Introduction to Social Psychology

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Introduction to Social Psychology

• Lecture 7
• Social influence in groups

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Effect of increasing group size on conformity to
majorityAsch (1955) Scientific American, 193
(5)
3
Effect of breaking consensus on conformity to
majorityAsch (1955) Scientific American, 193
(5)
4
The influence of the group on aggressive
behaviourMilgram (1964) J Abnormal Social
Psych., 69, 137-143
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Group pressure and (dis)obedienceMilgram, 1964,
1965
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Social Comparison TheoryFestinger (1954) Human
Relations, 7, 117-140

• People have an intrinsic desire to know about
  themselves (abilities, correctness of opinions)
• objective sources of information not always
  (often?) available, so we turn to social sources
  (comparisons with others)
• Opinions are validated when we discover
  agreement with others disagreement, which
  implies uncertainty, is threatening
• Other group members are an important source of
  social comparisons hence, pressures to
  uniformity in groups
• The more important (or cohesive) a group is to
  us, the stronger pressures to uniformity clear
  group goals usually increase cohesion
• The more uncertain or ambiguous the situation,
  the greater the reliance on others and hence the
  greater the conformity

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Effects of cohesion and ambiguity on
conformityDeutsch Gerard (1955) J Abnormal
Social Psych., 51, 629-636
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Festingers view of social influence
I1
I2
I3
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Minority influence and change in
groupsMoscovici (1976) Social Influence and
Social Change

• If conformity was all there was, then there would
  never be innovation and change in groups (and
  society)
• Innovation can come about from minorities
  expressing their deviant views in particular
  ways consistently, and yet flexibly
• Minority influence brings about private or
  indirect or delayed attitude change majority
  influence brings about public and immediate
  compliance

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Evidence for minority influenceMoscovici, Lage
Naffrechoux (1969) Sociometry, 32, 365-380
32 said green at least once
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Moscovicis view of social influence
I1
I2
I3
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Social influence in groupsOverview

• Majority influence and group conformity
• Asch found clear evidence of conformity in a
  task involving unambiguous stimuli. This was
  affected only slightly by the size of the
  majority but greatly by its consistency. Milgram
  also found conformity in a more meaningful
  setting, involving anti-social behaviour.
• Why do people conform?
• One explanation is provided by Festingers
  (1954) Social Comparison Theory. This proposes
  that conformity arises out of social comparisons
  with others in the group to test the correctness
  of our opinions A test of Social Comparison
  Theory Deutsch Gerard (1955)
• Minority influence and change in groups
• Moscovici argues that deviants (minorities) can
  influence the majority and bring about change in
  the group. Moscovici, Lage Naffrechoux (1969)
  was the first demonstration of this effect.
• Further reading
• Hogg, M. Vaughan, G. (2002) Social Psychology,
  ch. 7.
• Asch, S. (1954) Opinions and social pressure.
  Scientific American, 193 (5)
• Brown, R. (2000) Group Processes, 2nd Edition.
  Ch. 4.
• Milgram, S. (1974) Obedience to authority, esp.
  chs 2, 9.