social influence
Definition
Social influence refers to the processes by which the observed or communicated behavior of others shapes an individual's own behavior, beliefs, or judgments within a social context. Two broad forms have been identified: assimilative influence, in which individuals modify their behavior to resemble that of peers, and repulsive influence, in which individuals move against peers' behavior, with empirical data from therapy groups showing that 16 of 18 group models exhibited both types simultaneously. In information environments, social cues such as likes and shares function as signals of consensus, increasing the perceived reliability and accuracy of misinformation even among individuals who have received an inoculation intervention. A consequential asymmetry emerges from this: people tend to acknowledge the influence of such cues more readily on others than on themselves, a pattern termed the third-person effect.
Sources: Yang et al. (2024), Traberg et al. (2024)
Related Terms
Applications
Social Influence and Behavior Change
Social influence directly produces behavior change in group members, with individuals either conforming to or acting against peers' behavior depending on the type of influence operating in the group. A Boolean network method applied to longitudinal self-disclosure data from therapy groups demonstrated that these dynamics can be modeled at the dyad level and that targeted control strategies can steer groups toward desired behavioral states.
Sources: Yang et al. (2024)
Social Influence and Misinformation Susceptibility
Exposure to persuasive social cues, operationalized as fabricated indicators of peer endorsement, increases both the perceived reliability and perceived accuracy of false news content. This effect persists even when participants have been inoculated against emotionally misleading news, though the protective effect of inoculation itself remains undiminished by the presence of those cues.
Sources: Traberg et al. (2024)
