Social influence

Social influence is a change in a person’s judgments, feelings, or behavior caused by the actual or perceived presence, actions, or expectations of others.

Conformity: Conformity is the adjustment of beliefs or behavior toward a group’s norms or responses. It captures influence that arises from matching a group, even without a direct request.
Asch conformity experiments: Experiments in which participants judged line lengths after hearing a unanimous group give incorrect answers. They demonstrate conformity to an evidently mistaken majority.
Social norm: A social norm is an expectation about appropriate behavior shared within a group or society. Norms provide the standards people may adopt or resist under social pressure.
Reactance theory: Reactance theory explains resistance that arises when people perceive a threat to their freedom of choice. Pressure can provoke resistance instead of the change its source intends.
Compliance: Compliance is outward agreement with a request, whether or not private beliefs change. It isolates behavior shaped by another person’s explicit request.
Milgram experiment: A series of experiments in which participants were instructed to administer apparent electric shocks to another person. It tested obedience to an experimenter’s authority under escalating demands.
Reference group: A reference group is a group people use to evaluate themselves, their attitudes, or their behavior. Influence often depends on which group supplies the relevant comparison.
Group polarization: Group polarization is the tendency for group discussion to strengthen members’ initial leanings. It describes how interaction can intensify views, beyond simple agreement with a group.
Obedience: Obedience is behavior that follows a command from a person perceived to have authority. It is a specific form of influence driven by authority rather than peer norms.
Stanford prison experiment: A 1971 study that assigned participants roles as guards or prisoners in a simulated prison. It became a prominent, disputed case of behavior shaped by social roles and setting.

Linked from 17 pages