Social Influence

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Social Influence

• Mind control for fun and profit

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(No Transcript)
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Strategies for achieving Compliance

• Reciprocity
• Ingratiation
• Self Deprecation
• Sequential Request Strategies
• Foot in the door
• Door in the face
• Low-Balling
• Thats not all

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At the heart of obedience is POWER

• Sources of power
• Reward/Punishment
• Knowledge
• Fear
• Factors that influence levels of obedience
• Proximity
• Public vs Private
• Responsibility
• The setting
• Symbols

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Millgrams Obedience Study in VR

• Mel Slater at UCL (2007)
• Experimental Condition
• 6 chose to stop the experiment
• 6 thought of stopping early because of negative
  feelings
• Control Condition
• 1 chose to stop the experiment early
• 0 thought of stopping early

• In the Experimental Condition
• Stress response (sweating and heart rate) was
  raised
• If the woman protested, the participants tended
  to give her longer to answer before administering
  the shock.
• Some participants emphasised the correct answer
  as if trying to help the woman avoid a shock.

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Reasons why people conform

• Informational influence (uncertainty)
• Normative Influence (the need to belong)
• Factors that effect levels of conformity
• Public vs Private commitment
• Gender
• Age
• Culture

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Obedience in Jonestown

• Sources of power
• Reward/Punishment Imprisonment in a 6 by 4 by 3
  foot plywood box (38 C / 100 F)
• Knowledge Jones claimed to be the reincarnation
  of Jesus, Akhenaten, Buddha, Lenin, and God
• Fear Promoting beliefs of persecution. Towards
  the end Jones claimed that a CIA funded mercenary
  army was about to attack and kill them all.
• Factors that influence levels of obedience
• Proximity - Armed guards patrolled the compound
  day and night
• Public vs Private - "white nights."
• Responsibility Jones assumed all responsibility
• The setting Isolated from all other influences
• Symbols Jones was called Father
• Compliance - Foot in the Door
• Given up the lives, Come to Guyana, Submitted to
  his regime, Participated in the White nights,
  Killed their own children, Killed themselves.

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• Major Offenses
• Deceit
• Doing an act on the sly
• Lying to my teachers or any of my classmates
• Keeping an offence to myself, not expressing it
  the same day
• Sensuality permitting arousal in thought or in
  action (not nipping it in the bud)
• Breaking any instruction or procedure knowingly

1 2. Unbelievably blatant engineering of
groupthink, usually an undesirable accident, here
the express purpose 4, 5 6. More insidious
control, Cant deny any accusation (being
defensive), cant blame the accuser (criticism of
classmates), cant say something is impossible
(blatant negativity).

• Other Offences
• Taking an action without using my check partner
• Trusting my own judgement or using my own mind
• Twisting procedures for my own benefit
• Responding defensively to my classmates or
  teachers
• Criticising or finding fault with my classmates
  or teachers
• Allowing blatant negativity accepting the
  position of I cant
• Permitting physical or verbal abuse (outbursts,
  harsh words, sarcasm, swearing, anger, hurtful
  teasing, loss of temper) towards classmates.
• Allowing jealousy towards classmates or comparing
  myself to others.

• Constant pressure to show public conformity, the
  express your sins and seek forgiveness.
• The damming of sexual energies, amazingly
  powerful, dissonance says we must be doing it for
  a good reason

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Obedience in Heavens Gate

• Sources of power
• Reward/Punishment ?
• Knowledge Only DO knew how to ascend to the
  next level.
• Fear Promoting beliefs of persecution.
  Constantly on the move, living in secret.
• Factors that influence levels of obedience
• Proximity Everyone had a personal check
  partner to monitor them
• Public vs Private Public admissions of guilt
• Responsibility The rules were responsible
• The setting Isolated from all other influences
• Symbols ?
• Compliance - Foot in the Door
• Given up the lives, Given up their families,
  Submitted to his regime, Castrated themselves,
  Killed themselves.

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Conformity Heavens Gate

• Informational influence
• Only the group know how to ascend.
• Normative Influence
• Having rejected been rejected by all other
  groups, your classmates are your only friends
  and family
• Factors that effect levels of conformity
• Public commitment
• Monitored by check partners
• Public admissions of guilt
• Personality
• Introversion
• Submissive
• Crisis and Uncertainty

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Comparing Jonestown Heavens Gate

• Jonestown
• Jones in in charge
• Cohesion is maintained through obedience and
  reward/punishment
• Jonestown self-destructed in a crisis
• But
• Joness inner circle were bound through
  conformity.
• The white nights established suicide as a norm.

• Heavens Gate
• The rules are in charge
• Cohesion is maintained through conformity and
  social inclusion/exclusion
• HG evolved into a group that sought death
• But
• DO exercised power through knowledge.
• The final decision to commit suicide seems to
  have been initiated by DO.

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Why do some people decide to become suicide
attackers?

• 3 Reasons
• For each reason you need to be able to explain
  why the reason you have identified leads to
  this behaviour
• Be careful to distinguish between causes and
  symptoms (e.g. anger is a symptom, what is the
  cause?)
• Also consider why it is that these causes lead to
  this in some people and not others

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Conformity and Suicide Attacks

• Informational influence (not sure what to do)
• Lopsided Conflicts Few alternative methods of
  striking back
• Normative Influence (the need to belong)
• Close-knit groups of friends
• Factors that effect levels of conformity
• Culture Place of religion in Islamic culture
• Public commitment Suicide tapes
• Gender Mostly male
• Age Adolescent or Young Adult

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Links

• Heavens Gate Flyer
• http//www.csicop.org/articles/heavens-gate-annive
  rsary/heavens-gate-flyer.gif
• What Motivates Suicide Bombers?
• http//www.d-n-i.net/fcs/comments/c502.htm
• Secular Europe, religious America
• -http//www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0377/i
  s_155/ai_n6143340
• Killing in the Name of God The Problem of Holy
  War - Dr. David L. Perry
• http//scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/Perry
  /holywar.html

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References

• Slater, M., Antley, M., Davison, A., Swapp, D.,
  Guger, C., Barker, C., Pistrang, N.
  Sanchez-Vives, M.V. (2006). A Virtual Reprise of
  the Stanley Milgram Obedience Experiments. PLOS
  ONE, 1, e39.
• http//dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000039
• Hogg, M.A., Vaughan, G.M., (2002) Social
  Psychology (3rd ed.) Pearson Education, UK.
• Chapter 6 p 211 218 (Compliance)
• Chapter 7 p 236 266 (Conformity Obedience)