Social Influence

• Conformity


  Compliant or shallow identification (temporary change in behavior), Identification (change in private values when with the group), Internalization (permanent change in personal opinions to match the group)
• Informational social influence (ISI)


  Individuals look to the majority for guidance on how to behave correctly, results in internalization
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  Individuals want to appear normal and be approved by the majority, results in compliance
• Asch (1951) found 32% conformity when participants gave the incorrect response to match the majority, evidence for NSI</b>
• Jenness (1932) found individuals' second private guesses moved closer to the group's guess, evidence for ISI
• Variables affecting conformity

  • Group size (more Confederates = more conformity), Unanimity (one dissenter reduces conformity), Task difficulty (harder tasks increase conformity)
• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment found participants quickly conformed to their assigned social roles as prisoners and guards
• Agentic state


  The individual believes they don't have responsibility for their behavior as they are just following orders from an authority figure
• Legitimacy of authority


  Individuals accept that those higher in the social hierarchy should be obeyed, learned through socialization
• Milgram (1963) found 65% of participants were willing to deliver the maximum 450V shock when ordered by the experimenter, an authority figure
• Factors affecting obedience


  • Proximity (obedience drops if learner is in same room), Uniform (obedience drops without authority uniform), Location (obedience higher in rundown area)
• Locus of control


  Individuals with an internal locus of control feel their own actions control their lives and are less concerned with social approval, more able to resist conformity
• Minority influence

  • Consistency, Flexibility, Commitment - minorities need to demonstrate these to change majority opinion
• Social change often starts with minorities using informational social influence to slowly convert the majority, leading to the snowball effect
• Governments can quickly drive social change by changing and enforcing laws, using their legitimacy of authority