AP Psych Ch. 18: Social Influence

Social influence

The process whereby one person's behavior is affected by the words or actions of others (influence is more behavior-oriented)

Norms

*rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members (as we conform, social norms help us know what to do)

Reciprocity norm/norm of reciprocity

Requires that we repay in kind what another has done for us; pay it forward (this is typically a good thing)

Descriptive norms

what people are actually doing in REALITY

Injunctive norms

i = ideal, ideally, this is what people want you to do (ex. speed limits)

Deindividuation

loss of individuality/loss of you are are when in a group, you behave in ways you normally wouldn't when you are CAUGHT UP IN THE MOMENT

Social facilitation

when we are around other people, we improve our performance (however, we first have to be good at what we do)

Social impairment / interference

when we are around others, our performance is worse (this likely means you weren't that good to begin with)

Social loafing

in a group, people tend to put in less effort (L = lazy)

Compliance

when someone makes a request/asks you to do something that you don't want to do but you know you should; ex. when your parents ask you to do a chore, whiney response

Explicit compliance

deals with a direct request "I need you to do this"

Implicit compliance

deals with an indirect response, ex. parents giving you "the look"

Foot in the door technique

when trying to gain compliance, you take baby steps and work your way up

Door in the face procedure

when trying to gain compliance, you start off with a big request then you scale back

That's not all technique

a sales technique w commercials in which the persuader makes an offer and then adds something extra to make the offer look better before the target person can make a decision

Low ball approach

when someone agrees to buy something, the salesperson adds more onto it- "oh, did you want this that goes with your item" and the consumer does not feel like saying no- "might as well"

Conformity

behavior is due to UNSPOKEN group pressure

Normative social influence

when you know the right answer but you don't want to go against the norm/group (Asch's study)

Informational social influence

when you don't know the answer, so you give the same answer as others assuming they know

Soloman Asch's Line experiment

dealt with conformity, line experiment, 1 person arrives in a room with 5 false participants and is shown a standard line & a group of 3 lines; person is told that it is a visual perception study; in experimental condition, false participants picked the wrong line first and at least 70% of people conformed at least once

Social impact theory

if the group has more than 3 people in it, you will likely conform
HOWEVER
you have to
admire the group

Conditions that increase conformity

group must be unanimous, social impact theory (3+ ppl), culture has to encourage it, no gender difference

Obedience

demand from authority and something you do not want to do (Milgram)

Stanley Milgram's Shock experiment

dealt with obedience, tested how far people would go to obey an authority figure, everything there is a question the learner gets wrong (learner is a fake participant), teacher (real person) would have to give them a higher "electric shock," only 13% stopped before 300V, 65% obeyed all the way to the end

Factors affecting obedience

prestige, proximity of authority, non-professor, presence of another person

Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment

an experiment in which people were assigned to be guards or prisoners- studied how drastically behaviors can change under certain influences, had to be stopped after 6 weeks of intended 2 weeks, showed POWER OF SITUATION as guards and prisoners succumbed to their roles (nobody asked to quit)

Aggression & Biological factors related

Suggests that aggression is linked to our limbic system, cerebral cortex, and testosterone

Excitation transfer

Suggests that physiological arousal from one experience can carry over to another independent experience

Evolutionary theory & aggression

Suggests that we are aggressive because it helps us survive; we will help relative/friends instead of strangers

Sigmund Freud & aggression

Suggested that aggressive was in instinctual drive and it needs to be released (verbal or physical)

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Suggests that psychological issues (like disappointment or annoyance) can lead to a person being more aggressive than normal

Environmental psychology & aggression

Suggests that high temperatures, overcrowding, and noise pollutions leads to more aggression

Helping Behavior

any behavior that benefits another person; can be unselfish or selfish

Altruism

always unselfish; unselfish regard for another person's welfare, the act of putting yourself second

Arousal: Cost-reward theory

theory as to why we help; first, your body has to react/change, you have to feel something (ex. stomach dropping), and then you go thru the cost-rewards (ex. "if i help, am i going to get hurt?)

Empathy-altruism theory

theory as to why we help; we have empathy for that person because we have either been in a similar situation or can put ourselves in their shoes, so we help

Bystander effect

when others are around, we are less likely to help; this is created by a diffusion of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility

in a situation where someone needs help, we say "it is not my responsibility because someone else will help," outcome is the bystander effect

Kitty Genovese

death triggers the study of the bystander effect, 38 people witnessed something/heard something in the apartment but only 1 person called the police, as everyone thought another would do so

Cooperation

Any type of behavior in which people work together to attain a goal.

Competition

Any type of behavior in which individuals try to attain a goal for themselves while denying that goal for others.

Conflict

The result of a person's or group's belief that another person or group stands in the way of their achieving a goal.

Social dilemmas

Broad term for all the dilemmas

Prisoner's dilemmas

Specific type of social dilemma where mutual cooperation is the best outcome; such as two brothers who get in trouble and agree to work together

Resource dilemmas

Broad term for a dilemma in which you have to decide how much to give or how much to take

Commons dilemmas

Type of resource dilemma; how much do you take?

Public goods dilemma

Type of resource dilemma; how much do you give? (g in good = give)

Zero-sum game

Your loss is my gain; such as fights without a tie/draw; inheritance, lottery ("I win you lose")

Task-oriented leader / task-motivated leader

leaders who provide close supervision, lead by directives, and discourage group discussion (they tell you what to do to get a task done)

Person-oriented leader / relationship-motivated leader

asks for suggestions and what the group to work together and values each other's opinions (care about your opinion)

Transactional leader

Responds to the group; can use praise or punishment; like a coach (coaches led by the actions of team)

Transformational leader / charismatic leader

inspires people to go things such as MLK Jr (don't directly tell you what to do, but they inspire you to change)

Groupthink

Occurs when the group fails to look at all the possibilities; think as one instead of individually

Tit-for-tat strategy

"What you do to/for me, I'll do/for you" ; usually a negative thing