SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND THEORIES

SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND

THEORIES ALINA BINT-E-TAHIR

SARAH SOHAIL

SALMAN RIZVI

TAUQEER RAZA

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

When we change what we believe, or how we behave, after observing the attitudes or actions of others, we are making this change because of social influence.

It is a process of changing our attitudes, values and behaviours in response to the

attitudes and behaviours of others

IMPORTANCE OF GROUPS

We tend to resist influence from groups that are not important to us.

THREE AREAS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Conformity Compliance Obedience

CONFORMITY

Conformity is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by other people.

This influence occurs in both small groups and society as a whole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1euWT3NZjY

FACTORS AFFECTING CONFORMITY

UNANIMITY

Complete agreement by everyone

Unanimity in the opinion of the group to which the people conform.

Asch’s study: If 9 people in the group expressed one opinion

then the 10th person will also express the same opinion.

However with the introduction of one actor in the group who expressed a different view but the same view as expected by the 10th person, the conformity of the group decreased from 37 per cent to just 10 per cent.

GROUP SIZE

Studies conducted by: Asch Stang Milgram Bickman Berkowitz

Result: conformity peaks with groups of 4-5

Mann’s experimental finding: Queuing behavior: Most people queue behind

groups of 6-8 people rather than groups of 4 people.

CULTURE

Levels of conformity vary across different cultures.

It is more in group oriented societies like Japan.

COMPLIANCE

Compliance refers to the act of responding favorably to an explicit or implicit request

offered by others

There are 4 compliance strategies: Foot in the door Door in the face Low ball Ingratiation

FOOT IN THE DOOR

Foot-in-the-door technique (FITD) is a compliance tactic that involves getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up by having that person agree to a modest request

Example: Can I borrow the car to go to the store?" followed by "Can I borrow the car for the weekend?"

DOOR IN THE FACE

Compliance with the request of concern is enhanced by first making an extremely large request that the respondent will turn down.

Then a second more reasonable request is made.

A person is also more likely to agree with the second request because they feel guilty for having rejected the first request

Example: Will you donate $1000 to our organization? [Response is no].Oh. Well could you donate $10?''

LOW BALL

First propose an attractive price on an idea/item which you are confident that the other person/buyer will accept.

Maximize their buy-in, in particular by getting both verbal and public commitment to this e.g. hand-shaking

Make it clear that the decision to purchase is from their own free will.

Change the agreement to what you really want. The person/buyer may complain, but, they should agree to the change if the low-ball is managed correctly.

INGRATIATION

Ingratiation is a strategic attempt to get someone to like you in order to obtain compliance with a request 

Example: make a small talk first and get to know the person.

OBEDIENCE

Obedience is the response to the social influence exerted by a single person

typically someone with higher status, such as an authority on others.

FACTORS AFFECTING OBEDIENCE

Group pressure Social proximity Authority figures

MILGRAM’S OBEDIENCE EXPERIMENTS

SOCIAL PROXIMITY Relative closeness of two or more people

GROUP PRESSURE

At two points during the study, one actor and then the other refused to continue with the study by disobeying the experimenter authority.

The participant therefore had the choice of continuing to obey the authority or conforming to the group.

Most participants conformed to the group and were disobedient, with only 10 per cent fully obeying the authority.

SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY

SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY

Developed by Muzafer Sherif and Carl Hovland

Specifies the conditions under which the attitude of a person changes

Also identifies the direction of the change and the extent of the change

In simple words“ HOW DIFFICULT PEOPLE CAN BE IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_judgment_theory

THE 3 LATITUDES

Latitude of Acceptance Latitude of Reflection Latitude of Non-Commitment

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~kc502498/sj.htm

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORIES

1. We have categories of judgment by which we evaluate persuasive positions

2. When we receive persuasive information, we locate it on our categories of judgment

3. Our level of "ego-involvement" affects the size of our latitudes

4. We tend to distort incoming information to fit our categories of judgment

5. Small to moderate discrepancies between our anchor positions and the one advocated will cause us to change; large discrepancies will not http://130.18.140.19/persuasion/judge.htm http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/social_judgment.htm

THEORY OF REASONED ACTION

THEORY OF REASONED ACTION

Behavioral Intention(BI) = Attitude(A) + Subjective Norms(SN)BI = A(w1) + SN(w2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_reasoned_action

COMPONENTS Attitudes: the sum of beliefs about a particular

behavior weighted by evaluations of these beliefs Subjective norms: looks at the influence of

people in one’s social environment Behavioral intention: a function of both

attitudes toward a behavior and subjective norms toward that behavior, which has been found to predict actual behavior

Weights: the degree of importance that the components might have for a person

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_reasoned_action

HTTP://WWW.ISTHEORY.YORKU.CA/THEORYOFREASONEDACTION.HTM

LIMITATIONS

Attitudes can often be reframed as Norms When someone forms an intention to act he

is free to do so without any limitations

http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/theoryofreasonedaction.htm