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:...
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…
