1. Social influence and cultural emergence

2. What is the difference between social influence and persuasion?
Conformity vs. compliance vs. obedience
Informational vs. normative influence
General information

3. Sherif, 1935 autokinetic effect

4. Moving forward Asch study Milgram study
Sherif, Asch, and Milgram classic studies
What made for more conformity/obedience in these?
What are some issues with Milgram’s research?
Is it about obedience?
Burger, 2009 replication
Haslam & Reicher
Moving forward

5. Cialdini’s techniques
Influence and Pre-suasion
Six techniques
Reciprocity
Social validation (social comparison theory)
Consistency (cognitive dissonance theory)
Liking
Scarcity (reactance theory)
Authority
Examples? Examples not in sales?
Cultural effects?
Technology effects?
Timing effects?
Attention effects?
Cialdini’s techniques

6. Social norms and influence
Focus theory of normative conduct (Cialdini, Kallgren, & Reno, 1991)
Injunctive vs. descriptive norms
Attention
How do injunctive vs. descriptive norms differ?
Social marketing campaigns
Social norms and influence

7. Big Gods and cooperation
How is it a cultural evolutionary theory?
What are the two puzzles that Norenzayan et al. address?
How do they address/explain these puzzles?
What do you think of their explanation?
What are other evolutionary paths for the development of large groups?
Big Gods and cooperation

8. Cultural evolution Selects for practices that
Reduce competition within groups
Increase solidarity
Lead to political (e.g., land) or economic prosperity
Cultural evolution

9. Foundations for evolution of religion
Evolution of cognitive mechanisms for religion
Theory of mind
Teleological thinking
Mind-body dualism
Evolution of social monitoring instincts
Cultural learning
Content-based
Context based
Credibility-enhancing (CRED)
Intergroup competition
Foundations for evolution of religion

10. How did beliefs in “high gods” come about, according to them?
How does prosocial religion lead to better group cooperation?
Powerful God
Rituals
Other practices
How does religion maintain cohesion by
Legitimate authority
Inequality
Hierarchy?

11. Priming studies What effects does religious priming have?
Who does it (and does it not) affect?
What are examples of religious signaling?
Are there counter examples you can think of? Or problems with their evidence?
Priming studies

12. Commentaries Not evolved Need to look at development lit Don’t get it
Maybe it’s uncertainty
Problems with evidence
Commentaries

13. What is culture according to DSIT? Culture and evolution
How does evolution relate to culture?
According to DSIT?
According to Norenzayan et al.?
Bottom up vs. top down
Cultural emergence

14. Background approaches
Social impact theory (Latané, 1981)
What are the 3 factors?
What does it mean to have a multiplicative function? A marginally decreasing effect?
Catastrophe theory of attitudes (Latané & Nowak, 1994)
Involving vs. uninvolving attitudes
Background approaches

15. Dynamic social impact theory (Latané, 1996)
What are the 4 C’s of culture? What do each of them mean? How/why do they come about?
Clustering
Correlation
Consolidation
Continuing diversity
What types of studies have shown support for DSIT?
Other examples?
Dynamic social impact theory (Latané, 1996)

16. Memes and cultural evolution
What things are more likely to be passed on?
Involvement
Heritability
Chip Heath’s research
Memorability
Surprise
Emotions (esp. disgust)
Ease of communication
Push for novelty
Establishment of social identity
Cultural exchange
How do these relate to what culture is?
How do things get passed on, according to DSIT?
Memes and cultural evolution

17. DSIT issues How does modernization affect DSIT predictions?
How do individual differences fit in?
What new directions are there to be tested with DSIT?
Are all the assumptions of DSIT supported?
Are there other explanations for the DSIT study results?
Are there other problems with this approach?
Is it consistent with evolutionary approaches?
DSIT issues

18. How are DSIT and the cultural evolutionary approach to prosocial religions similar and different?
Compare/contrast

19. Are there regional differences within countries?

20. Regional patterns of collectivism in the United States
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999). Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(2), doi: /
© 1999 American Psychological Association

21. Reliability Statistics for the Eight Collectivism Indicators
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999). Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(2), doi: /
© 1999 American Psychological Association

22. Fig. 6. Map of state-level Openness.
Peter J. Rentfrow et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2008;3:
Copyright © by Association for Psychological Science

23. Fig. 2. Map of state-level Extraversion.
Peter J. Rentfrow et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2008;3:
Copyright © by Association for Psychological Science

24. Fig. 3. Map of state-level Agreeableness.
Peter J. Rentfrow et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2008;3:
Copyright © by Association for Psychological Science

25. Fig. 4. Map of state-level Conscientiousness.
Peter J. Rentfrow et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2008;3:
Copyright © by Association for Psychological Science

26. Fig. 5. Map of state-level Neuroticism.
Peter J. Rentfrow et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2008;3:
Copyright © by Association for Psychological Science

27. Why do these cultural differences emerge?
Ecological factors
Residential mobility
DSIT
Why do these cultural differences emerge?

28. Emotional contagion Kramer, Guillory, & Hancock, 2014 Controversy
Issues with study?
Emotional contagion

29. Next week Groups (leadership, group performance, group extremity)
Paper ideas!
Next week

30. Grading process
Tests

31. Test advice Take better notes Look up things on your own
Look beyond 1 source
Ask me questions
Know nuances of theories better
Test advice