They go along with the majority without analysing why there is a difference. This results in Public Compliance, without Private Attitude Change Asch conducted an experiment where participants had to judge the length of lines, he found there was a strong pressure to conform to the majority, and this included both normative and informational social influence. Because this results in both public and private change it is an example of internalisation. Informational sociala influence is more likely when the situation is
This is associated with Internalisation (conforming because you have accepted a group’s views and they now fit with your own beliefs). This type of conformity can occur with majority or minority influence, but it is most likely to happen when: • The right course of action is clear, there isn’t one obvious right answer • The situation is a crisis, you need to make a fast decision (both of these are evident when following a crowd who claim to be fleeing from a disaster, for example) • We believe the others to be experts; if we think the people we are conforming to “know what they are talking about” we are more likely to conform to their beliefs. Social Impact Theory This is a theory developed by Latané to explain why people conform in some situations but not others. The key principles of this explanation are: • Number – A
Benefits come from belonging in a group, individuals may conform on the surface but disagree with the group internally. This is called compliance, going along with the majority despite knowing they are incorrect. Informational social influence; is powered by what people need or their motives. When people are unaware how to behave, think or feel in a social situation the need for conformity is the need to be safe. An example of psychological research in conformity is Asch (1951) line study, where there were varying amount of both participants and confederates and they were asked to state which line was bigger out of three.
Lucy Ramos 09/10/12 Social Psychology We often try to match our ideal self with our social self in order to feel more accepted in the social world. Social perception is known as the process by which people come to understand one another. In order to learn how others perceive us, we must first look at how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive others. The social comparison theory discussed by Leon Festinger (1954) states that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others. People often compare themselves to others to feel more socially accepted or to set themselves apart from others.
Each of these factors plays a significant role in conformity and have their own process. Informational influence is when you conform due to the fact that you believe others are correct in their adjudications. For conformity is when you accept to put your personal feelings or opinions to the side in order for the group to be unified. When a person conforms they become one with a group for it shows the person’s dedication to the group’s standards. “Culture, gender, personality and other factors are believed to have great impact on how people conform themselves in a group settings” (Fiske, 2004).
Value Consensus: Groups may disagree and have conflicting views, but BY AND LARGE, stability is taken to be the norm. There is a general agreement that the law can settle things in a neutral and just manner CONFLICT is explained in this way, STABILITY BEING ASSUMED. Value Antagonism: The claim of consensus is TOTALLY REJECTED. This theory also explains the theory that wars, revolution, bloodshed and the like are not as FREQUENT, because the MORE POWERFUL groups use state power to suppress the less powerful groups and make it impossible for them to cause trouble. It ASSUMES conflict, and attempts to explain STABILITY.
The most interesting item to me was learning about “Locus of Control” and whether you or the members of your group possess a strong internal or external control. This can really help when determining what type of reward to use in order to motivate members or the group as a whole. How does this knowledge affect the way you interact in groups? It effects my interactions with groups in that I will be more cognizant of the members and group when dealing with incentives to motivate. As stated in our text book Engleberg and Wynn (2010), “Rewards should be associated with worthy behavior and should be
The existence of interpersonal communication is a given in persuasion research. Although one could conceivably be persuaded by the facts alone (without the intervention of a source), that would generally be characterized as learning rather than persuasion. The only controversial aspect of the above definition is the inclusion of the word intentional. It seems to this writer that receivers who overhear an argument and find it convincing have been persuaded, even though the source never intended to convince them, however, this quibble with the definition need not affect its adoption here. Which, verifies the studies of effectiveness and risk with attempting to use humor with persuasion,
A decision based on rationality is said to be logical, reasoned and sensible, whereas an emotional decision is passion-filled and unreliable. This is only true in some cases, but it is in my opinion that an intelligent person is both emotional and rational, using both of these features in different circumstances to make the best decisions. However, it depends on the situation you’re in whether it would be better to react from an emotional perspective or from a rational one. There are many circumstances under which an emotional person would be clouded from seeing the lack of logic in a situation that a rational person would be able to deal with. If someone is in an abusive relationship, they may not be able to end it because their emotions outweigh they ability to think rationally, whereas to everyone outside of the relationship the only logical thing to do is the end the relationship.
(1976) football game observation, demonstrates the phenomenon when individual’s selfesteem is maintained by social comparison. Social identity theory is based on the cognitive process of social categorization. It was suggested by Tajfel and later developed to understand intergroup relations and group processes. The theory is based on the assumption that individuals seek to improve their selfimage by enhancing their selfesteem, based on either personal identity or through various social identities. The theory has been used to explain social phenomena such as ethnocentrism, ingroup favouritism, stereotyping, and conformity to ingroup norms.