Pluralistic Ignorance and Social Norms

Describe the social inhibition study that tested pluralistic ignorance

1) People rate themselves as higher than others on internal traits leading to social inhibition, such as self conscious, inhibited, etc. 2) Then people read an incomprehensible article on self-concept in a group of other people Independent Variable: constrained case (not allowed to ask qs), unconstrained case Dependent Variable: rate your own understanding relative to the average other on a scale of 1-3. Result: they rated themselves much lower in the unconstrained condition because there is NOT a sufficient situational explanation for other people leaving.

Describe the mechanisms behind the bystander apathy in the Kitty Genovese murder.

1. Diffusion of responsibility (someone else will do something) 2. Pluralistic ignorance (I don't know the whole situation and I don't want to overreact)

What are the 3 steps to pluralistic ignorance?

1. People self-censor, don't always express true thoughts. 2. People incorrectly conclude that people are expressing their true feelings when they are self-censoring 3. People conclude that their own thoughts and feelings are not shared by others.

Describe examples of descriptive versus injunctive social norms

Descriptive: How many drinks does the average Penn student consume when they go out? Injunctive: How many drinks does the average Penn student think is appropriate to consume when they go out?

What are the two types of social norms?

Descriptive: What behaviors are actually done in particular situations Injunctive/Prescriptive: What behaviors are approved of or disapproved of in particular situations

Why does the smoke-filled room experiment rely solely on pluralistic ignorance?

diffusion of responsibility does not apply because 1. it was a group setting and 2. your own life is potentially at risk this is only pluralistic ignorance

Which is NOT a key part of pluralistic ignorance? Social inhibition Externally constrained behavior Self Censorship Normative Influence

externally constrained behavior

Name a circumstance in which telling people about a descriptive norm may not work well.

if the descriptive norm draws attention to the fact that people are doing something socially undesirable. descriptive norms can backfire, and injunctive norms or a combo of both can be more effective here.

Pluralistic Ignorance

occurs when individuals infer that the identical actions of the self and others reflect different internal states

Describe a study that worked to reduce pluralistic ignorance.

Two 20 minute discussion groups held at a college. IV: The discussions individual-focused: individual decision making and consequences peer-focused: exposed pluralistic ignorance, misperceptions of the norm, and actual data. DV: 4-6 months later, drinks per week were reported Results: peer-focused discussion reduced drinking the most

How are normative and informational influences involved in the smoke-filled room experiment?

Informational: you're getting information from other people's responses Normative: don't want to appear panicked/overreacting This is pluralistic ignorance, outward behavior does not reflect internal state

How can conveying normative information improve compliance with the towel reuse programs?

Normative information, aka information about what other people are doing rather than just saying "Reuse your towels", makes people actually reuse their towels! 75%!

Describe the "Crash" experiment

Subjects walk past workman to go sketch a model horse, they hear the workman fall to the ground. IVs: alone, facing another person, facing away from another person Alone people and facing each other people both investigated. Those turned back to back did not investigate because they were unable to see the initial reactions of the other person Conclusion: concealing the emotional reactions of others in an emergency situation reduces chance of intervention

reactance theory

the idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of resistance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the prohibited behavior