7. Conformity

Conformity

___________: the tendency for an individual to align their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those of the people around them. We do it constantly in everyday life, its always operating (e.g., social norms, traffic rules)

Social Power (French & Raven 1950s)

There are five (maybe 6) forms of ___________

1. Reward

2. Coercive

3. Expert

4. Referent

5. Legitimate

6. Informational

1. Reward power

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: ability to provide rewards (money, approval)

• “Vote for me and I’ll give you a tax break”

• Requires monitoring, power disappears if reward stops

• Don’t have to be smart, just need the reward

2. Coercive power

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: Ability to punish or threaten punishment (parking tickets, detention), don’t have to give it a lot of thought

• Also requires monitoring, power weakens when authority is absent

3. Expert power

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: Influence based on perceived expertise (doctors, specialists, professionals)

• Takes a lot of time to become one

• Limited to a specific area

• Others must recognize/accept you as the expert

4. Referent power

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: Influence based on admiration

• “I want to be like them”

• Ex. Nephew, unlimited supply of quarters wanting to grow up to be like him. Had control.

• Ex. Celebrities

5. Legitimate power

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: Power derived from a role or title

• “Doctor” power is by the title, suggesting his power is legit

6. Informational Power (added later by Raven)

5 Forms of Social Power

___________: Influence based on the quality of the argument/message.

• Does not depend on status or expertise

• If the message is persuasive, change can be long-lasting

High Status Influencers

__________________:can often influence behaviour, but compliance is often temporary

• The doctor tells you to do something, you do it for a while then stop

• Given antibiotic says you must take it for 10 days, people only take it for 5

• Part of it is the communication, their knowledge is too advanced, you don’t know what’s wrong or what the order is

Doctor-Patient Relationship (Hofling)

High Status Influencers

__________________: Fake doctor called nurses

• Ordered them to give 20mg of a drug (maximum allowed was 10mg)

• 21 of 22 nurses complied

Milgram Study (1963)

High Status Influencers

__________________: Participants told to administer electric shocks (50-60% went to max)

• Yale University—a legitimate form of power

• Experimenter in lab coat--Expert power

• Some participants say coercive power

Peer Influences

__________________: A lot of influence comes not from above, but from our peers

Asch Study

Peer Influences

__________________:Participants judged which line matched a target line

• Situation was unambiguous, confederates gave wrong answers

• He didn’t see this as a study of conformity; he saw it as a study of independence.

  • Some people never conformed, but 75% did at least once

  • 37% of responses were conforming

  • If you had two naïve subjects

    • If two naïve ss stuck together, few errors

    • If confederate joins ss then departs, ss joins group

    • If confederate joins ss eventually, ss no errors (ex. You win someone over, if you feel you are right)

• Group size effects peak at 3 to 4 (don’t need 20 people all telling you it’s line a)

Normative influence

Peer Influences

__________________: We want to fit in with the group, so the group has influence on you (think of high school)

• Decreases when:

  • Anonymity is present (private responses reduce pressure)

  • You are high-status in the group (unless you’re the leader)

• Increases when:

  • Group attractiveness is high (you really want to belong)

  • Task is cooperative (you depend on the group)

  • You are low status in the group (unless you’re not invested)

Informational Influence

Peer Influences

__________________: people have information we need to make correct decisions

• Ex. Law students sharing notes from different classes, relying on knowledgeable classmates or experts

• Increases when:

  • Task is difficult

  • Situation is ambiguous

  • More difficult the class the more we need each other

• Decreases when:

  • You have high self-esteem

  • You have high task skill

Low Status Influencers

__________________: Can Low-Status or Minority members influence us?

• Usually we think it’s a one-way street

• Down with Wayne, what could Wayne possibly do

• Minority Advantages, Style of Dissenter

Minority Advantages

Low Status Influencers

__________________: people smaller in number and or status, have some advantages

1. Being the focus of attention: The dissenter stands out

   1. Ex. 12 Angry Men movie, 1 juror disagrees with 11 others. The lone dissenter becomes central to discussion

2. Strong distortional traits: We assume they are confident and convicted, making internal attributions to them. They’re not going along with the situation

3. Presents a novel viewpoint: They disrupt the consensus, forcing reconsideration.Everyone thought he was guilty,

1. Being the focus of attention:

Minority Advantages

__________________:A lone dissenter stands out and draws the group’s attention.

2. Strong distortional traits

Minority Advantages

__________________:People assume dissenters are confident and strongly committed to their belief

3. Presents a novel viewpoint

Minority Advantages

__________________:The minority introduces new ideas that force the group to reconsider the consensus.

Style of Dissenter

Low Status Influencers

__________________: Minority influence depends heavily on how dissent is expressed, they must show:

1. Investment in the task, commitment: must be willing to stay and argue

2. Autonomy, independence in face of pressure: 11 people saying he’s guilty you must be independent

3. Consistent, logical, rational position: can’t yell not going to persuade anyone, must present a rational position,

4. Openminded, some concession to majority:

1. Investment and Commitment to the task

Style of Dissenter

__________________:The dissenter shows dedication by staying involved and continuing to argue their point.

2. Autonomy and Independence

Style of Dissenter

__________________: The dissenter maintains their view despite pressure from the majority.

3. Consistent logical Position

Style of Dissenter

__________________: The dissenter presents their argument calmly and rationally.

4. Openmindedness

Style of Dissenter

__________________: The dissenter is willing to consider the majority’s views and make small concessions.

In Defense of Troublemakers (Charlan Nemeth)

__________________: argues we need dissent to improve group decision-making, when we are exposed to consensus, our thinking narrows

• The majority shapes the way we think whether we agree or not. If a group makes a decision very quickly, we immediately think it’s probably wrong. No conflict is the worst advice possible

• While the majority is often right, it is not always true

  • Ex. asking people to weigh the cow, individually are wrong but the average is close

• “Good decision making at its heart is divergent thinking. We think in multiple directions, seek information, consider factors on all sides of the issues and think about the cons as well as the pros.”

• “Even when dissent is wrong, it stimulates thinking that is more divergent and less biased”

• Ex. Like checking a math problem in multiple times can help you catch errors you wouldn’t have otherwise caught

• “Never doubt a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”

  • Everything begins with one or two people disagreeing, most of the time people want to keep their heads down.

• Nickelback: If everyone cared

Moscovici’s Minority Influence Study

__________________: Minorities influence through consistency. Reversed the Asch paradigm

• Participants judged slide colors (blue vs. green)

• 2 confederates (minority) consistently said “green” when it was blue

• Results:

  • If minority was consistent→9% of the time people agreed

  • If they sometimes said blue but other times green → no influence

  • In a control nobody said green

Persuasion

__________________: deliberate attempt to change attitudes, someone intentionally tries to convince you of something

Yale Attitude Change Approach

__________________: 1940s—US government wanted to know “how do we persuade citizens to support the war?”

• Research at Yale University by Carl Hovland and others

• “Who says what to whom?”

Who says what to whom: (The source)

Yale Attitude Change Approach

__________________: Research looking at what kind of argument is persuasive

• One vs. Two-Sided Messages:

  • One-Sided: Only presents your side. Works best when the audience already agrees. “We are all in need of a break”

  • Two-sided: Acknowledge the other side first, then refute it. More persuasive when audience disagrees.

• Suggested you must read the audience

Who says what to whom (the message)

Yale Attitude Change Approach

________: fear is often used, but it doesn’t work often. It works best when the threat is severe, or you’re getting people to respond quickly

• It often leads to short term changes. Its simplistic and doesn’t do what you want people to do

• People freeze (not fight or flight). But you want people to do something

  • Ex. Plane crash survivor, flying afterwards he actually listened to the safety speech and knew what to do next time, didn’t freeze

  • Ex. Your brain on drugs commercials

Who says what to whom (The audience)

Yale Attitude Change Approach

___________: The young are most easily persuaded.

Central vs. Peripheral Routes to Persuasion

___________: Ideally you have both working together. Strong arguments matter but appearance and presentation also influence persuasion

• Central Routes

• Peripheral Routes

Central Routes

___________: focus on the quality of the argument, careful thinking

• Ex. Before television, presidential debates were on the radio, which captures argument quality

• In 1960, Radio listeners thought Nixon won (stronger arguments)

Peripheral Routes

___________: Focus on appearance, confidence

• In 1960, TV viewers overwhelmingly thought Kennedy won, Nixon did not have a good appearance. Which shouldn’t matter but it did.

• But it also doesn’t matter how good you’re looking if you have terrible arguments

Attitude Inoculation

___________: Give weak arguments against a belief, builds resistance to stronger future persuasion

• protect people from being persuaded like a vaccination for attitudes

• Ex. Give children weak arguments for brushing their teeth (“toothbrushes are fun to play with”), and later when confronted with more difficult arguments were able to counter them. Same with smoking.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New School)

___________: One of the best-selling psychology books ever written, studied persuasion in real-world setting and identified Six “Weapons of Influence”

• Prefaced with Fixed Action Patterns (Click Whirr)

• The 6 Weapons of Influence

Fixed Action Patterns (Click Whirr)

___________: Humans often respond automatically, like instinctual animal responses

• Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier?

  • No reason → 65% effective

• Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier because I’m in a rush?

  • 95% effective

• Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier because I have to make some copies?

  • 94% effective

People listen for the word “because”, then they stop listening. People are mindless, it doesn’t really matter what they say after that. We respond automatically to cues

The 6 Weapons of Influence

1. Reciprocation

   1. Door in the Face Technique

2. Commitment and Consistency

   1. Foot in the Door Technique

3. Social Proof

4. Liking

5. Authority

6. Scarcity

1. Reciprocation

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: we feel obligated to return favors

• Ex. Sending Christmas cards to strangers → many sent cards back

• Painting Study

  • Confederate leaves and returns with either nothing or a Coca-Cola

  •   Later asks participants to buy raffle tickets

  • Those given Coke bought tickets

  • Coke costs 5¢, tickets cost 50¢-$1

  • People often spent more than the gift was worth, the only way they can reciprocate is by losing

  • It didn’t even matter if they liked or disliked the person

• Krishna movement

  • Gave flowers in airports, people felt obligated to give money, flowers were thrown away and reused

• Amway Products

  • Leave products at your house, they will pick up what you don’t use. People feel pressure to buy.

• Door in the face technique

Door in The Face Technique

Reciprocation—The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: Ask for something huge, get rejected, then ask for something smaller. People feel you’ve made a concession—they reciprocate

• Ask a two-year commitment to take kids to the zoo, they say no. You ask to just chaperone today, they say yes. In a sense they owe you.

2. Commitment and Consistency

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: We want to appear consistent with prior commitments

• Horse Betting Study--Knox & Inkster

  • Before placing bet -> low confidence

  • After placing bet > confidence increases

  • Commitment strengthens belief

• Marriage Proposals, hard to back down after saying yes

• Beach study:

  • Ask someone to watch your belongings

  • Later someone tries to steal them

  • If they agreed earlier, they intervene

• Foot in the door Technique

Foot in The Door Technique

Commitment & Consistency—The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: Small request first, later large request.

• Ex. Asking to put a little sticker in your window, then later can we stick a huge sign in your front lawn? 50% agreed, because they’ve made a commitment to safe driving

• Often used in cult recruitment

3. Social Proof

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: We look to others to decide what is correct behaviour. If others are doing it, it must be right.

• Ex. Have you ever seen an empty tip jar? That something is what they’re expecting you to do

• Ex. All in The Family show, didn’t use a laugh track. Thought you need to tell people when it was funny so filmed in front of a live studio audience.

• “Professional Shoppers”: hired to fill a store

4. Liking

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: We are more persuaded by people we like, or want to buy from people we like

• Ex. Car salespeople find similarities with you

• Tupperware parties—hosted by your friends

5. Authority

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: We obey perceived experts or authority figures

• Ex. Mechanics telling you repairs are needed

• People in uniform telling you to put money in a parking meter

• Resubmitted academic papers:

  • When labeled from “Harvard” → Accepted

  • When labelled from "Tri-Valley Center for Human Potential” → 11/12 rejected

6. Scarcity

The Six Weapons of Influence

___________: We value things more when they are limited

• Ex. New Coke, getting rid of the Old Coke

• Concorde crash → crashed in Paris in the city and stopped flying. The final month of flights every seat was booked

• Taylor Swift tickets—if she had a concert every night, the sales wouldn’t be so high

Pre-suasion

___________: Said persuasion depends heavily on what happens before the message, the moment before matters (kind of like Priming)

• Men stopped and asked “Do you know where Valentine/Central Street is”

• Later an attractive woman approached them and asked for help dealing with men bothering her.

• Priming with “Valentine” activated behaviour

• This book is not great

Persuasion from a Theory of Planned Behaviour Perspective (TPB)

____________: Why people do or do not perform a behaviour. If someone is not doing what you want, why aren’t people already doing what I want it usually comes down to:

1. Attitudes

2. Subjective Norms

3. Perceived Behaivoural Control

4. Behavioural Intention

• Effective persuasion depends on diagnosing why someone is not persuaded.

  • If they think it’s a good idea but don’t know how, then make it easier. Talk to a different set of friends

1. Attitudes

___________:They don’t think the behaviour is a good idea!  

•   Ex. I don’t need a new phone, mine works fine

2. Subjective Norms

___________: They believe important others disapprove of the behaviour

• Ex. My friends think upgrading is a waste of money

3. Perceived Behavioural Control

___________: They feel unable or unsure about performing the behaviour.

• Ex. You don’t know how to go and get a new phone

4. Behavioural Intention

___________: Good intentions are not translated into action

• Ex. you won’t get around to buying a new one, even if they intend to

The Art of Great Speeches

________: Public speaking has been a persuasive tool for thousands of years (dating back to classical rhetoric in Ancient Greece). Effective speeches depend heavily on understanding the audience. Aristotle identified:

• Emotion (Pathos)

• Character (Ethos)

• Logic & Evidence (Logos)

People think of the Gettysburg Address when thinking of the Great Speeches. It was short but powerful.

Emotion (Pathos)

____________: Appeals to feelings. Can inspire, move, anger or motivate an audience, most effective when aligned with the audiences’ values. Not every speech aims for strong emotion (ex. A math lecture)

• Ex. Harry Smiths goal was to invoke _________

Character (Ethos)

____________: The speakers perceived credibility, authority, and moral character. Can come from age, experience, shared identity.

• Ex. Harry Smith was older; you’re supposed to listen to your elders. Gives him the “right” to speak

Logic and Evidence (Logos)

____________: Use of reasoning, facts, statistics, and structured arguments