Social influence

• Compliance


  Agreeing with the group externally but keeping personal opinions, a temporary change in behavior
• Identification


  Behaving according to group membership, private values change only when with the group
• Internalization


  Personal opinions genuinely change to match the group, a permanent change
• Informational social influence (ISI)


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


  Wanting to appear normal and be approved by the majority, results in compliance
• Asch 1951 study found 32% of participants conformed to the incorrect group response
• Jenness 1932 study found individuals' second private guesses moved closer to the group's guess, providing evidence for ISI
• Variables affecting conformity


  • Group size (conformity increases with more confederates)
  • Presence of a dissenting voice (conformity drops if one confederate gives the correct response)
  • Task difficulty (conformity increases on more difficult tasks)
• Croucher 2012 study found 52.6% of participants conformed at least once to online confederates' incorrect responses
• Agentic state


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


  The individual feels their actions are free from control
• Legitimacy of authority


  Individuals accept that people higher up in a social hierarchy should be obeyed
• Milgram 1963 study found 65% of participants were willing to deliver the maximum 450 volt shock to the learner when instructed by the experimenter
• Variations of Milgram's study found obedience decreased when the experimenter was not in a position of authority (e.g. not wearing a lab coat)
• Bickman 1974 field study found 39% of people would pick up litter if asked by someone dressed as a security guard, but only 14% would do so if asked by someone dressed as a milkman
• Factors affecting obedience


  • Proximity to victim (obedience decreases when the victim is physically closer)
  • Location (obedience increases in a more legitimate setting like a lab)
  • Uniform of authority figure (obedience decreases without a uniform)
• Adorno argued that people with high levels of authoritarianism (as measured by the F-scale) were more likely to obey authority figures
• Minority influence


  Minorities attempt to change majority opinion through informational social influence, leading to internalization
• Characteristics of effective minority influence


  • Consistency in message over time
  • Flexibility to appear open-minded
  • Commitment shown through suffering for their views
• The snowball effect occurs as more members of the majority convert to the minority view, speeding up the process of social change
• Group membership affects persuasion, with people more likely to be influenced by in-group members than out-group members
• Governments can drive social change quickly by changing and enforcing laws, using their legitimacy of authority
• Social change on issues like knife crime, hate speech, and climate change has been driven by informational social influence from minority groups
• Social norms are unwritten rules that govern social behaviour
• Normative social influence is when people conform to what they believe others expect them to do, even if it goes against their own beliefs or values.
• Informational social influence occurs when we change our attitudes or behaviours because we think the group has more information than us.