COMM 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Normative Social Influence
22 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
A brief history of public opinion- public opinion is a constructed idea, referring to an aggregation of individual opinions across a public. Opinion: view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Public opinion: views prevalent among the general public. Concept age old, but grew through enlightenment period and 17th century: english coffee houses; french salons, growth of grassroots methods petitions. Democratic societies rely as much on public opinion as representative political processes. The notion of public is contested in public opinion. We require experts to decide on delicate or technical matters. Human beings are irrational; - may express opinions inconsistent with self-interest. We are socially conditioned towards certain contextual responses: conformity. Conformity experiments: on the auto kinetic effect a. In a dark room (after adjustment), a stable dot light shown on a wall will appear to move a. i. Without a reference point, we appreciate movement: experiment looked at what happens in a group setting b. i.
