What is Social

Influence?
 Social Influence

• Social influence is any change in behaviour, emotion or thinking that other

individuals cause, even if their presence is only imagined, expected or
implied. It also includes the interpersonal processes that lead to behaviour,
emotion or thinking changes. In short, it’s about how people change their
minds.
• Social influence comprises:
Majority influence Minority influence.
(conformity)

Conformity
• also known as majority influence, is when a person changes their
beliefs and behaviour to fit – or conform – to those of a group
 Kelman (1958) identifies the following 3 types of conformity, going
from weakest to strongest:

• Compliance is the weakest type of conformity. It is where a person

publicly changes their behaviour and beliefs to fit that of a group and
avoid disapproval. However, privately, the person does not accept the
behaviours and beliefs of the group – they just comply with them.
• For example, a person may laugh at a joke because their group of
friends find it funny but deep down the person does not find the joke
funny.

• Compliance frequently occurs when a person is asked by an authority

figure to meet a particular set of demands. For example, drivers comply
with the directions given by traffic wardens, and students comply with
the requests of their teacher, who they view as holding a position of
authority.
• For example: Wearing a uniform to school but taking it off as soon as possible when
you get home.

• Compliance may be achieved using a number of techniques known as compliance

strategies.

• Compliance strategies include the foot-in-the-door technique, which involves a person

making a small initial request in order to gain compliance with another question. Once a
person has complied with a request, they are more likely to agree to a later, more
significant, request. For example, a car sales representative may ask a prospective
customer to agree to test-drive a new car. If the person agrees, they may be able to
persuade them to extend their compliance by accepting a later request to buy the car.
• The door-in-the-face technique is another compliance strategy which
takes an opposite approach. An unreasonably large request is made
initially, followed by the request that the subject is expected to comply
with. A person will almost certainly reject the first request, but the
second appears more reasonable when compared to it, and so they may
be more inclined to comply with the second proposition.
• where prices are often negotiable.

• In another situation, a mother might ask her son, who is playing a game, to clean
the living room, dining room and his bedroom whilst she prepares dinner. The
boy might resist, claiming that there is too much to clean in such a short amount
of time. The mother replies, “Very well, but can’t you at least clean your
bedroom?”.

• By comparison with the first request, the second seems reasonable to the boy, and
he would agree. By using this persuasive technique, the mother has convinced her
son to clean his bedroom rather than play games.
 Identification
• is a stronger type of conformity than compliance because it involves the person
both publicly and privately changing their behaviour and beliefs to fit that of a
group they want to be part of. However, the person only identifies with these
beliefs as long as they are associated with the group – upon leaving the group, the
original behaviours and beliefs return.

• An example of identification would be adopting the same music and fashion tastes
as your friendship group. When you move away, though, you revert back to your
old clothes and music.
• The process of identification most strongly determines socialisation,
peer pressure and looking up to role models. Leaders or celebrities rely
on identification – you might not like all aspects of a specific
footballer’s life or demeanour but still put their poster up on your wall,
maybe because you look up to them.
 Examples

• Cutting your hair in the most popular style.

• Buying a celebrity-endorsed shade of lipstick.

• Voting for a politician because they are plain-spoken and down-to-

earth, not because they are particularly well-suited to the job.

• Acting in a particularly loud every time you’re out with your friends
 Internalisation
• is the strongest type of conformity. It is where a person both publicly
and privately changes their behaviour and beliefs to those of a group –
but permanently. So, unlike identification, individuals who internalise
beliefs and behaviours maintain those beliefs and behaviours even after
leaving the social group.
• Following the religion of your parents even after they’ve passed on.

• Retaining your cultural customs even if you’re far from your native
land.
• Waiting at the crosslights even if there’s no car or person in sight.
 Obedience

• Obedience is a type of social influence where a person follows an order

from another person who is usually an authority figure.
• Hierarchical relationships often involve one party obeying the orders of
another. For instance, a son is expected to obey his parents, and a
soldier takes orders from a superior officer. In each instance, the person
in a subordinate position obeys the other, often for fear of the
consequences of disobeying them.
• Autonomous state - when an individual’s behavior is determined by his
or her own independent beliefs and responsibility is taken for such
actions. When a person regrets their actions, they experience feelings of
guilt.
• Agentic state - a person perceives another as being in a position of
authority. They obey orders issued by the authority figure, acting as an
‘agent’ on their behalf. When this behavior is perceived to be a mistake,
the person attributes responsibility to the authority that ordered it,
rather than feeling guilt for their role in it.
Obedience occurs when you are conformity happens through social
told to do something (authority) pressure (the norms of the majority).
 Social roles
• A further form of social influence is the roles in which people find themselves. Each
role is associated with a set of attitudes and forms of behavior, and the role that a
person is assigned can influence their actions and opinions.

• Most of us are influenced by a number of roles at any one time. You may play a
professional role - from doctor to wait-staff, naval officer to writer. Each profession is
associated with different types of behavior. For example, people expect a doctor or
naval office to be more serious than a circus entertainer, and may try fulfill this
assumption when given a particular professional role. Other types of role, such as
gender, family and societal roles, can also influence behavior.
 Resistance to social influence
• Social influence has both positive and negative effects. It would be a
chaotic society if nobody ever conformed to social roles (e.g. children
just ignored parents, students ignored teachers, etc.) and things like
teamwork would be practically impossible. But sometimes social
influence can have negative effects, like being peer-pressured into
dangerous behaviour or obeying an authority figure who is asking you
to do something immoral.
• SOCIAL SUPPORT, Status, Moral beliefs
 Social change
• The social norms of society (i.e. the expected rules for behaviour) are largely
determined by majority influence. Social change is the process by which these
norms change over time.
• Eventually, if enough people are converted to the minority’s beliefs, they
become the new majority and establish new social norms
 Minority Influence
• As this opinion is novel and contrary to group norms, the attention of other members’
is drawn to it.

• a minority view usually needs to exert informative influence. By presenting new

information (e.g. a key fact) as having been overlooked by the majority, a minority can
persuade other members to reconsider their opinion. This process is known as
conversion. If a minority influence is able to convert a sufficient number of members,
the view will eventually become the opinion held by a majority of individuals within
the group.
• Many social and political movements, such as the civil rights
movement in the United States, use minority influence to change the
views of the wider population.
• Minority influence is more effective when the person expressing the
view displays consistency.
 Activity

Make a script based on Social Influence (10 Marks)