ATC Psychology Chapter 18 “Social Influence”

Social Influence Norms—learned social rules that prescribe what people should or should not do in various situations.

Social Influence Descriptive Norms—communicate what other people do. Injunctive Norms—tell us what others would approve or disapprove of. – The social influence exerted by norms creates orderly social behavior. – We learn from parents, teachers, clergy, peers, and other cultural agents.

Social Influence Social influences also create deindividuation, a personal loss of individuality that occurs as people become “submerged” within a group. – A deindividuation experience can cause people to perform acts they normally wouldn’t because of personal accountability is diminished and attention shifts from internal standards to external group standards.

Social Influence Social factors often influence motivation – Social facilitation occurs when the presence of another person improves performance, and social impairment occurs when another’s presence harms performance.

Social Influence Levels of arousal, task complexity, the expectations of peer evaluation, and increased self-evaluation interact to produce these phenomena. – Social loafing occurs when people in a group exert less effort than they would when performing alone.

Conformity and Compliance Conformity results from unspoken group pressure, real or imagined. – Compliance occurs when people adjust their behavior in response to a request.

Conformity and Compliance The Role of Norms – Group norms tend to affect people’s behavior even after the people are not longer members of that group.

Conformity and Compliance Why Do People Conform? – Groups create norms; they decide what is right, wrong, and expected in a situation. – Norms determine who will be liked and disliked in a group and who will receive rewards and punishments in a given social situation.

Conformity and Compliance When Do People Conform? – Ambiguity of the Situation—The more difficult it is to determine what is physical reality, the more people rely on the opinions of others.

Conformity and Compliance When Do People Conform? – Unanimity and Size of the Majority—Conformity is greatest when a group decision is unanimous. The more people making independent assessments in a group, the higher the degree of conformity will be by an individual.

Conformity and Compliance When Do People Conform? – Minority Influence—When they are persistent and united, minorities can influence the behavior or beliefs of a majority.

Conformity and Compliance When Do People Conform? – Gender—On tasks equally familiar to men and women, no gender differences in conformity are found.

Conformity and Compliance Inducing Compliance – People can be induced to comply with requests by starting with small requests, as in the “foot-in-the- door” technique – By starting with an unreasonable request, as in the “door-in-the-face” procedure – By gaining verbal agreement for one request and then demonstrating the need to escalate the cost of the original commitment, as in the “low-ball” approach

Obedience Obedience is a behavioral change in response to a demand form an authority figure. – Milgram created a procedure to measure obedience. Developed a situation in which subjects thought they were delivering shocks to a person, but the person was never actually shocked. When confederates complained about the pain of the shock they were supposedly receiving, Milgram demanded that the subjects continue to deliver the shocks. Despite feeling stressed, 65% of the subjects delivered the full 450 volts of shock possible.

Obedience Factors Affecting Obedience – Prestige—When the status and legitimacy of the experimenter were reduced, obedience decreased, but only from 65% to 48%

Obedience Factors Affecting Obedience – Presence of Others Who Disobey The presence of other who disobeyed decreased obedience to 10%

Obedience Factors Affecting Obedience – Personality Characteristics Although social influences are the strongest factors in obedience, people high in authoritarianism were more likely than others to shock the learner. People with an external locus of control were also more likely to obey.

Obedience Evaluating Milgram’s Study – Recent tragedies that occurred as a result of unquestioning obedience to authority suggest that Milgram’s findings are still relevant and important.

Obedience Milgram – Ethical Questions—Some observers say that the experiment was unethical. However, Milgram argued that his debriefing procedure and continued contact with his subjects showed that it was a positive experience. Ethical questions are difficult ones. Milgram’s study would probably not approved by today’s ethics committees.

Obedience Milgram – Questions of Meaning—It has been suggested that alternative explanations could account for the participants’ behavior. However, most psychologists believe that, under certain circumstances, human beings are capable of extreme acts of brutality toward other humans.

Aggression Aggression—An act intended to harm another person. – In 1995 in the U.S. a murder occurred every 24 minutes, a rape every 5 minutes, and an aggravated assault every 29 minutes.

Aggression Why Are People Aggressive? – According to Freud, aggression is an inborn instinct that needs release in behavior. – Evolutionary psychologists believe that aggression aided the survival of gene pools and was passed down through generations.

Aggression Why Are People Aggressive? – In some societies, aggression is rare and peaceful coexistence is the norm. Aggressive behavior results from a nurture/nature interaction.

Aggression Why Are People Aggressive? – Genetic and Biological Mechanisms Research demonstrates heredity influences on aggressive behavior. Lesions within certain brain areas can lead to aggression, and male hormones such as testosterone are associated with higher levels of aggression. Drugs may also affect aggression.

Aggression Why Are People Aggressive? – Learning and Cultural Mechanisms People learn to be aggressive by watching others or by being reinforced for aggressive acts.

Aggression When Are People Aggressive? – Frustration and Aggression According to the modified frustration-aggression hypothesis, stress produces a readiness to respond aggressively, but aggression is displayed only if there are environmental cues associated with an aggressive response. – The direct cause of most kinds of aggression is negative affect (emotion).

Aggression Generalized Arousal – In transferred excitation, an internal characteristic and environmental conditions interact to produce aggression. Generalized arousal is most likely to produce aggression when the situation contains some reason, opportunity or target for aggression.

Environmental Influences on Aggression Environmental Psychology is the student of how people’s behavior is affected by the environment in which they live. – Hot weather, air pollution, noise, and crowding can all lead to increased aggression.

Altruism and Helping Behavior Helping behavior is any act that is intended to benefit another person. – Altruism is an unselfish concern for another’s welfare.

Altruism and Helping Behavior Why Do People Help? – Arousal: Cost-Reward Theory People feel upset when they see a person in need and are motivated to do something to reduce the unpleasant arousal. – People then weigh the costs of helping versus not helping. – The clearer the need for help, the more likely people are to help. – The presence of others inhibits helping behavior due to diffusion of responsibility, a belief that someone else will help. – Environmental and personality characteristics also influence helping.

Altruism and Helping Behavior Why Do People Help? – Empathy-Altruism Theory Helpfulness is seen in those who have empathy with the person in need.

Altruism and Helping Behavior Why Do People Help? – Evolutionary Theory Propose that people help others to ensure the survival of their genes, at risk of endangering themselves.

Altruism and Helping Behavior Focus on Research Methods: Does Family Matter? – Researchers cannot ethically put people in danger to see who will help them; therefore, researchers used a laboratory simulation. Participants were asked to imagine situation in which they could help only one of three people. The outcome of the experiment indicates that people describe themselves as more likely to save the life of, or do a favor for, a close relative than an unrelated friend. Since this was a laboratory situation, caution must be used in making generalizations to the real world.

Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict Cooperation – Any type of behavior in which people work together to attain a goal.

Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict Competition – Exists whenever people try to attain a goal for themselves while denying that goal to others.

Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict Conflict – Results when people believe that another stands in the way of achieving a goal.

Social Dilemmas Social Dilemmas are situations in which an action that is most rewarding for each individual will, if adopted by all, become catastrophic for the group.

Social Dilemmas The Prisoner’s Dilemma – A game in which cooperation guarantees the best mutual outcome but in which there are incentives to compete. Players cannot be certain that their partners will cooperate. Research shows that people tend to respond competitively because winning is rewarding and competition seems to beget more competitive behavior.

Social Dilemmas Resource Dilemmas – When people share a common resource, conflicts exist between the individual and the group, and between short- and long-term interests.

Fostering Cooperation Cooperation increases when nonthreatening and relevant communications increase. – Playing tit-for-tat, or rewarding cooperative responses with cooperation, and punishing exploitive strategies with like actions, produces a high degree of overall cooperation.

Interpersonal Conflict When one person can win only at another’s expense, it is a zero-sum game. – This can lead to interpersonal conflict. – Causes: Competition for scarce resources Revenge Attributing another’s motive to selfishness or unfriendliness Faulty communication

Interpersonal Conflict Managing Conflict – Conflict can lead to beneficial changes. It is much better to manage conflict than to eliminate it. Bargaining, third-party interventions, and the introduction of subordinate goals are all methods of managing conflict.

Group Processes Group Leadership – In general, good leaders are intelligent, ambitious, and flexible. Leadership ability also depends on the situation and on the person’s style of handling it.

Group Processes Group Leadership – Both task-oriented and person-oriented styles of leadership are effective, depending on the structure of the group’s task and time pressure the group is under.

Group Processes Group Leadership – Research has uncovered gender differences in leadership. Women are more democratic and tend to use the person-oriented style of leadership. Men tend to be more task oriented.

Group Processes Groupthink – In small, closely-knit groups, decisions can reflect a process called groupthink. A pattern of thinking that renders members unable to evaluate decisions realistically.

Group Processes Groupthink – Occurs when the group feels isolated from outside forces, intense stressors are experienced, and the leader has already made up his or her mind. Assigning someone a “devil’s advocate” role and arranging ways to gather opinions anonymously can help avoid groupthink