What is group influence? Learn the social influence theories behind why people behave the way they do when in a group. Learn the usefulness of these findings.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Group Influence | Definition & Examples
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do groups influence us?
Groups can influence us to change our opinions, do things we may not agree with, stay silent about differing opinions, and engage in behaviors that are not normal for us.
What is group social influence?
Group social influence is the idea that people are influenced by the majority of the group to engage in certain behaviors, ones that may be atypical for them.
What is the importance of group influence?
The importance of group influence is that it pushes people to positive as well as negative actions. It is what gives us guidelines for morality and ethics, inspires us to stand up for what is right, and accelerates progress and human improvement.
What is the meaning of group influence?
Group influence is the idea that people are influenced by being part of a group. Group influence is the effect of the group on human behavior, which can have many different results, both negative and positive.
Table of Contents
ShowThe concept of group influence is that people will change their behavior for the benefit of the majority or whole group. The evidence-based theory relies on the basic principle that people repeat behaviors that receive a positive outcome, response, or reinforcement. Babies continue to make faces that have repeatedly made the adults around them laugh. Second-graders are excited to sit still at their desks when they have received commendations for that behavior from their teachers. Likewise, bad group influence examples include a student who is typically well-behaved, but gets placed with a bunch of class clowns. If they get lots of positive attention from their classmates, that student might begin to demonstrate unruly behavior, too, since the whole class is perpetuating it with positive reactions. Being in the minority in a group is generally more uncomfortable. Siding with the majority is generally much more enjoyable. This is why this phenomenon is sometimes referred to as "peer pressure."
Definition of Group Influence
Group influence is the phenomenon that the majority of people in a group can alter the behavior of people within that group. The majority influence dominates the individuals of the group as a whole. This occurs as a result of the positive response to conformity to the group. Their shared beliefs strengthen the group, so this can obviously have a positive or negative result.
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Example 1: An alcoholic attends his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting post-rehab. He is reluctant to share or participate initially. After several minutes of others sharing and being vulnerable with their feelings, he notices that everyone is supportive of one another and responds to their stories with understanding, compassion, and shared experience. He then is able to share, motivated by the positive group influence.
Example 2: Group influence examples can have more serious consequences and historical significance. The atrocities that occurred during the Nazi regime largely happened because no one wanted to rock the boat. The "group" had your back as long as you aligned your beliefs with theirs. This is why so many probably good people did not stand opposed to the political regime.
Example 3: The influence of group has had a significant impact on higher education. Choosing to be a student after high school is almost entirely the result of group influence. While pursuing education is a positive behavior, the result of group influence has caused a many young students to take on debt to pursue a degree for a career they may or may not want. In this case, the impact of group influence has had both negative and positive consequences.
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Not surprisingly, there are many different theories pertaining to social influence and how people behave in groups. It has timeless relevance and is one of the most nuanced and fascinating aspects of life. The existence of group influence is inarguable; the real question is how theories of social influence can explain why. Social influence affects how products are marketed to the individual, how we can understand and interpret history, and is the basis of human experience. Some of the theories that deal with the subject include the following:
- Social Facilitation Theory: The simple presence of a group inspires the best behaviors and therefore improved performance.
- Deindividuation Theory: An individual loses sense of self as it gets lost in the group identity.
- Social Impact Theory: The size and intimacy of the group determine influence over the individual.
The reality of group influence is that it helps to define cultural and societal norms, as well as morality of people itself. The positive side of this is that we can have a set of general guidelines for humanity, a certain code of ethics. The negative of this can be that standards of ethics can become trendy or as fluctuating as one position becomes dangerously in the majority. It is the reason why a simple protest can turn into a riot. Once there is a majority influence, there is no limit on how much bad (and how much good) a group can accomplish. Whatever the theory, the reality of group influence remains, and can lead to a dangerous road or be used to accomplish great good.
Obedience
Obedience in a social influence context is when authoritative figures tell people to do something, and so it is followed with question because someone is telling them to do it. Probably the darkest and most infamous example, is the Nazi soldiers and even citizens who went along with Nazi atrocities because they were "just following orders." This can be a truly terrifying defense when you think about the behaviors it is used to excuse.
Compliance
Compliance in the case of social influence is a similar concept to obedience, where an authoritative figure asks us to do something. In compliance though, we are asked to do something we may or may not agree with and we go with it because it's what the group wants. Compliance can look a lot like "keeping the peace." An obvious example of this is family relationships. There are often members of the family who prefer to maintain peace rather than be right, so they go along with the status quo so as not to rock the boat. This can create actual family peace in the case of small issues, but with bigger issues it tends to just leave things left unsaid, and compliance can actually result in a loss of close family relationships.
Conformity
In social influence, conformity is not just going along with a situation but actively changing preexisting beliefs to be like that of the group. This can be an actual change in fundamental beliefs because of what the group thinks, or a person can conform for the positive outcomes and fewer negative ones. Conformity then is a pretty basic human inclination to get more positive than negative for yourself. In fact, if we do not conform, what can result is a cognitive dissonance that is against our natural state.
A social influence example of conformity in a group setting is human greetings. People often say "How are you?" as a greeting and because of conformity, most people respond with "I'm good," "I'm doing well," or some other positive reply, whether or not this is true. While conformity has produced many good standards of ethics and social connection, it also pressures people to get change their bodies to fit a certain standard or perhaps choose a job, marriage, or lifestyle to fit into the "normal" even if it is not true to themselves.
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The influence of the social group has great significance, because it is interdependence that makes the world turn. The way a group functions truly helps determine the way we think, reason, behave, believe, and interact with the world around us. From the time we are born or raised in a family we are motivated to see ourselves as part of that group. It is crucial for our development to have some sense of belonging, and families fulfill that. When we get older, we begin to make a habit out of finding our place in every group we're a part of. This is such a natural inclination that can accomplish so much good, or motivate someone to do something terrible and out of character. If a student is in a class with mostly other students who get good grades, the student might be motivated to bump theirs up slightly. If you work in a suit-and-tie environment where people dress very formally and professionally for work every day, you are not likely going to wear ripped jeans if you want to keep your job. The influence of society is that people care what other people think. When we're part of any group, we get the most positive feedback from conforming to the group's actions and behaviors, so we do that. It reinforces those behaviors, good or bad, and the result of people's affirmative reponses creates a sense of pride and increased self-esteem. Who doesn't want to feel good about themselves? It tends to be the most miserable people who isolate themselves and vice versa. The effects of social influence truly make the world go 'round.
Groupthink
Groupthink, another aspect of social influence theories, is a proven and alarming theory. Groupthink is the result of group influence and involves a group shutting down disagreement in favor of siding with precedent and rejecting other opinions. One of the oft-cited examples of groupthink is the Bay of Pigs crisis under President John F. Kennedy. Because of precedents set in the White House, his departments failed to coordinate and confer with advisors with differing opinions. They chose instead to invade, having given no consideration to information that might have been crucial for choosing a completely different route.
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Groupshift
Groupshift is the idea that once in a group with people of shared beliefs, your own beliefs will become stronger, more extreme. Another relevant application of this concept is when it comes to terrorism, when we hear about citizens who became "radicalized." They might have entered a group with mild beliefs, and left with radical notions that led to terrorist actions.
Deindividuation
Deindividuation is the idea that anonymity makes people do things they would never normally do. The individual's identity is literally lost in the group. Essentially the crowd figuratively masks them (or sometimes, as with the Ku Klux Klan) they are literally masked. Mosh pits, riots, the KKK, even rape of an intoxicated victim are all examples of the horrible things that can happen as a result of deindividuation.
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The theory of group influence describes the phenomenon that being a part of group influences us and influences our decisions, in both positive and negative ways. This is a very broad concept and can be examined from different viewpoints and connected theories. The majority can influence people to hold stronger beliefs, embrace brand-new beliefs, do rash things, let go of their identities, and truly become objectively bad people. There are many different theories and aspects of this group influence. Obedience is simply the idea that people do something just because an authoritative figure told them to, while compliance means you may go along with a behavior you disagree with because an authoritative figure told you to and you want to go with the group. Conformity is actively changing your beliefs to go along with a group, largely because this is natural human instinct and to not conform would result in cognitive dissonance. Groupthink makes people ignore differing opinions because of precedent, a classic example being the Bay of Pigs. Group shift sees groups as often having a radicalizing effect on people with shared beliefs, and deindividuation is a loss of yourself completely in the group. While the Social Facilitation Theory suggests that the effect of groups is improved performance, there are obviously some negative and terrifying realities that can result from group influence.
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Video Transcript
Group Influence Definition & Theory
Have you ever been in a group, big or small, and went along with the group's actions simply because you were a member of that group? Have you ever felt pressured by a group to do something that is at odds with your own beliefs? In this lesson, we're going to take a look at group influence and the theories that seek to explain it. We'll also review examples that illustrate this phenomenon.
Group influence is a phenomenon that occurs when the majority of people in a group influence the thoughts and behaviors of other people within that group. Groups come in many forms, including family, friends, work, social, and so on. Groups use their shared beliefs and experiences to strengthen the group, which can be positive or negative.
For example, a therapy group in which members share their experience with trauma may bind the group together and give each member a feeling that they are understood and supported. This is positive. However, if a person is part of a peer group that encourages the use of illicit drugs and violence and shares a common belief in antisocial behaviors, this is negative.
Social Influence Theories
Social influence theories have been developed to help explain group influence, which is often found in reference groups—those groups we look to for guidance. Social influence theories include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Social Facilitation Theory, which is a theory in which some scholars argue that the very presence of a group can influence us to do our best and that we improve our skills and tasks when we are competing with others in a group.
- Deindividuation Theory: This occurs when you lose your sense of self and embrace the identity of the group or crowd, which can sometimes lead to behaviors that you wouldn't have displayed as an individual.
- Social Impact Theory: This theory posits that a group will have the most influence on you depending on how intimate or close you are to the people in the group, the specific space and time in when the group tries to sway you, and how many people are in the group. In addition, the smaller the group, the greater influence.
The Three Main Avenues of Influence
Conformity
This is when we change our already existing beliefs and ideas to conform to that of the group. Conformity can be informational or normative. When informational, conformity is the result of people changing their thinking to match the group's because they think that is the correct way to think, and that they are wrong. Another form that conformity takes is normative. This is when fear of not conforming and the reward for conforming outweigh the risks, and the person conforms to avoid punishment and receive reinforcement for embracing the norms of the group.
Example
People are influenced to conform with the group when they experience cognitive dissonance. They are uncomfortable or stressed mentally because they think differently from everyone else. When they align themselves with the group, it reduces the stress and quells inner conflicts that may otherwise be at odds with the group; a mental sense of consistency with the group follows.
Compliance
This is when we are requested to do something by someone we see as an authoritative figure, and we do it—whether we agree with that person or not—simply because we're asked. We may feel they are wrong, but we go along with what the group wants.
Example
Groupthink occurs when the group shuts down disagreement in favor of precedent and doesn't allow for other voices to be heard. People who are experiencing groupthink are often being led by a strong, rigid leader who demands cohesiveness, is not open to outside ideas or influences, and places enormous pressure on members of the group to comply. This can have disastrous, even catastrophic, results when the ideas of others are dismissed.
For example, it is believed that it was groupthink that led to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. President Kennedy acted without the benefit of crucial information because his departments were neither coordinating with one another nor his advisors. Kennedy's advisors made the decision to not consider information that may have been unfavorable to the invasion and closed ranks. Therefore, Kennedy and his advisors went ahead with the invasion which rose to become an international crisis.
Groupthink isn't just a function of politics either. While it certainly can be politically motivated in nature, the way people interact with others on social media can suggest a sort of groupthink is at play when many individuals start echoing similar ideas, feelings, or even memes. When people see themselves as part of a group, even online, it can result in at least the appearance of groupthink occurring. Whether this is a new phenomenon or simply part of the old pattern of groupthink remains to be shown, but many people have noted the parallels.
Obedience
This is when an authoritative figure orders us to do something, and we do it without questioning.
Example
The Nazis used the excuse ''I was just following orders,'' which is now called an Eichmann Defense, to try and mitigate the consequences for their actions during the mass genocide of the Holocaust.
Lesson Summary
All right, that was a bit. So let's now take a moment or two to review. Group influence occurs when the majority of people in a group influence the thoughts and behaviors of other people within that group. Social influence theories seek to explain group influence.
One theory, Social Facilitation Theory, argues that the very presence of a group can influence us to do our best and that we improve our skills and tasks when we are competing with others in a group. Another theory, Deindividuation Theory, occurs when you lose your identity to the group or crowd and do whatever the group or crowd is doing. And, finally, Social Impact Theory posits that a group will have the most influence on you, depending on how intimate or close you are to the people in the group, the specific space and time in when the group tries to sway you, and how many people are in the group.
Three main ways that groups influence others are:
- Conformity - This is when we change our already existing beliefs and ideas to conform to that of the group. Remember that conformity can be informational or normative.
- Compliance - This is when we are requested to do something by someone we see as an authoritative figure, and we do it—whether we agree with that person or not—simply because we are asked. We may feel they are wrong, but we go along with what the group wants.
- Obedience - This is when an authoritative figure orders us to do something, and we do it without questioning.
Examples of group influence include people conforming to the group because of cognitive dissonance, feeling mentally uncomfortable and stressed when not in agreement with the group. Another example of group influence is that of the Nazis who obeyed orders to commit genocide without question. Another form of group influence is a phenomenon called groupthink in which members of a group are pressured into compliance. You can see the influence of groupthink in no shortage of political arenas such as the decision to attack the Bay of Pigs in Cuba which led to an international crisis, but we can also arguably see it play out on our own phones with the help of social media.
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Group Influence | Definition & Examples
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