Chapter 6 - st

Chapter 6: Social Influence

Introduction

• Social Influence: Refers to changes in a person’s behavior, attitudes, or beliefs due to real or imagined pressures from others.

  • Real Pressure: Overt requests to change behavior or beliefs.

  • Imagined Pressure: Perception of what others expect or want from a person.

  • Persuasion: Internal change in attitudes or beliefs.

Goals of Social Influence

• To be Correct:

  • Informational Influence: Adoption of behaviors or beliefs from perceived valid information.

• To be Accepted:

  • Normative Influence: Alteration of behavior to be accepted by others.

• To be Consistent: Align with past commitments and behaviors.

Types of Social Influence

• Six Principles of Social Influence:

  1. Scarcity

  2. Liking/Friendship

  3. Commitment/Consistency

  4. Reciprocity

  5. Social Validation

  6. Authority

Detailed Principles of Social Influence

1. Scarcity:

   • People value items more when they are limited in availability.

   • Techniques include:

     • Limited-Quantity Technique

     • Deadline Technique

   • Psychological Reactance: Motivation arising from the desire to avoid loss of freedom.

2. Liking/Friendship:

   • Increased compliance with requests from friends or attractive individuals.

3. Commitment/Consistency:

   • Desire to remain consistent with past behaviors and commitments.

     • Techniques:

       • Foot-in-the-Door Technique (FITD): Small request leads to a larger one.

       • Labeling: People are motivated to live up to positive labels.

       • Low Ball: Enticing agreement followed by revealing a higher cost.

       • Bait-and-Switch: Involves commitment to a product, replaced by a different, more costly product.

4. Reciprocity:

   • Likelihood of compliance increases if someone has previously done a favor.

     • Door-in-the-Face Technique: Making a large request, then following up with a smaller one.

     • That’s-Not-All Technique: Adding additional incentives before a decision is made.

5. Social Validation (Social Proof):

   • Behavior is influenced by what others are perceived to be doing.

6. Authority:

   • People are more likely to comply with requests from perceived authority figures.

Conformity and the Social Validation Principle

• Conformity: Changing responses to fit in with others.

  • Studies indicate changes in behavior/attitudes.

  • Influenced by normative pressures.

  • Classic studies by Asch (Line Judgment Task) and Sherif (Autokinetic Effect).

Types of Social Norms

• Descriptive Norms: Indicate what people typically do.

• Injunctive Norms: Suggest what people ought to do.

Conformity Research

• Sherif’s Autokinetic Effect (1930s): Demonstrated how quickly norms form and affect behavior.

• Asch’s Line Judgment Task (1955): Studied peer influence on participant responses.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo)

• Examined the impact of situational forces on behavior; ethical issues raised.

Neuroscience of Conformity

• Conformity linked to activation of specific brain networks, differing from independent responses.

Cultural Influences on Conformity

• Individualism vs. Collectivism: Research suggests collectivist cultures exhibit higher conformity rates.

Factors Influencing Conformity

• Factors include group size and unanimity; those in power feel less pressure to conform.

Ethics in Psychological Research

• Discussion of deception in research and its ethical implications.

Milgram’s Obedience Research

• Illustrated the effects of authority on obedience; factors influencing obedience were identified.

Final Thoughts

• Compliance, obedience, and conformity can be adaptive; need for social acceptance is significant.

• Social forces can distort moral behavior, raising questions about free will and ethics.