Chapter 9: Social Influence

Emotion based compliance

-FOMO: Fear of missing out/ appealing to limited time frame -Positive mood increases compliance -Guilt increases compliance

What are cultural differences in mimicry?

Hispanic cultures tend to be more attuned to emotions and behaviors of others than Anglo-American cultures (Hispanics reported less anxiety and was rated more highly by observers when the interviewer mirrored them)

That's-not-all technique

a compliance approach that involves adding something to an original offer, thus creating some pressure to reciprocate

Reciprocal concessions technique (Door-in-the-face technique)

a compliance approach that involves asking someone for a very large favor that he or she will certainly refuse and then following that request with one for a smaller favor (which tends to be seen as a concession the target feels compelled to honor); also called door-in-the-face technique

Foot-in-the-door technique

a compliance approach that involves making an initial small request with which nearly everyone complies, followed by a larger request involving the real behavior of interest

Norms of reciprocity

a norm dictating that people should provide benefits to those who benefit them (when someone does something for us, we usually feel compelled to do something in return)

Conformity

changing one's behavior or beliefs in response to explicit or implicit pressure (real or imagined) from others ex: implicit - following fashion trends explicit - peer pressure Factors that affect conformity pressure: Group size: increase of conformity as group size increases, but only up to a group size of 3 or 4 Group unanimity: conformity decreases when group is not entirely unanimous Presence of ally weakens informational social influence ("Maybe I'm not crazy after all") and normative social influence ("At least I have someone standing by me") Anonymity: eliminates informational and normative social influence and therefore reduces conformity Expertise and status: experts are more likely to be right so people adopt their views because they are sources of information whereas status affects normative influence because the disapproval of high status individuals can hurt more than the people we care less about Culture: people from interdependent cultures are much more concerned about their relationship with others and fitting into the broader social context than people from independent cultures Gender: women tend to conform more than men

Obedience

in an unequal power relationship, submitting to the demands of the person in authority ex: authority figure demands a tasks rather than request to make the less powerful person submit

What is groupthink?

occurs when a group of well-intentioned people make irrational or non-optimal decisions that are spurred by the urge to conform or the discouragement of dissent ex: riots

What is deindividuation?

phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly impulsive, deviant, and sometimes violent acts in situations in which they believe they cannot be personally identified ex: KKK, cyberbullying, Halloween

Compliance

responding favorably to an explicit request by another person ex: people with some power over you (boss or professor) asks you to run an errand, classmate asks you to borrow your notes

Descriptive norm

the behavior exhibited by most people in a given context ex: students actually sleep less than 6 hours each night

Normative social influence

the influence of other people that comes from the desire to avoid their disapproval and other social sanctions (ridicule, barbs, ostracism) ex: Asch's experiment (even though it's wrong, everyone is picking that choice therefore, I will too)

Informational social influence

the influence of other people that results from taking their comments or actions as a source of information about what is correct, proper, or effective ex: conform to what others are doing in a foreign country because we look to other for information when we are uncertain

Social influence

the many ways people affect one another, including changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behavior resulting from the comments, actions, or even the mere presence of others

Ideomotor action

the phenomenon whereby merely thinking about a behavior makes performing it more likely ex: thinking about eating ice cream --> open the freezer and eat ice cream getting a bad test score --> prone to making mistakes sighhhh

Prescriptive norm

the way a person is supposed to behave in a given context; also called injunctive norm ex: students should get 8-9 hours of sleep each night