SOCIAL

RELATIONSHIP
S AMONG
ADOLESCENTS
“Every Living being is an engine geared to the
wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly
affected only by its immediate surrounding,
the sphere of external influence extends to
infinite distance. ”

- Nikola Tesla
➔ This lesson will help you
be aware of and understand
what you can be influenced
by, as well as how this self-
awareness can go a long
way.
 GENES, CULTURE, AND
GENDER
Natural selection states that certain predisposed traits that
increased the odds of survival and reproduction are
passed onto future generations.

➔ Culture is the enduring behavior, ideas, and traditions

shared by a large group of people that is passed from
one generation to the next. Nature predisposes us to
learn the culture we are born into. Diverse language
and customs shows that much of our behavior is
developed by our environment, not hardwired
genetically.
 CULTURE
➔ Norms are standards for accepted and proper behavior
within any culture. To people who do not accept
them, norms may confining.
Culture may vary in norms for expressing one’s self,
punctuality, personal space, and rule-breaking.
 GENDER
Gender is the biological or socially influenced
characteristics by which people define male and female.
In many ways, males and females are alike, but their
differences attract more attention than their similarities.

Consider these differences:

➔ Independence vs. connectedness - Women were found to give more priority to close,
intimate relationships than men. This explains why both men and women report that
friendship with women is more intimate, understanding, and nurturing.

.
 GENDER
Consider these differences:
➔ Social dominance- In every known culture, men are found to be more dominant,
driven, and aggressive. In terms of leadership, men more often prioritize winning,
getting ahead, and dominating others, whereas women excel in "transformational"
leadership that build team spirit. Gender differences vary greatly among cultures,
and these differences shrink in societies where women assume more managerial and
leadership positions.
➔ Aggression- Studies show that men admit to more physical aggression than women,
but the gender difference varies depending on the context. Women were shown to be
more aggressive when it came to less assaultive forms of aggression, such as verbal
attacks or spreading malicious gossip.
➔ Sexuality - Men, whether gay or straight, are more likely to initiate sexual activity
compared to women. They are also more quickly aroused, desire sex more, use more
pornography, and prefer more sexual variety. It is important to note, however, that
individual differences far exceed gender differences.

.
Conformity and
Obedience
 CONFORMITY AND
OBEDIENCE
Conformity is a change in behavior or belief as a result of
group pressure that is either real or imagined. There are
three varieties:

1. Compliance - Outward conforming to an implied or

explicit request while privately disagreeing
2. Obedience - Acting to follow a direct order or
command
3. Acceptance - Sincere, inward conformity to an implied
or explicit request
CONFORMITY AND
OBEDIENCE
There are three classic sets of experiments that illustrate conformity:
➔ Muzafer Sherif- Sherif wanted to isolate and study how norms are formed. He used
the autokinetic phenomenon (the apparent movement of a stationary point of light in
the dark) to study how other people's judgments influenced their own. He found that
norms for "proper" answers emerged and survived over time and even through
generations.

➔ Solomon Asch - His experiment studied group pressure by having participants

determine which of three lines matches the length of a standard line. Then, he had
them listen to other people's judgments. When others unanimously gave a wrong
answer, 37% conformed to their answer. His experiment shows that people can
conform in response to minimal pressure.

➔ Stanley Milgram - He tested what would happen when authority clashes with
conscience, and the extent to which people will obey authority. With a "learner,"
"teacher," and experimenter, he showed that 65% of participants fully obeyed
instructions to deliver "traumatizing" electric shocks to a screaming victim in an
adjacent room. His experiment revealed four factors that determine obedience.
 CONFORMITY AND
OBEDIENCE
➔ Factors that Determine Obedience
 CONFORMITY AND
OBEDIENCE
Conformity is reduced if there is no unanimity in the behavior or belief. It is enhanced, however, when a group is cohesive
(the extent to which members of a group are bound together). People with higher status are also shown to have more
impact on behavior. Experiments have also shown that people conform more when they have to do it in front of others
(public response). Lastly, a prior commitment to a given behavior or belief increases the likelihood that a person will stand
by it rather than conform.

2 reasons why people conform:

➔ Normative influence - This results from our desire for acceptance or to be liked. Simply put, it is going along with
the crowd to avoid rejection.

➔ Informational influence - Stems from our desire to be right, and results from other people providing evidence about
a given reality. This is especially true when we do not know what we are doing: "I don't know what to do, but this
guy seems to know what he's doing."

.
PERSUASIO
N
 PERSUASION
The purpose of persuasion is to convey a message or content that elicits good
(education) or bad (propaganda) judgments. There are two paths that lead to
persuasion:

➔ Central route - Occurs when people are interested enough to focus on the arguments then
respond favorably if these are strong and compelling. The central route or processing can
lead to more lasting behavior change.

➔ Peripheral route - Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues or cues that lead to
automatic acceptance without much thinking (i.e., product placements or advertising).
 PERSUASION
Four elements of effective persuasion:
➔ Communicator - A credible communicator is someone perceived as both ex pert and trustworthy. People who talk
fast, speak confidently, say things that the audience agrees with, seem knowledgeable on the topic, and look at their
audience in the eye seem more credible. An attractive communicator is more The persuasive when the topic is
subjective.
➔ The message - When it comes to persuasion via reason or emotion, its effectivity depends on the audience.
Associating a message with positive feelings often enhances persuasion by relying on peripheral cues. Fear-
arousing messages can also be effective, and works best if the message is meant to make people fear the severity or
likelihood of an event.
➔ The channel - The way the message is delivered. Studies have shown that sonal influence (i.e., viral marketing)
works best. Consider the massive ticket sales of the 2015 historical film Heneral Luna once social media and word-
of mouth created a buzz for the movie. However, the influence of media cannot be discounted. Two-step flow of
communication is the process by which the media influences its audience by using opinion leaders, who in turn,
influence others.
➔ The audience - Age makes a difference. Attitudes change as people grow older (life cycle explanation), or attitudes
may not change at all because older people tend to hold onto the attitude they adopted when they were young
(generational explanation). The evidence mostly supports the generational explanation, as younger audiences are
often more open to change. Attitudes formed tend stabilize during middle adulthood.
GROUP
A group is defined as two or
INFLUENC more people who interact
and influence each other,
and perceive each other as
E "us.
 GROUP INFLUENCE
➔ Social Facilitation- is the strengthening of dominant responses in the presence of
others. Arousal enhances dominant responses during an easy task (i.e., athletes or
musicians who perform best when energized by a supportive audience) or leads to
incorrect response during difficult tasks (i.e., the attention created by a large audience
could elicit a poor performance, such as public speaking). There are three factors that
explain why the presence of other people creates arousal: evaluation apprehension
(concern for how people evaluate us); distraction (the conflict between paying
attention to others and concentrating on the task); and mere presence (the presence of
others can be arousing by itself, even without evaluation or distraction).

➔ Social loafing - social facilitation occurs when being observed, while social loafing
occurs when being lost in a crowd. However, studies have shown that people in
groups loaf less when the task is challenging, involving, or appealing to them. They
also put more effort when members are friends or if they feel important to the group.
 GROUP INFLUENCE
➔ Deindividuation -The phenomenon of
abandoning normal restraints or for
getting their individual identities as a
response to group or crowd norms. This is
especially likely with a large group size
(i.e., looters are rendered unidentifiable
by a mob), physical anonymity, and are
aroused and distracted. On the other hand,
self-awareness is a self-conscious state in
which your attention is focused on
yourself and you are sensitive to your
own attitude. Thus, deindividuation is less
likely when self-awareness is high.
➔ Group polarization is the phenomenon
wherein people often associate with those
whose attitudes are similar to their own,
which tends to intensify shared attitudes.
GROUP
POLARIZATI
Informational influence results from
acCepting evidence about reality (i.e.,
hearing arguments or active participation
in discussions).

➔ Normative influence, on the other hand,

involves evaluating our opinions by
comparing our views with others' (social
comparison). To illustrate this, consider
ON
the bandwagon effect that creates
blockbuster movies or hit songs; a popular
song tends to become more popular.
 GROUP POLARIZATION
Groupthink is the tendency of influential groups to suppress dissent in order to maintain
group harmony. There are eight symptoms of this phenomenon:

➔ Illusion of vulnerability
➔ Unquestioned belief in the group’s morality
➔ Rationalization
➔ Stereotyped view of opponents
➔ Conformity pressure
➔ Self-censorship
➔ Illusion of unanimity Experiments have found three determinants of influence by a minority:
➔ Mindguards
➔ Consistency-A minority that sticks to their opposing view is more
influential.
➔ Persistence - Both consistency and persistence are indicators of
self-confidence, and thus, tends to raise self-doubt among the
majority.
➔ Defection from the majority - When a minority consistently doubts
the majority, those in the latter may become freer to express their
own doubts.
LEADERSH ➔ Leadership is the process by which certain
people motivate and guide their group.
Some people excel in task leadership or a
directive style for organizing work and

IP
focusing on goals. Others gravitate to
social leadership which involves building
teamwork, mediating conflict, and
membership support. This democratic
style delegates authority, welcomes input,
and prevents groupthink.
Transformational leadership motivates
others to identify with and commit to the
group's mission. They inspire people to
share their vision, which leads to a more
engaged and effective group.