COMPLIANCE CONFORMITY OBEDIENCE BY – EKANT ANUJ JOEL SOCIAL INFLUENCE COMPLIANCE CONFORMITY OBEDIENCE BY – EKANT ANUJ JOEL

SOCIAL INFLUENCE Informational Social Influence The term ‘social influence’ refers to those processes where by our attitudes and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people. Highlights the changes in a person’s behavior induced by the presence or actions of others. the extent to which an individual’s opinions, attitudes and judgments are influenced by being exposed to the views of others (Van Avermaet, 2001) Informational Social Influence We want to be right we look to others, whom we believe to be correct, to give us information about how to behave, particularly in novel or ambiguous situations. (The desire to be right) Normative Social Influence We want to be liked we conform because we think that others will approve and accept us. (The desire to be accepted)

(Response to a direct request) (Response to social norms) Here are some examples: A person is looking up at a tall building on the street, others passing by also look up. A couple of kids tease a classmate, and other kids join in. One prison guard starts to be more stern, the other ones follow suit. processes of social influence: Majority influence (conformity & compliance) Minority influence (innovation) Main Determinants of Social Influence Compliance (Response to a direct request) Obedience (Response to authority) Conformtiy (Response to social norms)

Principles underlying compliance A change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure Superficial, public and transitory A change in behavior due to a direct request from another person. Compliance refers to behaving in a particular way in response to a request made by someone. Principles underlying compliance friendship/liking- “she seems genuine and nice” commitment/consistency- “I’m committed to the cause” scarcity- “only one left” reciprocity- “she helped me so I should return favor” consenus - “everyone else is doing it” authority- “he seems legitimate

Compliance Techniques Tactics based on friendship or liking Ingratiation—requesters first induce target to like them Use flattery, improve one’s appearance, emit positive nonverbal cues, do small favors for target person Tactics based on commitment or consistency Foot-in-the-door Technique—requesters begin with a small request and then, when it is granted, escalate to a larger one Lowball Procedure—an offer or deal is changed to make it less attractive to the target person after this person has accepted it

Compliance Techniques 2 Tactics based on reciprocity Door-in-the-face Technique—requesters begin with a large request and then, when this is refused, retreat to a smaller one That’s Not All Technique—requesters offer additional benefits to target persons before they have decided whether to comply with or reject specific requests Tactics based on scarcity Playing Hard to Get—suggesting that a person or object is scarce and hard to obtain Deadline Technique—target persons are told that they have only limited time to take advantage of some offer or to obtain some item

Compliance Techniques 3 Rational Persuasion Elaboration-Likelihood Model Tactics based on mood Negative mood negative state relief hypothesis - The idea that people engage in certain actions, such as agreeing to a request, in order to relieve negative feelings and to feel better about themselves good mood- prime happy thoughts (AIM model) Inspirational appeals

Symbolic Social Influence Results from the mental representations of others or our relationships with them People can be influenced by others even when they are not physically present. Thinking about others evokes relational schemas, which may trigger goals related to them. And, goals that are associated with a person one is thinking about may be activated. Being reminded of these goals can increase compliance with them and strongly affect behavior.

Social life is characterised by norms: that is ,by attitudinal and behavioural uniformities between people. one most of the interesting sets of issues in social influence, is how people construct norms, how they conform to norms, and how those norms change. Social influence is a part of our life. In some situations , social influence on us is very strong as a result of which we tend to do things which we otherwise would have not done. On other occasions, we are able to defy influence of others and may even influence them to adopt our own viewpoint. kelman distinguished three important social influence processes are: Compliance Conformity Obedience

CONFORMITY Conformity – Or Norms = Conformity- change attitudes and behavior in order to adhere to social norms Conformity – “a change in a person’s behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group norms”. (Myers, 1999) Or “a tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group”. (Zimbardo, 1995) Norms = the rules established by a group to regulate the behaviour of its members. Types of Norms- rules for behavior explicit (written) implicit (unwritten) descriptive- what most people do injunctive- what should be done

‘autokinetic effect’ paradigm Norm formation The development of group norms SHERIF (1936) Experimental paradigm based on ‘perception of motion’ ‘autokinetic effect’ paradigm A stationary but flickering single light in dark room optical illusion: appears to move – but doesn’t actually move

Autokinetic Effect: A perceptual phenomenon where a rather small and stationary dot of light in a dark environment (or one that lacks distinctive feature) appears to move. It is believed to happen because the perception of movement is made relative to a point of reference. In the dark, no point of reference is present. Consequently, the motion of a small point of light is not definable.

Sheriff's experimental design Put yourself in the role of the participant… Day 1 Participant stares at a pinpoint of light about 15 feet away The light seems to be moving but you can’t be sure…after a few seconds it disappears Sherif: How far did it move? Participant: I’m not really sure but maybe about 8 inches

The participant is now joined by three confederates Day 2 The participant is now joined by three confederates This time all four stare at the pinpoint of light about 15 feet away Again, you think it moved about 8 inches Sherif: How far did it move? Confederate 1: 2 inches Confederate 2: an inch or two Confederate 3: oh, no it can’t be more than one inch Participant: oh, I guess about 6 inches Everyone else looks at you as if you are crazy

Day 3 The same situation as Day 2 except this time you reply “about 4 inches” Day 4 The same situation as Day 2 except this time you reply “its probably like 2 inches”

Asch’s Research on Group Influence Which of the lines on the left most closely matches line A on the right? In this early version, Asch had 16 “naïve” participants with 1 confederate who gave incorrect answers 1 2 3 A

Results: Participants laughed at and ridiculed the confederate

Asch’s Research on Group Influence (1951, 1952, 1956) Series of experiments most done with 1 participant and 5-8 confederates Real participant would give their judgment after several confederates had already given theirs

During the critical trials, participants had to give their answers after a unanimous group gave the wrong answer. 76% conformed at least once to the group’s false judgment Overall, they agreed with the errors 37% of the time Later research found that an ally (someone who disagreed with the group) and the ability to make responses privately both reduced conformity.

WHY PEOPLE CONFIRM?? Some participants said they didn’t want to look silly or be rejected by the rest of the group This is referred to as normative social influence They wanted to “fit in” with the others Some participants said it was because they thought the others must have had better eyesight or be better informed in some way This is referred to as informational social influence They were basically utilizing others as a source of information

Minority Influence Minorities can influence majorities when: They are consistent, flexible, and congruent with social trends Minorities can provoke majorities to engage in systematic processing of the issues. Minorities often must form strong arguments to defend their positions and may overestimate the support for their views. Can increase their perseverance and result in large-scale social change

Critique of Asch experiments PERRIN & SPENCER (1980) Generalisability of Asch’s experiments? Failure to replicate ‘line’ experiments with British engineering, maths and chemistry students (6 confederates, 1 Ss) Only 1 out of 396 trials did a Ss join the erroneous majority. Stresses cultural rather than personality factors in explaining conformity

Difference between Asch & Sherif studies Sherif (moving light) Subject didn’t know wasn’t correct answer Reasonable to consider other’s views Participants later adopted social norms Conformity leads to internalization Asch (parallel lines) Participants knew there was a correct answer Conformity does not lead to internalization Sherif: Because of ambiguity, participants turned to each other for guidance Asch: Participants often found themselves in an awkward position It was obvious that group was wrong

Types of Conformity

f. Difficulty of the Task g. Anonymity . Factors Affecting Conformity Pressures a. Group Size b. Group Unanimity c. Expertise and Status d. Culture e. Gender f. Difficulty of the Task g. Anonymity