Social Influence Outline Psychology Social Influence Outline

Why people obey – Agentic Shift Milgram proposed that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take personal responsibility but instead believes they are acting for someone else (they are an agent). This shift from autonomy to an agent is called the agentic shift. It is suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority, with greater power due to their position in the social hierarchy. For agentic shift to occur, the person must enter the social hierarchy voluntarily and perceive themselves to be part of the hierarchy. Research to support Research that doesn’t support Agentic shift does not explain why some of the participants did not obey

Why people obey – social identity theory The idea that an important part of our sense of self is determined by the groups that we belong to (our personal identity is formed by our social identity). The reason why people obey is because they identify with the group and engage in the required behaviours. Obedience is an active rather than a passive process (blind obedience). An essential part of this is that people choose to be part of the group. Research to support Doesn’t explain all situations of obedience: offers a better explanation than agentic shift and explains why people don’t obey (they don’t identify with the authority figure) but in some situations socialisation is a simpler explanation. We are taught that in many situations it is appropriate to obey others. Social identity is not a full explanation of obedience.

Explanations of independent behaviour – locus of control Proposed by Rotter (1966), it suggests that those with an internal locus of control believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves and those with an external locus of control have a tendency to believe that things happen without their own control (by fate, luck etc.). It is about the perception of what happens to someone, not what actually happens. How does it explain independent behaviour? People who have an internal locus of control are more likely to behave independently as they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs. They are also more confident and have less need for social approval.

Explanations of independent behaviour: Resisting pressures to conform Independence is not the same as non-conformity; non-conformity is a matter of deliberately acting in opposition to a set of group norms. Pressure to conform is reduced by one other dissenting peer. Pressure to conform is more likely to be resisted when an individual does not identify with the majority group (in the outgroup).   Explanations of independent behaviour: Resisting pressures to obey Independence is not the same as disobedience; disobedience may just be a reaction to authority. Pressure to obey is reduced if there is another dissenting partner. Pressure to obey is reduced if the person in charge has less authority.

Minority Influence Minority influence refers to the situation where one person or a small group of people influences the views and behaviour of others. It is most likely to lead to internalisation (public and private beliefs). The minority draw attention to their views Over time the consistency in the minority’s views increases the amount of interest from other people and makes other people start to rethink their own views The sense of conflict between majority and minority views makes people think about the topic. It is this deeper processing which is important in the process of conversion to the minority viewpoint Some minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views. This is the augmentation principle (if a person performs an action when there are known constraints, their motive for acting must be stronger). Over time increasing numbers defect to the minority position (the snowball effect) Social change occurs when the minority has become the majority. The previous view of deviance, and its source, is forgotten (social cryptomnesia).

Informational social influence Conformity changes in behaviour and/or attitudes occurring in response to group pressure Informational social influence Informational social influence is where someone conforms because they do not know what to do, but they want to be correct. They follow the majority because they assume that the majority know what is the right thing to do. This type of social influence tends to involve internalisation. Normative social influence Normative social influence is where someone conforms because they want to be liked and accepted by the group. The person may publicly change their behaviour/views but privately disagree. This type of social influence is also known as compliance. Internalisation conformity behaviour where the individual had completely accepted the views of the majority Compliance conforming to the majority view in order to be liked, or to avoid ridicule or social exclusion. Compliance occurs more readily with public behaviour, and is based on power. Identification conforming to the demands of a given role because of a desire to be like a particular person in that role

Independent behaviour Locus of control Buffers aspects of situations that protect people from having to confront the results of their actions Agentic state a state of feeling controlled by an authority figure, and therefore lacking a sense of personal responsibility Autonomous state being aware of the consequences of our actions and therefore taking voluntary control of our behaviour   Independent behaviour resisting the pressures to conform or obey Locus of control a personality dimension concerned with perceptions about the factors controlling what happens to us Minority influence a majority being influenced to accept the beliefs or behaviour of a minority