How do others influence our behaviour? Discuss with reference to social psychology theory and research.
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How do others influence our behaviour? Discuss with reference to social psychology theory and research. Social influence has many different definitions in psychology, it is mainly used to summarise the field of social psychology. Mainly looking at “how thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others” (McGrath, 1970.) Our social life is mainly distinguished by our social influences; influences we are both consciously and subconsciously aware of.
As individuals we occasionally change our behaviour to 'fit in' to social situations, we alter our behaviours as we are unsure of the correct way to feel or act and use others as a resource of information. Our social life and influences are further characterised by social norms, these norms are defined as accepted ways of thinking, feeling, behaviours and attitudes within a social group. When a group has a well recognised set of social behaviours, pressure then arises for individuals to maintain these norms, to obey and conform to them.
This essay will explore a variety of different examples of social influences; covering majority and minority effects, obedience, conformity and explanations as to why we yield and conform to social influences, both consciously and subconsciously.
A person is said to conform if they "comply with rules, standards and laws. Behaving accordingly to socially acceptable conventions and/or standards, usually preferred by what is considered the social majority." (Goldstein, N. J. 2004) The 'majority' refers to the major influence that the majority of people think or act in that certain social situation.
As study into major influence was conducted by Asch (1956) participants in the study believed they were participating in a visual discrimination task. Groups consisted of one participant with the rest as confederates and were given four lines to compare, the 'X' (standard line) was identical to one of either
How do others influence our behaviour? Discuss with reference to social psychology theory and research. Social influence has many different definitions in psychology, it is mainly used to summarise the field of social psychology. Mainly looking at “how thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others” (McGrath, 1970.) Our social life is mainly distinguished by our social influences; influences we are both consciously and subconsciously aware of.
As individuals we occasionally change our behaviour to 'fit in' to social situations, we alter our behaviours as we are unsure of the correct way to feel or act and use others as a resource of information. Our social life and influences are further characterised by social norms, these norms are defined as accepted ways of thinking, feeling, behaviours and attitudes within a social group. When a group has a well recognised set of social behaviours, pressure then arises for individuals to maintain these norms, to obey and conform to them.
This essay will explore a variety of different examples of social influences; covering majority and minority effects, obedience, conformity and explanations as to why we yield and conform to social influences, both consciously and subconsciously.
A person is said to conform if they "comply with rules, standards and laws. Behaving accordingly to socially acceptable conventions and/or standards, usually preferred by what is considered the social majority." (Goldstein, N. J. 2004) The 'majority' refers to the major influence that the majority of people think or act in that certain social situation.
As study into major influence was conducted by Asch (1956) participants in the study believed they were participating in a visual discrimination task. Groups consisted of one participant with the rest as confederates and were given four lines to compare, the 'X' (standard line) was identical to one of either
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