Social influence

• Social influence is the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs or behavior are modified by the presence or action of others
• Four areas of social influence are conformity, compliance, obedience, and minority influence
• Conformity, a type of social influence, is defined as a change in belief or behavior in response to real or imagined social pressure, also known as majority influence
• Types of Conformity:

  • Compliance: publicly agreeing with a group but privately disagreeing
  • Internalisation: publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group while also agreeing with them privately
  • Identification: conforming to the demands of a given social role in society
• Normative social influence is where a person conforms to fit in with the group because they don’t want to appear foolish or be left out, usually associated with compliance
• Informational social influence is where a person conforms because they have a desire to be right and look to others who they believe may have more information
• Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment:

  • Participants estimated the number of beans in a jar individually and then as a group
  • Showed majority influence and informational social influence
  • Participants' estimates converged towards a similar value in the group setting
• Asch's Line Study:

  • Investigated conformity to the majority in situations where an answer was obvious
  • Participants conformed on 32% of critical trials where confederates gave wrong answers
  • Lack of ecological validity and sampling issues were noted in the study
• Factors Affecting Conformity:

  • Group Size: Conformity increases with group size up to a certain point, optimal group size is around 3-5 people
  • Group Unanimity: Conformity is higher when all group members agree
  • Difficulty of Task: Conformity increases with task difficulty
  • Answer in Private: Conformity decreases when participants can answer privately
• Social roles are the part people play as members of a social group, and there is considerable pressure to conform to the expectations of a social role, known as identification
• Stanford Prison Experiment by Zimbardo:

  • Investigated how readily people would conform to the social roles of guard and prisoner in a simulated prison environment
  • Showed the powerful influence of social roles on behavior
• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment:

  • Procedure: Zimbardo converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison
  • Participants: students assigned as prisoners or guards in a simulated prison environment
  • Findings: guards quickly adopted a brutal and sadistic behavior, while prisoners became submissive and adopted prisoner-like behavior
• Evaluation of Zimbardo's Study:

  • Demand characteristics could explain the findings, as most guards later claimed they were simply acting
  • The study may lack ecological validity and population validity, limiting its generalizability to real-life prison settings and other populations
  • The study led to changes in US prisons, such as separating juveniles accused of federal crimes from adult prisoners
• Milgram's Shock Study:

  • Procedure: participants were assigned as a teacher (true participant) or learner (confederate) and administered electric shocks
  • Results: 65% of participants were willing to administer shocks up to 450 volts
  • Evaluation: lacked ecological validity and had a biased sample of only males
• Ethical Issues in Milgram's Study:

  • Deception: participants believed they were shocking a real person, leading to stress and potential psychological harm
  • Protection of participants: exposed to extremely stressful situations, some experiencing seizures and distress
  • Milgram debriefed participants fully after the experiment and followed up to ensure no lasting harm
• Agency Theory:

  • People obey an authority when they believe the authority will take responsibility for the consequences of their actions
  • Supported by aspects of Milgram's evidence, where reminders of personal responsibility decreased obedience
• Milgram's experiment variations:

  • Milgram varied the basic procedure to identify which situational factors affected obedience (the DV)
  • Obedience was measured by how many participants shocked to the maximum 450 volts (65% in the original study)
• Authority Figure Wearing a Uniform:

  • Milgram's experimenter (Mr. Williams) wearing a laboratory coat gave him high status
  • When the experimenter dressed in everyday clothes, obedience was very low
• Status of Location:

  • Milgram's obedience experiment at Yale University had high credibility and respect, increasing obedience
  • When the experiment was moved to run-down offices, obedience dropped to 47.5%
• Proximity of Authority Figure:

  • People are more likely to obey an authority figure who is in close proximity
  • Obedience fell to 20.5% when the experimenter instructed the teacher by telephone from another room
• Dispositional Explanation - Authoritarian Personality:

  • Adorno proposed the concept of an authoritarian personality, favoring an authoritarian social system and admiring obedience to authority figures
  • Characteristics include hostility towards those of inferior status and obedience to high-status individuals
• Resistance to Social Influence:

  • Independent behavior describes behavior not influenced by others, resisting pressures to conform or obey
• Social Support:

  • Presence of a dissident (non-conforming confederate) decreases conformity levels in true participants, providing social support and confidence in their decisions
• Locus of Control:

  • Internal locus of control individuals feel personal control over their behavior, less conforming and obedient
  • External locus of control individuals attribute behaviors to external influences or luck
• Minority Influence:

  • Minority influence occurs when a small group influences the opinion of a larger group
  • Consistency, commitment, and flexibility are key behaviors for minority influence
• Social Change:

  • Social change involves a whole society adopting a new belief or behavior, often influenced by minority influence, internal locus of control, and disobedience to authority
• Social change is often a result of minority influence, where a small group persuades the majority to adopt their point of view
• Independent behavior is linked to minority influence, as the minority resists pressures to conform and/or obey
• Committed minorities, especially those who risk themselves for their cause, influence the majority through the augmentation principle, where the majority values the importance of the cause
• The snowball effect occurs when more of the majority gradually change towards the cause, ultimately resulting in societal change
• Once social change happens, social cryptomnesia occurs, where people remember the change but not how it came about
• Moscovici found that consistency is crucial for the minority to be influential, as it creates uncertainty among the majority
• In Moscovici's study, a consistent minority group had a greater effect on other participants than an inconsistent group, confirming the importance of consistency in minority influence
• A snowball effect begins when the minority persuades people to their way of thinking, leading more to adopt the minority opinion until it becomes the majority opinion
• Crypto amnesia is when the minority opinion becomes the dominant position in society, and people often do not remember where the opinion originated from
• Minority influence can lead to social change through committed minorities and the snowball effect, ultimately resulting in the minority opinion becoming the dominant position in society