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Social Influence - Coggle Diagram
Social Influence
Definition
: "
the process by which people directly or indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings and actions of others
"
Thinking about social influence
May include obv. attempts to change behaviour of others
(persuasion, making requests, applying authority)
Can include small processes that take place within a group/society
(conformity to implied norms of group)
Carries neg. associations -
-> authority figures telling others what to do, but it's very prevalent + important part of life
Types of social influence
Compliance/Obedience
: Public behavioural changes that go against one's own beliefs
Conformity
: Behavioural change that changes one's underlying beliefs
Minority Influence
: when minorities change the attitudes of the majority
Classic studies of social influence
Milgram 1963 Obedience
:
will people obey orders even when they're aware they are causing harm?
male in white coat= authority figure
majority of Ps obeyed to orders and did what was asked
concluded that obedience is 'situational'
(location of experiment, proximity of victim, other Ps present, etc..)
Sherif's Autokinetic effect (1935)
:
will Ps conform to other's when giving responses?
Ps asked to estimate how far a laser had moved alone and then in groups + finally alone again
when in groups --> people conformed to others' responses
situation in study= ambiguous,
informational influence
occurred --> Ps based their answers on other's responses as they thought other Ps knew more + knew the correct response + they wanted to be correct
Asch's Conformity lines study
: - situation was not ambiguous --> 1 correct answer
confederates all gave
wrong
answer
majority of Ps conformed to the group and gave the wrong answer to fit in
(normative influence)
if 1 confederate picked correct line --> conformity drastically reduced (disagreement reduces conformity)
Theories of social influence
Dual-process theories: Normative + Informational Influence
(early theories) Deutsh + Gerard 1955
Suggests that social Influence can occur via 2 distinct + qualitatively different paths
Informational Influence
: "
Influence to achieve accurate perceptions- people want to be right
"
Normative Influence
:
"influence to gain approval + avoid rejection- people want to be liked
"
Varied Asch paradigm to test this:
- varied ways Ps gave responses
done w/orig. stimuli either present or absent
when stimuli absent --> high conformity (ppl looked to others)
they wanted to be "liked"
Limitations of dual-process theories
: - problem of residual conformity
ignores other forms of relationship between ppl + sources of influence
does not capture group dynamics
Self-categorization theory (Turner): A single process of influence
Groups provide us with a
social identity
, influence of groups is
informational + normative
at the same time
Consists of
:
Referent Informational Influence
: Group norm; correct thing to do. we go along with the group because we think they know what is right
Referent Social Influence
: Following the group norm because you identify w/the group and want to fit in
(group normative behaviour
)
Social influence most likely when
group membership=salient
+ in-groups more likely to be influential
To demonstrate this: Platow et al (2005)
:
does laughter depend on a shared sense of social identity?
Ps asked to rate how funny they found a comedy
when audience= in-group --> Ps laughed as they thought this is what ppl like them find funny
Moscovici (1961)+ Minority influence
Argued that
small groups
create social influence, individuals can influence large majorities. argued that Asch was a study of minority influence
Moscovici et al (1969)
:
in groups of 6 Ps presented with
blue slide
varying in intensity + shade
asked to identify color of slide
Ps assigned to 3 conditions (control, inconsistent minority, consistent minority)
if group= consistent --> Ps flipped perception of reality; thought group was correct
minorites can influence majorities
Theories of Minority Influence
Compliance
--> the majority publicly conforms - the majority publicly conforms to the minority's viewpoint
no change in private attitudes/beliefs --> is just public
Conversion
--> leads to indirect, hidden private change in majority - lasts for a longer period of time
the majority accepts the minority's viewpoint - private beliefs of majority are changed
--> is public and private
Wood et al
--> analysing studies of minority influence - minorites + majorities produce influences of public + private change
majorities = more influential on public and private change
minorities= more influential on indirect private change