SUMMARY SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Lecture 1
Social influence = when one’s emotions, opinions or behaviours are
affected by others.
Persuasion = where you try to reach a certain goal by changing the
behaviours or opinions of other people. It’s intentional, focused on others
and non-coercive.
Compliance = getting someone to say “yes” to a request.
Nudging = by using your knowledge of how people work you try to steer
their behaviour.
Dual processing systems:
Automatic process = lack of awareness, unintended, uncontrollable
and efficient (thinking about what colour something is). Most daily
decisions are automatic, not rational.
Controlled process = awareness, intended, controllable and effortful
(calculating 321 x 123).
We often don’t know the real causes of our behaviour, we create post-hoc
explanations. This gap between actual cause and perceived cause is
crucial for influence.
Heuristics = mental shortcuts. They are simple decision rules, based on
limited information and often unconscious.
We use them because we have limited cognitive capacity, time and
energy and we have a need for efficiency.
Heuristics are adaptive and usually effective but sometimes lead to
biases.
‘Because” heuristic = People like reasons for what they do. People are
more likely to do us a favour when we provide them a reason to do so. For
example, using the copying machine and asking if you can go first in line.
Only adding ‘because’ makes a difference and makes people go along with
the favour. It depends on the favour; 20 pages is more effort than 5 pages.
people respond to the structure of a reason, not just its content.
Expensive heuristic = when something is expensive it is often better
quality, so we think expensive is better. We use price as an indicator. Our
taste is influenced by the price. We also link it to self-worth.
Inexpensive = bad. Free or cheap products are undervalued. People
are willing to pay less if something is labelled “free”.
Discount increase sales, even if no real saving exists.
,Effort heuristic = the effort, time involved in producing, is also an indicator
of value. If something seems like it took a lot of work, people tend to
assume it’s better. Example: finding 80 dollars or working for it. When you
work hard for it it’s more valuable for you. Also in romantic relationships,
people like other people more when they need to do more effort for the
relationship (hard to get).
Fluency heuristic (ease of processing) = easier-to-process information
feels truer and more likable. The easier it is to think of positive aspects of
a product, the more positively that ‘product’ is evaluated.
Recognition heuristic = if one of two object is recognized and the other is
not, we think that the recognized object has the higher value with respect
to the criterion. In many cases this is a valid assumption (for example, you
recognize a city, you assume it’s bigger).
Simulation heuristic = the likelihood of an event is based on how easy it is
to picture mentally (e.g. risk perception). People more regret missing
outcomes that are easier to imagine (e.g. near misses), like missing a train
by a minute or by 25 minutes.
Similarity heuristic = people make judgements based on similarity
between current situations and (prototypes of) other situations. For
example, choosing books like ones you liked. It is adaptive, maximizing
productivity through favourable experience while not repeating
unfavourable experiences.
Contrast principle = judgements are based on comparison. If a second
item is a bit different from the first, we perceive it as more different. We
overestimate the difference because we use a reference point. For
example, we see an expensive item first, then the next item seems
cheaper.
Compromise effect = people avoid extremes and prefer the middle option.
When choosing between products we tend to take the inexpensive option.
When adding a third, more expensive option, people take the middle one
(compromise). The strategy is adding a very expensive option, so sales
of the middle one increases.
By combining multiple heuristics and looking for patterns (like a
“casino) you can use this for social influence.
People conform when they see what others are doing, make this visible.
People also conform then they hear what others think, say, or approve of.
Influence is strong when people have low control and awareness of their
thinking.
, Lecture 2
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM): explains how persuasion works
depending on how deeply people process information.
Assumptions: People are motivated to hold correct attitudes. We want to
be correct in our own judgements.
Elaboration = how hard you think about the arguments being presented,
thoughts about or issues relevant to the arguments. How hard we think
about the arguments is determined by our abilities and motivation to
process this information.
Central route: deep, effortful thinking, focus on quality of arguments.
Leads to strong attitudes and long-lasting change. Used when people
are motivated and able to think. Consider new information
thoroughly and compare with available information.
Peripheral route: superficial processing. Based on cues and
heuristics. Leads to weaker attitudes and temporary change. It is low
cognitive effort.
People are not always fully central or peripheral, it’s a spectrum depending
on motivation and ability.
When do people use heuristics? Depends on:
Motivation how much someone wants to think carefully. Influenced by
personal relevance, responsibility, involvement and need for cognition.
Ability how much someone can think carefully. Influenced by knowledge,
distraction, time pressure, emotional state, fatigue and complexity of
information.
High motivation + high ability → central route
Low motivation or low ability → peripheral route (heuristics)
Lecture 1
Social influence = when one’s emotions, opinions or behaviours are
affected by others.
Persuasion = where you try to reach a certain goal by changing the
behaviours or opinions of other people. It’s intentional, focused on others
and non-coercive.
Compliance = getting someone to say “yes” to a request.
Nudging = by using your knowledge of how people work you try to steer
their behaviour.
Dual processing systems:
Automatic process = lack of awareness, unintended, uncontrollable
and efficient (thinking about what colour something is). Most daily
decisions are automatic, not rational.
Controlled process = awareness, intended, controllable and effortful
(calculating 321 x 123).
We often don’t know the real causes of our behaviour, we create post-hoc
explanations. This gap between actual cause and perceived cause is
crucial for influence.
Heuristics = mental shortcuts. They are simple decision rules, based on
limited information and often unconscious.
We use them because we have limited cognitive capacity, time and
energy and we have a need for efficiency.
Heuristics are adaptive and usually effective but sometimes lead to
biases.
‘Because” heuristic = People like reasons for what they do. People are
more likely to do us a favour when we provide them a reason to do so. For
example, using the copying machine and asking if you can go first in line.
Only adding ‘because’ makes a difference and makes people go along with
the favour. It depends on the favour; 20 pages is more effort than 5 pages.
people respond to the structure of a reason, not just its content.
Expensive heuristic = when something is expensive it is often better
quality, so we think expensive is better. We use price as an indicator. Our
taste is influenced by the price. We also link it to self-worth.
Inexpensive = bad. Free or cheap products are undervalued. People
are willing to pay less if something is labelled “free”.
Discount increase sales, even if no real saving exists.
,Effort heuristic = the effort, time involved in producing, is also an indicator
of value. If something seems like it took a lot of work, people tend to
assume it’s better. Example: finding 80 dollars or working for it. When you
work hard for it it’s more valuable for you. Also in romantic relationships,
people like other people more when they need to do more effort for the
relationship (hard to get).
Fluency heuristic (ease of processing) = easier-to-process information
feels truer and more likable. The easier it is to think of positive aspects of
a product, the more positively that ‘product’ is evaluated.
Recognition heuristic = if one of two object is recognized and the other is
not, we think that the recognized object has the higher value with respect
to the criterion. In many cases this is a valid assumption (for example, you
recognize a city, you assume it’s bigger).
Simulation heuristic = the likelihood of an event is based on how easy it is
to picture mentally (e.g. risk perception). People more regret missing
outcomes that are easier to imagine (e.g. near misses), like missing a train
by a minute or by 25 minutes.
Similarity heuristic = people make judgements based on similarity
between current situations and (prototypes of) other situations. For
example, choosing books like ones you liked. It is adaptive, maximizing
productivity through favourable experience while not repeating
unfavourable experiences.
Contrast principle = judgements are based on comparison. If a second
item is a bit different from the first, we perceive it as more different. We
overestimate the difference because we use a reference point. For
example, we see an expensive item first, then the next item seems
cheaper.
Compromise effect = people avoid extremes and prefer the middle option.
When choosing between products we tend to take the inexpensive option.
When adding a third, more expensive option, people take the middle one
(compromise). The strategy is adding a very expensive option, so sales
of the middle one increases.
By combining multiple heuristics and looking for patterns (like a
“casino) you can use this for social influence.
People conform when they see what others are doing, make this visible.
People also conform then they hear what others think, say, or approve of.
Influence is strong when people have low control and awareness of their
thinking.
, Lecture 2
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM): explains how persuasion works
depending on how deeply people process information.
Assumptions: People are motivated to hold correct attitudes. We want to
be correct in our own judgements.
Elaboration = how hard you think about the arguments being presented,
thoughts about or issues relevant to the arguments. How hard we think
about the arguments is determined by our abilities and motivation to
process this information.
Central route: deep, effortful thinking, focus on quality of arguments.
Leads to strong attitudes and long-lasting change. Used when people
are motivated and able to think. Consider new information
thoroughly and compare with available information.
Peripheral route: superficial processing. Based on cues and
heuristics. Leads to weaker attitudes and temporary change. It is low
cognitive effort.
People are not always fully central or peripheral, it’s a spectrum depending
on motivation and ability.
When do people use heuristics? Depends on:
Motivation how much someone wants to think carefully. Influenced by
personal relevance, responsibility, involvement and need for cognition.
Ability how much someone can think carefully. Influenced by knowledge,
distraction, time pressure, emotional state, fatigue and complexity of
information.
High motivation + high ability → central route
Low motivation or low ability → peripheral route (heuristics)
