Assignment 3 moodle - Social influence PDF

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Social Influence University of Waikato 19/09/2019

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Social Influence Introduction Social influence is the impact of society, changes in the minds of people under the influence of others. Social influence occurs when the behaviour of one person becomes similar to the act of a group. Cialdini describes exposure to public influence in The Psychology of Persuasion (2006). As a professor of psychology who conducted many studies to identify and substantiate these principles, Cialdini said that social influence plays on the feeling of insecurity and the desire to do the “right thing”. He noted six principles of influence: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity. Probably each person was among people who forced him or her to dress or behave exactly like them and realise that moment he/she were not actually themselves. Have you ever bought a completely unnecessary, but well-advertised thing, succumbing to the power of persuasion? To be more precise, we are free to choose; however, as an integral part of the social world, we are not able to avoid the impact of others. It is possible to say about the influence of the unique «environment», which is a separate social group or the whole society. There are explicit or implicit rules of action and behaviour called social (group) norms, actively functioning in it. The purpose of this research is exploring a human interaction based on social influence according to personal past observation.

Method A case-study approach was used to gain a detailed understanding of social influence based on past observation of the leading participant - myself. This model of influence happens quite often, particular situation happened a few days ago, at a party with six friends, three European women aged nineteen to twenty-three, one Asian woman aged twenty, two European men aged twenty-two.

Results In this case, there are plenty of examples of social influence and it affect on person’s decision as individualist. It might be some situations, which are quite common for people in 20s-30s age group, such as choosing food to order or place to go out, staying sober or having a drink. My latest experience of social influence took place at Friday’s party. My friends and I had to choose a place to go out that night. Everyone, except for me, wanted to go to the place, which we visit almost

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every weekend. However, I wanted to go somewhere new and asked my friends if they want too. Their answer was that they have already decided and do not want to go to the unknown place. As a result, I agreed with my friends without arguing. Discussion How does social influence work? The social world created by people, it arises as a result of various human interactions. It is a specific reality where its laws apply; one of the leading rulers is the social influence. In exists all depending on whether a person feels it or not - it is inevitable. A person influenced continuously and in turn, exerts it himself. «Regardless of whether social norms are open or hidden, one fact remains obvious: most people obey them most of the time» (Foo & Uy & Baron, 2009). As it was noted above, according to Cialdini, there are six principles of influence (2006). Reciprocity - people are guided in their lives by the service-for-service rule. We are trying to repay for the fact another person has done something for us. Commitment and consistency - people have a strong need to seem consistent. Social proof - people tend to do what they see others do. Authority - arguments of authoritative people are inherently more convincing in our opinion. Liking - the more a person like someone, the more likely he/she is to convince. Scarcity - if a particular thing is in limited number; people begin to desire it more strongly. This research shows social proof influence. The principle of social proof has two of the most effective factors - uncertainty and similarity. When the situation seems uncertain to people, they more inclined to pay attention to the actions of others and consider it is correct behaviour model. For example, when people doubt to help someone, the acts of other observer influence their decision to contribute much more than in obvious critical situation. At the same time, people are more likely to follow the example of those who are more similar to them. Conclusion Each person has the right to choose the path of his/her development independently. Nevertheless, social phenomena and processes have their characteristics and specifics, so they have a substantial impact on us. Human is an integral part of the world. He can control the outcome of events; however, it is possible to fall under the strongest social influence. The result is changes in a person’s opinion about something, his attitude and desire to continue his activities in one or another way.

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References: 1. Cialdini, R. (2011). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Retrieved from https://www.bookdepository.com/ 2. Foo, M.-D., Uy, M. A., & Baron, R. A. (2009). How do feelings influence effort? An empirical study of entrepreneurs’ affect and venture effort. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 1086-1094. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015599...