Social Influence: Key Terms + Points Flashcards
Social Influence
the process by which an individuals attitudes, beliefs or behaviour are modified by the presence or action of others
Conformity
yielding to group pressure or the tendency to change what we do, think or say in response to the influence of others, the pressure to conform can be real or imagined
Majority Influence
an individual is said to conform if they choose a course of action that is favoured by majority of other group members or is considered socially acceptable
3 Variables Affecting Conformity
group size, unanimity, task difficulty
3 Types of Conformity, Kelman (1958)
compliance, identification, internalisation
Compliance
- publicly conforming to behaviour or views of group but privately maintaining ones own views
- temporary
- shallowest type
Identification
- adopting views or behaviour of group both publicly and privately because you value membership of group
- new attitudes and behaviours are temporary and not maintained on leaving group
Internalisation
- conversion or true change of private views to match those of the group
- new attitudes aren’t dependent on presence of group
- deepest type
Informational Social Influence (ISI)
- based on desire to be right
- cognitive process
- look to others we believe to be correct - particularly in novel or ambiguous situations
- links to identification or internalisation
Normative Social Influence (NSI)
- based on desire to be liked
- emotional process
- conform becuase we think others will approve of us so we can be accepted
- links to compliance
Why do we conform?
ISI: when we move from one group to another and experience situational ambiguity
NSI: according to Latames (1981) social impact theory, when group is important to us and when we spend a lot of time with it
Obedience
the result of social influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure, it’s assumed that without such an order the person wouldn’t have acted in this way, motivated by fear of punishment or belief in the legitimacy of authority
Situational Variables
related to external circumstances rather than the personalities of the people involved
3 Situational Variables that Affect Obedience
1) location
2) proximity
3) uniform
How Location Affects Obedience
- the relevant factor that influences obedience is the status or prestige associated with the location
- variation of Milgram: run-down office instead of lab in university
- obedience dropped to 47.5%
How Proximity Affects Obedience
- variation of Milgram: teacher and learner in same room instead of adjoining rooms
- obedience dropped to 40%
How Uniform Affects Obedience
- Bickman (1974) found that participants were more likely to obey experimenter dressed as a guard than milkman or civilian
- Bushman (1988) found 72% obeyed “police”
Situational Explanations
look at external reasons for a behaviour eg environment