Social Psychology: Social Influence and Related Concepts

Social Influence

  • Definition of Social Influence:
    • Defined as changes in beliefs or behaviors due to real or imagined social pressure.
    • Influences can manifest through conformity, obedience, and compliance.
Conformity

  • Sherif’s Autokinetic Effect Study:

    • Overview: In a dark room, participants observed a pinpoint of light they perceived as moving.
    • Method:
    • Phase 1: Individual judgments of light movement.
    • Phase 2: Group judgments resulted in responses converging over trials.

  • Asch's Line Study:

    • Overview: Expanded on Sherif's findings using less ambiguous tasks (comparing line lengths).
    • Findings:
    • During 12 critical trials, 75% of participants conformed at least once, with approximately one-third conforming on critical trials.
Reasons for Conformity

  • Types of Influence:

    • Normative Influence:
    • Motivated to be liked; results in public compliance without private acceptance.
    • Informational Influence:
    • Motivated to be correct; results in higher conformity when task difficulty increases.

  • Levels of Conformity:

    • Private Acceptance: Changing both public responses and private beliefs.
    • Public Compliance: Altering public responses without changing private beliefs.
Obedience

  • Milgram’s Obedience Study:

    • Purpose: Investigated obedience to authority figures.
    • Method:
    • Participants (teachers) would administer shocks to a confederate (learner) for incorrect answers, with shocks increasing from 15V to 450V.
    • Many participants proceeded to administer the highest shock level, even amidst evident distress from the learner.

  • Factors Influencing Obedience:

    • Proximity of the victim, legitimacy of the authority figure, participants feeling like a 'cog in the wheel', and personal characteristics.
Attribution Processes

  • Understanding Behavior: Attributions are judgments about the causes of behaviors, affecting how we understand experiences.

  • Types of Attribution:

    • Personal/Internal: Attributing behavior to individual characteristics.
    • Situational/External: Attributing behavior to situational factors.

  • Biases in Attributions:

    • Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE): Tendency to attribute others' behaviors more to personal factors than situational ones.
    • Self-Serving Bias: Attributing personal successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
    • Cultural Influences on Attribution: Individualistic cultures display stronger tendencies for FAE, while collectivistic cultures are more balanced in attributing successes and failures.
Attitudes and Attitude Change
  • Definition of Attitude: A positive or negative evaluation of a person, object, or idea comprising affective, behavioral, and cognitive components.
  • Dimensions of Attitudes:
    • Strength: Stronger attitudes are more resistant to change.
    • Accessibility: How easily an attitude comes to mind; linked to strength.
    • Ambivalence: Holding conflicting attitudes can complicate behavior prediction.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
  • Principle: Individuals feel discomfort when their behaviors conflict with their attitudes or beliefs, motivating them to alleviate this dissonance.
  • Attitude Change: Dissonance does not always culminate in attitude change; it merely induces discomfort that individuals seek to resolve.
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
  • Persuasion: Two routes to persuasion — the central route (quality of message leads to high elaboration) versus the peripheral route (cues associated with the message cause low elaboration).
  • Factors Determining the Route: Motivation and ability to process the information determine which route is chosen in persuasion.
Social Relations

  • Need for Affiliation: Humans have a fundamental motivation to affiliate and be socially accepted, requiring frequent and satisfying interpersonal interactions.

  • Attraction: Influenced by factors like proximity (mere exposure effect), similarity (people with common attitudes and values connecting more), and physical attractiveness (strong influence over dating preferences).

  • Love: Sternberg’s Triangular Theory identifies three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment, leading to types of love including consummate love (all three aspects present).