

Interdependent cultures have higher conformity rates.