Social Influence, Comformity, Obedience and Compliance

Social influence It refers to our need to be right. Sometimes, an individual does not know what is the correct behaviour for the particular circumstances. In these cases, the individual will look to and copy the behaviour of others (e.g. modeling). The behaviour of others provides information on what is the correct thing to do in this situation. There are three types of social influence - conformity - compliance - obedience Conformity Conformity involves developing attitudes, opinions, and behaviors to match the attitudes of a specific group. Most people conform to the standard values, also called norms, of†¦show more content†¦They may be as trivial as choosing the proper clothes to wear to the office so as not to stand out or as serious as choosing whether to have ones children vaccinated against diseases. Finding a rational balance between belonging and being an individual is a challenge for everyone. Many people who feel as if this area of their lives is out of balance benefit from seeking professional counseling to help them find a level of conformity that is more comfortable for them When Asch tested individuals alone they made fewer than 1% mistakes and when the same participants were in a group that made errors in judgments, they make more than 33% errors. This indicates that: ï‚ § We make errors in judgments to fit in with the rest of the group - even when we know the judgment is incorrect. ï‚ § We rely on others for information about reality, about the validity of our feelings, decisions, behaviour etc. ï‚ § We conform because we are unsure of our judgement and not assertive enough. We conform because we need approval and validation. Compliance The concept of compliance is similar to conformity, yet it’s slightly different. For compliance to occur within groups, one must adapt his/her actions to anothers wishes or rules. Requests