Scribd
Upload
4 views

Week 3

The document discusses social influence, focusing on compliance, obedience, and conformity, highlighting how power and authority can lead individuals to act against their moral beliefs. It references Milgram's experiments, which demonstrated that ordinary people could commit harmful acts under authoritative pressure, and critiques the ethical implications of such studies. Additionally, it explores the reasons for conformity, including informational and normative influences, and factors such as group size and unanimity that affect conformity levels.

Uploaded by

yarencakir1907
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views

Week 3

The document discusses social influence, focusing on compliance, obedience, and conformity, highlighting how power and authority can lead individuals to act against their moral beliefs. It references Milgram's experiments, which demonstrated that ordinary people could commit harmful acts under authoritative pressure, and critiques the ethical implications of such studies. Additionally, it explores the reasons for conformity, including informational and normative influences, and factors such as group size and unanimity that affect conformity levels.

Uploaded by

yarencakir1907
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Efforts to change the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions or


behaviors/
Norms are rules indicating how individuals are expected to
behave in specific situations.

COMPLIANCE, OBEDIANCE, CONFORMITY

Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or


command.
Compliance does not reflect internal change; therefore it
usually persists only while behavior is under close watch.

Power is the basis of compliance.


Conformity is not based on power but
rather on the subjective validity of social
norms, that is a feeling of confidence
and certainty that beliefs and actions
described by the norm are correct, appropriate, valid and
socially desirable. Under these circumstances, the norm becomes an
internalized standard for behavior and thus surveillance (watching
closely) is not necessary.
POWER AND INFLUENCE

Power –capacity to influence others while resisting their attempts to influence.


Obedience to Authority: Social influence by demand

Obedience- instances in which someone in a position of


authority simply tells or orders one or more other persons
to do something and they do it.

The Nazi Effect


Take Away?

• Milgram showed that “normal” people can be led to perform


destructive acts when exposed to strong situational pressure from
legitimate authority.

• Milgram called this the “normality thesis” – the idea that evil acts are
not necessarily performed by abnormal or crazy people. Rather,
average individuals who see themselves as mere agents in an
organization, carrying out orders in command, can behave in
destructive ways.
Baumrind (1964) severely criticized
Milgram for exposing participants
to psychological distress,
embarrassment and loss of dignity.

Was the stress justifiable?

 Participation must be based on fully


informed consent (Participants in Miligram’s
experiment volunteered to take part, but the
true nature of the experiment was not
explained to them)

 Participation must be explicitly informed


that they can withdraw, without penalty, at
any stage of the study

 Participation must be fully and honestly


debriefed at the end of the study
As Plain as Day: The Ash Studies

Solomon Ash wondered if conformity occurs only in


ambiguous situations such as the Sherif studying
which people are quite uncertain about the correct
answer.

Ash reasoned that when people face an unambiguous


situation, they will trust their own perceptions and
give their independent judgment, even when every
member disagrees with him.
The Ash Studies

1 2 3

Standard line Comparison lines


Why do people conform?

People conform for two major reasons:


to be right and to be liked.

Informational Influence. The Desire to be Right One reason


for conformity is that the behavior of other people often
provides useful information.

When conformity is based on informational influence- on the


belief that group members are right- we usually change our
minds as well as our behavior.
Normative Influence: The Desire to be Liked

Another reason for conformity is to gain


approval or avoid the disapproval of other
people. This is known as normative influence.
In such situations conformity
leads to an outward change in
public behavior but not necessarily
to a change in private opinions.
Group Size
Conformity usually
increases as the size of
the majority increases.

It is harder to mistrust or
discount a group than a
single person.
Group Unanimity

A person who faced


unanimous (undivided)
majority is under great
pressure to conform. If
however a group is not
united there is striking
decrease in amount of
conformity.

The mere fact that


someone else disagrees
with the group indicates
that there is room for
doubt that the issue is not
perfectly clear and
majority might be wrong.
Of another
group member
endorses the
position that the
individual favors
it serves to
strengthen the
individual’s self-
confidence
about that
judgment.

There is
reluctance to
appear deviant.
Minority Influence: Innovation
in groups

Sometimes a forceful minority


with a new idea or unique
perspective can effectively
change the position of the
majority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=V8ykVJIa5Iw

You might also like