M3 social influence Flashcards
(33 cards)
3 types of social influence (most to least direct)
obedience: change behavior in response to direct command
compliance: change behavior in response to direct request
conformity: change attitude or behavior out of the desire to fit in with norms/other peoples’ beliefs
Milgram’s obedience study
1) tell subjects the study was on the effect of punishment on learning; they were the teacher, confederate was the learner; subjects were to shock confederates after mistakes
2) test 15 volt shock, shown machine with 15-450 volts
3) experimenter told subject to up the shock each time; subject could not see, only hear, confederate
4) experimenter used prompts to get subject to continue
5) before experiment, Milgram explained it to other people; asked when they would stop and when subjects would stop
results: avg people said they’d stop by 135 volts; higher guess for subjects; 25% subjects stopped by 300, 63% went to 450
2 studies testing obedience
1) milgram (shocks)
2) martin (kids/their teachers; hearing test)
martin’s obedience study
1) told kids the purpose was to identify people with rare ability to hear high frequency sounds
2) showed subjects noise apparatus; dial 1-10; 6+ some hearing damage, 8+ severe hearing damage
3) kids’ own teacher acted as the experimenter; told them to up the dial and indicate if they heard anything (no sounds were actually played)
results: 95% went to level 6, 54% went to level to; the kids took major risks just to obey their teacher
cialdini’s 6 principles of compliance
1) reciprocity
2) friendship/liking
3) social validation
4) commitment/consistency
5) authority
6) scarcity
6 compliance strategies
1) foot in the door
2) door in the face
3) that’s not all
4) lowballing
5) bait and switch
6) labeling
foot in the door study
freedman and fraser
1) experimenter asked residents to sign a petition (sm request)
2) two weeks later, different experimenter asked same residents to place large sign in yard OR ask new residents
results: more likely to allow large sign if asked and agreed to petition
door in the face study
cialdini et al
1) ask people to volunteer to be “big brother” / “big sister” for 2 hours a week for 2 years
2) ask same people to take kids to zoo for just 2 hours one day OR ask new people
results: more likely to take kids to the zoo if asked initial large request
lowballing experiment
cialdini
1) recruit ppl over the phone for interesting study
2) told participants start time was 7 am before or after they committed
results: more likely to agree and actually show up if told start time after agreeing
bait and switch study
joule et al
1) recruit ppl over the phone for interesting study; told them they would get $6
2) participants showed up, told them study was cancelled but could volunteer for less interesting study and not get paid
3) prior to experiment, researchers asked other people how willing they themselves would be to participate in second study (get control level of willingness)
results: more likely to participate if bait and switch
2 types of influence in conformity situations
1) informational influence: accepting others’ ideas about reality because we genuinely believe they know / are correct
2) normative: accepting others’ beliefs publicly in order to fit in, regardless of private beliefs
informational influence study
sherif autokinetic effect
1) put ppl in dark room
2) ask how far line appeared to move (didn’t actually move; optical illusion –> ambiguous situation)
3) put in group with other people, asked to give estimates out loud
results: all 3 participants converged, gave same answer after 4 days
extreme real world examples of informational influence
1) the war of the worlds
- radio broadcasted TV show about martian invasion
- people missed disclaimer that it was a TV show –> started panicking
2) koro
- eastern mass hysteria belief that ghosts cause male genitalia to shrink.be absorbed
normative influence study
asch line test
- subjects take unambiguous line matching test
- 2 conditions: control (match lines by yourself) vs. group (match lines out loud w/ 5 confederates - you answer last)
results: subjects intentionally gave wrong answer when confederates gave wrong answer before them
5 factors influencing conformity
1) group size (bigger group = more conformity but plateaus aroung 5)
2) cohesiveness of group
3) unanimity of group
4) status of members (higher status leads to higher conformity)
5) prior commitment (stick with original commitment)
2 ways of resisting conformity
1) reactance
2) need to be unique (can become cool to NOT do something if everyone else is doing it)
types of influence of majority and minority groups
majority: public, normative
minority: private, informational
5 factors that increase minority influence
1) consistency
2) confidence
3) flexible/open mind
4) not too deviant from majority
5) originally held majority opinion (convert)
does brainstorming work in the short term/long term?
short term: NO because of production blocking - only one person can talk at a time; others might not get to share their ideas or might forget them
long term: MAYBE because of increased enjoyment from being in group setting and group cohesion
group polarization
when being in a group with like-minded people increases the members’ original beliefs
3 features of group polarization
1) refers to avg tendency of group, not a split within the group
2) the whole group becomes more extreme in the initial direction
3) doesn’t work if a dissenter is present
2 process by which group polarization works
1) social comparison: think extreme positions are more favorable when in a like-minded group (normative influence)
2) mutual persuasion: other people can have the same belief but for different reasons –> add more reasons to believe what you do (informative influence)
groupthink
members become so focused on an end goal (achieving consensus) that they lose ability to weigh other POVs
3 conditions for groupthink to occur
1) highly cohesive group
2) isolated from other opinions
3) leader making their wishes known
