Social Influence
Lecture 1 – Principle of reciprocity:
Humans take a lot of shortcuts:
- Determining the value of something due to its price (high price high value)
- Giving any (stupid) reason for something, triggers someone else to give in
Reciprocity: Strong societal norm to repay gifts, favours and services that another
has given us
- Use it as a tactic: give something for free (gift > money, gift is more effective
with strangers), so that people feel the need to reciprocate
- Reciprocity-by-proxy strategy: a benefactor (Party A) acting as an agent
(proxy) for someone else (Party B) is providing aid to something valued to
them (Party C) party B feels indebted to reciprocate to party A (works better
than incentive-by-proxy: first complying to request, then providing aid to
something valued to them)
- Indirect reciprocity: provision of aid from one person to another is returned, but
not by the original recipient of the help Party C, D or E wants to reciprocate
because Party A seems like a generous and trustworthy exchange partner
- Contrast principle: rejection-then-retreat tactic, larger-then-smaller request
Explanations:
- Negative affect: obligation/indebtedness, social
pressure/fear of rejection (more in public)
- Positive affect: gratitude (general prosocial
request), liking (altruistic request)
Social exchange:
- Communal: just do something for someone else (parents for their children)
- Reciprocal: when providing a favour, you expect getting something in return
- Negotiated: you get something where you pay for immediately (reward;
supermarket)
When reciprocity fails:
- Time-restraint: a favour loses in value over time (favour is forgotten)
- Low benefits for recipient: instead of effort of the giver
- Intentionality: you have to (seem to) mean it
- Reciprocal norm absent: in communal relationship (family)
A gift is not a reward (reward is given afterwards)
Lecture 2 – Commitment and Consistency:
We want to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done
or decided (committed to)
, - Effective commitment needs to be public, active, effortful and freely chosen
(internally motivated)
- Foot-in-the-door technique: beginning with a small request that is almost
always successful, then a larger related request is made which will be more
successful too because of wanting to be consistent with the initial commitment
Attitude intention behaviour (but, you can also first change behaviour, which will
eventually change the intention and attitude (behaviour intention attitude))
- Our behaviour is a primary source of information about one’s own beliefs,
values and attitudes
- Self-persuasion (few reasons instead of a lot) is more effective than
persuasion by other (a lot of reasons instead of few), due to the ease-of-
retrieval (feel confident about recalled information) self-generating reasons
leads to the formation of an attitude, which may then translate into behaviour
Predictive coding:
- Our prediction of the world is so strong, that we make a lot of errors when the
world is unpredictable at one point
Cognitive dissonance:
- If a person held two cognitions that were psychologically inconsistent, he
would experience dissonance and would attempt to reduce dissonance much
like one would attempt to reduce hunger, thirst or any drive
- Lake Wobegon effect: tendency to overestimate one’s achievements and
capabilities in relation to others (we have a need to feel good about ourselves)
Researchers want that behaviour to change
It’s a lot easier to change cognitions
Monty Hall Problem:
Biases:
- Predictability:
- Consistency: confirmation bias
- Ease of processing: stereotypes, consistency
- Positive self-image: confirmation bias
Conclusions on consistency:
- We don’t see reality as it is (but as we expect it to be)
- We automatically fill in the blanks (as dictated by expectancy)
Lecture 1 – Principle of reciprocity:
Humans take a lot of shortcuts:
- Determining the value of something due to its price (high price high value)
- Giving any (stupid) reason for something, triggers someone else to give in
Reciprocity: Strong societal norm to repay gifts, favours and services that another
has given us
- Use it as a tactic: give something for free (gift > money, gift is more effective
with strangers), so that people feel the need to reciprocate
- Reciprocity-by-proxy strategy: a benefactor (Party A) acting as an agent
(proxy) for someone else (Party B) is providing aid to something valued to
them (Party C) party B feels indebted to reciprocate to party A (works better
than incentive-by-proxy: first complying to request, then providing aid to
something valued to them)
- Indirect reciprocity: provision of aid from one person to another is returned, but
not by the original recipient of the help Party C, D or E wants to reciprocate
because Party A seems like a generous and trustworthy exchange partner
- Contrast principle: rejection-then-retreat tactic, larger-then-smaller request
Explanations:
- Negative affect: obligation/indebtedness, social
pressure/fear of rejection (more in public)
- Positive affect: gratitude (general prosocial
request), liking (altruistic request)
Social exchange:
- Communal: just do something for someone else (parents for their children)
- Reciprocal: when providing a favour, you expect getting something in return
- Negotiated: you get something where you pay for immediately (reward;
supermarket)
When reciprocity fails:
- Time-restraint: a favour loses in value over time (favour is forgotten)
- Low benefits for recipient: instead of effort of the giver
- Intentionality: you have to (seem to) mean it
- Reciprocal norm absent: in communal relationship (family)
A gift is not a reward (reward is given afterwards)
Lecture 2 – Commitment and Consistency:
We want to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done
or decided (committed to)
, - Effective commitment needs to be public, active, effortful and freely chosen
(internally motivated)
- Foot-in-the-door technique: beginning with a small request that is almost
always successful, then a larger related request is made which will be more
successful too because of wanting to be consistent with the initial commitment
Attitude intention behaviour (but, you can also first change behaviour, which will
eventually change the intention and attitude (behaviour intention attitude))
- Our behaviour is a primary source of information about one’s own beliefs,
values and attitudes
- Self-persuasion (few reasons instead of a lot) is more effective than
persuasion by other (a lot of reasons instead of few), due to the ease-of-
retrieval (feel confident about recalled information) self-generating reasons
leads to the formation of an attitude, which may then translate into behaviour
Predictive coding:
- Our prediction of the world is so strong, that we make a lot of errors when the
world is unpredictable at one point
Cognitive dissonance:
- If a person held two cognitions that were psychologically inconsistent, he
would experience dissonance and would attempt to reduce dissonance much
like one would attempt to reduce hunger, thirst or any drive
- Lake Wobegon effect: tendency to overestimate one’s achievements and
capabilities in relation to others (we have a need to feel good about ourselves)
Researchers want that behaviour to change
It’s a lot easier to change cognitions
Monty Hall Problem:
Biases:
- Predictability:
- Consistency: confirmation bias
- Ease of processing: stereotypes, consistency
- Positive self-image: confirmation bias
Conclusions on consistency:
- We don’t see reality as it is (but as we expect it to be)
- We automatically fill in the blanks (as dictated by expectancy)
