Sociology 2234E Lecture Notes - Social Influence
28 Mar 2012
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Document Summary
Under what conditions and for what reason are we likely to fall under the influence of others. As social psychologists we are interested in why people conform. Conformity is a change in behaviour as a result of the real or imagined influence of other people. There are 2 main reasons why people conform: What we conform to: culture, subculture, & values, norms, prescriptive & proscriptive, folkways, mores, & laws, fashions and fad. We simply don"t know enough to make a good/accurate choice. So, we may ask others what they think or watch what they do. The influence of others leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information. The more uncertain you are, the more you are going to rely on other people: situations of crisis. When we believe that we are in a crisis situation, w are more likely to conform. The rapid transmission of emotions or behaviour through a crowd = contagion.
