Social Influence – Summary of Terms and Concepts

Obedience Performing an action under the orders of an authority figure. Changing

your behaviour at the request of another.

Factors that influence

Obedience Obedience is higher in closer/direct
 Proximity to authority proximity
figure Obedience is higher with higher status
 Prestige of authority Obedience is higher when you can lose your
figure individuality (ability to think and make
 Deindividuation decisions for yourself)

 Situational factors
 Dispositional factors
Milgram Experiment
Zimbardo Experiment
(Stanford Prison)
Conformity A change in behaviour or belief to go along with the crowd

Types of Conformity
 Compliance Yielding to group pressure. Publicly change
behaviour to be like the majority, but don’t
 Identification change beliefs
Take on views of individuals or groups we
 Internalisation admire. Public change of behaviour, change
of beliefs only in that group
True change of beliefs. Change of public
behaviour and private beliefs
Why people conform
 Normative Social To be accepted or belong to a group
Influence (NSI)
 Informational Social Look to others for guidance in order to be
Influence correct
Asch Conformity
Experiment
Structure of ABC Model – 3 components to an attitude
A – Affect – the way you feel towards object
Attitudes B – Behaviour – the way you behave towards object
C – Cognitive – the thoughts/beliefs you have towards object
Factors affecting YALE Approach
Attitude  Source Person who conveys the message. Persuasion
formation/Change more likely if source is credible, trustworthy,
 Message an expert or attractive/likeable
(PERSUASION) What is being said. Persuasion is more likely if
it evokes strong emotions (either positive or
 Audience negative), uses statistics/facts or is repetitive
Who is the message being targeted to?
Persuasion is more likely if the audience is
 paying attention. Older people are harder to
persuade due to more direct experiences,
low-self-esteem people are easier to
persuade, people who are more
knowledgeable on a topic are harder to
persuade
ELM Approach
 Central Route Makes the audience think carefully about
message to evaluate info. Logic driven and
used data/facts. Works best when audience is
 Peripheral Route analytical and willing to engage in processing
of information.
Requires little processing or thinking by the
audience. Relies on association with positive
characteristics like emotions and celebrity
endorsements, or images of beauty, cartoons,
colour, jingles. Often subtle. Works best when
your audience is not analytical or motivated
to think carefully.
Experience
 Direct experience Attitudes are formed and changed through
personal experiences – things you have
 Indirect experience experienced yourself. Generally stronger
attitudes.
Attitudes are formed and changed through
hearing about it. E.g., TV ad, stories from
friends. Less emotionally intense, attitudes
are not as strong

Persuasion Norm of Reciprocity Return a favour when one is given to you.

E.g., Return favour of free trial by keeping and
Techniques purchasing the product
Door-in-the-face
Initial large request is rejected, then accept a
smaller request by believing the smaller
Foot-in-the-door request is more reasonable.

Gets person to agree to a small favour, or buy

small item, to later request a larger favour or
bigger purchase
Attitude – The relationship between attitudes and behaviour is bidirectional.
Attitudes can influence behaviour and behaviour can influence attitudes.
Behaviour Link
Attitude-Behaviour Link is
affected by:
 Attitude Strength Strong attitudes influence behaviour more.
Attitudes formed by direct experience are
 Attitude Accessibility stronger
How easily the attitude comes to mind, or is
 Attitude Specificity used more frequently, will influence
behaviour more.
More specific attitudes will influence
 behaviour more
When Attitudes and
Behaviours don’t match
up: Attitudes and behaviours might not be
 Situational Pressures consistent depending on the social situation.

Being aware of social cues and adjust

 Self-monitoring behaviour accordingly. High self-monitors are
concerned about being accepted and will
change behaviour. Low self-monitors will not
change behaviour as easily, so A-B link is
stronger.
 Self-perception
theory When people are unsure about attitude, so
form attitudes based on behaviour. Look at
what you do, then decide how you feel.
 Cognitive Dissonance
Psychological discomfort occurs when the A-B
link is inconsistent. This prompts us to either
change our behaviour or change our attitude
to ease the discomfort.

Prejudice, These things can be

explained using the ABC
Discrimination model of attitudes.
and Stereotypes Stereotype (Cognition) Overgeneralised beliefs about people
Prejudice (Affective) Feelings about a group which may influence
Discrimination treatment of others
(Behaviour) Biased treatment of people e.g., Excluding,
avoiding and violence
Biases that can lead to
Prejudice:
 Confirmation Bias
When you favour or choose information that
 Attribution Bias fits with your existing beliefs
When something good happens and we
believe it is because of own actions. When
 Gender Bias something bad happens, we believe it is
because of others.
 Conformity Bias Tendency to prefer one gender over another.

Tendency to behave the same as other

Effects of Prejudice members in the group
 Social Stigma

Disapproval or, or discrimination against a

person based on a stereotype. Continual
 Internalised Stigma insults, denial of equality, exposure to
violence can threaten social identity and
cause depression and low-self-esteem.
 Stereotype threat The process where a person cognitively or
emotionally absorbs stereotypes and
apply/believe them about themselves. Start
to behave in ways consistent with the
stereotype.
Explicit forms of
discrimination If negative stereotypes are present about a
Cannot discriminate on specific group, group members are likely to
the grounds of: become anxious about their performance and
 Age underperform – hinder their ability to
 Disability perform to their full potential. Can lead to a
 Marital status cycle of reduced confidence, poor
 Pregnancy performance and loss of interest in
 Family responsibility achievement.
 Race
 Sex Are now illegal. There are laws in place to
 Sexuality prevent this:
 Religious appearance  Age Discrimination Act
or dress  Australian Humans Right Commission
 Disability Discrimination Act
 Racial Discrimination Act
Implicit forms of  Sex Discrimination Act
discrimination  Equal Opportunity Act.
 Reluctance to help

 Reverse
discrimination

 Tokenism Forms of discrimination which are not

obvious and are not illegal
Reluctance to help other groups achieve
equal access by passively or actively not
providing assistance. E.g., Poor access for
Reducing Prejudice physically disabled employees in a workplace
 Education
Creative prejudice in favour of a minority
group. E.g., Create a rule that 50% of
 Intergroup contact employees must be female.

Deliberately giving trivial assistance to a

minority group to be seen as inclusive. E.g.,
 Superordinate goals Employing one woman in a predominately
male organisation

 Direct experience

Programs in schools to teach inclusion,

diversity, and community. E.g., Harmony Day.
 Direct contact between groups who have
prejudicial attitudes towards each other,
involving ongoing interactions and
collaborative activities.

Working towards common goals to support

knowledge and understanding between
groups

Directly experience another culture of

lifestyle to create understanding and
empathy.

Self-Presentation Self-presentation – how people attempt to present themselves to control

or shape how others view them. Expressing oneself and behaving in ways
(Impression that create a desired impression.
management) Social media provides people with the opportunity to strategically
construct an image of themselves they want to present.

Face to face interactions provide limited opportunities to strategically

construct a desired image of themselves.

Self-concept Our private sense of self, who we are what it

is that makes us so. Helps to build identity.
Different from social identity, which is linked
Made up of 3 to the perception of how others see us.
components
Ideal self The person you want to be

Self-image How you see yourself, including attributes like

physical characteristics, personality traits and
social roles.
Self-worth
How much you like, accept, or value yourself,
which can be impacted by a number of
factors including how others see you.

Validation

Self-esteem boost achieved by carefully crafting the “Perfect” online

presence. Most enviable moments, perfect photos that reflect idealised
beauty and success

External Validation – comes from the number of likes, reacts and

comments that reinforce approval of the content shared and aligns with
the individual’s self-presentation and self-concept.

Potential for negative self-concepts to be reinforced through lack of

reactions.
 Strong link between social media use and the development of narcissism,
anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

High self-monitors Worry about their image and how they

present to others. Change their behaviour
based on others around them and have a
stronger need to fit in and be accepted. More
likely to engage in strategic use of social
media to validate their self-concept and
manage their self-presentation.
More likely to have more social media
accounts, followers, and friends.
Low self-monitors

Concerned with genuineness, even if it means

being the odd person in the room or standing
out from the crowd. Have fewer, but closer
friends. Have less engagement on social
media and refrain from using this as a means
of validation and self-presentation.
Impression Management Leaves a lasting impression on others and
helps in attaining goals and being accepted by
peer groups.

Non-verbal
communication Presentation: clothes, hair, make up,
jewellery
Gestures: hand movements
Posture: way you are standing, how close to
Verbal Communication others

Words that you use, vocab, what type of

Primacy effect information you disclose, tone, emphasis on
different words

Recency effect Tendency to believe information presented

first. First impressions count and are very
difficult to change
Schema
Most recent information is more easily
remembered and might influence opinions.

Internal template of what we know and

expect in a situation. Remember information
that fits schema more than others.
Social Media and Pro-social behaviour Emerging evidence to suggest a connection
between social media engagement and pro-
mental health social behaviours (helping, altruism,
cooperation).
Interpersonal skills
New research supports that social media
engagement improves young people’s
Isolation interpersonal skills.

Social media provides opportunities for your

Peer-comparisons people in rural and remote communities to
interact and reduce social isolation.

Depression and anxiety Connection between social media use and

unhealth peer comparisons leading to mental
health problems.
Addiction
Strong connection between engaging with 3
or more social media platforms and the
diagnosis of depression and anxiety

The use of Social Media lights up the same

neural pathways in the brain as drug
addictions. Raising questions about social
media addictions.