Download Chapter 9: Social Influence

Social Influence
Social Influence
Process by which people directly or indirectly influence the attitudes, cognitions, or
behaviors of others
6 Principles of Social Influence
1. Norm of Reciprocity
Return the form of behavior received from another
Occurs in all societies
Inability to return the favor leads to negative affect
Variations of the Norm
Reciprocal Concessions
– known as the door-in-the-face: Extreme request followed by smaller request the
requester originally had in mind
– motivated by the concession of the other to reciprocate the compromise
3 Necessary Conditions
1. Initial request must be rejected
2. Target must be given a chance to compromise through refusal
3. Second request must be related to the first and come from the same person
who is seen as making a personal concession
Related Technique
That’s-not-all Technique
Bettering the deal before the person has a chance to respond
Very motivating
2. Social Validation
More likely to perform an action consistent with what similar others are doing
Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1957)
Social Comparison Theory
People have an innate drive to evaluate themselves (opinions & abilities)
People prefer objective cues
If unable, people will look to similar others
3. Commitment & Consistency
Prior commitment leads to future compliance when the requests are consistent with that
position
Strategies:
Foot-in-the-door technique
– Performance of the initial request causes individuals to see themselves as
possessing certain traits
Low-ball technique
Person commits to a course of action and then the costs of performing that action are
raised
– Bait-and-switch technique
4 Necessary Conditions
1. Active
2. Effortful
3. Public
4. Freely chosen
4. Liking
Comply with requests from people we like
physical attractiveness
similarity
compliments
cooperation
5. Scarcity
Things seem more valuable to us when they are less available
Two Motivating Factors:
1. Subjectively more valuable
2. Loss of freedom (Brehm, 1966)
6. Authority
Requests coming from “perceived” authorities are more likely to be followed
Rectal Earache (Cohen & Davis, 1981)
Blind Obedience: Nurses & Doctors
Conformity
Waiting in line for movie tickets
Laughing at a comedian
Doing the “wave” at sporting events
Occurs when the behavior of others alters the way you would normally act
Convergence of individual responses toward group norms
Development of Group Norms
Ambiguous Situations - Sherif (1935)
Unambiguous Situations - Asch (1956)
Sherif Experiment
Maximally ambiguous stimuli
Calm participants
Private conformity
Asch Experiment
Perfectly clear stimuli
Tense participants
Public conformity
Informational & Normative Social Influence
Informational pressure we are concerned about being right
– others seen as trustworthy evidence about objective reality
Normative pressure we are concerned about being liked
– avoid rejection and gain approval and acceptance from others
Liked or Wrong?
Crutchfield (1955)
– Showed Ss two simple drawings and asked which one they liked
– Ss led to believe the one they chose was not liked by most people present
– Ss did not conform
Factors Leading to Conformity
Group Size
– reaches its peak at 3 or 4 members
Gender
– Women slightly more than men
Liked Groups
– Bennington College Study (Newcomb, 1943)
Group Status
– High and low status conform less
Reducing Conformity
Clear and Objective Matters
Ability
“Lone Dissenter”