PSYC 2120 Lecture Notes - Social Proof, Normative Social Influence, Minority Influence

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2120
• Professor: Irwin Silverman

Document Summary

Conformity is defined as a change in behaviour as a result of the real or imagined influence of others. Two quotes: do as most do, and will speak well of thee , and it were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races . Rather than labelling conformity as good or bad, the social psychologist is interested in understanding why people conform. We found that there are two main reasons people conform: informational and normative social influences. Informational social influence: the need to know what"s right. Informational social influence occurs when people do not know the correct (or best) thing to do or say. This reaction typically occurs in ambiguous, confusing, or crisis situations, where the definition of the situation is unclear. People look to the behaviour of others as an important source of information and use it to choose appropriate courses of action for themselves.