Social influence

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Social influence

• Three main types of social influence
• Compliance behavior change based on a request
• Conformity behavior change based on social
  pressure
• Obedience behavior change based on instruction
  from an authority

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Compliance

• Q How do we convince people to comply with our
  requests?
• A Ask for a small favor, before asking for the
  big favor you really want
• Franklin was annoyed by a political opponent in
  the Pennsylvania state legislature. He thus set
  out to win him over, as described in one of his
  books
• I did not ... aim at gaining his favour by paying
  any servile respect to him but, after some time,
  took this other method. Having heard that he had
  in his library a certain very scarce and curious
  book I wrote a note to him expressing my desire
  of perusing that book and requesting he would do
  me the favour of lending it to me for a few days.
  He sent it immediately and I returned it in about
  a week with another note expressing strongly my
  sense of the favour. When we next met in the
  House he spoke to me (which he had never done
  before), and with great civility and he ever
  after manifested a readiness to serve me on all
  occasions, so that we became great friends and
  our frendship continued to his death. This is
  another instance of the truth of an old maxim I
  had learned, which says, "He that has once done
  you a kindness will be more ready to do you
  another than he whom you yourself has obliged."

http//www.ocf.berkeley.edu/wwu/psychology/persua
sion.shtml
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Why does it work?

• Cognitive dissonance
• Contradictions feel uncomfortable. Thus,
• People aim to reduce their contradicting feelings
• How do we reduce our contradicting feelings?
• Change our behavior (Franklin, gimme back my
  book, you asshole!) hard
• Change our attitude Benny is ok. Much easier

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• Other examples of cognitive dissonance
• Hazing lots of effort to get there, Id better
  like it.
• Fraternities
• Military
• Experimental evidence
• - If I have a compelling reason for my effort
  (they paid me a shitload of )
• - there is no dissonance gt I judge the event
  accurately (it was hell)

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Other cases of cognitive dissonance

• COUNTER-ATTITUDINAL ADVOCACY when we state
  opinions we don't believe, we start to believe
  them (Festinger, 1959, Aronson 1991 aids speech)
• LABELING When told something is certain way, we
  modify our behavior to match that description
  (trash collection by 5th graders)

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Compliance

• foot-in-the-door If you agree to a small
  request, you are more likely to agree to a larger
  request
• Charities contribute even if it is 1
• Experimental evidence (Freedman Fraser, 1966)
• - control condition
• post an ugly sign drive carefully 17
  agreed
• - experimental group
• sign petition about driving safely promotion
• post an ugly sign drive carefully 76
  agreed
• door-in-the-face If you decline a large
  request, you are more likely to agree to a small
  request

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Compliance

• Thats-not-all you are more likely to comply if
  you give them something in addition to the
  initial offer
• NPR drive donateyoull also get a DVD of The
  American Experience
• Bait-and-switch Once you made a commitment, you
  are unlikely to back out when the conditions
  change
• Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated FREE! For six
  months!

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Conformity

• Conformity behavior change because of social
  pressure
• Which line is the same length as the target?
  (Asch, 1950s)

Target A B
C
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• Subjects were tested in groups
• - only one real subject, the rest are
  confederates
• For the first few trials, everyone answers
  correctly
• Then, confederates start giving the same wrong
  answer (uniformity)
• Results the subject often conformed with the
  group
• Factors that reduce conformity
• A dissenting confederate
• Answer privately
• Factors that increase conformity
• - Situation is ambiguous
• - Situation is a crisis

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• Conformity influences on helping behavior
• diffusion of responsibility - reduction in
  perceived individual responsibility, due to
  presence of other people.
• 2 reasons
• - self-serving interests
• - informational component

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• normative influence- desire to be liked, accepted
  and approved of
• informational influence- desire to be correct,
  and understand how best to behave.
• Factors affecting likelihood of conformity
• - Size of the group
• (3 is the magic number!)
• - Importance of the group
• - Unanimity of the group

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• The confederate responds in the following manner
  to the shocks

voltage confederate response
75 grunts
120 shouts in pain
150 says that he refuses to continue with this experiment
200 blood-curdling screams
300 refuses to answer, mumbles something about a heart condition
330 silence
As the participant perceives the confederate's
pain, his conscience kicks in, and he begins to
object to continuing the experiment. Milgram
responds to these objections in the following
way
objection milgram's response
first "He's fine. go on."
second "The experiment requires you to go on."
third "It is absolutely essential to go on."
fourth "You have no choice. You must go on."
Question What percentage of participants would
deliver the full 450 volts? Milgram asked his
colleagues this question, and they responded with
very small estimates. Maybe about 4 percent.
Milgram himself didn't believe anyone would go so
far.
Experimental Results
                               Milgram's results were alarming. Of the 40 participants he surveyed, 68 of them ended up delivering the full 450 volt treatment. 15 of the 40 ended up convulsing with epilpetic laughter. Participants went temporarily mad and started tearing their hair out. Most amusingly, Milgram actually believed that the aforementioned experimental setup was the CONTROL case! He did not anticipate that subjects would conform at all in these conditions.

Right Maximum shock voltage delivered by each of the 40 participants. Mode is XXX.Below Shows how participant compliance slowly decays as voltages increase. 68 complied till the end!                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Milgrams experiment When shocked, the
confederate gives the following standard response
voltage confederate response
75 grunts
120 shouts in pain
150 says that he refuses to continue with this experiment
200 blood-curdling screams
300 refuses to answer, mumbles something about a heart condition
330 silence
When teacher (subject) objects, Milgram responds

objection milgram's response
first "He's fine. go on."
second "The experiment requires you to go on."
third "It is absolutely essential to go on."
fourth "You have no choice. You must go on."

• Explanation
• Situationism gt The moral of Milgram's experiment
  is that behavior is not just a function of
  personality, but also a function of the situation
  -- and the latter variable can possess dramatic
  weight. The bullets directly below detail aspects
  of Milgram's fabricated environment which made it
  most persuasive.
• Entrapment / Gradual Commitment gt If I just gave
  him a 50 volt shock, what's wrong with a 75 volt
  shock? It's only a little more. If I just gave
  him a 75 volt shock, what's wrong with a 100 volt
  shock? It's only a little more ... If I just gave
  him a 425 volt shock, what's wrong with a 450
  volt shock? People can be entrapped into
  fulfilling ridiculous requests if you just ask
  them to commit gradually. Mating is another
  example of entrapment. First you go out for
  coffee, then you go on a few more casual dates,
  then you watch TV together, then you make out,
  and then before you know it, you get married.
• Objectivity gt Milgram told participants that the
  "learning" experiment was being conducted in the
  pursuit of science, to study how memory and
  learning processes work in humans. The scientific
  theme, combined with the prestige of Yale
  University and the nontrivial influence of
  Milgram's lab coat, suggested that participants
  calmly and objectively complete the study
  regardless of how the victim was suffering. Do it
  scientifically. Do it like professionals.
• Authority Structures gt Milgram played the
  authority figure. It was his experiment.
  Participants thus believed that any negative
  ramifications of the experiment would ultimately
  be blamed on Milgram and not themselves.
  Furthermore, Milgram was a scientist at Yale. So
  particpants assumed that he probably knew what he
  was doing, and everything was going to be
  alright. Authority structures strip away moral
  responsibility.

• Mainpulating Obedience Methods That Don't Work
• Reduce Prestige (48) gt The same experiment was
  conducted at a less prestigious school called
  Bridgeport. 48 of participants still gave the
  full 450 V shock.
• Soften Personality of Authority Figure (50) gt
  Milgram was a tall, stern, imposing figure with a
  severe haircut. The experiment was repeated with
  nicer experimenters. 50 of the participants
  still gave the full 450 V shock.

• Mainpulating Obedience Methods That Do Work
• Reduce Legitimacy of Authority Figure (20) gt
  Here there are two confederates one assigned to
  be the learner, and another who assists the
  participant in the "teaching" process. Shortly
  after the participant arrives, Milgram says he's
  got something else to do, and asks the
  participant and teaching confederate, "Why don't
  you two just finish the experiment yourself?"
  Milgram leaves. The loony teaching confederate
  then says that he's got a great idea let's shock
  the learner when he gets things wrong! 20 of
  participants deliver maximum voltage.One way to
  look at this is as a very positive change. We
  went from 68 compliance to 20. But the other
  way to look at this is with awesome fear. 20 of
  us will actually blast away another person if a
  random guy on the street tells us to!
• Increase Distance From Authority (20) gt When the
  authority figure is no longer standing next to
  the participant, but rather sends commands via
  telephone, 450 V compliance drops to 20. This
  phenomenon is also frequently observed in army
  battles. During WWII, soliders in trenches would
  fight very cooperatively with their enemies when
  commanding officers were far away. One side would
  fire some initial pot-shots to warn the other
  side to hide. Then they would shoot a little bit,
  and quickly return to their trenches. The other
  side then did the same. Repeat. No one gets hurt!
  And since the commander isn't there, you can get
  away with it.
• Decrease Distance From Victim (30) gt When
  participants are required to put the learner's
  hands on the shock plates, or are simply placed
  closer to the victims, 450 V compliance drops to
  30. Reducing the distance amplifies
  participants' perceptions of the confederate's
  pain, stinging their empathy.Another example of
  this effect occured during the Holocaust. The
  original master plan did not involve large-scale
  incinerators and gas chambers, but instead asked
  that Nazi soldiers be responsibile for rounding
  up particular families and killing them. This
  resulted in widespread mutiny and alcoholism
  among SS soldiers, because they couldn't handle
  seeing the pain of their victims up close.
• Add Dissenting Voices (37.5) gt Two confederates
  assist the participant. One reads a word. Another
  determines whether the "learner" responds
  correctly. Finally, the participant is
  responsible for delivering the shock. At the 150
  V mark, the first confederate quits the
  experiment. At the 210 V mark, the second
  confederate also quits, leaving the participant
  with sole responsibility for the shock
  treatement. 25/40 participants leave at this
  point.These results are testimony to the power
  of dissenting voices, and provides insight as to
  why some dictators throughout history have been
  so tenacious about eradicating all dissent in
  their jurisdiction, even in its slightest, most
  innocent form. An example is Stalin, who deleted
  everyone who disagreed with him in any way.

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Obedience What can we learn from Milgrams
experiment?

• The power of Situations. behavior is not just a
  function of personality, but also a function of
  the situation
• Gradual Commitment gt It is just a little more
  than the previous one
• Politicians corruption
• Truman nuclear bombs in WWII
• Influence of Authority gt
• Science authority (white coat, Yale U., do it
  in the pursuit of science) .

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• Manipulating Obedience What Does Work
• Reduce Legitimacy of Authority Figure (20) gt
  Milgram has an assitant, and it is the
  assistant who, soon after Milgram leaves, says
  I have a great idea let's shock the learner when
  he gets things wrong! (only 20 go to max V, a
  48 drop)
• Increase Distance From Authority (20) gt When
  Milgram instructs via a phone,
• Decrease Distance From Victim (30) gt When
  participants are required to put the learner's
  hands on the shock plates,
• Add Dissenting Voices (37.5) gt Two confederates
  assist the participant, but quit at 150 V mark
  and at 210 V mark.. 25/40 participants leave at
  this point.

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• Manipulating Obedience What Doesn't Work
• Reduce Prestige gt Replicated at a less
  prestigious (fake) school named Bridgeport (48
  went to max V)
• Soften Personality of Authority Figure gt
  Replicated with nicer experimenter (not so stern)
  (50 went to max V)

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• How can you live with yourself, after doing that?
• Transfer of responsibilities
• I was just following orders Abu Graib,
  Argentinas dirty war
• Cognitive reinterpretation
• Dehumanize the victim (its his fault) he must
  have done something

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