Question

Explain how elements of social influence may have a role in the development of the norms below.

1) A social norm like not being on your phone in class.

2) Crossing a road when the walk like isn't on.

3) Most schools now have electronic books for classes that are included in the course but you have to pay for a hard copy.

Answer 1

Social influence is basically about certain changes in a personality who accept the newness depending on their own perception. Where social norms are those behaviors that are accepted by society and also encouraged by society. Social influence can be presented in many forms like obedience, peer pressure, socialization, persuasion, etc. People can be influenced by their friends, colleagues, a group also they have an understanding in which way should they believe in something, like through the process of compliance, identification, or internalization. In compliance, a person believe in something due to societal pressure and they don't showcase what they truly feel about a particular norm, they keep it private.

1) The first sentence can be an example of compliance form of social influence, due to the classroom discipline one can not use their phones while the class is going on. A student can feel like checking their phones but because of the norm which is accepted by the institution he/she will follow the instruction out of fear and will not break the norm. In different cases means a person who belongs to internalization he/she can accept it obediently as this norm is appreciated in general, the student can follow this privately as well as publicly. The process of obedience matters the most here.

2) The second one can be a possible example of psychological manipulation, here someone can behave in a deceptive way, they might feel good in breaking necessary rules and they can even influence others by being a manipulator. Crossing a road while the person doesn't feel like walking can lead to a horrific accident, this kind of behavior should not be entertained. We should be very cautious while crossing a road. However, other than this social influence can be fruitful in good ways as well.

3) Most schools have e-books for their students so that they get used to the technological ways of learning and it's beneficial in many ways like we cant have so many e-books in one device at a time we don't need to buy each but it depends on the priority of people how they find it useful. They enjoy better while they read a printed copy. It can be an example of reactance which means a person feels that he/she has not the freedom to choose any alternative way as the process of e-book reading is included but they still have to pay for the hard copy. Here the choice of an individual has been given less priority.