Part 1How Others Influence Our Behavior
* of 26
Social InfluenceSocial Influence: Changes in a persons behavior
induced by the actions of another person. (Someone else influences
your decision)Conformity: A change in behavior and/or belief to
conform to a group norm as a result of real or imagined group
pressure
* of 26
The Sherif StudyParticipants in dark room asked to estimate how
far a point of light moved. The light actually did not move, but
due to the autokinetic effect, it appeared to.
When participants were alone, the estimates differed greatly.
However, when participants were in a group, the estimates came to
agree.
Informational social influence: Influence stemming from the need
for information in situations in which the correct action or
judgment is uncertain.
* of 26
The Asch StudyPeople were tested in groups, one test participant
and several confederates. Each was asked to judge which of three
comparison lines was the same length as the standard line. The test
participant was asked last, after the confederates had
answered.
* of 26
The Asch Study, continued75% of participants conformed to
confederates judgments at least some of the time.Overall, 37% of
judgments conformed.Normative social influence: influence stemming
from our desire to gain the approval and to avoid the disapproval
of others.
* of 26
Situational Factors in ConformityUnanimity of the group: It was
easier for participants not to conform if just one other person
disagreed with the group.Mode of responding: More participants
disagreed when judgments were given by secret ballot than given out
loud.Status: greater conformity was shown by participants of lower
status than the other group members or participants who wants to be
part of the group.
* of 26
Why We ComplyCompliance: acting in accordance with a direct
request from another person or group.Foot-in-the-door technique:
compliance to a large request is gained by preceding it with a very
small request.Door-in-the-face technique: compliance is gained by
starting with a large, unreasonable request that is turned down,
and then following it with a smaller, more reasonable request.
* of 26
More Compliance TechniquesThe low-ball technique: compliance to
a costly request is gained by first getting compliance to an
attractive, less costly request but then reneging on it
(introductory offers)The thats-not-all technique: compliance to a
planned second request with additional benefits is gained by
presenting this request before a response can be made to a first
request (Ron Popeil)
* of 26
Obedience to AuthorityObedience: Following the commands of a
person in authority.
Classic Milgram study: Volunteer told to teach another person
(actually an accomplice in the experiment) word pairs by applying
an electric shock each time the learner was wrong. The learner also
told the volunteer that he had a heart condition.
65% obeyed by going all the way to 450 volts on the shock
machine even though the learner eventually could not answer any
more questions.
* of 26
Results of Milgrams Study
* of 26
Situational Factors in ObedienceObedience to authority was
lowered by: increased personal contact with victim social support
of others (e.g., two volunteers working together) Authority figure
appearing more disreputable Disagreement between 2 authority
figures
* of 26
Group InfluenceSocial Facilitation: the presence of others leads
to heightened arousal, in which our performance of simpler,
familiar tasks is improved and our performance of more difficult,
unfamiliar tasks is adversely affected. Social loafing: tendency to
exert less effort when working in a group toward a common goal than
when individually working toward the same goal.Diffusion of
responsibility: the lessening of a sense of individual
responsibility for a task when responsibility is shared among
members of a group.
* of 26
Group Influence, continuedDeindividuation: the loss of
self-awareness and self-restraint in a group situation that fosters
arousal and anonymityGroup polarization: the strengthening of a
groups prevailing opinion about a topic following group discussion
about the topic.Groupthink: a mode of group thinking that impairs
decision making because the desire for group harmony overrides a
realistic appraisal of the possible decision alternatives.Bystander
effect: the probability of a persons helping in an emergency is
greater when there are no other bystanders than when there are
bystanders.
* of 26
Offering Help: Decision Tree
* of 26
Number of Bystanders & Offers of Help
Part 2How Others InfluenceOur Thinking
* of 26
Attribution TheoryAttribution: the process by which we explain
our own behavior and that of others. We can attribute behavior to:
External Causes (situational): Ones that lie outside of a person
Internal Causes (dispositional): Ones that lie within a person
* of 26
Attributions We MakeAbout OurselvesActor-observer bias: the
tendency to overestimate situational influences on our own
behavior, but to overestimate dispositional influences on the
behavior of othersSelf-serving bias: the tendency to make
attributions so that one can perceive oneself
favorablyFalse-consensus effect: tendency to overestimate the
commonality of ones opinions and unsuccessful behaviors (but not
successful behaviors)False uniqueness effect: tendency to
underestimate the commonality of ones abilities and successful
behaviors
* of 26
Attributions We Make About OthersFundamental attribution error:
the tendency as an observer to overestimate dispositional
influences (internal causes) and underestimate situational
influences (external causes) upon others behaviorJust world
hypothesis: the assumption that the world is just and that people
get what they deservePrimacy effect: information gathered early is
weighted more heavily than information gathered later in forming an
impression of another person (I.e., first impressions
count!)Self-fulfilling prophecy: our behavior leads a person to act
in accordance with our expectations for that person
* of 26
Cognitive DissonanceCognitive Dissonance (Festinger): discomfort
caused by inconsistencies between attitudes and behavior We need to
have consistency in our thoughts, perceptions, and images of
ourselves Underlies attempts to convince ourselves we did the right
thingJustification: Degree to which ones actions are justified by
rewards or other circumstances
* of 26
Example of Cognitive Dissonance
* of 26
Bems Self-Perception TheorySelf-Perception Theory: a theory
which assumes that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer
them by examining our behavior and the context in which it
occursAccording to Bem, people dont change their attitude because
of their behavior (Festingers position), but rather use their
behavior to infer their attitude.
* of 26
Social RolesSocial Role: Patterns of behavior expected of people
in various social positions (e.g. daughter, mother, teacher,
President (!)).Ascribed Role: Assigned to a person or not under
personal controlAchieved Role: Attained voluntarily or by special
effort: teacher, mayor, PresidentRole Conflict: When two or more
roles make conflicting demands on behaviorRole-playing: When taking
on a role, we tend to take on the attitudes and behaviors
associated with that role. (Zimbardos prisoner study)
