Impact of Social Influence

Social influence is the way in which one or more people alter the attitudes or the behavior of others the mere presence of others can change our behavior, as illustrated by the results from studies in which research participants perform some task either alone or in the presence of others. Typically, people in groups perform better (social facilitation), but sometimes their performance is worse in a group or with an audience. One attempt to reconcile these divergent findings proposes that the presence of others increases arousal and strengthens highly dominant responses. If the dominant response is the correct one, performance will be facilitated. If the dominant response is incorrect, performance will be hindered.

Another form of social influence is conformity. Studies indicate that we sometimes conform because we believe the group to be right or to have information we don't possess. Members often conform to group opinions even though they privately disagree, perhaps because they want to be liked and accepted. A more extreme case of social influence is blind obedience, in which people act against their own consciences in obeying some authority. This has sometimes been ascribed to factors within the person, as in studies of the authoritarian personality. But situational factors may be even more important, as shown by Milgram's obedience studies. His findings suggest that persons who were obedient to the end generally tried to make the situation comprehensible to themselves: They depersonalized it, and they tried to reinterpret it in various ways.

Social impact theory has attempted to integrate many phenomena similar to those discussed in this section. This theory proposes that an individual is exposed to many social forces, which vary in their strength, number, and distance. The total social impact on a person, then, is a function of how many others are converging on her and how strong their influences are. Experimental studies of such phenomena as stage fright and social loafing provide some support for the theory.

The term Conformity refers to an individual behavior that follows a real or imagined collective (group, social, cultural) norm or behavior. Conformity surely has its good sides, as in the organization and coordination of groups and societies, but it also has its bad sides, as in the blind obedience to fashions or leaders. Conformity happens to a good extent without deliberation, sometimes without conscious awareness. To minimize our susceptibility to blind obedience, it is a good idea to become aware of our norm-conforming behavior every once in a while and consciously decide to conform (or not to conform), before we return control again to conforming habits, reflexes, and schemas.

General conditions under which conformity is maximized:

Ambiguity (in the situation, task, or stimulus)

Stress (time pressure, demand, fear, etc.)

Others are perceived as experts (or at least as informed as oneself)

Need for affiliation (acknowledgment, validation)

Social influence as obedience to authority is where a person or a group obeys the direct commands or orders of an authority (person or institution) -- a matter of compliance with the orders of another person or group of people. There is not only a personal need to agree with others but strong pressure exerted by the group on any person with different opinions to comply with the majority. Promises, arguments, and threats are used to get agreement. If someone steadfastly refuses to agree with the group, he/she is frequently rejected and ignored. Usually the more deviant group members (those taking an extreme position) and the entire group move in the direction favored by the majority. This has become known as group polarization (Deaux & Wrightsman, 1984). It can be thought of as a "jump on the band wagon" effect or "go along with the majority" effect. However, we do not yet know under what conditions private opinions are actually changed, if they are, in these more complex situations. Perhaps as we learn more about a certain opinion and argue for it, we come to believe it more. Perhaps we just don't want to make waves. Perhaps we "know which side of our bread is buttered." It's all compliance. There are other specific conditions in which we tend to comply with direct requests. For instance, once we have granted one request, we are more likely to comply with another request. So a salesperson will make a small request first: "May I ask you a few questions?" And "May we sit down?" Finally, "May I order you one?" This is called the "foot in the door" technique. Another approach is the "door in the face" technique: first, someone makes a very large request of you and you say "no" (that's the door in the face). They graciously accept your refusal and then a few days or weeks later the same person approaches you with a much more modest request. You are more likely to comply this time than if you had never been approached.