Our reality is based on the culture in which we are raised and the socialization to which we are constantly exposed. We strive to be a part of this culture; thus we are likely to conform to fit into the group.
Socialization includes the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. We spend a lot of time trying to get people to do what we want them to do, which is an example of social influence. We are wired to want to be around others to help us survive and reproduce, which increases the chances we will conform.
As David Meyers describes in the video, there are two basic motives that make us responsive to others: normative and informational influence. Normative influence is that “we go along to get along” because we want others’ approval. In other words, we follow the unwritten norms of society because it is not comfortable to be the odd person in a group. Informational influence is that others give us information about reality, which may be useful to us.
In Solomon Asch’s classic conformity study, confederates gave incorrect answers to a simple task of comparing the lengths of lines. This led to participants picking the wrong answer approximately a third of the time to go along with the group. This demonstrated the power of the social context on our willingness to conform.
Scott Plous describes two sales techniques that are used in relation to social influence: the foot-in-the-door technique and the door-in-the-face technique. The foot-in-the-door technique is when the individual agrees to a small request that is made first, which increases the chances they will agree to a larger request later. The door-in-the-face technique is when the individual is led to reject an initial large request, which increases the chance of them agreeing to a smaller request later.