Social Influence Vocabulary

a specific form of disobedience in which people report corruption or unethical practice within an organisation

complying with orders from a person of higher social status within a defined hierarchy or chain of command

a syndrome of poor decision-making in which members of a cohesive ingroup strive for unanimity at the expense of a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action

tendency to make decisions that are more extreme than the average of group members' initial positions, in the direction already favoured by the group

individuals identify with a particular group and conform to a prototypical position

categorising oneself as a group member forms social identity and brings about various forms of both group (eg. polarisation, influence) and inter-group (eg. discrimination) behaviours

a change in private response after exposure to influence by others; internalised change; a change in the way one structures an aspect of reality

a behavioural style indicating that the same position is maintained across time; seen as central to minority influence

situation in which either an individual or a group in a numerical minority can influence the majority

social influence resulting from exposure to the opinions of a majority, or the majority of one's group

compliance to an initial attempt is followed by a more costly and less beneficial version of the same request

compliance technique in which the requester first asks for a small favour that is almost certain to be granted, then follows this up with a larger related favour

compliance technique in which the requester begins with an extreme request that is almost always refused, then retreats to a more moderate request, which he or she had in mind all along

a response whereby the target of influence acquiesces to a request from the influence source (also refers to change in behaviour to match a norm without change on a private level)

based on accepting the information obtained from others as evidence about reality

based on conforming to the positive expectations of others. People avoid behaving in ways that will lead to social punishment or disapproval

a state in which individuals are deprived of their sense of identity, and are more likely to behave in an extreme manner, often violating norms

belief systems about how (not) to behave, that guide behaviour but without the force of laws, and reflect group members' shared expectations about typical or desirable activities

change of attitudes, beliefs, opinions and behaviour as a result of being exposed to other individuals' attitudes, beliefs, opinions, values and behaviour.

a learned response to the presence of others when performing a task, whereby the performer experiences arousal when anticipating evaluation by these others