Chapter 4: Behavior and Attitudes Low-Ball Technique their effort— “I did it for the money”—diminish

– A tactic for getting people to agree to something. People the intrinsic appeal of an enjoyable task.
Attitude who agree to an initial request will often still comply when
– A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the Self-Affirmation Theory
something or someone (often rooted in one’s beliefs, and costly request are less likely to comply with it. – A theory that (a) people often experience a self-image
exhibited in one’s feelings and intended behavior). threat, after engaging in an undesirable behavior; and (b)
– Three elements Why Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? they can compensate by affirming another aspect of the
Self-Presentation Theory self. Threaten people’s self-concept in one domain, and
– Assumes that for strategic reasons we express attitudes they will compensate either by refocusing or by doing good
that make us appear consistent. deeds in some other domain.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
– Assumes that to reduce discomfort, we justify our actions
to ourselves.
– Tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of
two inconsistent cognitions. For example, dissonance may
occur when we realize that we have, with little justification,
acted contrary to our attitudes or decided favoring one
alternative despite reasons favoring another.
When Social Influences on What We Say Are
• Insufficient Justification: Reduction of
Minimal dissonance by internally justifying one’s behavior
Implicit Association Test (IAT) when external justification is “insufficient.”:
– A computer-driven assessment of implicit attitudes. The Having insufficient justification for their actions,
test uses reaction times to measure people’s automatic they would experience more discomfort
associations between attitude objects and evaluative (dissonance) and thus be more motivated to
words. Easier pairings (and faster responses) are taken to
believe in what they had done.
indicate stronger unconscious associations.
Self-Perception Theory
– Uses reaction times to measure how quickly people
– Assumes that our actions are self-revealing (when
associate concepts.
uncertain about our feelings or beliefs, we look to our
Principle of Aggregation
behavior, much as anyone else would).
– The effects of an attitude become more apparent when – The theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we
we look at a person’s aggregate or average behavior than infer them much as would someone observing us, by
when we consider isolated acts. looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which
Theory of Planned Behavior it occurs.
– Knowing people’s intended behaviors, and their perceived – Assumes that we make similar inferences when we
self-efficacy and control. observe our own behavior.
Role Playing Overjustification And Intrinsic Motivations
Role Overjustification Effect
– A set of norms that defines how people in a given social – The result of bribing people to do what they already like
position ought to behave. doing; they may then see their actions as externally
– Is borrowed from the theater and, as in the theater, refers controlled rather than intrinsically appealing.
to actions expected of those who occupy a particular social – Occurs when someone offers an unnecessary reward
position. beforehand in an obvious effort to control behavior.
– What matters is what a reward implies:
The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon • Rewards and praise that inform people of their
– The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small achievements—that make them feel, “I’m very
request to comply later with a larger request. good at this”—boost intrinsic motivation.
– If you want people to do a big favor for you, an effective • Rewards that seek to control people and lead
strategy is to get them to do a small favor first. them to believe it was the reward that caused
Chapter 5: Genes, Culture and Gender – We often view as a negative force that imprisons people Independence Versus Connectedness
in a blind effort to perpetuate tradition – Individual men display outlooks and behavior that vary
Genes, Evolution, and Behavior – Cultures vary in their norms for: from fierce competitiveness to caring nurturance. So, do
Natural Selection • Expressiveness individual women.
– The evolutionary process by which heritable traits that • Punctuality – Women more than men give priority to close, intimate
best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in • Rule-Breaking relationships.
particular environments are passed to ensuing generations. • Personal Space: The buffer zone we like to • Play: Compared with boys, girls talk more
– Enables evolution. The idea, simplified, is this: maintain around our bodies. Its size depends on intimately and play less aggressively.
• Organisms have many and varied offspring. our familiarity with whoever is near us. • Friendship: Men more often focus on tasks and
• Those offspring compete for survival in their on connections with large groups, women on
environment. Cultural Similarity personal relationships.
• Certain biological and behavioral variations • Universal Friendship Norms • Vocations: Men gravitate disproportionately to
increase their chances of reproduction and • Universal Trait Dimensions jobs that enhance inequalities (prosecuting
survival in that environment. • Universal Social Belief Dimensions attorney, corporate advertising); women
• Those offspring that do survive are more likely to gravitate to jobs that reduce inequalities (public
pass their genes to ensuing generations. defender, advertising work for a charity).
• Thus, over time, population characteristics may • Family Relations: Women’s connections as
change. mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers
Evolutionary Psychology bind families
– The study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using • Smiling: Varies with situations. Yet women’s
principles of natural selection. greater connectedness has been expressed in
– Studies how natural selection predisposes not just their generally higher rate of smiling
physical traits suited to particular contexts, but also • Empathy: Women are far more likely to describe
• Universal Status Norms
psychological traits and social behaviors that enhance the themselves as having empathy, or being able to
• The Incest Taboo – The best-known universal
preservation and spread of one’s genes. feel what another feels— Empathy: The vicarious
norm. Every society disapproves of incest.
– Incorporates environmental influences. It recognizes that experience of another’s feelings; putting oneself
• Norms of War in another’s shoes.
nature and nurture interact in forming us.
• Evolutionary Perspective: Emphasizing human
Gender Social Dominance
kinship,
– In psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or – In essentially every society, men are socially dominant.
• Cultural Perspective: Emphasizing human
socially influenced, by which people define male and • Men’s style of communicating undergirds their
diversity.
female. social power. In situations where roles aren’t
➢ Nearly everyone agrees that we need
– Compared with males, the average female rigidly scripted, men tend to be more autocratic,
both: Our genes enable an adaptive
• Has 70 percent more fat, has 40 percent less women more democratic.
human brain—a cerebral hard drive
that receives the culture’s software.
muscle, is 5 inches shorter, and weighs 40 pounds • In leadership roles, men tend to excel as directive,
less. task focused leaders; women excel more often in
• Is more sensitive to smells and sounds. the “transformational” leadership that is favored
Culture and Behavior • Is doubly vulnerable to anxiety disorders and by more and more organizations, with
Culture depression. inspirational and social skills that build team
– The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions – Compared with females, the average male is spirit.
shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one • Slower to enter puberty (by about two years) but • Men—and people in high-status roles—tend to
generation to the next. quicker to die (by four years, worldwide). talk louder and to interrupt more.
• Three times more likely to be diagnosed with Aggression
Norms: Expected Behavior
ADHD (attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder), – By aggression, psychologists mean behavior intended to
Norms
four times more likely to commit suicide, and five hurt.
– Standards for accepted and expected behavior.
times more likely to be killed by lightning. – Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone. In
– Prescribe “proper” behavior. (In a different sense of the
• More capable of wiggling the ears. laboratory experiments, this might mean delivering electric
word, norms also describe what most others do—what is
normal.) shocks or saying something likely to hurt another’s feelings.
– In surveys, men admit to more aggression than do Peer-Transmitted Culture
women. In laboratory experiments, men indeed exhibit The Nurture Assumption: Parental nurture
more physical aggression, – The way parents bring their children up, governs who their
– But once again the gender difference fluctuates with the children become.
context. When there is provocation, the gender gap shrinks – Much of culture’s influence is transmitted to children by
– Women may be slightly more likely to commit indirect their peers.
aggressive acts, such as spreading malicious gossip. But all
across the world and at all ages, men much more often Biology and Culture
injure others with physical aggression. – Biology and culture may also interact. Advances in genetic
Sexuality science indicate how experience uses genes to change the
• Not only do men fantasize more about sex, have brain
more permissive attitudes, and seek more • Interaction: A relationship in which the effect of
partners, they also are more quickly aroused, one factor (such as biology) depends on another
desire sex more often, masturbate more factor (such as environment).
frequently, are less successful at celibacy, refuse
sex less often, take more risks, expend more The Power of the Situation and the Person
resources to gain sex, and prefer more sexual – Social situations do profoundly influence individuals. But
variety individuals also influence social situations. The two interact
• Sexual fantasies, too, express the gender and this interaction occurs in at least three ways:
difference. In male-oriented erotica, women are • A given social situation often affects different
unattached and lust driven. In romance novels, people differently: Individuals vary in how they
whose primary market is women, a tender male is interpret and react to a given situation
emotionally consumed by his devoted passion for • People often choose their situations: People
the heroine choose many of the situations that influence
them.
– Individual differences far exceed gender differences. • People often create their situations: People help
Females and males are hardly opposite (altogether create their social situations.
different) sexes. Rather, they differ like two folded hands—
similar but not the same, fitting together yet differing as
they grasp each other.

Gender and Mating Preferences

– Nature’s mating game favors males who take sexual
initiative toward females—especially those with physical
features suggesting fertility—and who seek aggressive
dominance in competing with other males. Females, who
have fewer reproductive chances, place a greater priority
on selecting mates offering the resources to protect and
nurture their young.
Androgynous
– From andro (man) gyn (woman)—thus mixing both
masculine and feminine characteristics.
– As men and women graduate from these early adult roles,
they supposedly express more of their restrained
tendencies. Each becomes more androgynous—capable of
both assertiveness and nurturance.
Gender Role
– A set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and
females.
Chapter 6: Conformity and Obedience repetitions of this group experience, both on this day and
for the next two days, will your responses change?
Conformity – Sherif and others have used this technique to answer
– Is a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. questions about people’s suggestibility. When people were
– A change in behavior or belief as the result of real or retested alone a year later, would their estimates again
imagined group pressure. diverge or would they continue to follow the group norm?
Two forms of Conformity: Remarkably, they continued to support the group norm
• Compliance: This insincere, outward conformity. Contagious Yawning
Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord – Yawning is a behavior that you and I share with most
with an implied or explicit request while privately vertebrates. Primates do it.
disagreeing. – University of Maryland, Baltimore County, psychologist Asch’s Studies of Group Pressure
• Obedience: If our compliance is to an explicit Robert Provine (2005), scientific research neglects – Social psychologist Asch recreated his boyhood
command. Acting in accord with a direct order or commonplace behavior including the behaviors he loves to experience in his laboratory. Imagine yourself as one of
command. study, such as laughing and yawning. Asch’s volunteer subjects.
Acceptance • We yawn when we are bored. When Provine – The experimenter explains that you will be taking part in
–This sincere, inward conformity. asked participants to watch a TV test pattern for a study of perceptual judgments, and then asks you to say
–Conformity that involves both acting and believing in 30 minutes, they yawned 70 percent more often which of the three lines in Figure matches the standard line.
accord with social pressure. than others in a control group who watched less – You can easily see that it’s line 2. So, it’s no surprise when
boring music videos. the five people responding before you all say, “Line 2.”
Sherif’s Studies of Norm Formation • We yawn when we are sleepy. No surprise here, – But the third trial startles you. Although the correct
except perhaps that people who kept a yawning answer seems just as clear-cut, the first person gives a
Muzafer Sherif (1935, 1937)
diary for Provine recorded even more yawns in wrong answer.
– Wondered whether it was possible to observe the
the hour after waking than in the yawn-prone – When the second person gives the same wrong answer,
emergence of a social norm in the laboratory.
hour before sleeping. you sit up in your chair and stare at the cards.
– Like biologists seeking to isolate a virus so they can then
• We yawn when others yawn. To test whether – Your jaw drops; you start to perspire. “What is this?” you
experiment with it, Sherif wanted to isolate and then
yawning, like laughter, is contagious, Provine ask yourself. “Are they blind? Or am I?” The fourth and fifth
experiment with norm formation.
exposed people to a five-minute video of a man people agree with the others.
Autokinetic Phenomenon
yawning repeatedly. – Now you are experiencing an epistemological dilemma:
– Self (auto) motion (kinetic). The apparent movement of
– To see what parts of the yawning face were most potent, “What is true? Is it what my peers tell me or what my eyes
a stationary point of light in the dark.
Provine had viewers watch a whole face, a face with the tell me?”
– As a participant in one of Sherif’s experiments, you might
mouth masked, a mouth with the face masked, or (as a – Asch’s procedure became the standard for hundreds of
have found yourself seated in a dark room. Fifteen feet in
control condition) a non-yawning smiling face. later experiments. Those experiments lacked what called
front of you a pinpoint of light appears. At first, nothing
– Just thinking about yawning usually produces yawns, the “mundane realism” of everyday conformity, but they
happens.
reports Provine a phenomenon you may have noticed while did have “experimental realism.” People became
– Then for a few seconds it moves erratically and finally
reading this box. It’s a phenomenon I have noticed. emotionally involved in the experience.
disappears. Now you must guess how far it moved.
– The dark room gives you no way to judge distance, so you
offer an uncertain “six inches.” The experimenter repeats
the procedure. This time you say, “Ten inches.” With further
repetitions, your estimates continue to average about eight
inches.
– The next day you return to the darkened room, joined by
two other participants who had the same experience the
day before. When the light goes off for the first time, the
other two people offer their best guesses from the day
before.
– “One inch,” says one. “Two inches,” says the other. A bit
taken aback, you nevertheless say, “Six inches.” With
Milgram’s Obedience Experiments Group Size
Milgram’s (1965, 1974) Reflections on the Classic Studies – In laboratory experiments, a small group can have a large
– Experiments tested what happens when the demands of – The obedience experiments also differ from the other effect.
authority clash with the demands of conscience. conformity experiments in the strength of the social – Asch and other researchers found that 3 to 5 people will
– Milgram, a creative artist who wrote stories and stage pressure: Obedience is explicitly commanded. Without the elicit much more conformity than just 1 or 2.
plays: Two men come to Yale University’s psychology coercion, people did not act cruelly. Yet both the Asch and – Increasing the number of people beyond 5 yields
laboratory to participate in a study of learning and memory. the Milgram experiments share certain commonalities. diminishing returns.
– A stern experimenter in a lab coat explains that this is a – They succeeded in pressuring people to go against their Unanimity
pioneering study of the effect of punishment on learning. own consciences. They did more than teach an academic – Imagine yourself in a conformity experiment in which all
The experiment requires one of them to teach a list of word lesson; they sensitized us to moral conflicts in our own lives. but one of the people responding before you give the same
pairs to the other and to punish errors by delivering shocks wrong answer.
of increasing intensity. – Several experiments reveal that someone who punctures
BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES
– In Mil- gram’s experiment, most who were obedient to a group’s unanimity deflates its social power.
– These experiments vividly illustrate that principle. When
this point continued to the end. – It is difficult to stand alone as a minority of one. But doing
responding alone, Asch’s participants nearly always gave
The Ethics of Milgram’s Experiments so sometimes makes a hero.
the correct answer. It was another matter when they stood
– The obedience of his subjects disturbed Milgram. The alone against a group.
procedures he used disturbed many social psychologists – In the obedience experiments, a powerful social pressure Summary of Class Obedience Studies
– A New York Times reviewer complained that the cruelty (the experimenter’s commands) overcame a weaker one Cohesion
inflicted by the experiments “upon their unwitting subjects (the remote victim’s pleas). – A minority opinion from someone outside the groups we
is surpassed only by the cruelty that they elicit from them” – Torn between the pleas of the victim and the orders of the identify with from someone at another college or of a
– Critics also argued that the participants’ self-concepts may experimenter, between the desire to avoid doing harm and different religion sways us less than the same minority
have been altered. the desire to be a good participant, a surprising number of opinion from someone within our group.
What Breeds Obedience? people chose to obey. – The more cohesive a group is, the more power it gains
– Milgram did more than reveal the extent to which people over its members.
will obey an authority; he also examined the conditions that Cohesiveness
breed obedience. THE POWER OF THE SITUATION – A “we feeling”; the extent to which members of a group
Four factors that determined obedience: – Powerful reveal the strength of the social context. To feel are bound together, such as by attraction for one another.
• THE VICTIM’S DISTANCE: Milgram’s participants this for yourself, imagine violating some minor norms: Status
acted with greatest obedience and least com- standing up in the middle of a class, singing out loud in a – As you might suspect, higher-status people tend to have
passion when the “learners” could not be seen restaurant; playing golf in a suit. In trying to break with more impact.
(and could not see them). social constraints, we suddenly realize how strong they are. – Junior group members even junior social psychologists
• CLOSENESS AND LEGITIMACY OF THE – The students in one Pennsylvania State University acknowledge more conformity to their group than do senior
experiment found it surprisingly difficult to violate the norm group members
AUTHORITY: The physical presence of the
of being “nice” rather than confrontational. Public Response
experimenter also affected obedience. When Mil-
– Participants imagined themselves discussing with three – One of the first questions researchers sought to answer
gram’s experimenter gave the commands by
others whom to select for survival on a desert island. They was this: Would people conform more in their public
telephone, full obedience dropped to 21 percent
were asked to imagine one of the others, a man, injecting responses than in their private opinions?
(although many lied and said they were obeying).
three sexist comments, such as, “I think we need more
• INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY: If the prestige of the – In experiments, people conform more when they must
women on the island to keep the men satisfied.” How would respond in front of others rather than writing their answers
authority is that important, then perhaps the
they react to such sexist remarks? privately.
institutional prestige of Yale University
– Only 5 percent predicted they would ignore each of the Prior Commitment
legitimized the Milgram experiment commands.
comments or wait to see how others reacted. 55 percent – Once they commit themselves to a position, people
- In post-experimental interviews, many
(not 5 percent) said nothing. seldom yield to social pressure. Real umpires and referees
participants said that had it not been for Yale’s
reputation, they would not have obeyed. rarely reverse their initial judgments
• THE LIBERATING EFFECTS OF GROUP INFLUENCE: What Predicts Conformity?
These classic experiments give us a negative view – Some situations trigger much conformity, others little Why Conform?
of conformity. But conformity can also be conformity. If you wanted to produce maximum – What two forms of social influence explain why people
constructive. conformity, what conditions would you choose? will conform to others?
 – Conformity based on a person’s desire to fulfill others’
expectations, often to gain acceptance. ROLE REVERSAL
Topic Researcher Methods Real-Life
– Normative influence often sways us without our – Role playing can also be a positive force. By intentionally
Example
awareness. playing a new role and conforming to its expectations,
Norm These Interpreting
– Concern for social image produces normative influence. people sometimes change themselves or empathize with
Formation experiments events
Informational Influence people whose roles differ from their own.
Sherif demonstrate differently – on the other hand, leads people to privately accept others’ – Roles often come in pairs defined by relationships parent
the power of after hearing influence. and child, teacher and student, doctor and patient,
normative from others; – Conformity occurring when people accept evidence about employer and employee.
pressures and appreciating reality provided by other people. – Role reversals can help each understand the other.
how hard it is a tasty food – The desire to be correct produces informational influence.
to predict that others Do We Ever Want to Be Different?
behavior, love Who Conforms? – Will people ever actively resist social pressure? When
even our own – Conformity varies not only with situations but also with compelled to do A, will they instead do Z? What would
behavior. persons. How much so? And in what social contexts do motivate such anti-conformity?
Assessing personality traits shine through? Reactance
suggestibility Personality – A motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom.
– During the late 1960s and 1970s, researchers observed Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of
regarding
only weak connections between personal characteristics action.
seeming
and social behaviors such as conformity. – Individuals value their sense of freedom and self-efficacy.
movement of
– Personality scores were poor predictors of individuals’ When blatant social pressure threatens their sense of
light. behavior. freedom, they often rebel.
– Personality also predicts behavior better when social – The theory of psychological reactance that people act to
Agreement Doing as
influences are weak. protect their sense of freedom is supported by experiments
with others’ others do; – Personality effects loom larger when we note people’s showing that attempts to restrict a person’s freedom often
Conformity Asch obviously fads such as differing reactions to the same situation, as when one produce an anti-conformity “boomerang effect”
wrong tattoos person reacts with terror and another with delight to a Asserting Uniqueness
perceptual roller coaster ride. – Asserting our uniqueness. Though not wishing to be
judgments Culture greatly deviant, most of us express our distinctiveness
– Does cultural background help predict how conforming through our personal styles and dress.
people will be? Indeed, it does. – Imagine a world of complete conformity, where there
– James Whittaker and Robert Meade (1967) repeated were no differences among people. Would such a world be
Complying Soldiers or
Asch’s conformity experiment in several countries and a happy place? If nonconformity can create discomfort, can
with employees found similar conformity rates in most 31% in Lebanon, 32%
Obedience Milgram sameness create comfort?
commands to following in Hong Kong, 34% in Brazil but 51% among the Bantu of – People feel uncomfortable when they appear too
shock another questionable Zimbabwe, a tribe with strong sanctions for nonconformity. different from others. But in individualistic Western
orders – Cultural differences also exist within any country. cultures they also feel uncomfortable when they appear
– Cultures may change over time. exactly like everyone else.
Social Roles
– Role theorists assume, as did William Shakespeare’s
Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard (1955)
character Jaques in As You Like It, that social life is like acting
– named these two possibilities normative influence and
on a theatrical stage, with all its scenes, masks, and scripts.
informational Influence.
– And those roles have much to do with conformity. Social
• The first springs from our desire to be liked, and
roles allow some freedom of interpretation to those who
the second from our desire to be right.
act them out, but some aspects of any role must be
Normative Influence
performed.
– Is “going along with the crowd” to avoid rejection, to stay
– Social roles will always vary with culture, but the
in people’s good graces, or to gain their approval.
processes by which those roles influence behavior vary
much less.
Chapter 7: Persuasion Different Paths for Different Purposes • Another is to be introduced as someone who is
– Petty and his colleagues (1995) note how central route knowledgeable on the topic.
Persuasion processing can lead to more enduring change than does the Perceived Trustworthiness
– The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, peripheral route. – Speech style also affects a speaker’s apparent
attitudes, or behaviors. – Persuasion via the peripheral route often produces trustworthiness. Gordon Hemsley and Anthony Doob
– The powers of persuasion were apparent more recently superficial and temporary attitude change. (1978) found that if videotaped witnesses looked their
in what a Pew survey (2003) called the “rift between – Sometimes persuasion occurs as people focus on questioner straight in the eye instead of gazing downward,
Americans and Western Europeans” over the Iraq war. arguments and respond with favorable thoughts. Such they impressed people as more believable.
– Persuasion is neither inherently good nor bad. It is a systematic, or “central route,” persuasion occurs when • Trustworthiness is also higher if the audience
message’s purpose and content that elicit judgments of people are naturally analytical or involved in the issue. believes the communicator is not trying to
good or bad. – When issues don’t engage systematic thinking, persuasion persuade them.
– The bad we call “propaganda.” The good we call may occur through a faster, “peripheral route,” as people
“education.” use heuristics or incidental cues to make snap judgments.
– Education is more factually based and less coercive than – Central route persuasion, being more thoughtful and less
ATTRACTIVENESS AND LIKING
propaganda. Yet generally we call it “education” when we superficial, is more durable and more likely to influence – Most of us deny that endorsements by star athletes and
believe it, “propaganda” when we don’t. behavior. entertainers affect us. We know that stars are seldom
– Persuasion is everywhere. When we approve of it, we may knowledgeable about the products they endorse.
call it “education.” Attractiveness
What Are the Elements of Persuasion? – Having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing
“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t – Among the ingredients of persuasion explored by social
change the subject.” (WINSTON CHURCHILL, 1954) communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is
psychologists are these four: (1) the communicator, (2) the most persuasive on matters of subjective preference.
message, (3) how the message is communicated, and (4) the Six Persuasion Principles
What Paths Lead to Persuasion? audience. In other words, who says what, by what method, Principle Application
– What two paths lead to influence? What type of cognitive to whom? How do these factors affect the likelihood that
processing does each involve and with what effects? we will take either the central or the peripheral route to
– Richard Petty and John Cacioppo (1986; Petty & Briñol, persuasion?
2008) and Alice Eagly and Shelly Chaiken (1993, 1998) took Authority: People Establish your expertise;
this one step further. They theorized that persuasion is Who Says? The Communicator defer to credible identify problems you have
likely to occur via one of two routes. – Social psychologists have found that who is saying experts. solved and people you have
The Central Route to Persuasion something does affect how an audience served.
– Focusing on arguments. receives it.
– If those arguments are strong and compelling, persuasion Credibility
is likely. If the message offers only weak arguments, – (Perceived expertise and trustworthiness) diminish after a
thoughtful people will notice that the arguments aren’t very month or so.
compelling and will counterargue. Believability
– Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments – A credible communicator is perceived as both expert and
and respond with favorable thoughts. trustworthy. Liking: People Win friends and influence
The Peripheral Route to Persuasion – This delayed persuasion, after people forget the source or respond more people. Create bonds based
– Focusing on cues that trigger automatic acceptance its connection with the message, is called the sleeper effect. affirmatively to those on similar interests, praise
without much thinking. Sleeper Effect they like. freely.
– In these situations, easily under- stood familiar – A delayed impact of a message that occurs when an
statements are more persuasive than novel statements initially discounted message becomes effective, as we
with the same meaning. remember the message but forget the reason for
– Thus, for uninvolved or distracted people, “Don’t put all discounting it.
your eggs in one basket” has more impact than “Don’t risk Perceived Expertise
everything on a single venture”. – How does one become an authoritative “expert”? One
– Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, way is to begin by saying things the audience agrees with,
such as a speaker’s attractiveness. which makes one seem smart. Social proof: People
allow the example of
others to validate Use “peer power” have Experimenting with a Virtual Social Reality discouraging not only smoking but also risky
how to think, feel, respected others lead the – In an experiment by Jeremy Bailenson and Nick Yee, a sexual behaviors and drinking and driving.
and act. way. person whose expressions and movements echoed one’s DISCREPANCY
own was both liked and persuasive. – Interacts with Communicator Credibility.
– Only a highly credible communicator maintains effective-
What is Said? The Message Content ness when arguing an extreme position.
– It matters not only who says something but also what that – Credible Source one hard to discount would elicit the
person says. most opinion change when advocating a position greatly
Be generous with your time
– Common sense could lead you to either side of these discrepant from the recipient.
and resources. What goes
Reciprocity: People questions: – Discrepancy and Credibility interact: The effect of a large
around, comes around.
feel obliged to repay • Is a logical message more persuasive—or one that versus small discrepancy depends on whether the
arouses emotion? communicator is credible.
in kind what they’ve
received. • Will you get more opinion change by advocating a
position only slightly discrepant from the ONE-SIDED VERSUS TWO-SIDED APPEALS
listeners’ existing opinions or by advocating an – The Interaction of Initial Opinion with One- versus Two-
extreme point of view? Sidedness after Germany’s defeat in World War II, American
• Should the message express your side only, or soldiers skeptical of a message suggesting Japan’s strength
should it acknowledge and refute the opposing were more persuaded by a two-sided communication.
views? Soldiers initially agreeing with the message were
• If people are to present both sides say, in strengthened more by a one- sided message.
Have others write or voice successive talks at a community meeting or in a
their intentions. Don’t say political debate is there an advantage to going
“Please do this by . . .” first or last?
Consistency: People Instead, elicit a “yes” by
tend to honor their asking. REASON VERSUS EMOTION
public commitments. – Suppose you were campaigning in support of world
hunger relief. Would you best itemize your arguments and
cite an array of impressive statistics?
– Or would you be more effective presenting an emotional
approach perhaps the compelling story of one starving
child? Of course, an argument can be both reasonable and
Scarcity: People prize Highlight genuinely exclusive
emotional.
what’s scarce. information or opportunities.
– The answer: It depends on the audience. Well-educated
or analytical people are responsive to rational appeals. PRIMACY VERSUS RECENCY
– Thoughtful, involved audiences often travel the central Primacy Effect
Attractiveness comes in several forms: route; they are more responsive to reasoned arguments. – Information presented early is most persuasive. First
• Physical attractiveness is one. Arguments, THE EFFECT OF GOOD FEELINGS impressions are important.
especially emotional ones, are often more – Messages also become more persuasive through – Other things being equal, information presented first
influential when they come from people we association with good feelings. usually has the most influence. Recency Effect
consider beautiful. • Good feelings often enhance persuasion, partly – Information presented last sometimes has the most
• Similarity is another. We tend to like people who by enhancing positive thinking and partly by influence. Recency effects are less common than primacy
are like us. linking good feelings with the message. effects.
Attractive communicator THE EFFECT OF AROUSING FEAR – When two persuasive messages are back-to-back and the
– Such as Serena and Venus Williams endorsing Reebok and – Messages can also be effective by evoking negative audience then responds at some later time, the first
Puma, often trigger peripheral route persuasion. We emotions. message has the advantage (primacy effect). When the two
associate their message or product with our good feelings • The effectiveness of fear-arousing messages are separated in time and the audience responds
toward the communicator, and we approve and believe. communications is being applied in ads soon after the second message, the second message has the
advantage (recency effect).
How Is It Said? The Channel of Communication To Whom Is It Said? The Audience leader. (A sect, by contrast, is a spinoff from a major
Channel of Communication – People with low self-esteem are often slow to religion.)
– The way the message is delivered whether face-to- face, comprehend a message and therefore hard to persuade. – How could these things happen? What persuaded these
in writing, on film, or in some other way. – Those with high self-esteem may comprehend yet remain people to give such total allegiance?
• Channel: A face-to-face appeal, a written sign or confident of their own opinions. The conclusion: People – Conformity, Compliance, Dissonance, persuasion, and
document, a media advertisement. with moderate self-esteem are the easiest to influence. Group influence explain their behavior putting them on
ACTIVE EXPERIENCE OR PASSIVE RECEPTION? HOW OLD ARE THEY? common ground with the rest of us who in our own ways
– Those of us who speak publicly, as teachers or persuaders, – One is a life cycle explanation: Attitudes change (for are shaped by such forces?
often become so enamored of our spoken words that we example, become more conservative) as people grow older. Attitudes Follow Behavior
overestimate their power. – The other is a generational explanation: Attitudes do not – People usually internalize commitments made voluntarily,
– Passively received appeals, however, are not always change; older people largely hold onto the attitudes they publicly, and repeatedly. Cult leaders seem to know this.
futile. adopted when they were young.
– Mere repetition of a statement also serves to increase its WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? COMPLIANCE BREEDS ACCEPTANCE
fluency the ease with which it spills off our tongue which – The crucial aspect of central route persuasion is not the – New converts soon learn that membership is no trivial
increases believability. message but the responses it evokes in a person’s mind. Our matter. They are quickly made active members of the team.
– Persuasion decreases as the significance and familiarity of minds are not sponges that soak up whatever pours over – Behavioral rituals, public recruitment, and fund-raising
the issue increase. them. strengthen the initiates’ identities as members.
– Behavior and Attitudes, active experience also FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED IF YOU CARE ENOUGH TO
strengthens attitudes. COUNTER-ARGUE THE FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR PHENOMENON
PERSONAL VERSUS MEDIA INFLUENCE – What circumstances breed counterargument? One is – One does not just decide, “I’m through with mainstream
– Persuasion studies demonstrate that the major influence knowing that some- one is going to try to persuade you. religion. I’m gonna find a cult.” Nor do cult recruiters
on us is not the media but our contact with people. DISTRACTION DISARMS COUNTERARGUING approach people on the street with, “Hi. I’m a Moonie. Care
MEDIA INFLUENCE: THE TWO-STEP FLOW – Persuasion is also enhanced by a distraction that inhibits to join us?”
– Although face-to-face influence is usually greater than counterarguing. Political ads often use this technique. – “Nor do cult recruiters approach people on the street
media influence, we should not underestimate the media’s UNINVOLVED AUDIENCES USE PERIPHERAL CUES with, “Hi. I’m a Moonie. Care to join us?”
power. – Recall the two routes to persuasion the central route of – Rather, the recruitment strategy exploits the foot-in-the-
Elihu Katz (1957) systematic thinking and the peripheral route of heuristic door principle.
– Observed that many of the media’s effects operate in a cues. – Unification Church recruiters, for example, would invite
two-step flow of communication: from media to opinion Need for Cognition people to a dinner and then to a weekend of warm fellow-
leaders to the rank and file. – The motivation to think and analyze. Assessed by ship and discussions of philosophies of life.
Two-Step Flow of Communication agreement with items such as “The notion of thinking – The pattern in cults is for the activities to become
– The process by which media influence often occurs abstractly is appealing to me” and disagreement with items gradually more arduous, culminating in having recruits
through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others. such as “I only think as hard as I have to.” solicit contributions and attempt to convert others.
– Opinion Leaders and trendsetters “the influential” that Stimulating Thinking
marketers and politicians seek to. – Makes strong messages more persuasive and (because of Who Says? What?
– Opinion leaders are individuals perceived as experts. counterarguing) weak messages less persuasive.
COMPARING MEDIA
– Lumping together all media, from mass mailings to Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate? Communicator Message content
television to podcasting, oversimplifies. – What persuasion and group influence principles are
– Studies comparing different media find that the more harnessed by new religious movements (“cults”)? Credibility Reason vs. emotion
lifelike the medium, the more persuasive its message. Cults expertise Discrepancy
– To add to the complexity, messages are best – Which some social scientists prefer to call new religious trustworthiness One-sided vs. two-sided
comprehended and recalled when written. movements have gained much publicity. Primacy vs. recency
– Comprehension is one of the first steps in the persuasion – Cult (also called new religious movement) A group Attractiveness
process (recall) typically characterized by (1) distinctive ritual and beliefs
related to its devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation
from the surrounding “evil” culture, and (3) a charismatic
To Whom? How? How Can Persuasion Be Resisted? INOCULATING CHILDREN AGAINST PEER PRESSURE
– Having perused the “weapons of influence,” we consider TO SMOKE
Audience some tactics for resisting influence. How might we prepare – A research team led by Alfred McAlister (1980) had high
Channel
people to resist unwanted persuasion? school students “inoculate” seventh-graders against peer
Analytical or Active vs. passive – To understand an assertion (say, that lead pencils are a pressures to smoke. The seventh-graders were taught to
emotional Age Personal vs. media health hazard) is to believe it at least temporarily, until one respond to advertisements implying that liberated women
actively undoes the initial, automatic acceptance. smoke by saying, “She’s not really liberated if she is hooked
Strengthening Personal Commitment on tobacco.”
– Before encountering others’ judgments, make a public – They also acted in role plays in which, after being called
THE COMMUNICATOR commitment to your position. “chicken” for not taking a cigarette, they answered with
– Successful cults typically have a charismatic leader – Having stood up for your convictions, you will become less statements such as “I’d be a real chicken if I smoked just to
someone who attracts and directs the members. susceptible (or, should we say, less “open”) to what others impress you.
– Trust is another aspect of credibility. Cult researcher have to say. – After several of these sessions during the seventh and
Margaret Singer (1979) noted that middle-class Caucasian CHALLENGING BELIEFS eighth grades, the inoculated students were half as likely to
youths are more vulnerable to recruitment because they – Charles Kiesler (1971) offered one possible way: Mildly begin smoking as were uninoculated students at another
are more trusting. attack their position. junior high school that had an identical parental smoking
THE MESSAGE – Kiesler found that when committed people were attacked rate.
– The vivid, emotional messages and the warmth and strongly enough to cause them to react, but not so strongly – Antismoking and drug education programs apply other
acceptance with which the group showers lonely or as to overwhelm them, they became even more com- persuasion principles, too. They use attractive peers to
depressed people can be strikingly appealing: Trust the mitted. communicate information.
master, join the family; we have the answer, the “one way.” – Kiesler explained: “When you attack committed people
THE AUDIENCE and your attack is of inadequate strength, you drive them INOCULATING CHILDREN AGAINST THE INFLUENCE
– Recruits are often young people under 25, still at that to even more extreme behaviors in defense of their OF ADVERTISING
comparatively open age before attitudes and values previous commitment” – Children are the advertiser’s dream. Researchers have
stabilize.
therefore studied ways to inoculate children against the
– Some, such as the followers of Jim Jones, are less DEVELOPING COUNTERARGUMENTS more than 10,000 ads they see each year, many as they are
educated people who like the message’s simplicity and find – There is a second reason a mild attack might build glued to a TV set.
it difficult to counterargue. resistance. Like inoculations against disease, even weak – On the other side are the commercial interests. They claim
– But most are educated, middle-class people who, taken arguments will prompt counterarguments, which are then that ads allow parents to teach their children consumer
by the ideals, overlook the contradictions in those who available for a stronger attack. skills and, more important, finance children’s television
profess selflessness and practice greed, who pretend Attitude Inoculation programs.
concern and behave indifferently. – Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so Implications of Attitude Inoculation-
Group Effects that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations – The best way to build resistance to brainwashing probably
– Cults also illustrate the next chapter’s theme: the power available. is not just stronger indoctrination into one’s current beliefs.
of a group to shape members’ views and behavior. Robert Cialdini and his colleagues (2003) – If parents are worried that their children might become
– The cult typically separates members from their previous – Agree that appropriate counterarguments are a great way members of a cult, they might better teach their children
social support systems and isolates them with other cult to resist persuasion. But they wondered how to bring them about the various cults and prepare them to counter
members. to mind in response to an opponent’s ads. persuasive appeals.
Social Implosion – The answer, they suggest, is a “poison parasite” defense— – For the same reason, religious educators should be wary
– External ties weaken until the group collapses inward one that combines a poison (strong counterarguments) of creating a “germ- free ideological environment” in their
socially, each person engaging only with other group with a parasite (retrieval cues that bring those arguments churches and schools.
members. (Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge,1980). to mind when seeing the opponent’s ads). – People who live amid diverse views become more
– Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles at first formed Real-Life Applications: Inoculation Programs discerning and more likely to modify their views in response
their own group of two, reinforcing each other’s aberrant – Applied research on smoking prevention and consumer to strong but not weak arguments
thinking a phenomenon that psychiatrists call folie à deux education offers encouraging answers.
(French for “insanity of two”).
Chapter 8: Group Influence Social Loafing: Do Individuals Exert Less Effort in a
Group?
Group Social Loafing
– Two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, – The tendency for people to exert less effort when they
interact with and influence one another and perceive one pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they
another as “us.” are individually accountable.
– Marvin Shaw (1981) argued that all groups have one thing Crowding: The Presence of Many Others Free Riders
in common: Their members interact. Therefore, he defines – Heightened arousal in crowded homes also tends to – People who benefit from the group but give little in
a group as two or more people who interact and influence increase stress. Crowding produces less distress in homes return.
one another. divided into many spaces, however, enabling people to
– Australian National University social psychologist John withdraw in privacy (Evans & others, 1996, 2000). Social Loafing in Everyday Life
Turner (1987), groups perceive themselves as “us” in – Given extreme pressure, we’re vulnerable to “choking.” – People in groups loaf less when the task is challenging,
contrast to “them.” Stutterers tend to stutter more in front of larger audiences appealing, or involving.
– Different groups help us meet different human needs—to than when speaking to just one or two people (Mullen, – When people see others in their group as unreliable or as
affiliate (to belong to and connect with others), to achieve, 1986) unable to contribute much, they work harder.
and to gain a social identity (Johnson & others, 2006). – Being in a crowd also intensifies positive or negative – Group members will work hard when convinced that high
reactions. When they sit close together, friendly people are effort will bring rewards.
Social Facilitation: How Are We Affected by the Presence liked even more, and un friendly people are dis - liked even – Groups also loaf less when their members are friends or
of Others? more they feel identified with or indispensable to their group.
Co-Actors – Crowding, then, has a similar effect to being observed by
– Co-participants working individually on a noncompetitive a crowd: it enhances arousal, which facilitates dominant Deindividuation: When Do People Lose Their Sense
activity. responses. of Self in Groups?
Group Situations
The Mere Presence of Others Why Are We Aroused in the Presence of Others? – May cause people to lose self-awareness, with resulting
Social Facilitation Evaluation Apprehension loss of individuality and self-restraint.
– (1) Original Meaning: the tendency of people to perform – Concern for how others are evaluating us. Deindividuation
simple or well-learned tasks better when others are – Evaluation apprehension also helps explain – Loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension;
present. • Why people perform best when their co-actor is occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to
– (2) Current Meaning: the strengthening of dominant slightly superior. group norms, good or bad.
(prevalent, likely) responses in the presence of others • Why arousal lessens when a high-status group is – People are more likely to abandon normal restraints, to
Arousal diluted by adding people whose opinions don’t lose their sense of individual identity, to become responsive
– Enhances whatever response tendency is dominant. matter to us. to group or crowd norms.
– Facilitates dominant responses. • Why people who worry most about what others Group Size
– Increased arousal enhances performance on easy tasks for think are the ones most affected by their – A group has the power not only to arouse its members but
which the most likely “dominant”—response is correct. presence. also to render them unidentifiable.
• People solve easy anagrams, such as akec, fastest • Why social facilitation effects are greatest when – People’s attention is focused on the situation, not on
when they are aroused. the others are unfamiliar and hard to keep an eye themselves. And because “everyone is doing it,” all can
– On complex tasks, for which the correct answer is not on. attribute their behavior to the situation rather than to their
dominant, increased arousal promotes incorrect Social Facilitation Theory own choices.
responding. – Has definitely generated the first two types of prediction:
• On harder anagrams, such as theloacco, people • The basics of the theory (that the presence of Diminished Self-Awareness
do worse when anxious. others is arousing and that this social arousal Self-Awareness
Social Arousal enhances dominant responses) have been – Is the opposite of deindividuation .
– Facilitates dominant responses, whether right or wrong. confirmed, and
• The theory has brought new life to a long-
dormant field of research.
Group Polarization: Do Groups Intensify Our • Pearl Harbor. In the weeks preceding the – Janis believed that the soil from which groupthink sprouts
Opinions? December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack that put the includes:
Group Polarization United States into World War II, military • An amiable, cohesive group.
– Group-produced enhancement of members’ preexisting commanders in Hawaii received a steady stream • Relative isolation of the group from dissenting
tendencies; a strengthening of the members’ average of information about Japan’s preparations for an viewpoints.
tendency, not a split within the group. attack on the United States somewhere in the • A directive leader who signals what decision he
– Discussion typically strengthens the average inclination of Pacific. Then military intelligence lost radio or she favors.
group members. (Serge Moscovici and Marisa Zavalloni, contact with Japanese aircraft carriers, which had
1969) begun moving straight for Hawaii. Air Symptoms of Groupthink
reconnaissance could have spotted the carriers or – Janis identified eight groupthink symptoms.
The Case of the “Risky Shift” at least provided a few minutes’ warning. But – The first two groupthink symptoms lead group members
– Risky shift occurs not only when a group decides by complacent commanders decided against such to overestimate their group’s might and right.
consensus. precautions. The result: No alert was sounded • An illusion of invulnerability. The groups Janis
“Accentuation” Effect until the attack on a virtually defenseless base studied all developed an excessive optimism that
– Over time, initial differences among groups of become was under way. The loss: 18 ships, 170 planes, and blinded them to warnings of danger.
accentuated. 2,400 lives. • Unquestioned belief in the group’s morality.
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion. In 1961 President John Group members assume the inherent morality of
Explaining Polarization Kennedy and his advisers tried to overthrow Fidel their group and ignore ethical and moral issues.
Informational Influence Castro by invading Cuba with 1,400 CIA-trained – Group members also become closed-minded.
– Influence that results from accepting evidence about Cuban exiles. Nearly all the invaders were soon • Rationalization. The groups discount challenges
reality. killed or captured, the United States was by collectively justifying their decisions.
Normative Influence humiliated, and Cuba allied itself more closely • Stereotyped view of opponent. Participants in
– Influence based on a person’s desire to be accepted or with the former U.S.S.R. After learning the these groupthink tanks consider their enemies
admired by others. outcome, Kennedy wondered aloud, “How could too evil to negotiate with or too weak and
Active Participation we have been so stupid?” unintelligent to defend themselves against the
– In discussion produces more attitude change than does • The Vietnam War. From 1964 to 1967 President planned initiative.
passive listening. Lyndon Johnson and his “Tuesday lunch group” of – Finally, the group suffers from pressures toward
– Participants and observers hear the same ideas, but when policy advisers escalated the war in Vietnam on uniformity.
participants express them in their own words, the verbal the assumption that U.S. aerial bombardment, • Conformity pressure. Group members rebuffed
commitment magnifies the impact. defoliation, and search-and-destroy missions those who raised doubts about the group’s
Social Comparison would bring North Vietnam to the peace table assumptions and plans, at times not by argument
– By Leon Festinger (1954). Evaluating one’s opinions and with the appreciative support of the South but by personal sarcasm.
abilities by comparing oneself with others. Vietnamese populace. They continued the • Self-censorship. Since disagreements were often
– We humans want to evaluate our opinions and abilities by escalation despite warnings from government uncomfortable and the groups seemed in
comparing our views with others’. We are most persuaded intelligence experts and nearly all U.S. allies. The consensus, members withheld or discounted
by people in our “reference groups”—groups we identify resulting disaster cost more than 58,000 their misgivings.
with. American and 1 million Vietnamese lives, • Illusion of unanimity. Self-censorship and
Pluralistic Ignorance polarized Americans, drove the president from pressure not to puncture the consensus create an
– A false impression of what most other people are thinking office, and created huge budget deficits that illusion of unanimity. What is more, the apparent
or feeling, or how they are responding. helped fuel inflation in the 1970s
consensus confirms the group’s decision.
– Janis believed those blunders were bred by the tendency
– They don’t realize how strongly others support the socially • Mindguards. Some members protect the group
preferred tendency. of decision-making groups to suppress dissent in the
from information that would call into question
interest of group harmony, a phenomenon he called
the effectiveness or morality of its decisions.
Groupthink: Do Groups Hinder or Assist Good groupthink.
– Groupthink symptoms can produce a failure to seek and
Groupthink
Decisions? discuss contrary information and alternative possibilities.
– “The mode of thinking that persons engage in when
– Social psychologist Irving Janis (1971, 1982), analyzed the
concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-
decision-making procedures that led to several major
group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of
fiascos:
alternative courses of action.”
Critiquing Groupthink Vincent Brown and Paul Paulus (2002) Is Leadership Minority Influence?
• Directive leadership is indeed associated with – Have identified three ways to enhance group Leadership
poorer decisions, because subordinates brainstorming: – The process by which certain group members motivate
sometimes feel too weak or insecure to speak up. • Combine group and solitary brainstorming. Group and guide the group. (Roald Amundsen)
• Groups do prefer supporting over challenging brainstorming is most productive when it – Some leaders are formally appointed or elected; others
information. precedes solo brainstorming. With new emerge informally as the group interacts.
• When members look to a group for acceptance, categories primed by the group brainstorming, Task Leadership
approval, and social identity, they may suppress individuals’ ideas can continue flowing without – Leadership that organizes work, sets standards, and
disagreeable thoughts. being impeded by the group context that allows focuses on goals.
• Groups with diverse perspectives outperform only one person to speak at a time. – Task leaders generally have a directive style—one that can
groups of like-minded experts. Engaging people • Have group members interact by writing. Another work well if the leader is bright enough to give good orders.
who think differently from you can make you feel way to take advantage of group priming, without – Experiments show that the combination of specific,
uncomfortable. But compared with comfortably being impeded by the one-at-a-time rule, is to challenging goals and periodic progress re - ports helps
homogeneous groups, diverse groups tend to have group members write and read, rather than motivate high achievement
produce more ideas and greater creativity. speak and listen. Brown and Paulus describe this Social Leadership
• In discussion, information that is shared by group process of passing notes and adding ideas, which – Leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and
members does tend to dominate and crowd out has everyone active at once, as “brainwriting.” offers support.
unshared information, meaning that groups often • Incorporate electronic brainstorming. There is a – Social leaders generally have a democratic style—one that
do not benefit from all that their members know. potentially more efficient way to avoid the verbal delegates authority, welcomes input from team members,
traffic jams of traditional group brainstorming in and, as we have seen, helps prevent groupthink.
larger groups: Let individuals produce and read – Social leadership is good for morale. Group members
Preventing Groupthink
ideas on networked computers. usually feel more satisfied when they participate in making
• Be impartial—do not endorse any position.
– So, when group members freely combine their creative decisions.
• Encourage critical evaluation; assign a “devil’s
ideas and varied insights, the frequent result is not “Great Person”
advocate.” Better yet, welcome the input of a
groupthink but group problem solving. – Theory of leadership—that all great leaders share certain
genuine dissenter, which does even more to
traits—has fallen into disrepute.
stimulate original thinking and to open a group to
The Influence of the Minority: How Do Individuals Transformational Leadership
opposing views.
Influence the Group? – Leadership that, enabled by a leader’s vision and
• Occasionally subdivide the group, then reunite to
Consistency inspiration, exerts significant influence.
air differences.
– More influential than a minority that wavers are a – Inspired their colleagues “to transcend their own self-
• Welcome critiques from outside experts and interests for the sake of the collective”
associates. minority that sticks to its position.
Minority Slowness Effect – Motivates others to identify with and commit themselves
• Before implementing, call a “second-chance” to the group’s mission.
– A tendency for people with minority views to express
meeting to air any lingering doubts. – Transformational leaders—many of whom are
them less quickly than do people in the majority.
Self-Confidence charismatic, energetic, self-confident extraverts—articulate
Group Problem Solving
– Consistency and persistence convey self-confidence. high standards, inspire people to share their vision, and
– People feel more productive when generating ideas in
offer personal attention.
groups (partly because people disproportionately credit
themselves for the ideas that come out). Defections from the Majority
– But time and again researchers have found that people – A persistent minority punctures any illusion of unanimity.
working alone usually will generate more good ideas than – A minority person who had defected from the majority
will the same people in a group. was even more persuasive than a consistent minority voice.
– Large brainstorming groups are especially inefficient. In – Once defections begin, others often soon follow, initiating
accord with social loafing theory, large groups cause some a snowball effect.
individuals to free-ride on others’ efforts. In accord with – Minorities are more likely than majorities to convert
normative influence theory, they cause others to feel people to accepting their views.
apprehensive about voicing oddball ideas. And they cause
“production blocking”— losing one’s ideas while awaiting a
turn to speak.