Social influence • The process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others • Conformity, compliance, obedience • Social norms • Rules for expected (or acceptable) behavior • Scripts, rituals, customs and traditions• Often vary by culture• May vary by subculture Conformity• Comprehensive definition• Behavior or belief that moves toward a group consensus as a result of real orimagined group pressure• Simpler definition• Yielding to group pressureInformational influence• Conforming to others because we think they know more than we do • Others are more knowledgeable• Judgment is ambiguousSherif: Group consensus (norm formation)• Ambiguous judgment • Auto kinetic effectNormative influence• Conforming to avoid the negative social consequences of appearing deviant• To gain rewards (approval)/avoid punishments (ostracism) • Asch: Unambiguous judgmentAsch procedureMethodResultsAbout 1/3 of the time the average participant conformed to groupAbout 3⁄4 of participants conformed at least once Some subjects conformed considerably more; some none• Parametric studies• Making changes in design of the experiment to test the extent of the effect• Size of majority • Unanimity• AnonymityIndividual differences Not everyone conformed, and different people conformed to differentdegreesIndividual difference variables correlate with conformity AgeAchievement motivation Need for approval AuthoritarianismCultureCompliance - Changing behavior in response to direct social pressure - How might you get me to offer you an extra-credit opportunity?Possible compliance techniques  Ask Present information Invoke personal benefits  Invoke relationship Bargain Invoke norm Make moral appeal Use flattery Criticize Deceive Use threats or force- Cialdini- Compliance—basic principles o liking/Friendshipo Consistencyo Reciprocity Regan, 1971 o Scarcity- Compliance - Tacticso Ingratiation (invokes liking)o Lowball (invokes consistency)o That's-Not-All Principle (invokes reciprocity)o Playing Hard to Get (invokes scarcity)o Fast Approaching Deadline (invokes scarcity)o Foot-in-the-Door (invokes consistency)o Door-in-the-Face (invokes norm of reciprocity—reciprocal concessions) o Not-so-free sample- Obedienceo Changing behavior in response to commands from authority- Miligram Experimento Basic Scenarioo Cover Story: effects of punishment on learningo Procedure Paired-associate task Shock machineo Parametric studies- Miligrams Variationso Victim pounds on wall them become silent Remote feedback (basic scenario)o Victim heard protesting Voice feedbacko Victim in same room Proximityo Teacher has to put victims hand on shock plate Touch-proximityo Less prestigious location Study done in Bridgeport Connecticut o Remote experimenter Telephone conditiono Less authoritative experimenter  Younger RA in street clothes has to “substitute”o Dissenting research assistantso Second experimenter Conflicting instructionso Teacher does not deliver shock himself o Teacher told to select the level of shock (control) Experimenter legitimizes all levelsImportant points• Ethical issues• Power of situation• Replications of Milgram Study • Hofling et al. (1966)• Unknown doctor called nurses and asked them to administer 20 milligrams of the drug "Astroten" to a patient on the ward• Nearly all were about to administer the drug before being stopped and debriefed by one of the researchers“Eye of the Storm” video (blue eyes/brown eyes: Benevolent and hostile sexismCialdini’s compliance tactics (what they are and why they work) Door in face – the reciprocal concessionsFoot in door The “That’s not all” technique-a compliance approach that involves adding something to an original offer, thus creating some pressure to reciprocateCognitive perspectiveConditions for reducing prejudice through contactConstrual processes and biased assessmentsDescriptive and prescriptive norms: D norm is the behavior exhibited by most people in a given context. Prescriptive norm is the way a person is supposed to behave in a given context; also called injunctive dormDoor-in-the-face (reciprocal concessions technique): Robery Cialdinin, social psychology’s most innovative contributor to the literature on compliance, has explored a novel application of the norm of reciprocity. A compliance approach that involves asking someone for a very large favor that he or she willcertainly refuse and then following that request with one for a smaller favor (which tends to be seen as aconcession the target feels compelled to honor) Foot-in-the-door: a compliance approach that involves making an initial small request with which nearly everyone complies, followed by a larger request involving the real behavior of interest Informational social influence: the reliance on other people’s comments and actions as an indication of what’s likely to be correct, proper, or effectiveMinimal group paradigm: an experimental paradigm in which researchers create groups based in arbitrary and seemingly meaningless criteria and then examine how the members of these “minimal groups” are inclined to behave toward one anotherModern racism: Contrasted to old-fashioned racismSubtle formsConcealed publicly expressed when safeDifficult to measureImplicit Association TestMuzafer Sherif’s informational influence study: Sherifs conformity experiment used the auto kinetic illusion to assess group influence. Participants’ estimates tended to become more similar over time.Used the setup of the Muller-Lyer illusion which had people conform to the length of lines. All the people’s individual judgements quickly fused into a group norm. Normative social influence: the influence of other people that comes from the desire to avoid their disapproval and other social sanctions (ridicule, barbs, ostracism)Outgroup homogeneity: the tendency for people to assume that within-group similarity is much stronger for outgroups than for in-groupsReactance theory: the idea that people reassert their prerogatives sin response to the unpleasant state of arousal they experience when they believe their freedoms are threatenedRealistic group conflict theory: a theory that group conflict, prejudice, and discrimination are likely to arise over competition between groups for limited resourcesSocial identity theory: The idea that a