Social Influence
lecture

last worked on:

10/11/95

Social Influence:
An Interlude

Soc 257

New Religious Movements

Lecture Outline

Part I

Brainwashing Revisited

Review of Brainwashing Thesis

In a word........ brainwashing is not a viable concept

there is no body of empirical research that can lend validity to the phenomon as it has been characterized by the secular anti-cultists.

Still......there are a lot of people who believe that "cults" have unusual powers to influence people.

Is there an alternative explanation that will allow us to acknowledge the fact that "cults" and "sects" can have very significant influence on individuals without having to resort to the presuppositions and false premises of the brainwashing metaphore?

YES!!

Part II

Social Influence as an Alternative Account

Social influence....
is an alternative concept that helps us better understand the techniques of persuasion utilized by NRMs in the broader context of influence in human cultures

Five orienting premises:

Influence can take many forms and range from.....

Religious leaders have long been among the extremely skilled at gaining compliance

Charles Finey, Dwight Moody and Billy Sunday were 19th century evangelists who virtually made a science of getting people to step out into the isle when the invitation was given at the end of a sermon.

But........
we make a serious misjudgment if we fail to recognize that the techniques of religious leaders are not superior to those who seek influence in the social, political and eonomic spheres of culture.

Part III

The Wonderful World
of
Robert B. Cialdini

How did Cialdini get interested in this topic?

How did Cialdini prepare himself to write this book?

What is the compliance professionals goal?

Cialdini identifies six major tactics of strategies for gaining compliance

Reciprocity

Hilton Head, S.C.

Commitment and Consistency

"Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment."

Social Proof

Liking

Authority

Scarcity

if an item is available in limited quantities, or for a limited time, that knowledge psychologically increases its desirability.

Part IV
Epilogue:
Should Someone be Regulating Social Influence?

Cialdini's perspective:

But problems abound:

What is Cialdini's solution to the problem?

Consider the following:

"Compliance professionals who play fairly by the rules of shortcut response are not to be considered the enemy; on the contrary, they are our allies in an efficient and adaptive process of exchange. The proper targets for counteraggression are only those individuals who falsify, counterfeit, to misrepresent the evidence that naturally cues our shortcut responses." (p 228)

How would Cialdini deal with "integrated saturation marketing?"

Examples:

How would Cialdini deal with advertising "evil" products?

Examples:

Finally, a question.....

Soc257-relmov@virginia.edu

Next topic:
Religion on the
World Wide Web

Dont foget!!!

Bring a floppy disk so you can download your booksmarks

Course schedule revision:

Catholics

Mormons

(Guest speaker: David Bromley)