Normative Social Influence

• Normative social influence is about norms, i.e. what is 'normal' or typical behaviour for a social group
• Norms regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals so it is not surprising that we pay attention to them
• People do not like to appear foolish and prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected, so NSI is an emotional rather than a cognitive process
• NSI is most likely to occur in situations with strangers where you may feel concerned about rejection
• It may also occur with people you know because we are most concerned about the social approval of our friends
• It may be more pronounced in stressful situations where people have a greater need for social support