Social psychology and mechanisms of social influence

Social Psychology

EXERCISE & CONFORMITY: When I first came on the job, residents were either in their own rooms watching television or napping; or, they were lazily plopped in front of the large-screen TV in the main leisure room. The social influence that worked well initially was conformity. I located the two people (a man and a woman) I believed were most likely to enjoy physical activity, and took them on a slow walk around the garden area. Each day we invited the others to go with us, and each day one or more additional seniors willingly joined along with us. The walks increased to two-a-day (morning and evening), and they also increased in speed.

EXERCISE, COMPLIANCE & OBEDIENCE: By the end of three weeks, nearly every resident (even those in wheelchairs) was participating. I never played "cheerleader" or hyped the wonders of exercise. There were two "deviants" who stubbornly refused to walk with us, but nobody among the conformists paid any attention. In time, we also had a treadmill and stationary bike set up, and while we carefully monitored the use of those tools, we smiled because when first one, then two, then three residents began using the exercise equipment (watching their favorite soap opera while they walked and rode), it caught on as a cool and healthy thing to do. The seniors who had learned to enjoy swift walking and the two exercise machines became more than "compliant": indeed, when they saw me walk in to work in the mornings, they began peppering me with questions as to when we were going outside for our walk. I tried to do it at the same time every day, an hour after breakfast and an hour before dinner. Once trust had been established between the residents and me I could ask them to walk further, or faster, and they would obey me as though I was a Marine Corps training officer, though of course I was far gentler than that.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERISM: The trust that was built around the exercise activities easily spilled over into my desire to involve the residents in volunteer work at a nearby special school for mentally handicapped children. There is a natural link between older people and children, and I exploited this dynamic over a period of several weeks. As residents returned each afternoon from two hours of helping handicapped children (who had Down syndrome), they excitedly shared their stories with other residents, and soon I had 80% of Sunshine Assisted Living residents involved. We helped "Make a Wish," a local nursing home, and other places; first, through conformity, then compliance with my requests to expand the help, then obedience to the rules and regulations of the places where we sent volunteers.

FUNDRAISING: After two months, I had some excellent videos put together of Sunshine residents being active in their community with Down syndrome kids, helping older folks who were bedridden, and other heart-wrenching scenes (including the joy they were having going for "power" walks). I presented video programs to Lions, Kiwanis, the Chamber of Commerce monthly dinner and other civic groups, asking for donations for additional exercise equipment for the center, and was successful. We raised $11,390 dollars in our first year.