Chapter 14 Introduction

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A central theme of social psychology is that human behavior is influenced powerfully by the social environment in which it occurs. We behave as we do—sometimes heroically, sometimes villainously, more often somewhere in between—not just because of who we are, but also because of the social situations in which we find ourselves. Social norms and the examples, expectations, requests, and demands of those around us influence our behavior essentially every waking moment of every day. None of us is such an individualist as to be uninfluenced by others.

This chapter is about the ways by which the social environment influences our behavior. It deals with such topics as evaluation anxiety, conformity, obedience, cooperation, and conflict. A very general concept that runs through the chapter is that of social pressure, which can be defined as the entire set of psychological forces that are exerted on us by others’ judgments, examples, expectations, and demands, whether real or imagined. At any given moment, we are most strongly influenced by those people who are physically or psychologically closest to us.

Social pressure arises from the ways we interpret and respond emotionally to the social situations around us. It is a normal part of being human. Such pressure is useful because it promotes our social acceptability and helps create order and predictability in social interactions. But it can also lead us, in some situations, to behave in ways that are objectively foolish or even morally repugnant.