Social influence is a fundamental aspect of human interaction, describing the various ways individuals adjust their behavior to align with the demands of their social environment. It encompasses a wide range of phenomena, from subtle shifts in attitude to overt changes in behavior, and can manifest in many forms, including conformity, obedience, persuasion, and leadership. Understanding social influence involves recognizing how people alter their actions
and beliefs not only in response to direct commands or requests but also based on their perceptions of what others might do or think. This pervasive force shapes nearly all group behavior and is rooted in deep-seated psychological needs.
Psychological Foundations of Social Influence
Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard identified two primary psychological needs driving conformity: the need to be right (informational social influence) and the need to be liked (normative social influence). Informational influence occurs when people are uncertain and accept information from others as evidence about reality, assuming others have more knowledge. This is particularly relevant in ambiguous situations. Normative influence, on the other hand, is the desire to conform to the positive expectations of others, driven by a need for companionship and association.
University of Kansas psychologist Christian S. Crandall emphasizes that imitation, conformity, and social norms form the deeper foundation of how influence works. Humans are biologically prepared to pay attention to others and learn from them. Shared expectations about appropriate behaviors, known as social norms, are crucial in shaping group dynamics. These norms include both descriptive norms (what people typically do) and injunctive norms (what people believe one should do).
Kelman's Typology of Social Influence
In 1958, Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three broad varieties of social influence, focusing on how attitudes change. These processes help distinguish between public compliance and private acceptance. The first is compliance, which is responding favorably to an explicit or implicit request. Compliance involves a behavior change but not necessarily an attitude change; individuals may comply due to mere obedience or to avoid social pressures, often for an expected reward or to avert punishment.
The second variety is identification, where attitudes or behaviors change due to the influence of someone admired. This phenomenon is often seen in celebrity endorsements, where people adopt behaviors or attitudes to relate to a desired relationship with the admired individual. The third is internalization, which is the acceptance of norms established by influential people or groups. In this case, individuals accept the influence because its content is intrinsically rewarding and aligns with their own value system, leading to private acceptance and a lasting change in belief.
Conformity: Aligning with Others
Conformity is a widespread form of social influence involving a change in behavior, belief, or thinking to align with others or with normative standards. Social psychology research often distinguishes between informational conformity (also known as social proof or internalization) and normative conformity (or compliance). Informational social influence leads to both public compliance and private acceptance, as individuals genuinely believe others are correct, especially when accuracy is important and others are perceived as knowledgeable.
Normative social influence, however, often leads to public compliance without necessarily private acceptance, as individuals conform to be liked and accepted. Solomon Asch's classic conformity experiments demonstrated that individuals frequently conform to a clearly incorrect majority, even when the right answer is obvious. The presence of even a single dissenter can substantially reduce this pressure. Later research also found that experiences of social exclusion can increase conformity, suggesting it can be a strategy to regain social acceptance.
Beyond Conformity: Other Forms of Influence
While conformity is pervasive, social influence also manifests in other ways. Minority influence occurs when a majority is swayed by the beliefs or behaviors of a minority group. Active minorities, such as social movements or scientific innovators, can challenge majority norms and drive social change by presenting consistent, confident, and autonomous positions. This often operates through informational social influence, as the majority may be indifferent to the minority's likeability.
Another phenomenon is social contagion, which involves the spontaneous spread of behaviors or emotions through a group or network. Unlike conformity, the adopted emotion or behavior in social contagion may not represent a social norm. Reactance, conversely, is the adoption of a view contrary to what a person is pressured to accept, often due to a perceived threat to behavioral freedoms. This "anticonformity" can be a deliberate rejection of influence, even if the influence is correct, as individuals seek to restore a lost sense of freedom.
