Social influence
The effect that the real or imagined presence of others has on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.
Behaviourism and social behaviour
All behaviour is the result of learning from our environment. Ie, classical and operant conditioning.
Neo behaviourism and social behaviour
We learn through an interaction between our context and unobservable social constructs such as beliefs.
Social neuroscience and social behaviour
Looks at brain behaviour and brain activity associated with social cognition. Looks at processes behind it.
Cognitive psych and social behaviour
Explains how we actively interpret and represent experiences. It occurs to resolve an internal conflict.
Evolutionary psych and social behaviour
Behaviour has evolved and been passed down to provide the greatest survival advantage.
Personality psych and social behaviour
Defines behaviour based on personality differences, as personalities are unstable and ever changing.
Collectivist psych and social behaviour
Focus on the social environment people are in and how this shapes them. Say we are a product of our environment.
Funder and Ozer (1983) study
They reviewed classical social psych studies and found a low personality coefficient, suggesting personality is unstable.
Funder and Ozer (1983) idea
Said social behaviour is due to our situation not personality. (They agreed with Mischel, 1968).
Prosocial behaviour
Behaviour that has positive social consequences and contributes to the wellbeing of another person.
Prosocial behaviour and nature of the need
More likely to help if their needs are clearly defined and legitimate, to avoid wasting time.
Prosocial behaviour and empathy based altruism
Motivated to help based on peoples emotional distress.
Prosocial behaviour and competence
More likely to help someone if we feel we are able to and have the correct skills.
Bystander effect
Less likely to help someone when there's a large group around due to the diffusion of responsibility and audience inhibition.
Diffusion of responsibility
Where there are more people to help, sense of urgency and responsibility is reduced.
Audience inhibition
We avoid acting to avoid looking foolish or incompetent in front of others.
Prosocial behaviour and cognitive psych
We react to emergencies in a set way. At any stage of this set, we may opt out.
Latane and Darley cognitive model of prosocial behaviour
We react in a set way. See an emergency, attend to it, interpret it as an emergency, assume responsibility and decide what to do.
Prosocial behaviour and biosocial psych
We feel empathy and empathy based altruism and react because of this. Use a bystander calculus model.
Bystander-calculus model
Says we flow from one stage to another. starts with physiological arousal, then labelling the emotion, evoking a response and evaluating the consequences and costs.
Biological disposition to helping
It increased our chances of surviving in the past and so it's been passed down.
Risks of receiving help
Nadler and Fischer (2016) said there's threats to self esteem, feelings of inferiority, pressure to reciprocate etc.
Normative social influence
Conforming in order to be accepted by others. Occurs in situations with friends or strangers and produces identification.
Asch (1951)
Did a line test and tested conformity. Suggested they conformed due to NSI. 32% conformity rate, 74% conforms at least once, 26% never did.
Informational social influence
A person conforms due to wanting to be right. Occurs in new or ambiguous situations and is likely to result in internalised social change.
Sherif (1935) study
Used the autokinetic effect and has putts guess how far the light had moved.
Sherif (1935) results
Those who did it alone and then in a group changed their norms to match. Those who started in a group based their norms off of others.
Autokinetic effect
An illusion where light can seem that it is moving due to the absence of reference points.
McGhee and Teevan (1967)
Studied nAffiliators, found they were more likely to conform due to the greater effect of NSI.
nAffiliators
People who have a greater need for social relationships and approval.
Autocratic mimicry
Behaviour becomes similar to those around us in an automatic manner.
Ideomotor action
Merely thinking about an action makes us more likely to perform it. It creates stronger relationships.
Psychological reactance
We are motivated to resist social influence in certain situations. A process entirely based on motivation and arousal, occurs when our ability to choose how we behave is eliminated.
Brehm (1966)
Signs put up in public toilets said 'DO NOT write on the walls', they resulted in more graffiti compared to signs that said 'please, do not write on the walls'. Conform more when there is an option to do so.
Minority influence
Where the minority persuades the majority. Reliant on consistency, commitment and flexibility.
Moscovici et al (1969)
Pttps guessed the colour of 36 blue slides. Researchers had a minority of two confederates, consistently or inconsistently, saying slides were green. Found 32% guessed green at least once and 18% overall said they were green.
Foot in the door technique
A person is more likely to accept a large request if it follows a smaller one.
Freedman and Fraser (1966)
Asked putts via a call what cleaning products they used. Followed by a man surveying their home. Phone call made the mans entry more likely.
Attitude
A mental state of readiness that exerts influence on an individual's response to an object or situation.
Thurstone (1931) one component structure
Said our attitudes are simply comprised out our feelings for or against an object.
Allport (1935) two component structure
Suggested attitudes are made up of our feelings towards an object and our mental readiness to act (or our innate feelings towards it).
Three component structure
Attitudes are made of affective (our opinions and the way these interact), behavioural (the ways they influence our behaviour) and cognitive (the role of our previous stereotypes) components.
Cognitive dissonance
A sense of discomfort and tension we feel when our attitudes, cognition and actions don't align. In order to get rid of it, we must change one of the factors.
Initiating cognitive dissonance
The discomfort can be initiated by forced compliance, decision making or effort.
Explicit measures of attitude
Quantify the data and plot it onto a scale eg, Thurstone scale, Osgood semantic differential scale or Guttman's scallogram.
Implicit measures of attitude
Aim to work closely with the pttps. Tests may be physiologically based eg heart rate, pupil dilation. Can be based on association.
Association test of attitudes
Judges reaction time to measure attitudes. The faster the reaction, the stronger the opinion.
Cognitive approach to attitudes
As the number of related items increases, it's more likely for an attitude to form. It's the storage of info over time that creates an attitude.
Behaviourist approach to attitudes
We develop an attitude through exposure. Repeated exposure increases attraction.
Manstead (2000) attitudes and beliefs
Beliefs affect attitudes which influence our norms and behaviour. Belief strength and evaluation interact to form behaviour.
La Pierre (1934) attitudes and behaviour
Studied prejudice attitudes, found 90% of sample said they wouldn't let a Chinese person in their restaurant. 249/250 then allowed them in when it was tested.
Functions of attitudes - Katz (1960)
May serve 1 of 4 functions. Serve knowledge and enforce presumed view; act as an ego or self esteem defence; instrumental function in minimising punishment and maximising reward; and in value expression.
How attitudes change
Hovland et al (1953) said characteristics of the source, contents of the message, traits of the audience.
Characteristics changing attitudes
Persuaded by the sources' past experiences, expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness.
Message traits changing attitudes
Repetition, emotion and one or two sided arguments all can effect attitude change.
Personality traits changing attitudes
Change can be effected by self esteem, individual differences, age etc.
Emic research
Focus on culture-specific phenomena eg, norms etc. They focus on one single culture and aim to theorise within, usually encouraging a member of this culture to join the research team. It develops a deeper understanding of the behaviour.
Etic research
It compares universal dimensions eg, emotions or values, and look at how these differ. This approach is conducted from one perspective across various cultures, in an attempt to study universality.
Arnett (2008) validity cross culturally
...
Reactions to schizophrenia cross culturally
...
Kim and Markus (1999) adverts and attitudes
...
Social facilitation
...
Triplett (1898)
...
Sanders (1981) distraction conflict theory
...
Self awareness and social facilitation
...
Caver and Scheier (1981)
...
Ringlemann effect
...
Ringlemann (1913)
...
Social loafing
...
Causes of social loafing
...
Output equity
...
Matching to standard
...
Evaluation apprehension
...
Newcomb (1943)
...
Group norms and our behaviour
...
Moreland and Levine (1982) stage 1
Investigation - groups look for members and members look for groups. May face initiation to show commitment.
Moreland and Levine (1982) stage 2
Socialisation - members learn the norms of the group and may influence the group itself. Transition is from a new to full member.
Moreland and Levine (1982) stage 3
Maintenance - individual and group show commitment. Settle into role and may even lose interest. Transition to a marginal member.
Moreland and Levine (1982) stage 4
Resocialisation - group attempts to persuade members not to leave and so accommodate to their needs. Transition from marginalised to ex.
Moreland and Levine (1982) stage 5
Retrospective - both group and individual look back on their membership and evaluate each other.
Group salience
The group importance created by time spent in the group, levels of commitment, levels of assistance they provide.
Group salience and behaviour
Due to depersonalisation, feelings of importance and reliability can improve behaviour.
James and Greenberg (1989) study
Did an anagram task with uni students. Did a comparison condition (scores compared to another uni) or a non-comparison condition. They then tested two words, 'wildcats', the school's mascot, or 'beavers', with no relation.
James and Greenberg (1989) results
Found the lower salience condition showed effects of comparison were minor and in the high salience condition, comparison had a greater effect. Demonstrates how salience affects our behaviour, as it suggests in situations where the group is important to us, we tend to be more aware of other people's opinions.
Marques et al (1988)
...
Ingroup biases
...
Schwartz (1992) value theory
...
Doring et al (2009) PBVS-C
...
Bleed over effect of values
...
Seesaw effect of values
...
Schwartz and Rubel (2005) cross cultural values study
...
Schwartz and Rubel (2005) cross cultural values results
...
Aggression and survival
Aggression in the past allows us to warn off potential threats, gather more resources, protect land and find a mate.
Ethology and aggression
Aggression in animals is triggered by a stimuli that causes a FAP. These are displays of aggression that, once triggered, follow through to the end, aim to warn off any threats, aim to prevent any further aggression and so have increased survival over time.
Ethology
The study of animals and animal behaviour in their natural habitat. Suggests behaviour is due to natural selection.
Darwin's theory of behaviour
All behaviour is the result of physical factors and innate drives. Evolutionary social psych is suggests the behaviour we demonstrate today, is the result of behaviour that has enhanced our survival in the past.
Biological aggression in men
Studies found higher levels of overt aggression in both hetero and homosexual men, and found an association between testosterone and aggression. (Debate as it only accounts for 2% of aggression).
Cultural gender differences in aggression
Gender and nationality interact to predict aggression eg, its more communion Italian girls than Chinese boys. Not as simple as just gender.
Social aggression in men
Men are socialised to be more aggressive than women in media, family and friends. It is more socially acceptable.
Heat and aggression
Hotter and humid weather increases aggression, up to a point. While aggression rises with heat, once we reach this point, the effects of heat diminish as it is too hot.
Crowding and aggression
Personal space and urbanisation explain why greater violence occurs in cities. In a crowd, our identity is hidden and so we feel no restrictions against being aggressive.
Bushman and Anderson (2002) general aggression model
Cognitive explanation of aggression saying biological and environmental modifiers interact. Aggression is creating by the encoding of these.
Bushman and Anderson (2002) general aggression model stages
Stage 1: we input personal and situational factors. Stage 2: our present internal state is impacted by activity in stage one and this interaction may enhance or diminish aggression. Stage 3: we approach the situation and decipher our reaction.