Social Influence

• Conformity:

  • yielding to group pressure
  • tends to happen when a majority of people behave or think in a certain way so that other individuals begin to see themselves as 'different' or 'abnormal'
  • they end up following the norms of their group, even if they may do or say things that they don't really want to do or do not believe in
  • the pressure to do this is known as majority influence
• Crowd and collective behaviour:

  • collective behaviour describes the actions of a group of people who have come together for a particular reason
  • crowd behaviour is a more specific example of collective behaviour and often involves unplanned activity
  • when people come together collectively they may engage in pro-social behaviour
  • crowds may also engage in pro-social behaviour but in a more spontaneous way
  • when people come together collectively they may engage in anti-social behaviour
  • the anti-social behaviour may be something less planned
• Obedience:

  • involves following the orders of an authority figure
  • the individual behaves in a certain way because they feel there will be severe consequences if they do not do so
• pro-social behaviour - actions that work in favour of society

  anti-social behaviour - actions that work against society

  authority figure - someone who has the right or power to give orders
• Situational factors - factors outside of the individual and in their environment which influence how they act

  • majority influence
  • deindividuation
  • culture
  • authority figures
• Effect of majority influence on conformity