PSYB10H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Milgram Experiment, Social Proof, Construals
Lecture 6: Social Influence
Influencing others
• Fashion trends, peer pressure, getting a fao, folloig odes…
• Obedience, compliance, conformity
Forms of Influence
• Obedience
o Folloig deads of soeoe ho’s highe i soial poe tha oeself
▪ Example: following orders of a police officer
o Milgram experiment examined obedience
Compliance
• Ageeig to the euest of aothe peso egadless of that peso’s status
• Doing a favor, giving to charity, buying a product
• Social psychology research has found many different techniques that can increase compliance
o Plaei Ifoatio
• People approached at copier
o Euse e, I hae 5 pages, a I use the Xeo ahie?
o No information
o Real ifoatio ...eause I’ i a ush.
o Placebic ifoatio ...eause I hae to ake opies.
Reason-Based Approaches
• Norm of reciprocity
o Feel oligated to gie soeoe ho’s gie to us
o Even when given something small, we may feel obligated to agree to a later request
o Why it works: social nors, feelig oligated; ou gae to e, so I gie to ou
• Door-in-the-face
o Make a lage euest that’s efused, folloed salle euest
o Why it works: eipoal oessio; ou opoised ith e, so i’ll opoise
ith ou
• Foot-in-the-door technique
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o Make a small request that is accepted, followed by a large request
• Why reason-based approaches work:
o Shift in self perception
o Agreeing to first request makes it easier to agree with a second request
Emotion-Based Approaches
• Both (+) and some (-) moods can increase rates of compliance
• (+) moods
o Mood maintenance
▪ Ppl want to maintain a positive mood so they agree more easily
▪ Feels good to say yes
o Different construals of the request
▪ Moe likel to tust soeoe’s itetios i a positive mood
• Negative moods
o Negative state relief
▪ May be more likely to agree to a request when in a negative mood bc it may
make us feel better
o Guilt
▪ May feel more obligated to help someone if we feel guilty
▪ Better to ask for a donation before someone confesses their sins than afterward
→ Testig Negatie “tate Relief
• Participants (except for control group) led to believe they (or someone else) had ruined a
studet’s eseah
o No relief: Did another task or sat quietly
o Money: Unexpectedly paid $1
o Praise: Praised for their excellent performance on a subsequent task
• Everyone was then asked to make (uncompensated) phone calls by another experimenter
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