What is social influence and what are the three major types of social pressure?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Students' examples may vary.

The answer should contain the following information:

Social influence is the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others. The three types of social pressure are conformity, compliance, and obedience.

Conformity is a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people. Subtle or even unspoken social pressure results in conformity. Conformity also influences behavior through social roles. Social roles are the behaviors that are associated with people in a given position, such as a restaurant waiter or a schoolteacher. In some cases, though, social roles influence one so profoundly that one engages in behavior in entirely atypical-and damaging-ways. Conforming to a social role can have a powerful consequence on the behavior of even normal, well-adjusted people, inducing them to change their behavior in sometimes undesirable ways.

Compliance refers to the type of behavior that occurs in response to direct social pressure. When one refers to conformity, one usually means a phenomenon in which the social pressure is subtle or indirect. But in some situations, social pressure is much more obvious, with direct, explicit pressure to endorse a particular point of view or behave in a certain way. Several specific techniques represent attempts to gain compliance. Those frequently employed include the following:

Foot-in-the-door technique. The use of the foot-in-the-door technique begins when someone asks a target to comply with a small, trivial request. Because such a request is easy to fulfill, the likelihood that the target of the request will comply is high. Later, though, the target is asked to comply with a significantly larger request related to the first one. It turns out that compliance with the second request increases substantially when the target has first agreed to the initial, smaller request.

Why does the foot-in-the-door technique work? For one reason, consideration of the small request may lead to an interest in the topic of the request or issue; taking an action-any action-makes the individual more committed to the issue, thereby increasing the likelihood of future compliance. Another explanation revolves around people's self-perceptions. By complying with the initial request, individuals may come to see themselves as people who provide help when asked. Then, when confronted with the larger request, they agree in order to maintain consistency in attitudes and behavior. Although it is not known which of these two explanations is more accurate, it is clear that the foot-in-the-door strategy is effective.

Door-in-the-face technique. In this tactic, someone makes a large request, expecting it to be refused, and follows it with a smaller one. This strategy, which is the opposite of the foot-in-the-door approach, has also proved to be effective.

That's-not-all technique. In this technique, a salesperson offers a deal at an inflated price. But immediately after the initial offer, the salesperson offers an incentive, discount, or bonus to clinch the deal. Although it sounds transparent, this practice can be quite effective.

Not-so-free sample. The norm of reciprocity is the social standard that one should treat other people as they treat one. It is a strong cultural standard: when someone does something nice for one, one tends to feel obligated to return the favor. In the case of the not-so-free sample, receiving a free sample activates the norm of reciprocity and makes one feel that one should return the favor-in the form of a purchase.

Companies seeking to sell their products to consumers often use the techniques identified by social psychologists for promoting compliance. But employers also use them to bring about compliance and raise the productivity of employees in the workplace.

Obedience refers to a change in behavior in response to the commands of others. Compliance techniques are used to gently lead people toward agreement with a request. Although obedience is considerably less common than conformity and compliance, it does occur in several specific kinds of relationships. For example, one may show obedience to one's bosses, teachers, or parents merely because of the power they hold to reward or punish one.

We need only consider actual instances of obedience to authority to witness some frightening real-life parallels. For instance, after World War II, the major defense that Nazi officers gave to excuse their participation in atrocities during the war was that they were "only following orders."