Influence chapter

• When we are alone, we can act as best suits our own desires and motivations, but when in groups we are interdependent
• Social influence


  The interpersonal processes that change the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors of another person
• Majority influence


  Social pressure exerted by the larger portion of a group (the majority), directed toward individual members and smaller factions within the group (the minority)
• Minority influence


  Social pressure exerted by a lone individual or smaller faction of a group (the minority), directed toward members of the majority
• Conformity


  A change in one's actions, emotions, opinions, judgments, and so on that reduces their discrepancy with these same types of responses displayed by others
• Types of conformity


  • Compliance (acquiescence)
  • Conversion (private acceptance)
  • Congruence (uniformity)
• Types of nonconformity


  • Independence (dissent)
  • Anticonformity (counterconformity)
  • Strategic anticonformity (devil's advocate)
• Unanimity


  Agreement by all people in a given situation
• Individuals who face the majority alone, without a single ally, bear 100% of the group's pressure
• The larger the size of the minority, the smaller the majority; each time a member of the majority shifts to the minority, the minority grows stronger and the majority weaker
• A partner makes a very embarrassing situation less so
• Strong situations


  Leave very little opportunity for people to act in unusual or idiosyncratic ways
• Weak situations


  Do not pressure people to act as everyone else does
• People conform more in strong situations that undercut their capacity to resist the group
• Asch situation


  Group member answered aloud under the watchful eyes of all the other members
• Crutchfield situation


  Group members' responses were private - participants made their judgments while seated in individual cubicles
• Social impact theory


  An analysis of social influence, which proposes that the impact of any source of influence depends upon the strength, the immediacy, and the number of people (sources) present
• Who will conform?


  • Conformists (rigid in thinking, conventional, conservative, unwilling to confront authority)
  • People who rely on situational cues (continually checking to see how well they are fitting into the group or situation)
• Women were more likely to conform than men
• Collectivistic societies


  Stress shared goals and interdependence, more prevalent in Asia, Africa, and South America
• The majority does not always overwhelm the dissenter, for sometimes it is the minority that is the influencer and the majority that is influenced
• Predictors of minority influence

  • Consistency and influence
  • Idiosyncrasy Credits
  • The Diligence of Dissenters
  • Decision Rules and Dissent
• Dynamic social impact theory

  Describes the processes underlying the give-and-take between the majority and the minority, and how groups change over time through consolidation, clustering, correlation, and continuing diversity
• Implicit influence


  Unnoticed and largely automatic cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to other people
• Mindlessness


  A state of reduced cognitive processing characterized by actions based on habit, routine, or previously formed discriminations rather than conscious deliberation
• Mimicry


  The unconscious copying of the behavior others are exhibiting
• Informational influence


  Change-promoting interpersonal processes that are based on the informational value of the responses of others in the situation
• Dual process theory


  Any conceptual analysis that identifies two sources or forms of influence: direct (such as persuasion and discussion) and indirect (such as imitation and herding)
• Normative influence


  Change-promoting interpersonal processes based on social norms, standards, and convention
• Focus theory of normative conduct

  An explanation of influence that assumes descriptive and injunctive norms influence behavior when they are made salient and therefore attended to
• Cognitive dissonance


  The discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs
• Interpersonal influence


  Change-promoting interpersonal processes based on group members selectively encouraging conformity and discouraging or even punishing nonconformity
• Double minorities


  Individuals who disagree with the group and also possess one or more other unique qualities that distinguish them from the rest of the group
• Black-sheep effect


  The tendency for group members to evaluate a group member who performs an offensive behavior more harshly than an outgroup member who performs the same offense
• Normative conflict model of dissent

  Members who are strongly committed to the group are more, rather than less, likely to dissent
• Bystander effect


  The tendency for people to helpless when they know others are present and capable of helping
• Reasons for bystander effect

  • Emergency situations are usually unfamiliar, so people do not fully understand what is happening and how they should respond
  • Normative influence does not enjoin bystanders to help strangers
  • People feel less responsible when in groups compared to being alone, and this diffusion of responsibility leaves bystanders feeling that it is not their responsibility to help
• Story model


  A theory of cognitive processing of trial information that suggests jurors mentally organize evidence in coherent, credible narratives
• Juror types


  • Verdict-driven juror
  • Evidence-driven juror
• The meaning of the term "hung jury" is not certain, but it matches "most closely to the meaning of the word hung as caught, stuck, or delayed