social influence (paper 2)

• conformity 


  when a person's behaviour/thinking changes as a result of group pressure (this can be imagined or real pressure)
• obedience 


  type of social influence that causes a person to act in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority
• social factors 


  explanations of behaviour in terms of the social world around you (social world = groups of ppl you identify with)
• dispositional factors 


  explanations of behaviour in terms of an individual's personality, character or temperament
• locus of control 


  the sense we have about what directs events in our life

  • internal = believe they are responsible
  • external = believe it is a matter of luck
• agency theory 


  whether an individual is making their own free choice or acting as an agent for an authority figure
• autonomous state 


  being aware of consequences of one's actions and therefore taking voluntary control of one's behaviour
• authority 


  the power/right to give orders and expect obedience
• culture 


  our beliefs + expectations that surround us
• authoritarian personality 


  a person who is especially susceptible to obeying people in authority
• cognitive style 


  the way a person thinks about the world
• displace 


  a form of ego mechanism where an individual unconsciously redirects a threatening emotion from the person's thing that has caused it into a third party
• bystander behaviour 


  the presence of others reduces the likelihood that help will be offered in an emergency situation
• prosocial behaviour 


  behaviour which is beneficial to other people (may not necessarily be beneficial to the helper)
• antisocial behaviour 


  behaviour which is harmful to other people (like aggressive or distressing behaviour)
• collective behaviour 


  the actions that happens when people are part of a group
• crowd 


  a large but temporary gathering of people with a common focus
• deindividuation 


  a psychological state where you lose your personal identity and take on the group identify of those around you
• social loafing 


  individuals make a reduced effort when they are part of a group than when they are on their own
• Asch effect


  when people conform even in an unambiguous situation
• social factors affecting conformity

  • group size (more people = more pressure to conform)
  • anonymity (less pressure to conform when anonymous)
  • task difficultly (the more difficult the task, the answer becomes less certain, so we are more likely to conform)
• dispositional factors affecting conformity

  • personality (internal locus of control = less likely to conform, external locus of control = more likely to conform)
  • expertise (increase confidence of opinion, so less likely to conform)
• agentic shift 


  when someone changes from an autonomous state to an agentic state - this occurs when someone perceives another as a figure with authority
• social factors affecting obedience

  • agency
  • authority
  • culture
  • proximity