Social Psychology: Week 2

Term

Definition

 Social Influence

Changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings, or behaviour due to the real or imagined presence of others.

 Conformity

Behaviour change in response to implicit (unspoken) social pressure.

 Obedience

Behaviour change in response to commands from authority.

 Compliance

Behaviour change in response to an explicit request.

 Normative Social Influence

Conforming to be liked or accepted.

 Informational Social Influence

Conforming because others are seen as a source of correct information.

 Unanimity

Complete agreement within a group.

 Tight Culture

Culture with strong norms and low tolerance for deviance.

 Loose Culture

Culture with weaker norms and high tolerance for deviance.

 Pluralistic Ignorance

When individuals privately reject a norm but believe others accept it.

pluralistic ignorance refers to a misperception that occurs when each individual in the group privately rejects a group’s norms but believes that the other members of the group accept these norms.

 Mass Psychogenic Illness

Spread of physical symptoms without biological cause due to social influence.

 Descriptive Norm

Belief about what most people do.

 Prescriptive (Injunctive) Norm

Belief about what behaviours are approved/disapproved.

 Door-in-the-Face

Large request → refusal → smaller request.

 Foot-in-the-Door

Small request → agreement → larger request.

 Lowballing

Securing agreement, then increasing the cost of the commitment.

 Autokinetic Effect

Illusion of movement of a stationary light in darkness.

•  Meta-analysis

Statistical summary of results across many studies.

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area of Psychology

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

Social Influence

•  Change in thoughts/behaviour due to others

•  Presence of others shapes behaviour

 Social Psychology

•  Laughing when others laugh

  • Dressing to match group

  • Emotional

  • contagion online

Think: “No one behaves in isolation.”

Conformity

•  Change due to implicit pressure

•  Following group norms

Group Behaviour

•  Standing when others stand

  • fashion trends

  • peer drinking

Conformity = “Crowd pressure”

Obedience

•  Change due to authority command

•  Hierarchy matters

Authority & Power

•  Following teacher instructions

  • obeying police

  • workplace compliance

Obedience = “Orders”

Compliance

•  Change due to direct request

•  Persuasion techniques

Persuasion & Influence

•  Charity donations

  • signing petitions

  • sales tactics

Compliance = “Can you…?”

Theorist

Key Idea

Area

Ex

 Asch (1966) – Line Judgement Study

Participants judged line lengths while confederates gave wrong answers. 70% conformed at least once.

People conform even when answer is obvious.

Normative Influence

Going along with wrong answer

• Agreeing with majority opinion

• staying silent in group disagreement

 Sherif  – Autokinetic Effect

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Muzafer Sherif

1936

Participants estimated light movement alone vs. in group → group norm emerged.

Simple Summary

Sherif showed that when a situation is unclear, people rely on others to define reality.

Over time, group estimates become a shared norm, and individuals internalise that norm.

•  Ambiguity increases conformity.

Informational Influence

• Unsure emergency reaction

•  looking at others during crisis

• new social setting behaviour

 Bond & Smith  – Meta-Analysis

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Bond & Smith

(1996)

Meta-analysis of conformity studies across cultures.

•  Conformity varies by culture & time.

Cross-Cultural Psychology

• Collectivist conformity

• declining US conformity

• generational differences

Factor

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Group Size

•  Larger groups increase conformity (up to 4–5)

•  Social pressure scales

•  Group Dynamics

•  Jury decisions; classroom answers; social media trends

Unanimity

•  Having an ally reduces conformity

•  One dissenter empowers others

•  Minority Influence

•  Friend disagrees publicly; second protester joins; jury dissent

Expertise/Status

•  Experts influence more

•  Authority credibility

•  Leadership

•  Doctor advice; professor opinion; celebrity endorsement

Public Response

•  Public answers increase conformity

•  Fear of judgement

•  Impression Management

•  Voting publicly; raising hand; Instagram posts

Culture

•  Individualistic cultures show less conformity

•  Norm strength varies

•  Cultural Psychology

•  US vs East Asia; tight vs loose cultures

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Normative Influence

Conform to be liked

•  Fear of rejection

Social Acceptance

Teen fashion👗

peer drinking🍻👶🏻

laughing at bad joke🤣

Informational Influence

Conform to be correct

•  Uncertainty drives copying

Social Cognition

Emergency reactions

✈airport confusion

🚌classroom uncertainty

Social Media Contagion

(Kramer et al., 2014)

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Emotional Contagion

•  Emotions spread online

•  Exposure shapes expression

•  Digital Social Psychology

• Negative posts increase negativity

• positive spreads positivity

•  algorithmic influence

  (Sanderson et al., 2002)

 Norm Misperception

Key Idea:

 Norm Misperception

Examples

Sanderson & colleagues examined how

misperceiving social norms about body image and health behaviours

can negatively influence people’s own health choices.

Sanderson et al. showed that when people believe others are thinner or healthier than they really are, they change their own behaviour in unhealthy ways. These false beliefs about what is “normal” can damage both physical and psychological health.

What Is Norm Misperception?

Norm misperception occurs when people incorrectly believe that others engage in certain behaviours more often or more extremely than they actually do.

In the context of health and body image, this usually means believing that:

• Most people are thinner than they really are

• Most people exercise more frequently than they actually do

• Extreme dieting or strict body standards are normal

These beliefs are often false.

•  

  	What Is Misperceived	Health Impact
  Overestimating gym hours	Believing most peers exercise daily or excessively	Guilt, overtraining, burnout
  Dieting pressure	Believing constant dieting is normal	Restrictive eating, poor nutrition
  Binge eating	Restriction followed by loss of control	Cycles of disordered eating

   Believing others are thinner/exercise more

   

How Norm Misperception Develops

Norm misperceptions are reinforced by:

• Media portrayals of idealised bodies

• Social media highlighting extreme fitness or dieting

• Talking about successes more than struggles

• Visibility of extreme behaviours, not average ones

Resulted from, people overestimate how common extreme health behaviours are.

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

•  Pluralistic Ignorance

•  Privately reject norm but assume others accept it

•  Silence maintains false norm

•  Group Behaviour

Drinking culture

sexist jokes

risky behaviour

“Everyone thinks everyone else agrees.”

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

Mass Psychogenic Illness

•  Spread of physical symptoms without toxin

•  Social belief produces real symptoms

•  Social & Health Psychology

• Airport illness case

• school fainting episodes

• panic reactions

Key Idea

Area

Kim & Markus

•  Individualism vs Collectivism

   Americans chose unique pen; East Asians chose majority pen.

   

•  Cultural Psychology

   

  • Individualist cultures value independence, uniqueness, and self expression.

   

  • Collectivist cultures value harmony, belonging, and fitting in with the group.

   

  This links to normative social influence and cultural norms about standing out versus blending in.

• Clothing uniqueness

•  career choice

• consumer choices

Concept

•  Key Idea

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

•  Tight Culture

Strong norms, low tolerance deviance

Strong enforcement

• Strict pandemic rules

•  uniform laws

• strong etiquette

Tight = rules

•  Loose Culture

Weak norms, high tolerance deviance

Flexibility

• Casual dress norms

• relaxed pandemic rules

• protest freedom

Loose = freedom

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

Door-in-the-Face

•  Large request → refusal → smaller request

•  Reciprocity pressure

•  Persuasion

• Zoo trip example

• charity donation

• fundraising

Big → small

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

Foot-in-the-Door

•  Small request → larger request

•  Consistency principle

•  Persuasion

•  Sticker → poster; email sign-up → donation; trial subscription

Small → big

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

Lowballing

Secure agreement → reveal hidden cost

Commitment traps people

Consumer Psychology

• Car sales

•  gym membership

•  hidden fees

Agree first, cost later

Concept

Definition

Key Idea

Area

3 Examples

2 Exam Memory Tips

•  Descriptive Norm

What most people do

Behaviour follows majority

Behavioural Science

• Recycling rates

• hotel towel reuse

• park wood case

Majority matters

•  Prescriptive Norm

What is approved/disapproved

Social approval guides behaviour

Moral Psychology

• “Do not litter”

• smoking bans

• etiquette

Approval vs behaviour

Concept

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Definition

•  A compliance technique where someone first asks for a very large favour that is likely to be refused, then follows it with a smaller, more reasonable request (the real target request).

Key Mechanism

Works through the norm of reciprocity. The requester appears to make a concession (reducing the request), so the other person feels social pressure to also concede by agreeing.

Classic Example (Zoo Study)

Researchers wanted participants to take troubled children to the zoo.

Control Condition

Directly asked: “Would you take these children to the zoo?” → 83% said no.

Door-in-the-Face Condition – Step 1 (Large Request)

“Would you mentor these children every week for 2 years?” → 100% said no.

Door-in-the-Face Condition – Step 2 (Smaller Request)

Follow-up: “Would you take them on a one-day zoo trip?” → 50% said YES.

Why It Works

• Norm of reciprocity

• Perceived concession

• Contrast effect (second request seems smaller and more reasonable)

Area of Psychology

Social Psychology – Compliance & Persuasion

Exam Tip

Emphasise: large request → refusal → smaller request → increased compliance. Link to reciprocity and social norms.

Concept

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Definition

A compliance technique where someone first asks for a very large favour that is likely to be refused, then follows it with a smaller, more reasonable request (the real target request).

Key Mechanism

Works through the norm of reciprocity. The requester appears to make a concession (reducing the request), so the other person feels social pressure to also concede by agreeing.

Classic Example (Zoo Study)

Researchers wanted participants to take troubled children to the zoo.

Control Condition

Directly asked: “Would you take these children to the zoo?” → 83% said no.

Door-in-the-Face Condition – Step 1 (Large Request)

“Would you mentor these children every week for 2 years?” → 100% said no.

Door-in-the-Face Condition – Step 2 (Smaller Request)

Follow-up: “Would you take them on a one-day zoo trip?” → 50% said YES.

Why It Works

• Norm of reciprocity

• Perceived concession

• Contrast effect (second request seems smaller and more reasonable)

Area of Psychology

Social Psychology – Compliance & Persuasion

Exam Tip

Emphasise: large request → refusal → smaller request → increased compliance. Link to reciprocity and social norms.

Automatic Mimicry

•  The unconscious and involuntary imitation of another person’s gestures, facial expressions, posture, speech patterns, or behaviours during social interaction.

Key Features

• Happens without awareness

• Not deliberate or intentional

• Occurs naturally in social interactions

•   Someone crosses their arms and you do the same shortly after

   You start speaking more quietly when the person next to you lowers their voice

   You smile when someone smiles at you

Why It Happens

• Linked to mirror neuron systems

• Supports social bonding and affiliation

• Helps create rapport and smooth interactions

Why It’s Important (Social Psychology)

• Increases liking and trust

•  Strengthens group cohesion

• Makes conversations feel natural and comfortable

• Supports social influence processes

Related Theory / Research

•  The “Chameleon Effect” (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999) — people unconsciously mimic others, which increases interpersonal liking.

Exam Tip

Emphasise the words unconscious, involuntary, and social bonding. Link it to social influence and affiliation motives.