social psychology – ch 17 social influence. social psychology scientific study of the ways that...
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Social Psychology – Ch 17
Social Influence
Social Psychology
Scientific study of the ways that people’s behavior and mental processes are shaped by the real or imagined presence of others
Facilitation and Inhibition
Facilitation
Triplett (1898) and others
Presence of others facilitates activity
Tends to be on simple/well-learned tasks
Inhibition
Derailing effects of coactors and audience
Tends to be more common on complex tasks
Related to arousal, or that presence of others is distracting?
Social Loafing – when working with others our effort can be reduced
Stoop effect research suggests that it is competition and social comparison that are the major determinants of social facilitation
Deindividuation
Loss of identity in a crowd
Reduces sense of accountability
Zimbardo electrocution study (1969)
Can be influenced by social norms – like nurse’s uniform decreases effect
Bystander Effect
Kitty Genovese case
People are less likely to help when others are present
More likely to define event as a non-emergency
Diffuses the responsibility of acting
However, when one person helps it increases rate of help in others.
Also, more likely to act if you know….I’m looking at YOU
Conformity
Asch Studies
Participant asked about length of line when confederates gave the incorrect response.
Conformed to group consensus 1/3 of the time, and ¾ of participants conformed at least once.
If there is no consensus it significantly reduces conformity
Influencing conformity
Informational social influence – unsure of an ambiguous stimuli so conform with others (Sherif study…)
Normative social influence – desire to fit in with the group
Minority influence – Asch study in reverse – still had an impact in almost 1/3 of cases
These cases tended to involve a change in perception of participants
Obedience
Milgram Studies
65% continued to 450 volts, all continued to 300 volts
Surveillance
Buffers
Role models
Emerging situation
Ideology
Hofling et al 1966 study of nurses and obedience
Internalization
Foot in the door technique – start with a small request, then increase it
Freedman and Fraser 1966
17% in control condition vs. 76% in
Door in the face technique
Lowballing
Bait and Switch
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
There is a drive toward cognitive consistency – when our actions don’t match with our beliefs we act to reduce the inconsistency
Rationalization
Festinger and Carlsmith 1959
Self-perception theory
We come to know our own attitudes, etc. in part by inferring them from our own behavior.
Does this better explain the Festinger and Carlsmith study?
Can rewards undermine intrinsic motivation?
Overjustification effect – too much emphasis placed on situational causes for a behavior
Self-justification leads people to rationalize behaviors
Impact of groups
We identify with REFERENCE GROUPS – our attitudes might begin as compliance, but over time become internalized.
Bennington College example
Keep it REAL!
Institutional Norms – rules for accepted behavior applied to an organization
Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo 1972)
Participants took on the roles of the institution
Groups and decisions
Group Polarization – group decisions tend to more extreme than individual ones.
Stoner (1961)
Combination of informational and normative social influence
Groupthink – members of a group suppress dissent in the interest of consensus.
Cohesive decision makers
Isolation from outside
No systematic process
Direct leader with an opinion
High stress