...Social influence occurs when one's emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by others.[1] Social influence takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, persuasion, sales, and marketing. In 1958, Harvard psychologist, Herbert Kelman identified three broad varieties of social influence.[2] 1. Compliance is when people appear to agree with others, but actually keep their dissenting opinions private. 2. Identification is when people are influenced by someone who is liked and respected, such as a famous celebrity. 3. Internalization is when people accept a belief or behavior and agree both publicly and privately. Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard described two psychological needs that lead humans to conform to the expectations of others. These include our need to be right (informational social influence), and our need to be liked (normative social influence).[3] Informational influence (or social proof) is an influence to accept information from another as evidence about reality. Informational influence comes into play when people are uncertain, either because stimuli are intrinsically ambiguous or because there is social disagreement. Normative influence is an influence to conform to the positive expectations of others. In terms of Kelman's typology, normative influence leads to public compliance, whereas informational influence leads to private acceptance. [edit] Types Social Influence is a broad term...
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...Influences of Conformity and Obedience Jamie Tyler University of Phoenix Social Psychology Psych555 Prof. Kimberly Kinsey May 7, 2012 Influences of Conformity and Obedience “Social influence broadly encompasses any changes on beliefs, attitudes, or behavior that result from interpersonal interaction” (Fiske, 2010). There are several concepts that aid in the analysis of social influence. Two of these concepts are conformity and obedience. Conformity is the influence of the majority on an individual and obedience is the influence authority has on subordinates. Conformity and obedience are related in the fact that they both have the ability to persuade an individual or group of individuals to change his or her thoughts, actions, and behaviors, regarding a particular situation. Conformity and obedience are also related in that they can change the way individuals view others within a certain community, culture, ethnic group or environment. This paper will evaluate the effect of group influence on the self using both classical and contemporary literature, compare and contrast concepts of conformity and obedience and analyze individual and societal influences that lead to deviance from group norms. Conformity and obedience are important factors in groups because they command members of a group to follow societal norms. Conformity is a needed concept of social influence because it can enhance members of a group sense of belonging, as well as, self esteem. Conformity can be clearly...
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...explain conformity? Draw on at least two examples Scott and Marshall (2005) explain conformity with people’s attempts on complying with other’s norms and rules in order to fulfill their expectations. But is it really that simple? Conformity is one of these terms in sociology that have too much different tones and shades, and thus requires deep examination. This essay looks at in detail at a number of classical studies on the subject of conformity as well as it analyzes a particular type of conformity, i.e. gender conformity. Examples and case studies given from both academic experiments and everyday life help this essay in arguing that conformity is a complex process happening to all of us most of the time even without our knowledge. Moreover, this essay provides information about why people actually conform. Every person is an individual. However, every person belongs to a group. The nationality of a person, their sex, their age, the colour of their skin, and even their hobbies are all different kinds of groups to which this person belongs to. Group membership helps building a type of social identity, while applying its norms and rules upon the individual (Brown 2000). Moreover, even in cases in which a clear hierarchy and roles are absent because of the instant development of the group, social influence remains existent. Social influence definition given by Allport (1968) is as it follows, ‘an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals...
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...Influence of Conformity and Obedience “Social influence broadly encompasses any changes on beliefs, attitudes, or behavior that result from interpersonal interaction” (Fiske, 2010). Humans are known as social beings that live together forming diversity of groups forming and improving relationships within their groups. Social influence, which is very natural, is the result of communication and interaction in between groups. Conformity and obedience are concepts that support the analysis of social influence. Conformity and obedience both can persuade and change an individual(s) thoughts, actions, and behaviors. They also can change the individual(s) views of others within the community, culture and/or ethic group. In this paper I will discuss the issues of conformity and obedience; I will compare and contrast the concepts of conformity and obedience, analyze a classical study concerning the effect of group influence on the self, analyze a contemporary example of the effect that group influence has on the self and analyze individual and societal influences that lead to deviance from dominant group norms. Compare and contrast the concepts of conformity and obedience. Conformity is an important concept of social influence for it increases individuals or groups sense of belonging and self-esteem. Conformity is clearly observed when people are in groups that pressures individuals to say or do things that they normally would not do to be compatible with the group, to fit in...
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...following research personal derives from Solomon Asch's conformity study. The study reflects how human subjects conform to the majority social influence of their peers. The study design was in a controlled laboratory experiment. The following proposal is to determine if subjects will decrease or increase the level of conformity outside a controlled environment. Psychology in Action Part V There are benefits of a controlled laboratory experiment which researches control the variables such as Asch's Opinions and Social Pressures study. The study does have further questions and follow-up studies to determine the magnitude of conformity as a social phenomenon. The social phenomenon of group conformity in a controlled environment has provided further issues to examine. Even though conformity may not increase outside a controlled environment, subjects may conform more outside a controlled environment because subjects conform easily inside a controlled environment. Research Proposal To: From: Date: Subject: Research proposal Research Question: Will subjects be more willing to conformity outside a controlled environment? Thesis: Even though conformity may not increase outside of a controlled environment, subjects may conform more outside a controlled environment because subjects conform easily inside a controlled environment. Proposed Research Topic: Will subjects be more willing to conformity outside a controlled environment? Purposes Asch...
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...Journal of Consumer Behaviour, J. Consumer Behav. 11: 467–476 (2012) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/cb.1396 If I want you to like me, should I be like you or unlike you? The effect of prior positive interaction with the group on conformity and distinctiveness in consumer decision making VERONIKA PAPYRINA* College of Business, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA ABSTRACT The extant research points to conflicting results regarding social influence in consumer decision making. On the one hand, there is empirical evidence that suggests that people conform to other members of their groups. On the other hand, several studies demonstrated the opposite pattern, namely, that individuals seek distinctiveness from others in the group. The goal of the present research is to reconcile these contradictory findings. To this end, I propose that whether a person will conform to or seek distinctiveness from others in a particular consumption situation is contingent on the absence or presence of one’s prior positive interaction with the group. I also suggest that this effect will occur in a public context, that is, when an individual’s choice is visible to other group members. The results of experiment supported these propositions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Suppose Alice wants to start figure skating and goes to watch a training session conducted by a local skate club before making the final decision. She likes what...
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...Conformity and Obedience in the 20th Century The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members' thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay "Group Minds," Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us. We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, "when we're in a group, we tend to think as that group does... but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group" (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups'. Lessing's essay helps set the context to understand the experiments that social psychologists Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo conducted to explain conformity and obedience. Solomon Asch's experiment in "Opinions and Social Pressure" studied a subject's ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage...
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...LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL May 31, 2008 Mr. Retd. Cdr. Tabassum Teacher, Organizational Behavior Bahria University Karachi. Sir: We herewith present our “Term Report” authorized by you as a requirement for this course. In this report, we have tried to provide analysis on organizational behavior of NIB Bank. We hope we have covered all that was required for the report. If there be any clarification demanded, we would appreciate a call from you to our group members. Sincerely, Maaz Khalid Muhammad Usman Badar Muhammad Zain ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the name of “Allah”, the most beneficent and merciful who gave us strength and knowledge to complete this report. This report is a part of our course “Organizational Behavior”. This has proved to be a great experience. This report is a combine effort of, Maaz Khalid, Muhammad Usman Badar and Muhammad Zain. We would like to express our gratitude to our organizational behavior teacher Mr. Retd. Cdr. Tabassum, who gave us this opportunity to fulfill this report. We would also like to thank our colleagues who participated in a focus group session. They gave us many helpful comments which helped us a lot in preparing our report. HISTORY OF THE NIB BANK: NIB Bank Limited started as NDLC-IFIC Bank Ltd. which was incorporated in March 2003 as a public limited company. It started operations in October 2003 when all assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of the former National...
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...Conceptual 1 According to Aronson’s analysis of the Challenger disaster, which of the following most likely did not contribute to the disaster? NASA engineers assured management that all safety measures had been taken. According to Aaronson’s theory of social behavior, people’s behaviors and personal beliefs tend to be greatly influenced by the society or the majorities beliefs. In the challenger disaster case, a lot of outside pressure was involved. Previous experiments such as the successful launch and landing of the first reusable space shuttle Columbia, had been conduced successfully hence NASA was inclined to think that those statistics were a testament for the outcome of the launch. Additionally, the challenger launch was one of its kind since it was the first to have an ordinary American, McAuliffe, on board. Also the program had taken a lot of time to materialize owing to the bad weather and the time needed to train McAuliffe on space travel. All this factors convinced NASA to bow to social psychology and let societal pressure influence their judgment despite clear warning from the engineers about the impending doom if temperature conditions were not favorable (Disaster, 2016). Applied This is a case of Internalization compliance. Though, the child does not like the lima beans, she does so because she believes that by doing so she will become like the figure she idolizes. In the Internalization type of conformity, subjects adopt a belief and make it their own...
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...Conformity as it pertains to the Military Baker College 1.0 Introduction Conformity is the practice of involving attitudes, opinions and behavioral characteristics that are applicable to a specific group, in this context the military. It entails the application of these norms to match the culture embedded in the military society. The conduction of such habitual traits assumes the control by the environment and social stimuli. These stimuli manipulate the way in which the military society conditions its performances. The military not only practice conformity in their society, but also to the general public. Conformity pertinence in the military acts a guide to military sociology by enforcing their obedience to the governments in which they serve and to how their conduct their training and operations in their role of ensuring international security of global territories. Conformity is instilled into soldiers in the advent of their recruitment in the forces and the control of their social relations in the military society. 2.0 Indoctrination Process The indoctrination process involves the inculcation of ideologies and attitudes towards a certain notion to change a person’s behavioral characteristics. In the military context, soldiers are stripped their previous personalities and develop new personalities by internalizing new values. Several techniques are applied during the indoctrination process in relation to the social psychology...
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...sunglasses; those assigned to play the prisoner role were arrested by the Palo Alto police department, deloused, forced to wear chains and prison garments, and transported to the basement of the Stanford psychology department, which had been converted into a sort of jail. What was the lesson learned from Zimbardo’s (1971) Stanford Prison experiment about the influence of social roles on an individual’s behavior? Several of the guards became progressively more sadistic — particularly at night when they thought the cameras were off, despite being picked by chance out of the same pool as the prisoners. The experiment very quickly got out of hand. A riot broke out on day two. One prisoner developed a psychosomatic rash all over his body upon finding out that his "parole" had been turned down. After only 6 days (of a planned two weeks), the experiment was shut down, for fear that one of the prisoners would be seriously hurt. Although the intent of the experiment was to examine captivity, its result has been used to demonstrate the impressionability and obedience of people when provided with a legitimizing ideology and social and institutional support. It is also used to illustrate cognitive dissonance theory and the power of seniority/authority. How do findings from this study help you explain the torture of prisoners in Iraq? The human rights abuses that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison under the authority of the American armed forces in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war may be...
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...as a secondary option to leather wallet. Usage of credit cards, cash or checks had been reduced due to the advancement of technology and emergence of e-Wallet. E-Wallet is an easy-to-use, convenient electronic prototype which acts as a secure global payment system by using only a mobile smartphone. This study is directed towards developing a model to explain the consumer's’ intention to adopt e-Wallet in the social context. It adopts Consumer Need for Uniqueness Theory based on the concept of Counter-Conformity Motivation (CCM) also known as Need For Uniqueness. Many researchers had explored the relationship of consumer’s intention to adopt on the technological usage context. However, little research in social context had been carried out. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the factors affecting the consumer adoption intention in social context. This paper found that CCM, self-identity and word-of-mouth (WOM) are the salient determinants in this study of knowledge of consumer adoption intention in e-Wallet. Keywords: e-Wallet, intention to adopt, counter-conformity motivation, need for uniqueness 1.0 Introduction According to the historical evidence, the first use of money is assumed to have started around 600 BC in term of coins (Davies and Davies, 2002). However, the world is evolving, due to the rapid change in technology. Most of the consumers have changed their ways of making bill payment. E-Wallet is the latest trend and phenomenon as the outcome of technology...
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...Deviant Behavior Social disorganization BIBLIOGRAPHY Both “deviant behavior” and “social disorganization” have been variously defined, but there have been few efforts to distinguish between the two concepts. In fact, it has been suggested that they are not different, that along with “social problems*’ and the somewhat outmoded “social pathology,” they signify only a potpourri of conditions that are considered undesirable from the standpoint of the observer’s values, conditions that vary at different times and with different observers. According to this view, these terms have no scientific value and no legitimate status as sociological concepts. Such nihilism and counsel of despair are not justified. True, there is no consensus on the meaning of these terms, and they are, indeed, burdened with value connotations. However, they point to a number of distinctions that sociology must take into account. Concept of deviance. Turning first to the concept of deviant behavior, we must distinguish among the several definitions of the term, which are discussed below. Behavior that violates norms. Deviant behavior is behavior that violates the normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems. This is the most common usage of the term and the sense in which it will be used here. Crime is the prototype of deviance in this sense, and theory and research in deviant behavior have been concerned overwhelmingly with crime. However, normative rules are inherent in...
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...DECISION-MAKING OF 2ND YEAR AB POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT” SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Course: Bachelor of Science in Psychology- II Names: Balmes, Sharmaine D. Dagohoy , Jasmine D. Jalocon, Clarice P. Abstract: Introduction Group influence occurs when one's emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by others. Group influence takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, and persuasion. The actions, reactions, and thoughts of an individual are influenced by other people or groups. A useful framework of analysis of group influence on the individual is the so called reference group—the term comes about because an individual uses a relevant group as a standard of reference against which oneself is compared. Reference groups come in several different forms. Peer group is defined as a small group of similarly aged, fairly close friends and sharing the same activities. In general, peer groups or cliques have two to twelve members, with an average of five or six. Peer groups provide a sense of security and they help adolescents to build a sense of identity. (http://inside.bard.edu/academic/specialproj/darling/adolesce.htm, 2004) In actuality, peer influence is more complex than our stereotype of the negative influences from friends. First, peer influence can be both positive and negative. While we tend to think that peer influence leads teens to engage in unhealthy and unsafe behaviors, it can actually motivate youth to study harder...
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...20 The Bases of Social Power JOHN R. P. FRENCH, JR., AND BERTRAM RAVEN The processes of power are pervasive, complex, and often disguised in our society. Accordingly one finds in political science, in sociology, and in social psychology a variety of distinctions among different types of social power or among qualitatively different processes of social influence (1, 7, 14, 20, 23, 29, 30, 38, 40). Our main purpose is to identify the major types of power and to define them systematically so that we may compare them according to the changes which they produce and the other effects which accompany the use of power. The phenomena of power and influence involve a dyadic relation between two agents which may be viewed from two points of view: (o) What determines the behavior of the agent who exerts power? (h) What determines the reactions of the recipient of this behavior? We take this second point of view and formulate our theory in terms of the life space of P, the person upon whom the power is exerted. In this way we hope to define basic concepts of power which will be adequate to explain many of the phenomena of social influence, including some which have been described in other less genotypic terms. Recent empirical work, especially on small groups, has demonstrated the necessity of distinguishing different types of power in order to account for the different effects found In studies of social influence. Yet there is no doubt that more empirical knowledge will ...
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