Microsoft Word Chapter 1 done doc

 
Social influence occurs when an individual's thoughts or 
actions are affected by other people. Social Influence can be 
defined as efforts by one or more individuals to change the 
attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, or behaviours of one or more others. 
For example, the colleagues have strong influence on one’s work, 
while the friends have strong influence on one’s daily life. 
11.1 CONFORMITY: GROUP INFLUENCE IN ACTION : 
Conformity : 
 
A type of social influence in which individuals change their 
attitude or behaviour in order to adhere or to stick to the existing 
social norms. 
 
Factors affecting Conformity: Cohesiveness, Group Size, and 
Type of Social Norms : 
 
Cohesiveness and Conformity : 
We are going to discuss how cohesiveness has impact on 
conformity. With respect to conformity, cohesiveness can be 
defined as the degree of attraction felt by an individual toward an 
influencing group.
Groups with similar attitudes are more cohesive than groups 
with dissimilar attitudes, successful groups are more cohesive than 
unsuccessful groups, and groups with clear paths to goals are more 
cohesive than groups lacking clear paths. 
A classic finding of social psychology is that when 
cohesiveness (attraction) is high, pressures toward conformity are 
magnified. This is a basic reason why most persons are more 
willing to accept social influence from friends or persons they 
admire than from others.

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E.g., if we join a new college and we have been put in a 
group of students for project work. Over the period, you realize that 
they have conservative views about educational policies.
It is interesting to think whether our own views change as a 
function of working together with these new friends. There is strong 
possibility that we may find ourselves agreeing with them more and 
more as time passes. It may happen because of cohesiveness i.e.,
Degree of attraction with the group of friends working on same 
project.