Social Influence: Persuasion (College Board AP® Psychology): Study Guide

Social norms & social influence theory

Social norms

• Social norms are the unwritten rules, expectations, and roles that a society or group establishes for its members

  • They define what is considered appropriate, acceptable, or expected behavior in a given context

    • E.g. queuing patiently for service or lowering your voice in a library

• Social norms operate as powerful regulators of behavior, even in the absence of explicit rules

  • Violating social norms, even minor ones, typically produces discomfort, disapproval, or sanctions

• Social norms provide the underlying framework within which persuasion, conformity, and obedience operate:

  • Persuasion is often effective because it appeals to what is seen as normal, acceptable, or expected

  • Conformity occurs when individuals adjust their attitudes or behaviour to align with group norms

  • Obedience involves complying with expectations linked to authority roles and the norms that define them

Social influence theory

• Social influence theory proposes that social pressure to behave or think in certain ways can operate through two distinct mechanisms:

  • normative social influence

  • informational social influence

Normative social influence

• Involves conforming to the behavior or views of others in order to belong, be accepted, or avoid social disapproval

• The person may not privately agree with the group but changes their public behavior to fit in

  • E.g. laughing at a joke you do not find funny because everyone else is laughing

Informational social influence

• Involves conforming to the behavior or views of others because you believe they have better information about what is correct or appropriate, particularly in ambiguous or novel situations

• The person genuinely updates their private beliefs based on what others do or say

  • E.g. following the crowd during an emergency evacuation because others seem to know the correct exit

• The distinction between normative and informational influence is important:

  • Normative influence changes public behavior without necessarily changing private beliefs

  • Informational influence changes both public behavior and private beliefs

• Both forms of social influence operate across persuasion, conformity, and obedience

  • Understanding which type is at work in a given situation is essential for explaining why people comply

Persuasion & the elaboration likelihood model

• Persuasion is a deliberate attempt to change attitudes or behavior through communication

• The effectiveness of persuasion depends on multiple factors:

  • The route through which the message is processed

  • How the message is presented

  • Characteristics of the communicator and the audience

The elaboration likelihood model

• The elaboration likelihood model (ELM), developed by Petty and Cacioppo, explains two routes to persuasion:

  • central route persuasion

  • peripheral route persuasion

Central route persuasion

• occurs when the person is motivated and able to think carefully about the content of the message

• the quality of the argument determines whether persuasion occurs

• produces stronger, more lasting attitude change

  • E.g. a doctor carefully reading a peer-reviewed article about a new treatment and updating their clinical practice based on the evidence

Peripheral route persuasion

• occurs when the person lacks the motivation or ability to process the message carefully

• persuasion depends on superficial cues rather than argument quality

• produces weaker, less durable attitude change

  • E.g. buying a product because a celebrity endorsed it, without evaluating whether the product is actually superior to alternatives

The halo effect

• The halo effect is an example of peripheral route persuasion:

  • It occurs when a positive overall impression of a person causes us to assume they also have other positive qualities, and therefore to find their arguments more persuasive

    • E.g. an attractive, well-dressed, confident speaker is judged as more credible, even if the content of their argument is weak

• The halo effect demonstrates that peripheral cues (attractiveness, confidence, status, appearance) can override evaluation of argument quality

• The halo effect is:

  • widely exploited in advertising: celebrity endorsements and attractive spokespeople increase persuasiveness independently of product quality

  • relevant in political contexts: physical appearance and presentation style influence voters' perceptions of candidate competence

Persuasion techniques

• The way information is presented, independently of its content, significantly affects how persuasive it is

• Two key techniques exploit predictable patterns in how people respond to requests:

  • The foot-in-the-door-technique

  • The door-in-the-face-technique

Foot-in-the-door technique

• The foot-in-the-door technique involves making a small initial request that the person is likely to agree to, followed by a larger, more significant request

  • Once a person has complied with the small request, they are more likely to comply with the larger one

• Compliance with the small request creates a sense of commitment and consistency

  • People want to behave in ways that are consistent with their prior behavior

  • Having agreed once, the person redefines themselves as someone who is helpful or cooperative; this makes further compliance more likely

    • E.g. a charity first asks you to sign an online petition (small, low-cost request); later they ask you to donate money (larger request). Having signed the petition, you are more likely to donate

Door-in-the-face technique

• The door-in-the-face technique involves making a large, unreasonable initial request, which is expected to be refused, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request

  • After refusing the large request, the person feels a sense of obligation or guilt and is more likely to comply with the smaller one, as it appears much more reasonable by comparison

• This effect relies on the norm of reciprocity

  • The requester has backed down from the large request, so the target feels obligated to agree to the smaller request in return

    • E.g. a charity asks you to volunteer for 20 hours per week (large, refused) before asking if you could donate £5 per month (smaller, more likely agreed to)

Norm of reciprocity

• The norm of reciprocity underpins both persuasion techniques and operates as a general social rule

  • People feel socially obligated to return favors; if someone does something for you, social norms create pressure to do something in return

    • E.g. a colleague covers your shift, creating an obligation to return the favor