Manipulation 101

Social Psych

Ch. 17

Social Influence

“Social psychology’s great lesson is the enormous power of social influence.”

Defined as a change in behavior caused by real or imagined pressure from others.

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Manipulation Trifecta + 1

• Conformity– Changing one’s behavior to match the

responses or actions of others

• Compliance: Get ‘em to do what you want!

• Obedience

• Manipulation and attraction

Conformity & Chameleon Effect

Adjusting to coincide with a perceived standard.

Automatic (unconscious) mimicry is part of empathy.

Conformity & Modeling

Behavior is contagious, modeled by one followed by

another.

We follow behavior of others to conform.

Elevator Studyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-t0OwWc0Qw

Conformity and Group Pressure

• We’re all individuals! …I’m not.”– Suggestibility is a subtle type of conformity,

adjusting our behavior or thinking toward some group standard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy09nNw Asch’s Famous Line Study of Conformity

Conformity & Brain-Washing

• Starts off SMALL

• Unlikely someone would agree to the request:“How would you like to drop out of school/quit your job, break off all ties to your family/friends, and dedicate yourself entirely to an organization of hatred or an organization that will result in your compelled group suicide?”

Conformity & Brain-WashingStarts off SMALL and then the requests/demands slowly increase

“Like lobsters in a Pot”

Pictures of the Heaven's Gate mansion released by the San Diego sheriff's department illustrate the uniformity that defined the cult. Members of Heaven's Gate were so ordered they died in shifts.

Otto von Bismarck:“A Unified Germany”

1890

Young Hitler:“German Workers’ Party”“For the working class”

“Socialist”1919

Little by little, Hitler rose to power and

got a nation to back him & his ideologies.

1933

Final Minutes At Jonestownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJFaqrU3HfQ

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity

1. One is made to feel incompetent or insecure.

2. The group has at least three people.3. The group is unanimous.4. One admires the group’s status and

attractiveness.5. One has no prior commitment to a response.6. The group observes one’s behavior.7. One’s culture strongly encourages respect

for a social standard.

Manipulation Trifecta + 1

• Conformity

• Compliance: Get ‘em to do what you want!– Changing one’s behavior in response to a

direct request.

• Obedience

• Manipulation and attraction

Compliance Techniques

• Foot-in-the-door technique

• Door-in-the-face technique

• Bait-and-switch technique

• That’s-not-all technique

• Scarcity technique

• Reciprocity norm technique

Get People to Do What You Want!

• Foot-in-the-door technique: Get them to agree to a small request and then build up

(203): she called me screaming that i shouldn't ignore her phone calls, because she's not trying to get me to hang out with her and she doesn't want to be my girlfriend, she just wants sex.(860): what did you do?(203): i asked her out cause that's so hot.

Get People to Do What You Want!• Foot-in-the-door technique

• Door-in-the-face technique: You WANT them to say “no” to the first request so you can follow up with your more benign, real request.

Get People to Do What You Want!• Foot-in-the-door technique• Door-in-the-face technique• Bait-and-switch technique

“Would you like to go out to this really super-swanky expensive restaurant with me?... I tried calling [LIAR!!], it's booked up. Well…would you like to go with me to this cheapo place?”“Pray for Rain” Sale

Customer: "I'd like to see that car you advertised in the newspaper for $9 down and $99 a month.“ Salesperson: "Gosh, I'm sorry. That car was just sold. But look atthis great car — it has a lot more options, and it will only cost you a few more dollars a month."

• Foot-in-the-door technique• Door-in-the-face technique• Bait-and-switch technique

• That’s-not-all technique

Get People to Do What You Want!

Get People to Do What You Want!

• Foot-in-the-door technique• Door-in-the-face technique• Bait-and-switch technique• That’s-not-all technique

• Scarcity technique: when an item appears to be scarce, it becomes more desireable

2. You MUST be able to be scarce when the time is right. A woman does not want to end up with a guy that ends up being her permanent shadow. She wants to be with a guy that has his own life and does his own thing. This is what creates that appeal with a woman that keeps her wanting you. Talk to her for 3-7 minutes and then LEAVE! Make her wonder about you…You can always come back later for the kill!

Get People to Do What You Want!

• Foot-in-the-door technique• Door-in-the-face technique• Bait-and-switch technique• That’s-not-all technique• Scarcity technique

• Reciprocity norm technique: give a little something and people are more likely to reciprocate

“Free” samples…harder for you to not buy at least something if you take one

Get ‘em in a Group: Bystander Effect

Tendency of any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if

other bystanders are present.

Bystander Effect: Diffusion of Responsibility

Kitty Genovese

Bystander Intervention: The decision-making

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Manipulation Trifecta + 1

• Conformity

• Compliance: Get ‘em to do what you want!

• Obedience– Changing one’s behavior in response to a

directive from an authority figure.

• Manipulation and attraction

Obedience & Captainitis (Foushee, 1984)

• Obvious errors made by flight captains tend to go uncorrected by other crew and usually results in a crash.

• Because of the captain’s status, crew either fail to notice OR fail to challenge the mistake

• Often the case in the medical field as well– Doctors tend not to get

challenged

Obedience & Harming Others

People comply to social pressures. How would they respond to

outright command?

Stanley Milgram designed a study that

investigates the effects of authority on

obedience.Stanley Milgram

(1933-1984)

Obedience: Milgram’s StudyB

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Milgram’s Study: Results

Lessons from the Conformity and Obedience Studies

In both Asch's and Milgram's studies, participants were pressured to choose between following their standards and

being responsive to others.

In Milgram’s study, participants were torn between hearing the victims pleas

and the experimenter’s orders.

Manipulation & Attraction

• The Psychology of Attraction– Proximity– Mere Exposure– Looking Good– Perceived similarity

The Psychology of Attraction

• Proximity: Geographic nearness is a powerful predictor of relationships.– Absence

makes the heart grow fonder but, out of sight, out of mind!

The Psychology of Attraction• Mere exposure

effect: Repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases their attraction.

Beauty Pageant Winner

The Psychology of Attraction

• Physical Attractiveness: Once proximity affords contact, the next most important thing is looking good!

(whatever “looking good” means to the person of interest)

The Psychology of Attraction

• Similarity: Similar views among individuals causes the bond of attraction to strengthen.

Similarity breeds content!

(Fake it if you have to!)

Passionate Love

1. Physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal

2. Arousal from any source can enhance one emotion depending upon what we interpret or label the arousal.

Schachter’s Two-factor theory of emotion

So….do the fun, active dates and hope the arousal is attributed to you and your awesomeness!

(Then get to the spaghetti dinners…)

Companionate LoveDeep, affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are

intertwined.

Use operant conditioning techniques to get your loved one to do what you want!

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