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AP Psychology 12
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Ms Carey
How do we influence each other?
How are we affected by pressures to conform and obey, and by group interaction?
Social Psychology’s great lesson is the enormous power of social influence on our
attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and actions. This influence can be seen in our
conformity, compliance, and group behaviour. Suicides, bomb threats, airplane
hijackings, and UFO sightings all have a curious tendency to come in clusters.
Armed with principles of social influence, advertisers, salespeople, and campaign
workers aim to sway our decisions to buy, to donate, and to vote. During a lengthy
stay in another part of the world, many of us may struggle with new cultural norms.
Why do we wear blue jeans on school campuses and suits and ties in the business
world? Let’s examine the pull of these social strings: how strong are they and how
do they work?
CONFORMITY & OBEDIENCE:
Conformity = adjusting one’s behaviour or
Thinking to coincide with a group standard.
-
Behaviour is contagious: one person giggles, coughs or yawns, and
others in a group are soon doing the same thing
Sometimes the effects of behaviour are more serious = COPYCAT
behaviour. (ie: Columbine High School Shootings/Suicides/etc..)
A) Group Pressure and Conformity:


adjusting our behaviour or thinking to bring it into line with some
group standard
Solomon Asch (1955) came up with a simple tests called “Conformity
Experiments” – people would pick an answer that was wrong IF the
group answer was different.
- Conditions that Strengthen Conformity
- Reasons for Conforming
Normative Social Influence- influence resulting from a person’s
desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Informal Social Influence- influence resulting from one’s
willingness to accept other’s opinions about reality.
B) OBEDIENCE:
-
Stanley Milgram (1933-1984)
Social Psychologist who conducted many obedience
Experiments using controversial electric shocks.
He knew that people often comply with social pressures and he wanted
to find out how they would respond to outright commands.
THE EXPERIMENT:
- Yale University – Psychology Dept. ad claims to be conducting a study
on the ‘effect of punishment on learning’.
THE CATCH: the learner was not really getting shocked…
How far do you think you would go? How long would you continue listening to the
Experimenter knowing someone was getting shocked? 65% of men and women in
the experiment completed it and pushed the 450-Volt switch.
Short-answer Questions:
1. What is the difference between social influence and persuasion? Explain.
2. What are the differences between conformity, compliance and obedience?
3. What social psychological factors play a role in determining whether a person
conforms, complies and obeys?
4. Describe and explain the main findings from Asch's classic studies on
conformity.
5. Describe and explain the main findings from Milgram's classic studies on
obedience.
6. Describe and explain the main findings from Zimbardo's classic prison
experiment.
7. Why do people tend to obey authorities? Explain.