SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Each of us is different and our individual characteristics including our

personality traits, desires, motivations, and emotions have an important
impact on our social behavior. But our behavior is also profoundly
influenced by the social situation.

Social psychology is largely the study of the social situation. Our social
situations create social influence.

social influence – is the process through which other people change our
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and through which we change theirs. In
some cases, social influence occurs rather passively, without any obvious
intent of one person to influence the other, such as when we learn about
and adopt the beliefs and behaviors of the people around us, often without
really being aware that we are doing so.
HOW ARE WE INFLUENCED BY
HUMAN NATURE AND
CULTURE?
The universal behaviors that define human nature arise from
our biological similarities.

Natural selection – The evolutionary process by which

heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and
reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing
generations.

The idea, simplified, is this:

• Organisms have many and varied offspring.
• Those offspring compete for survival in their environment.
• Certain biological and behavioral variations increase their
chances of reproduction and survival in that environment.
• Those offspring that do survive are more likely to pass their
genes to ensuing generations.
• Thus, over time, population characteristics may change.
Evolutionary psychology – studies how natural
selection predisposes not just physical traits suited to
particular contexts— polar bears’ coats, bats’ sonar,
humans’ color vision—but also psychological traits and
social behaviors that enhance the preservation and
spread of one’s genes.

It is the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior

using principles of natural selection.

The evolutionary perspective highlights our universal

human nature.
Evolutionary psychologists contend that our emotional “Psychology will be
based on a new foundation.”
and behavioral answers to those questions are the same
—CHARLES DARWIN, THE
answers that worked for our ancestors. ORIGIN OF SPECIES, 1859
Gender and Mating Preferences
Noting the worldwide persistence of gender differences in aggressiveness,
dominance, and sexuality, evolutionary psychologist Douglas Kenrick (1987)
suggested, as have many others since, that “we cannot change the evolutionary
history of our species, and some of the differences between us are undoubtedly a
function of that history.”

Consider, for example, the male’s greater sexual initiative. The average male
produces many trillions of sperm in his lifetime, making sperm cheap compared with
eggs. (If you happen to be an average man, you will make more than 1,000 sperm
while reading this sentence.)

Whereas a female brings one fetus to term and then nurses it, a male can spread his
genes by fertilizing many females. Women’s investment in childbearing is, just for
starters, nine months; men’s investment may be nine seconds.
Culture and Behavior
Evolutionary psychology incorporates environmental influences. It recognizes that
nature and nurture interact in forming us.

Culture – The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a

large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

We humans have been selected not only for big brains and biceps but also for
culture. We come prepared to learn the language and to bond and cooperate with
others in securing food, caring for young, and protecting ourselves. Nature
therefore predisposes us to learn whatever culture we are born into.

The cultural perspective highlights human adaptability.

NORMS: EXPECTED BEHAVIOR

As etiquette rules illustrate, all cultures have their accepted ideas about appropriate
behavior. We often view these social expectations, or norms, as a negative force that
imprisons people in a blind effort to perpetuate tradition.

Norms – standards for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper”
behavior. (In a different sense of the word, norms also describe what most others do—
what is normal.)

Cultures vary in their norms for expressiveness, punctuality, rule-breaking, and

personal space.
NORMS: EXPECTED BEHAVIOR
EXPRESSIVENESS – To someone from a relatively formal northern European culture, a
person whose roots are in an expressive Mediterranean culture may seem “warm,
charming, inefficient, and time-wasting.” To the Mediterranean person, the northern
European may seem “efficient, cold, and overconcerned with time”.

PUNCTUALITY – Latin American business executives who arrive late for a dinner
engagement may be mystified by how obsessed their North American counterparts are
with punctuality.

RULE-BREAKING – When people see social norms being violated, such as banned
graffiti on a wall, they become more likely to follow the rule-breaking norm by violating
other rules, such as littering.

PERSONAL SPACE – Is a sort of portable bubble or buffer zone that we like to maintain
between ourselves and others. As the situation changes, the bubble varies in size.
ATTRIBUTION

Attributions are inferences about the cause of a

behavior.

We attribute others' behavior either to their

internal/dispositional attribution or to their
external/situational attribution.

Dispositional/internal attribution – is when you take

someone’s behavior and say that the reason it
happened is something about that person.
Situational or external attribution – is basically
saying that someone did what they did not because of
something about them but because of something
about the situation that they were in.
ATTRIBUTION

Stable vs. Unstable

Researchers also distinguish between stable
and unstable attributions.
Stable Attribution – infers that an event or
behavior is due to stable, unchanging
factors.
Unstable Attribution – infer that an event or
behavior is due to unstable, temporary
factors.
ATTRIBUTION BIAS
FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
is the tendency to attribute other people’s
behavior to internal factors such as
personality traits, abilities, and feelings.
Also called the correspondence bias,
because it is assumed that other people’s
behavior corresponds to their personal
attributes. When explaining their own
behavior, on the other hand, people tend to
attribute it to situational factors.

ACTOR-OBSERVER BIAS
explains the phenomenon of attributing
other people’s behavior to internal factors
while attributing our own behavior to
external or situational forces
SELF-SERVING BIAS
is the tendency to attribute successes to
internal factors and failures to situational
factors. This bias tends to increase as
time passes after an event. Therefore,
the further in the past an event is, the
more likely people are to congratulate
themselves for successes and to blame
the situation for failures.

JUST-WORLD HYPOTHESIS
refers to the need to believe that the
world is fair and that people get what they
deserve. The just world hypothesis gives
people a sense of security and helps
them to find meaning in difficult
circumstances.
ATTITUDE
Attitudes are evaluations people make
about objects, ideas, events, or other
people. Attitudes can be positive or
negative.

Explicit Attitudes are conscious

beliefs that can guide decisions and
behavior.

Implicit Attitudes are unconscious

beliefs that can still influence decisions
and behavior. Attitudes can include up
to three components: cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral.
DIMENSIONS
Attitude Strength – strong attitudes
are those that are firmly held and that
highly influence behavior.

Attitude Accessibility – the

accessibility of an attitude refers to the
ease with which it comes to mind. In
general, highly accessible attitudes
tend to be stronger.

Attitude Ambivalence - ambivalence

of an attitude refers to the ratio of
positive and negative evaluations that
make up that attitude.
COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
Psychologist Leon Festinger defined
cognitive dissonance as the mental stress or
discomfort experienced by an individual who
holds two or more contradictory beliefs,
ideas, or values at the same time, or is
confronted by new information that conflicts
with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

It is the state of mind that occurs when you

are simultaneously entertaining two or more
opposite ideas. This situation is stressful for
your brain, so it wants to quickly pick an
option to resolve the conflict. Your brain then
tries to rationalize the option you chose so
you can feel like you made a good decision.