Social Influence: Target/Reciever Factors

Almost everyone can think of at least one person who seems to be much more readily influenced than others. It might be the young lady who seems to be controlled by her significant other, or perhaps the gentleman who seems to always follow the crowd. We have all seen the helpless consumer who appears to get so uncomfortable around salespeople that he purchases whatever is suggested. There are certain characteristics that make people more susceptible to influence tactics of all kinds. The first characteristic, which is both intuitive and pervasive, is a lack of self-esteem. Naturally, those individuals who lack the confidence to remain steadfast in their decisions can be more easily swayed to act in a way that others would prefer, and believe the things that others would like them to. That is to say that "people with high self-esteem might be more likely to resist social pressure than those with low self-esteem...

Could, however, being a positive person also lead one into persuasive peril? This may in fact be the case. At the very least, when individuals are in a good mood they are much more receptive to influence tactics (Nevid & Rathus, 2005). As with most things, those who are brighter have an advantage in this arena as well. It should not be surprising that those who are more intelligent tend to be more resistant to persuasion techniques (Baumeister, et al., 1985). After all, if an individual can recognize when they are the target of influence, hypothetically, they would be much more able to curb its controlling effects. If we can correlate high self-esteem with extraversion and then combine its effects with intelligence the result is even more stark. Those individuals who are both high in extraversion and intelligence are more resistant to influence than those who are high in either of those two characteristics alone (Carment & Miles, 1965). Strangely, in at least one study conducted among Mexican-American teenagers, self-esteem only played a significant role in influence resistance for males, while it appears that it played no significant role for females (Bamaca & Umana-Taylor, 2006).

Finally, the last factor to be discussed regarding the target of influence could quite easily be discussed in the next section regarding environment. If an individual is a member of an individualistic society, he or she is much less likely to be affected by influence tactics as opposed to individuals from a collectivist society (Nevid and Rathus, 2005). To understand this, one must examine the characteristics of each of these types of societies. Take, for instance, traditional Japanese culture: as a collectivist society the members find a great deal of their identity not in who they are individually, but in the identity of the group to which they belong, and its characteristics. Certainly some of their identity rests in their specific function in the group, but the lion's share rests in the qualities that the group exudes. Conversely in America, which is much more individualistic (though not entirely) identity is found in the personal and professional qualities that a person has individually. If a person finds their identity in the community or group of which they are a part, then if a group uses influence tactics to suggest a course of action or belief, then that person is much more apt to accept. Likewise, if an individual finds their identity more internally, then the influence of a group should, theoretically be less.

Works Cited

Bamaca, M.Y. & Umana-Taylor, A.J. (2006). Testing of model resistance to peer pressure among Mexican-

origin adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(4), 631-645.

Baumeister, R.F. & Covington, M.V. (1985). Self-esteem, persuasion, and retrospective distortion of initial

attitudes. Electronic Social Psychology, 1(1).

Carment, D.W. & Miles, C.G. (1964). Persuasiveness and persuasibility as related to intelligence and

extraversion. British Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 4(1), 1-7.

Wooten, D.B. & Reed, A. (2004). Playing it safe: Susceptibility to normative influence and protective self-

presentation. Journal of Consumer Research, 31.

Nevid, J.S. & Rathus, S.A. (2005). Psychology and the challenges of Life: Adjustment in the new

millenium. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley& Sons, Inc.