Premium Essay

Social Influence Experiments

Submitted By
Words 507
Pages 3
Someone is scrolling through Instagram and stops on a picture. The picture is of a girl, wearing a jean jacket. The person then feels the need to get a jean jacket; this is a social influence. Through studies and experiments, we can conclude whether or not social influence is bad.
Why do we as a society feel the need to be accepted and/or ‘fit in’?
In an experiment documented by Sasha Alo, a man walks onto an elevator and faces the doors, while everyone else faces the back. The man then proceeds to slowly turn around and face the back. All the other people in the video turn out to be actors and that man turns out to be a random person who just happened to walk into this elevator and unknowingly is apart of a social experiment. The man felt as though he needed to fit in with everyone else in the elevator. He felt the urge/need to be accepted in his own way.
In Kathleen Yale’s article, she discusses different social influence experiments.
Stanley Milgram’s gathered 40 men for an experiment. He wanted to test whether or not they would shock a stranger just because he told them …show more content…
No one knows why, but a “baboon troop…. For an entire week… all starring in exactly the same direction.”(Waal) The only thing that they know is that social influence played a big role in this event and that in this case, it was dangerous. The baboons did not eat or drink for about a week. Apes, just like the baboons copy each other, for example, apes “learn from others, apes need to see actual fellow apes…. The body produces internal sensations and communicates with other bodies.”(Waal). Social influence can be innocent and sweet for example, “when parents make chewing mouth movements while spoon-feeding their baby. They can’t help but the act the way they feel their baby ought to.” proving(Waal). Social influence isn’t the only portrayed by humans, but in other species

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Social Influences

...Social Influence Conformity 3 types of conformity - Kelman Compliance – privately disagreeing, but publicly going along with the group behaviour or attitudes. Identification – a temporary change in beliefs and behaviour while you remain a member of the group. Includes private and public change of belief. Internalisation – a permanent change in beliefs and behaviour. Conformity is more likely in ambiguous situations (where there is no obvious answer) Implicit norm – normal patterns of behaviour generally understood by all egg personal space, lining up for food/ toilets. Explicit norms – normal patterns of behaviour that are enforced by written guidelines or signs etc some become law. (No smoking signs, speed signs) Sherif – auto kenetic light effect 2 reasons why we conform. Duel Process model both process at the same time Asch 1951 Conformity in an unambiguous situation. Ao1 Describe Asch’s aims, findings, conclusions Ao2/3 Evaluate Asch’s experiment. Consider strengths/limitations of using a lab experiment. Consider S/L of Asch’s research in terms of culture, time-historical consider ethical issues. Aims To investigate if people gave in to conformity even when the answer is obvious, which is called unambiguous. To investigate normative social influence. Findings His findings showed that 32% of critical trials where a participant confirmed. 75% of the participants confirmed...

Words: 297 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Social Influence Paper

...Influence is an element that is evidently present in the current world and has been present since the beginning of time. Influence can be seen in every aspect of daily life, such as in economic, social, and political behaviours. Social influence is believed to take up a key position in diffusion of information and formation of opinions. Prior studies (Grabisch, 2010 & Rusinowshar, 2011) carried out studies to learn how individuals change their answers and opinions according to the situation or based on another individuals answer. The results showed that individuals collect opinions of others before giving the final answer. An answer that is originally a no, could turn into a yes (I1). There has been sufficient studies on social influence...

Words: 1496 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

1. on February 26, 2015, an American Company

...By most definitions, if we are persuaded by an individual, we are said to be obedient to that individual. If we are persuaded by a group, we are said to have conformed to that group’s objectives. Compare and contrast the core differences between these two concepts. In what ways do group and individual persuasion techniques differ? As social beings, why are we naturally prone to conformity and obedience? For this discussion, please review Solomon Asch’s (1958) study of conformity. The results of this study, demonstrate how many of the individual participants conformed to the group despite the fact that the group was clearly wrong, and the individuals were clearly right. In addition, watch the video on the ABC New Primetime: Milgram Experiment Update video.  Through this experiment we observe how perceptions of authority directly influence obedience. For example, even when the action ordered by the authority figure caused physical harm, the participants were still obedient. What are some explanations for this type of behavior? Can you think of an example of when you disregarded your own desires or values for the sake of obedience or conformity? Conformity is defined in our text as, “as going along with a group in actions or beliefs.” (Feenstra, 2013). Obedience, on the other hand, is something that is deeply engrained in us and we are taught to be obedient from a very early age. For most of the time, obedience is a very positive behavior. If we are persuaded by an individual...

Words: 806 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Social Influences And Conformity

...Social influences as the process where other individuals influence another individuals every day, thoughts, behavior and even emotions (Gray & Bjorklund, 2014). When social influences change an individual’s willingness towards a behavior or belief, it means the individual has conformed. When individuals conform in order to fit within group norms in order to feel liked or accepted, is referred as normative conformity. Informational influence occurs when individuals conform to others belief or choices because, individuals believe that others have information which the person was not aware of. Both of these types of conformity can be observed in common everyday life scenarios. Informational influence can be a way of sharing information, children...

Words: 1028 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Conformity Recall Questions

...Social Influence 1. What are the three types of conformity? 2. What are two explanations of conformity? 3. What is meant by compliance? 4. What is meant by internalisation? 5. What is meant by identification? 6. How did Zimbardo provide evidence for identification? 7. What is meant by normative social influence? 8. What is meant by informational social influence? 9. What were the findings from Asch’s experiment? 10. What was Asch’s procedure? 11. Describe Milgram’s procedure for his obedience experiment. 12. What were the findings from Milgram’s experiment? 13. Describe Milgram’s variation where proximity was changed, and state the findings. 14. Describe Milgram’s variation where location was changed, and state the findings. 15. Describe Milgram’s variation where uniform was changed, and state the findings. 16. What is the agentic shift explanation of obedience? 17. What does the dispositional explanation of obedience say about obedience? 18. What is meant by Locus of Control? And how does it affect resistance to obedience? 19. What features of a minority are needed for social change? 20. What was Moscovici’s procedure? 21. What did Moscovici’s results tell us about minority influence? Memory 1. Draw a diagram showing the MSM and the processes involved. 2. What is the coding, duration and capacity of Sensory, Short-term and Long-term memory? 3. Describe two research studies that...

Words: 683 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Social Influence

...Social Influence * Kelman’s varieties * Conformity * Persuasion * Effects on children * Examples of social influence * Social influence in relation to woman and men * Social influence in relation to sports Social influence is best described as when one’s behaviors or views towards something are changed by another person, group or other form of communication such as through TV or reading. Stanly Milgram conducted experiments in which people were required to give electric shocks to people if they gave the wrong answer to a series of questions. Participants continued to give electric shocks for bad answers even when the answerer was near death as long as an authority figure was present. Of course, no real electric shocks were given, and those supposedly receiving the electric shocks were actors. This was social influence that persuaded the people to continue giving shocks and I will give more examples of such experiments and studies. Children are influenced more and more by society these days. During soccer, young children roll around on the ground as if they have been shot by a sniper rifle to influence the referee to show a red card. If they do not act this way they will be taken off the field so they are influenced to do the wrong thing. Women are constantly influenced by society to have better shoes to fit in to society, or to have a new dress for each party they attend. This is peer pressure from magazines with such people as Kim Kardashian...

Words: 306 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Discuss How Findings from Social Influence Research Could Be Used to Change Social Policies

...Discuss how findings from social influence research could be used to change social policies Social change is when society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm, and can be positive or negative. Social influence research tells us how whole societies might change, and is the process of bringing about significant societal changes, which usually results in a conflict with those in authority or power- It could be used to educate others also. Research into obedience had exposed an intellectual illusion that often hinders critical discussion about why people behave inhumanely- the belief that only evil people do evil acts. Research by Milgram and Zimbardo showed that ordinary, decent people who are placed in positions of power, or put under pressure to obey an authority figure, may commit evil acts. Recent events in Iraq (the Abu Ghraib prison incident) has reinforced the fact that we need to be aware of the circumstances which lead to this, to reduce the likelihood of such behaviour. To help in resisting unwanted influences, Zimbardo suggested a ten-step programme; examples of the step include to admit mistakes, to be mindful, to assert your individuality, to not sacrifice freedom for the illusion of security, to oppose unjust systems. If people follow these steps, they will be more likely to become more independent and responsible, and confident in their own mind and beliefs/values. By doing so, they will be more inclined to voice...

Words: 765 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Group Influence

...Group influence PSY/400 March 11, 2013 Group influence Throughout history, social groups and primary groups represents individuals who associates a connection with comparable others. Giving a presence of homophily within a group of people who share similarities like age, culture, social status, and even religious beliefs. However, a group never begins with three or four different individuals who have dissimilar views or perspectives. Groups begins with one, two, or three individuals who have different beliefs, views, and opinions. These individuals or individual looks for others that share similarities, so that he or she could join “the cause.” These individuals or individual persuade others to change his or her views to the communicator’s beliefs or views, so he or she could also join the cause. The point of the matter is that groups can influence or persuade others to believe in what the group believes in (Myers, 2010). Such beliefs could cause a positive or negative impact in which its outcome depends on the type of message the group communicates. However, positive groups are still within today’s society that influences others to live life with morals and good values. A group that persuades teens and young adults to join the meetings that changes bad behavior to good behavior, abstinence, and how to live a life without drugs and violence. The group of teens and young adults who calls him or herself “Oasis de Vida Eterna” (Oasis of Eternal Life). The youth group...

Words: 1209 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Social Influences on Behaviour

...Abstract Extreme cases of social roles or influences usually need treatment. Such as in the case of social influences and altruism were in the extremes it is necessary to correct behaviors that occur. However, choice is the clear decision maker in determining actions, whether good or bad, correct or incorrect, education needs to be available for people to make the right decision. Social Influences on Behavior Paper By examining the basic concepts and of human interaction in social situations and the way behavior changes by examining altruism and social influence we can get a better understanding of these concepts through a psychological perspective. What happens in these situations and if the effects of the situations require treatment or if the behaviors require correcting. Altruism is “behaving in a way that helps another person with no apparent gain, or with potential cost, to oneself.” (Kowalski, R., & Westen, D., 2009) There are several theories within altruism, there is ethical hedonism, “…asserts that all behavior, no matter how apparently altruistic, is and should be designed to increase one’s own pleasure or reduce one’s own pain.” (Kowalski, R., & Westen, D., 2009) This theory offers that giving money, food, etc. is only done by an individual to compensate for their own sorrow and making themselves feel better. Another theory is reciprocal altruism, “…natural selection favors animals that behave altruistically if the likely benefit to each individual over...

Words: 1020 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Personal Management

...familiar with his work years ago through, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”. It’s a must read. It gave me useful tools to use for marketing to others and taught me how to resist the marketing efforts of others. Here is a reprint from a leading publication regarding his work and a new book he’s coauthored. It’s the cliff notes version of his original book which I referenced in the preceding paragraph. SUMMARY: Influencing others isn’t luck or magic – its science. There are proven ways to help make you more successful as a marketer and an office politician. We talked to a renowned expert on the science of influence and pulled excerpts from two of his books to demonstrate ways to make people say “yes” to your messaging and management. Includes links to scientific studies and takeaways to use at work or at home. Robert Cialdini, Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing, Arizona State University, has spent 30 years studying the ways people are influenced. He’s whittled his findings down to six key principles, found in the fifth edition of ‘Influence: Science and Practice’. We interviewed Cialdini and also read through ‘Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be More Persuasive’, a book he co-authored with Noah Goldstein, a professor at the University of Chicago School of Business, and Steven Martin, Director, Influence at Work. The authors “relied entirely on the significant body of research from the study of social influence and persuasion” to suggest ways you can improve...

Words: 2128 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Social Influences on Behavior

...Social Influences on Behavior 1 Social Influence on Behavior Frances Sequoyah PSY/300 February 10, 2014 Trisha Ferre Social Influences on Behavior 2 Abstract From the moment humans are born, they are social beings because without another person feeding, giving them personal care and love, no human infant would survive. Even after humans become adults and are able to take care of themselves, they still need or choose to interact with other individuals since the majority of humans need companionship of some type. Whether it is interacting with people who are friends or someone they choose as a companion. The only people who prefer not to associate with others are the ones with anti-social disorders or other mental illnesses. The following article will examine the fundamental concept of human interactions from the perspective of social psychology. This includes examples how human behavior changes when subjected to different social situations and what specific behaviors were shown and the context in which they occurred. The examples used will provide analyses of possible precursors and the consequences of different behaviors and will identify phenomenon associated with the selected behavioral examples such as social facilitation and social loafing. Social Influences on Behavior ...

Words: 1228 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Asch & Moscovici Contributed a Lot to Develop Their Theories on Social Influence. Describe Both Processes & Explain Their Differences

...theories on social influence. Two in particular are Asch and Moscovici. These talked about the majority influence and the minority influence. Solomon Asch conducted an experiment in 1951 to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. He showed the participants 3 lines and asked them which line had the same length as the one he had presented. Only one of the participants weren't collaborating with the researcher whilst the others had to say a wrong answer. Even though it was obvious which lines were the same, after hearing the collaborators say their wrong answers, the participants found themselves in a conflict whether they should give the same answer as the others even if it was wrong or say the right one. 75% of the participants gave into the group pressure at least once whilst 37% conformed on all trials. He found out that apparently people conform for two main reasons, because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence) and because they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence). Asch had assumed that the participants would be able to say the truth. However, about 70% of the participants went against the majority at least in one of the trials. They also had a strong conflict because they wanted to be like the rest of the group. Most gave both wrong and right answers to avoid being ridiculed but at the same time show perceptual accuracy. Minority influence is a form...

Words: 490 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Orgainizational Change

...Many companies have embraced executive coaching and mentoring as their main approaches to promote development initiatives. But in today’s businesses these do not address the real-world, group dynamics that executives must contend with. Behavior within a group in the organization can be influenced by group dynamics, interactions, group cohesiveness, the work environment, social influences, and leadership. We will explore each of these elements of group behavior within an organization. Groups Dynamics “Group dynamics is the area of social science that focuses on advancing knowledge about the nature of group life” (Johnson & Johnson, 2009, pg.1). Understanding group dynamics in the business world allows companies to change their focus and production to meet the new challenges of a global market. Companies today, rely on teams of employees to help develop, design and initiate new products. Not only do these teams work together in the same location, they are able to work across the country or around the world. Group dynamics can also enhance leadership development. Group based leadership requires leaders to work in unison so they may develop executive skill sets, tackle real-world challenges in real time, provide one another with high-value feedback, and enhance their interpersonal communications. Achieving Mutual Goals through Positive Interdependence “Positive interdependence exists when one perceives that one is linked with others in a way that one cannot...

Words: 1893 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Persuation Tactics

...2011 Assignment 2 Persuasion, Science of influence Kunal Nagar,W0782056 MSIS ,Santa Clara university , 3/10/2011 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding oneself or another toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means.1Persuasion is often referred to as an art and influencing others isn’ luck or magic –its science. t Persuasion and Influence is big part of any consumer behavior, this goes in line with self-actualization theory and projected self or a corporation. There are proven ways to help make you more successful as a marketer and an office politician. In a world where every e-mail, every request and every event we plan competes against other compelling demands, the skill of persuasion is essential ,The ability to persuade others is critical to success, whether you are selling cars or a new corporate strategy. Psychology and marketing Professor Robert Cialdini has examined the component parts of influence, in the lab and on the street. He has learned that persuasion is a science as well as an art. So why do you want to know it? To communicate with your customers so that they become your raving fans ,they like you ,they like to read your message ,they give positive response ,cialdini ‘ techniques are used to increase sales ,to have s more responsiveness for customers, in case you want to research for requirement ,to make customers...

Words: 4218 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Bases of Power

...Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 49, No. 4 , 1993. pp. 227-251 The Bases of Power: Origins and Recent Developments Bertram H. Raven University of California, Los Angeles The history and background of the analysis of the basis of power is examined, beginning with its origins in the works of Kurt Lewin and his followers at the Research Center for Group Dynamics, particularly the early research by John R. P. French. The original French and Raven (1959) bases of power model posited six bases of power: reward, coercion, legitimate, expert, referent, and informational (or persuasion; Raven, 1965). Since then, as the result of considerable research, the model has gone through signiJicant developments. A more comprehensive model is presented here that reviews the following: various motivations of the influencing agent; an assessment of available power bases in terms of potential effectiveness, time perspective, personal preferences, values and norms; consideration of other strategies such as manipulation; utilization of various preparatory and stage-setting devices to strengthen olte’s power resources; implementation of the power strategies; assessment of effectiveness of influence attempt and its positive andl or negative aftereffects; use of various ameliorative devices; and review, reconsideration, and another round of influence strategies. The overall model is examined in terms of its applicability to various settings including hospital infection control, patient compliance...

Words: 10452 - Pages: 42