Social influence is the alternation in behavior that a person or group causes in another individual. According to Stanley Milgram’s experiment this mostly happens when the power of the group or individual in perceived authority overrides a person’s values or morals and makes them act according to the information or rules set up by the one in authority. This change in behavior could be intentional or unintentional.
This social influence therefore leads to the need of one under influence to conform to the others making them change their belief or behavior so as to be like others in the society since it becomes generally difficult for one to maintain their own opinion when everyone around them holds a different opinion. Conformity may be either normative or informational depending on the situation at hand.
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Looking at an example where I happen to be in a group of friends who take alcohol. Most of them will tend to persuade me to do the same and even give more advantages of why it is healthy and right and make sure that at times I get to taste the alcohol. Maintaining the status of not drinking may seemed to be easy at the early stage but later on I start to feel like I might lose my friend and feel left out whenever they attend parties to drink and have fun.
This influence from such friends therefore makes me feel less of them and make me have the desire to be liked by the others in the group therefore I will end up complying and drinking so that I can fit into the group. I will only drink not because I want to, but just for show and to equalize with the rest in my peer circler. This kind push to conform to the rest was brought up by the normative influence forcing me to change my behavior and my moral values so as to fit in with the rest.
Reference
Milgrim,S.(1974). Obedience to authority: An experiment view . HarperCollins.
