Edition, PSYCHOLOGY
(8th in Modules) David Myers
PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, 2007
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Social Influence
Module 57
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Social Influence
The greatest contribution of social psychology is its study of attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and actions and the way they are molded by social influence.
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Conformity & Obedience
Behavior is contagious, modeled by one followed by another. We follow the behavior of others to conform. Other behaviors may be the expression of compliance (obedience) toward authority.
Conformity Obedience
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The Chameleon Effect
Conformity: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999).
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Group Pressure & Conformity
Suggestibility is a subtle type of conformity adjusting our behavior or thinking toward some group standard.
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Group Pressure & Conformity
Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.
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Conditions that Strengthen Conformity
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. One is made to feel incompetent or insecure. The group has at least three people. The group is unanimous. One admires the group's status and attractiveness. On has no prior commitment to response. The group observes one's behavior. One's culture strongly encourages respect for social standard.
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A. B. C. D.
Conformity is when we adjust our thinking and behavior to go along with a group standard. Which of the following is NOT likely to influence whether or not we conform?
your level of intelligence the size of the group that you are with whether or not the group is observing you whether or not the group has status
Reasons for Conformity
Normative Social Influence: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid rejection. Respecting normative behavior, because price may be severe if not followed. Informative Social Influence: The group may provide valuable information, only stubborn people will never listen to others.
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Since everyone in her dorm watched American Idol and The Apprentice, Tyra decided she do better the same. She didn't particularly like those shows, but she wanted everyone to accept her. This example best illustrates: A. B. C. D. informational social influence. social facilitation. groupthink. normative social influence.
Informative Social Influence
Baron and colleagues (1996) made students do an eyewitness identification task. If the task was easy (lineup exposure 5 sec.) conformity was low compared to difficult (1/2 sec. exposure) task.
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Informative Social Influence
Baron et al., (1996)
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Obedience
People comply to social pressures. But how would they respond to outright command? Stanley Milgram designed a study that investigated the effects of authority on obedience.
Stanley Milgram (19331984)
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Milgram's Study
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Milgram's Study: Results
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Individual Resistance
A third of individuals in Milgram's study resisted social coercion.
An unarmed individual singlehandedly Challenged a line of tanks at Tiananmen Square.
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Individual Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social facilitation: Refers to improved performance on a task in the presence of others. Triplett (1898) noticed cyclists' race time were faster when they competed against others than against a clock.
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Social Loafing
Tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort toward attaining a common goal than when tested individually (Latan, 1981).
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Which of the following is an example of social facilitation?
A. A funny movie seems even more amusing when you watch it with a group of friends. B. Solving difficult math problems is easier when you are in a quiet room with only one other person. C. People may be more likely to help if there is a large crowd watching. D. People are more likely to work much harder in a group than when they are alone.
Deindividuation
Loss of selfawareness and selfrestraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.
Mob behavior
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Effects of Group Interaction
Group Polarization: enhances group's prevailing attitudes through discussion. If a group is likeminded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions and attitudes.
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