Social Influence: Conformity, Compliance & Obedience — With Real Examples

Social influence is about how other people affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. NCERT Class 12 Chapter 7 covers three key types.

• *Informational influence*: We conform because others know better
• *Normative influence*: We conform to be liked/accepted

Asch's Conformity Experiment (1951): Participants gave wrong answers to obvious line-comparison questions when confederates gave wrong answers first. 75% conformed at least once.

• *Foot-in-the-door technique*: Small request first, then bigger one
• *Door-in-the-face technique*: Large request first (refused), then smaller one
• *Low-balling*: Agree to a deal, then the terms change

3. Obedience Following orders from an authority figure.

Milgram's Obedience Experiment (1963): 65% of participants gave (fake) maximum electric shocks to a learner when ordered by an authority figure. Showed the power of authority over individual morality.

Board Tip: NCERT includes these experiments. Describe the method + findings + implication for full marks.