The primary aim of this essay is to identify two forms of social influence as well as explaining and evaluating the research methods used by psychologists to study them. Human beings are typically social beings who are continually seeking acceptance, cooperation, and cohesion from the groups they associate themselves with. The need to meet the belonging and esteem needs in an attempt to self-actualize are the principal sources of social influence among individuals. Social impact is the condition where character and beliefs of a person have been tampered to suit their relationship with their peers and the authority. As a result of interactions, one’s behaviors and habits are influenced either positively or negatively. It is usually assumed that certain habits, feelings, attitudes, and also behaviors patterns come about as a result of social influence. According to Hogg "Vaughan (2005), social influence is the process by which attitudes are affected by actual or conceptualized presence of others. Social influence is expressed in some forms. These forms include but not limited to obedience and conformity as discussed below.
Obedience is among the forms of social influence. Obedience is the most straightforward form of social influence. The family, school, and workplaces have conditioned us to obey orders taken from authorities without questioning. Human beings as social beings have been socialized right from birth to follow strict orders as an acceptable social virtue. Obedience is the form of social influence where one joins a particular group by complying with the orders issued to them by the authority. Obedience as social influence is influenced by some factors including one's commitment to a specific group, the closeness between an individual and the authority, groups peer pressure and the lawfulness of the power. Though a social virtue, obedience could lead to a violation of human rights as a result of adverse orders especially in cases of radicalization and extremism. Obedience as social influence is facilitated by the fact that the person taking orders beliefs that the authority would be responsible for the consequences of the orders could they occur.
Psychologists such as Stanley Milgram’s have used the experimental method to study obedience behavior. The technique involves an investigation whereby a hypothesis is tested scientifically. The most critical part and advantage of the experimental process is that it depends on real information collected during the experiment which shows that it should never be influenced by irrational emotions hence data gathered is more justified and less prejudice (Packer, 2008). On explaining the experimental method in the study of behavior, we focus on Milgram's experiment. In his experiment, Milgram was interested in investigating how persons respond to figures of authority orders when they are instructed to do something unwillingly.
The participants in the Milgram’s experiment were a teacher and a learner who were in different rooms. Electrodes were attached to the arms of the learner while the teacher had electric shock generator in his room. The teacher was asked to strap the learner onto an electric chair and a mild shock whenever he gave a wrong answer to question asked (Packer, 2008). The teacher continued to admitter shock to the learner unwillingly since was directed to do so by the researcher. The shock voltage level increased at each time the leaner gave a wrong respond. At a certain point the teacher disobeys the experimenter to administer more shocks to the learner but he is given orders by the experimenter to continue. According to Packer (2008), someone can obey an authority figure to the extent of hurting another person without considering the consequences. Milgram’s experiment shows that more than 65% were able to continue administering shock to the learner up to the highest level voltage as ordered by the experimenter which shows that people tend to conform orders from the other people if they know their power.
Conformity is a form of social influence whereby individuals associate their behaviors to the company of people one belongs in the absence of orders to do so. It is the opposite of obedience where one adheres to given orders so that they can belong. According to Hogg "Vaughan (2005) conformity is a deep-seated secluded and lasting change in someone's attitude and behavior as a result of a groups force. The significant causes of conformity as a social influence includes the desire to satisfy their belonging and esteem needs in a trial to reach the self-actualization. To meet these needs, an individual is forced by circumstances to alter their beliefs and degree of worthiness to fit those of the group one associate with. The things one conform to change their behavior either to the positive or the negative. Some factors influence the chances of a person to comply. These factors include the size of a group one is conforming to fit in to, unanimity and cohesiveness of the group, individual's characteristics and culture. Although it has no, any inherent prize conformity assures a feeling of belongingness. Psychologists have also used an experimental method as well as an observational method to study conformity which is discussed as follows.
An experiment conducted on a group of individuals on the autokinetic effect confirms that people try to conform to the group to which they belong. In the lab experiment, a small spot of light appeared to move on the screen and individuals estimated the distance to be 20cm to 80cm which varied drastically when tested individually. However, when arranged in groups of three, the results converged to a common estimate. Therefore, it is clear that people in a group listen to others for ideas instead of making individual judgments, especially when in ambiguous situations (Bond et al., 2012). The experiment on the autokinetic effect shows that people seek guidance from others especially when they lack proper information to make the right choices in life. The type of conformity above is the informational conformity because it involves seeking data from a group to conclude as an individual.
Observational learning is also crucial in the study of social behaviors of people. Observation in social psychology involves watching behaviors of people and recording information relevant to the aim of the study. Research conducted in restaurant dining in China shows that the policy makers influence people's decisions through the popularity information about the alternative dishes available in the restaurant. The top-ranked meals in the restaurant depending on the previous demands of customers influence the choices of the customers. It is clear that when personal information is provided about the top five dishes affect their option on the menu, but by merely providing the list the recipes are not chosen. The demand for the meals increases by 13 to 20 percent when the information is provided (Cai, Chen " Fang 2009). However, the observational learning effect is more useful to the infrequent customers. Therefore, from the above research, it evidences that consumers learn from the information contained in the choices of other people.
In summary, social influence involves tempering of individual behavior, character, and believes to suit peer relationship and authorities. Some of the forms of social influence discussed in this paper include obedience and conformity. Obedience is the will to comply with the command, order, or even instructions from those in authority aiming at bringing a change in one's behavior and habits. Conformity, on the other hand, is a deep-seated secluded and lasting change in someone's attitude and behavior as a result of group force. Psychologists have used different methods to study these forms of social influence such as experimental and observation method.
Experimental method involves the use of scientific methods in testing hypothesis. An example of an experimental approach is the Milgram's experiment aimed at investigating the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. The observational method involves watching individual's behavior as well as recording information and data which is used to test the hypothesis. Though experimental method it’s costly to conduct compared to other methods such is observational techniques, it is the best method to use in studying social behaviors since it is not affected by irrational emotions hence information collect is less prejudice.
References
Bond, R. M., Fariss, C. J., Jones, J. J., Kramer, A. D., Marlow, C., Settle, J. E., " Fowler, J. H. (2012). A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization. Nature, 489(7415), 295.
Cai, H., Chen, Y., " Fang, H. (2009). Observational learning: Evidence from a randomized natural field experiment. American Economic Review, 99(3), 864-82.
Packer, D. J. (2008). Identifying systematic disobedience in Milgram's obedience experiments: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(4), 301-304.
Vaughan, G., " Hogg, M. A. (2005). Introduction to social psychology. Pearson Education Australia.
