up:: [[Social Psychology MOC]] # Social Influence # Conformity Conformity involves veering toward a certain action because of being influence by a norm. ## What are the three types of social influence? ### What is Informative social influence? Using other peoples actions and opinions as a basis for ones own actions and opinions. This type of conformity is most likely when the subject is in a foreign environment and doesn't know much about a subject of area. **Informative social influence leads to internalization of new beliefs and ways of thinking.** ### What is Normative social influence? Adhering to the actions or opinions of a person or group out of fear of being criticized, shunned, or outcast. This type of social influence is famous from studies such as the Milligram Experiment. **In contrast to information social influence, normative social influence can lead to changes in belief or ways of thinking but often times the person remains of the same opinion.** ### What is Mimicry? "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Mimicry is the imitation of those around you. We do this verbally, facially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Imitation is one of the best ways to learn. [[Apprenticeships are learning through imitation]] and historically they were a lot more common then they are today. ###### How does people doing the same thing influence liking? People who do the same thing tend to like each other more. This is why dancing, singing, and doing exercise in tandom often leads to people liking each other more. This reminds me of my note explaining later born siblings are often better at mimicry (see: [[Later borns are different from first borns#LBs are better at mimicry|LBs are better at mimicry]]). ###### How do people rate things in sync or countersync? We have an innate understanding that people in time will probably like each other more. ###### How does ostracism effect subsequent mimicry? We are more likely to mimic someone after we have been socially excluded or ostracized. #### What is Ideomotor action? Ideomotor action is the theory that seeing others do something makes us think about that action which in turn makes us more likely to do that action. Apparently this is because certain parts of the brain responsible for perception overlap with those responsible for action. ##### What happens to informative and normative social influence if we pinpoint the reasoning behind some one's opinion? Studies show if we can pinpoint the reasoning for why someone has an opinion, both informational and normative social influence are lessened. In the case of informational social influence it's lessened because we know why the person might be biased and in the case of normative social influence it's because we can assume that those in the majority are aware of why we differ from them. ### How does group size, unanimity, anonymity and expertise effect conformity? Not surprisingly the larger the group size the more likely conformity is to occur, but it's only significantly up to about a group size of 4. However, smaller groups are more likely to elicit informational social influence than normative which as we know leads to internalization of beliefs. This is why smaller groups often are more capable of die hard members. In addition, fully unanimous pushes to conform by the entire group are much more effective than pushes where there is more of a split. Finally, when anonymity is brought into the mix, normative social influence loses much of its power. The more expertise the group has, the more likely conformity is. However, the real amount of expertise matters less than the belief the group or person has expertise. #### How does culture effect conformity? Interdependent [[Culture MOC|cultures]] are more likely to conform than independent cultures. #### How does gender effect emotional focality? Women are more likely to conform then men. # Compliance There are largely three methods of getting people to comply but they mix together often. ## Reason based approaches Reason based approaches work on a cost benefit analysis. Integral to these approaches is the [[Rule of reciprocity]] which states that humans have an innate need to pay back favors. I believe this is because [[Human beings rose to the top of the food chain by sharing food]] and we had to differentiate between those who paid back our food concessions and those who didn't. Here are a few techniques that utilize the rule of reciprocity: #### What is the free sample's technique? Anytime you take a free sample at a stand or store, you are vastly more likely to buy something. You feel you have taken something from the store and must pay it back. ### What is the Door in the face technique? The door in the face technique works by making an initial first request--one that you don't intend to have accepted--and then conceding your position by asking for a second less difficult request. The idea is the other side feels like you have done them a favor by backing down and now is responsible for repaying it. Here is a hilarious anecdote from Robert D. Cialdini experiencing this very thing. ![[Pasted image 20221003175000.png]] ### What is the Foot in the Door Technique? The foot in the door technique works by asking an initial small thing of something, and then later asking something larger. By the [[Rule of consistency]] they are subsequently much more likely to do the larger thing if they have already done a related small thing. ###### What is the pique technique? According to the [[Pique technique]], a target is more likely to comply if mindless refusal is disrupted by a surprising or unusual request. ###### What is our tendency in assessing how difficult it is for someone to say no to a romantic request? [[We tend to underestimate how difficult it is for someone to say no to a compliance request]]. ## Emotion based approaches Obviously they use emotion to socially influence. ### How does mood effect social influence? #### Positive mood [[The more positive a mood you are in the more likely you are to comply to requests]]. I have used this principle both times I have asked for allowances from my parents for editing by waiting until they are in a naturally good mood from the weather. People tend to be in a more positive mood after they have eaten rather than before, so wait until after dinner or lunch to make a request. #### Negative mood In contrast, negative mood makes us less likely to comply to requests. ###### What is the exception? The exception is with [[Guilt]]. This concept agrees with [[Negative state release hypothesis]] which states that we act prosocially toward others not out of true altruism but because we subconsciously know helping others makes us feel better, and we like feeling good. This reminds me of [[The Elephant in The Brain]] and my note on [[There is no true altruism]]. #### What is the most effective strategy against emotion based approaches? Put off a response by waiting for a few seconds. Often times these few seconds are all you need to let your [[Protopassion]]s dissipate and stop yourself from experiencing [[Tilting means allowing irrelevant emotion to influence a decision|tilt]]. ## Norm based approaches Social influence approaches that target norms. As mentioned before, normative social influence makes us conform out of fear of being criticized, shunned, or outcast. This is a large motivator in conforming to the norm. #### What is pluralistic ignorance? [[Pluralistic ignorance]] is the phenomenon in which individual members of a group believe in a false idea because they think that everyone else in the group believes in that idea. This often leads to norms being followed that the majority of people in the group don't even believe in. #### What are descriptive norms? Descriptive norms are descriptions of what is actually or typically done. For example the average hours of sleep students get in college. #### What are prescriptive norms? Prescriptive norms are descriptions of what ought to be done. For example, research shows students should be aiming for 8-9 hours of sleep each night. #### What is the social influence big mistake with prescriptive and descriptive norms? Trying to appeal to prescriptive norms by stating how bad the descriptive norm is. Studies show this actually makes things worse. In one study, researchers put up a sign at a woodland national forest that warned people of the prevalence of fossilized wood being stolen. Ironically, this caused more wood to be stolen in the following weeks.[^1] Instead you should encourage people to follow prescriptive norms by stating encouragement for all of the people that already follow them. #### How does positive or negative norm trends influence us? If we believe a norm is heading a certain way, we are more influenced towards that direction. This is valuable because it means if you don't have much following for something, you can still get people to listen to you by emphasizing the positive trend. ###### How does a belief someone else is aware of your actions affect your morality? Humans are more likely to do things traditionally do the moral thing when they believe their is an awareness of their actions. This effect occurs not only with an actual human but with objects that we assign human characteristics to (see: [[We sometimes give human characteristics to things that aren't human.]]). # Obedience ### What is resistance theory? Resistance theory states that if we feel our freedom is being restricted, we often react by holding harder to our beliefs. The stronger the opinion is to your identity the more you will hold to it. This reminds me of [[Psychological reactance]]. ### How can you resist obedience? #### Practice The more you have practiced a certain action or response the less you will be influenced to change it in the face of obedience. This is allegedly why the participants in the Milligram Experiment struggled so much to resist tazing the learner. This reminds me of the idea that virtue is the habit of good action in bad and good circumstances, By [[Ingraining system 1 thinking patterns with system 2]] you can make it vastly more likely you will act as your best self in any situation. Related: ___ # Resources [^1]: (Cialdini et al., 2006).