Conformity Influencing Behavior Chapter 8 It were not

Conformity: Influencing Behavior Chapter 8 “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races. ” – Mark Twain Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Conformity: When and Why Conformity A change in one’s behavior due to the real

Informational Social Influence: The Need to Know What’s “Right” Informational Social Influence The influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Private Acceptance Public Compliance Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

When Informational Conformity Backfires When one’s personal safety is involved, the need for information is acute—and the behavior of others is very informative. Contagion The rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

When Informational Conformity Backfires Mass Psychogenic Illness The occurrence, in a group of people, of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

When Will People Conform to Informational Social Influence? • When the situation is ambiguous. • When the situation is a crisis. • When other people are experts. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Informational Social Influence and Emergencies • An emergency is by definition a crisis situation.

Normative Social Influence: The Need to Be Accepted Social Norms The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Normative Social Influence: The Need to Be Accepted Given this fundamental human need for social companionship, it is not surprising that we often conform in order to be accepted by others. Normative Social Influence The influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Conformity and Social Approval: The Asch Line Judgment Studies Adapted from Asch, 1956. Copyright

Conformity and Social Approval: The Asch Line Judgment Studies These are classic normative reasons

The Consequences of Resisting Normative Social Influence If you disregard the friendship norms of the group by failing to conform to them, two things would most likely happen: Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Normative Social Influence in Everyday Life • Although most of us are not slaves to fashion, we tend to wear what is considered appropriate at a given time. • Fads are another fairly frivolous example of normative social influence. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Social Influence and Women’s Body Image Social Influence and Men’s Body Image Copyright ©

When Will People Conform to Normative Social Influence? Social Impact Theory • The strength of the group’s importance, • Its immediacy, and • The number of people in the group. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

When the Group Size is Three or More Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All

When the Group is Important Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

When One Has No Allies in the Group Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All

Resisting Normative Social Influence • Idiosyncrasy Credits • The tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms; if enough idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, behave deviantly without retribution from the group. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Minority Influence: When the Few Influence the Many Minority Influence The case where a minority of group members influence the behavior or beliefs of the majority. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Using Social Influence to Promote Beneficial Behavior Robert Cialdini, Raymond Reno, and Carl Kallgren have developed a model of normative conduct in which social norms (the rules that a society has for acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs) can be used to subtly induce people to conform to correct, socially approved behavior. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Injunctive Norms Descriptive Norms Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Obedience to Authority • Obedience is a social norm that is valued in every

The Role of Normative Social Influence • The obedience experiment was a confusing situation for participants, with competing, ambiguous demands. • Unclear about how to define what was going on, they followed the orders of the expert, the authority figure. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Other Reasons We Obey Participants conformed to the wrong norm: They continued to follow the “obey authority” norm when it was no longer appropriate. It was difficult for them to abandon this norm for three reasons: 1. The fast-paced nature of the experiment, 2. The fact that the shock levels increased in small increments, 3. Their loss of a feeling of personal responsibility. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.