Collaborative Research: The Functions of Social Influence

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Social psychologists have conducted hundreds of studies that attempt to determine when and why people will be influenced by others. With few exceptions, however, little work has examined why people seek to have an influence on others. Why do people care if others conform, obey, or change their opinions as a result of something they say or do? What needs or goals are served by having an impact on someone? And what are the consequences of learning that one has failed to influence another? In this collaborative research conducted by Martin Bourgeois of Florida Gulf Coast University and Kristin Sommer of CUNY Baruch College, social influence is hypothesized to fulfill five basic human needs. Specifically, having influence may satisfy needs for meaningful existence (by allowing one to realize short-term goals and experience a sense of purpose in life); accuracy (by suggesting that one's beliefs and behaviors are right and justified); control (by establishing contingencies between one's behaviors and desired outcomes); self-esteem (by providing one with a sense of accomplishment or superiority to others); and belongingness (by strengthening social connections and making one feel valued by others). Empirical support for this model will be obtained using three main approaches. First, results of a prior experiment revealed that people who believed they had successfully persuaded another reported higher levels of belongingness, control, self-esteem and purpose in life than those who failed to persuade. These findings will be replicated and extended by showing that need satisfaction is contingent on successful influence as opposed to any type of successful endeavor. Second, the researchers will examine whether systematically depriving people of each of these needs increases their attempts to influence others. These studies will temporarily reduce people's feelings of belongingness, control, existential meaning, self-esteem, or accuracy and assess their subsequent efforts to persuade other people. Finally, a series of studies will examine whether having influence attenuates the emotional and behavioral consequences of social ostracism and thoughts of one's own death. These studies test the prediction that influence replenishes the needs threatened by noxious social stimuli. Additional domains of social influence, including conformity, compliance, and obedience, will be examined to determine if the results generalize. The work supported by this grant will provide a unique and long overdue contribution to the social psychology literature by examining influence processes from the perspective of the agent rather than target of influence. The results are expected to provide a crucial and currently untested link between perceived influence and mental health. The proposed findings would suggest that people who experience temporary or chronically low levels of self-esteem, belongingness, meaningful existence, accuracy or control will be particularly likely to benefit from having influence on others. The findings are also likely to have strong implications for the development and quality of interpersonal relationships. Because people will seek and maintain connections with those who offer the greatest potential for need fulfillment, they are most likely to be attracted to friends and romantic partners whose attitudes and behaviors they have helped to shape.