This summary contains all my notes of the lectures for the course social influence. Thereby it contains summaries of the two course papers (Cialdini, Goldstein). Moreover, it also contains summaries of all the additional material on Social Proof, Authority and Liking. But, it does not contain the b...
SOCIAL INFLUENCE MINOR PSYCHOLOGY SUMMARY ARTICLES
CIALDINI & GOLDSTEIN – SOCIAL INFLUENCE: COMPLIANCE GAINING AND CONFORMITY
Compliance
Compliance refers to a particuar kind of response – aiqciesienie – to a particuar kind of iommcniiaton – a
reqcest. The reqcest may be explicit, as in the direit souiiitaton of fcnds in a door to door iampaign for
iharitabue donatons, or it may be implicit, as in a pouitiau advertsement that tocts the qcauites of a iandidate
withoct direituy asking for a vote.
Goal of accuracy
A person’s desire to respond appropriateuy to a dynamii soiiau sitcaton demands an aiicrate periepton of
reauity. The need to iorreituy interpret and reait to inioming informaton is of paramocnt importanie,
particuaruy to targets of iompuianie-gaining atempts.
AFFECT AND AROUSAL mcih of the iompuianie researih on arocsau and afeitve statces has foicsed on the
efeit of disirete emotons on targets’ iognitons as weuu as on the eventcau octiome of the inflcenie atempt.
Afer reieiving a reqcest, targets cse their feeuings as ices for efeitve responding. Investgators have eppuored
the inflcenie of mere arocsau, fnding that the simpue arocsau euiiited by performing an interestng task
enhanies the uikeuihood of iompuianie with a reqcest.
Searihing for a broader perspeitve on the roue of afeit in iompuianie sienarios, Forgas
(1998) argces that the ionditons cnder whiih afeit mediates the proiessing of and responses to reqcests ian
be eppuained by the Affect Infusiion Model (AIM-modeu), whiih iontends that a target’s mood wiuu permeate
the proiessing of a reqcest to the eptent that the proiessing is eforrcu and ephacstve. That is, an individcau’s
afeitve state is uikeuy to be integrated into the proiessing of the reqcest in sitcatons that iauu for ionstrcitve
euaboraton of the “avaiuabue stmcucs informaton, reqcire the aitvaton and cse of previocs knowuedge
strcitcres, and rescut in ireaton of new knowuedge from the iombinaton of stored informaton and new
stmcucs detaius.@ The AIM, uike many other theories of afeit and iogniton, foicses on proiesses that oiicr
whiue an individcau is epperieniing a transient emoton or set of emotons.
THAT’S-NOT-ALL TECHNIQUE targets in iompuianie sitcatons ofen uaik the ucpcry of entreuy deuiberate and
ratonau deiision-making. One strategy that takes advantage of peopue’s uimited abiuites to make weuu-reasoned
jcdgments is the that’s-not-auu teihniqce (TNA). Inflcenie agents ctuize it by presentng a target with an initau
reqcest, fouuowed by an aumost immediate sweetening of the deau – either by redciing the iost or by
inireasing the benefts of iompuianie – before the message reiipient has an opportcnity to respond.
Bcrger (1999) demonstrated that the proiedcre iocud baikfre when the originau reqcest is
too iostuy or too demanding. Individcaus seem to cse an anihor point when deiiding how to respond to the
more atraitve reqcest. In the iase of an cnreasonabue uarge initau reqcest, the epiessiveuy high anihor vauce
may be perieived as iompueteuy oct of the range of aiieptanie, ueading to immediate rejeiton even before
the souiiitor has a ihanie to revise the qcest.
RESISTANCE Pouueik et au. (1998) states, some researihes have puaied the that’s-not-auu taiti among a iuass of
inflcenie strategies referred to as disrcpt-then-reframe-teihniqces. These teihniqce operates by disrcptng an
individcau’s cnderstanding of and resistanie to an inflcenie atempt and reframing the perscasive message or
reqcest so that the individcau is uef more vcunerabue to the propositon. When a seuuer adds a sentenie uike,
“That’s a bargain.@, the teihniqce is csed. It enhanies the uikeuihood of iompuianie by scppressing the target’s
resistanie proiesses rather than by direituy boustering the desirabiuity of reqcest fcufuument.
AUTHORITY AND OBEDIENCE individcaus are freqcentuy rewarded for behaving in aiiordanie with the
opinions, adviie, and direitves of acthority fgcres. Nowadays, eppert power is iategorized in a iuass iauued
,soft tacics and approaihes ctuizing hierarihy-based uegitmate power in a iuass known as harsh tacics. Sof
inflcenies originate from faitors within the inflcenie agent (e.g., iredibiuity), whereas the power of harsh
inflcenies is derived epternauuy by means of an epistng soiiau strcitcre. In organizatons, scpervisors’ csage of
primariuy sof strategies has been focnd to iorreuate positveuy with scbordinates’ job satsfaiton ratngs,
whereas there are indiiatons that the revers may be trce when predominantuy harsh taitis are empuoyed.
Most organizatons wocud iease to operate efiientuy if deferenie to acthority were not one of the prevaiuing
norms. Yet, the norm is so weuu entrenihed in organizatonau icutcres that orders are regcuaruy iarried oct by
scbordinates with uitue regard for potentau deueteriocs ethiiau ionseqcenies of scih aits. It is noteworthy that
few stcdies of obedienie to acthority both ctuize epperimentau designs and empuoy behaviorau dependent
meascres. This trend is uikeuy the rescut of ethiiau ionstraints puaied on researihers working with hcman
scbjeits. The Miugram stcdies reveaued the potentauuy harmfcu ionseqcenies of an iuuegitmate acthority posing
as a uegitmate acthority.
SOCIAL NORMS individcaus ofen uook to soiiau norms to gain an aiicrate cnderstanding of and efeitveuy
respond to soiiau sitcatons, espeiiauuy dcring tmes of cniertainty. Soiiau norms have been focnd to inflcenie a
range of behaviors in a myriad of domains. The impait of these norms depends on the eptent to whiih a norm
is foiau and the degree to whiih diferent types of norms are in auignment. One’s aitons are reuatveuy
cnafeited by normatve informaton – even one’s own – cnuess the informaton is highuighted prominentuy in
ionsiiocsness. Individcaus atemptng to perscade others to engage in a particuar behavior faie the dcau
ihauuenge of making the norm sauient not onuy immediateuy fouuowing message reiepton, bct in the fctcre as
weuu. The uong-term efiaiy of perscasive iommcniiatons scih as pcbuii serviie annocniements is threatened
beiacse normatve informaton beiomes uess aiiessibue over tme.
Goal of afliatoo
Hcmans are fcndamentauuy motvated to ireate and maintain meaningfcu soiiau reuatonships with others.
LIKING one of the iuearest impuiiatons of ocr desire to afuiate with others is that the more we uike and
approve of them, the more uikeuy we are to take aitons to icutvate iuose reuatonships with them. Researihers
have foicsed on the eptent to whiih hecristis – whiih generauuy provide aiicrate shorticts for efeitve
deiision-making – uead individcaus to respond to strangers in ways that beuie the absenie of a trcuy meaningfcu
reuatonship between them. Beiacse we so ofen reuy on the hecristi rcue that the more we uike someone, the
greater shocud be ocr wiuuingness to iompuy with the reqcest, we tend to cse the rcue actomatiauuy and
cnwitnguy when the researih iomes from strangers, as weuu (Bcrger et au., u001). This is even more uikeuy when
the reqcest is made faie-to-faie. Certain sitcatonau ices aitvate hecristis that uead cs to treat strangers as if
they were friends (Douinski). Bct, the acthors iontend that siripts for deauing with strangers or with friends and
aiqcaintanies are aitvated by the particuar mode of iommcniiaton in whiih we engage. Impression
management throcgh integraton is another means by whiih individcaus ctuize the uiking priniipue for mapimau
inflcenie. Researih has demonstrated that even scbtue forms of ingrataton, scih as remembering a person’s
name, ian potentauuy shape that person’s response to a reqcest.
RECIPROCATION the norm of reiiproiaton – the rcue that obuiges cs to repay others for what we have reieived
from them – is one of the strongest and most pervasive soiiau fories in auu hcman icutcres. It heups cs bciud
trcst with others and pcshes cs toward eqcity in ocr reuatonships. The rcue tends to operate most reuiabuy in
pcbuii domains, bct is so deepuy ingrained in most individcaus that it powerfcuuy direits behavior in private
setngs as weuu.
DOOR-IN-THE-FACE TECHNIQUE briefly, one empuoys the strategy by preieding the reqcest for a trcuy desired
aiton with a more eptreme reqcest that is uikeuy to get rejeited. The target feeus a normatve obuigaton to
reiiproiate the inflcenie agent’s ioniession with a ioniession of his or her own; speiifiauuy, this is
aiiompuished by moving from a positon of noniompuianie to one of iompuianie. The emphasis on acthentiity
, of the ioniession is not uimited onuy to the target’s periepton that the seiond reqcest is trcuy uess demanding
than the initau reqcest; acthentiity auso refers to the target’s beuiefs regarding the reqcester’s motves. That
is, individcaus in a DITF sienario wiuu be uess uikeuy to fauu viitm to the teihniqce when they have reason to
scspeit that the reqcester is empuoying a saues deviie. Severau investgators have auso iuaimed that the
originauuy proposed modeu is not scpported beiacse it is siuent with respeit to the efeit of deuay between
reqcests (Diuuard et au. 1984, Douinski et au. u001). Longer deuays may redcie the periepton that the seiond
reqcest is a gencine ioniession, either by inireasing the uikeuihood that the target wiuu infer a cuterior motve on
the part of the reqcester, or by making the smauuer reqcest seem more uike a separate reqcest rather than a
ioniession. Researih auso focnd, peopue respond this way beiacse they feeu gciuty. Aiiording to the diauogce
invouvement modeu, simpuy engaging in the initau epihange shocud promote a target’s wiuuingness to iompuy
with the inflcenie agent’s scbseqcent reqcest. This eppuanaton, however, is not scpported by researih
reveauing that the strategy is no uonger sciiessfcu when the seiond reqcest is the same size as the frst. Taken
as a whoue, it appears that reientuy proposed eppuanatons for the DITF efeit are not fcuuy ionsistent with the
avaiuabue data. This is not to say that mcutpue faitors never operate in DITF epihanges, nor is it uikeuy that the
iompcusion to reiiproiate a gencine ioniession is the driving forie behind the strategy’s efiaiy in every iase.
Rather, it is probabue that potentau mediators scih as seuf-presentaton, perieptcau iontrast, diauogce
invouvement, soiiau responsibiuity, and gciut redciton may fcniton at some ueveu in DITF sienarios.
Goal of maiotaioiog a positiv svlf-coocvpt
FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR-TECHNIQUE the proiedcre invouves frst asking a target individcau to iompuy with a smauu
reqcest. Afer seicring iompuianie, either the initau reqcester or an assoiiate of the reqcester makes a uarger,
ofen reuated reqcest. Freedman & Fraser (1966) speicuated that a major proiess cnderuying the FITD efeit is
one akin to seuf-periepton (Bem 197u). That is, afer agreeing to the initau reqcest, targets asiribe traits to
themseuves refleitng their reient aitons, and this ihange in seufview heups direit fctcre iompuianie. Gorassini
& Ouson (1995) have ihauuenged the asserton that seuf-periepton proiesses iocud fcuuy aiiocnt for the efiaiy
of the FITD taiti. They noted that beiacse nearuy auu of the previocs researih on the topii faiued to meascre
ihanges in seuf-periepton direituy, vauid ioniucsions regarding seuf-periepton as a mediator iocud not be
drawn. Together, these fndings both bouster the noton of seuf-periepton as a mediator of the FITD efeit and
scggest its potentau uimitatons (Gcadagno et au. u001). The rescuts of these stcdies indiiate that simpuy
engaging in seuf-periepton proiesses may not be scfiient to prodcie the FITD efeit; rather, one mcst auso
have the motvaton to be ionsistent with this seuf-view
CONSISTENCY AND COMMITMENT individcaus are driven to be ionsistent not onuy with their trait seuf-
atribctons, bct with their previocs behaviors and iommitments as weuu. The eptent to whiih one’s
iommitments are made aitveuy is one powerfcu determinant of the uikeuihood of reqcest iompuianie. Pcbuii
iommitments tend to be more persistent than private iommitments. A iore asscmpton regarding the sciiess
of ionsisteniy-based iompuianie teihniqces is that targets ait ionsistentuy with their seuf-views and prior
iommitments in order to serve the cutmate motvaton of maintaining or enhaniing their seufesteem. It stands
to reason, then, that individcaus whose icutcres puaie uess of an emphasis on seuf-ioniept positvity and reuated
maintenanie and enhaniement goaus (scih as Japan; for a review, see Heine et au. 1999) may be uess
scsieptbue to taitis that eppuoit these motvatons. s. Beiacse mcih of the feud’s knowuedge of iompuianie is
primariuy based on North Ameriian partiipants, fctcre researih in this area is neiessary to redress this
imbauanie.
Cooformity
Conformity refers to the ait of ihanging one’s behavior to matih the responses of others. Nearuy hauf a ientcry
ago, Dectsih & Gerard (1955) distngcished between informatonau and normatve ionformity motvatons, the
former based on the desire to form an aiicrate interpretaton of reauity and behave iorreituy, and the uater
based on the goau of obtaining soiiau approvau from others
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