Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Start the answer by briefly defining the term social influence
• Discuss the role of social influence in shaping behavior of a person.
• Conclude Suitably.

Introduction

Social influence is the process by which individuals adapt their opinion, revise their beliefs, or change their behavior as a result of social interactions with other people.

It takes many forms and can be seen in socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, persuasion, and marketing.

Body

Role of Social influence in shaping behavior of a person

• Conformity: Conformity refers to when people adjust their behaviours, attitudes, feelings, and/or beliefs to fit a group norm.
• Self-organized Phenomenon: In our strongly interconnected society, social influence plays a prominent role in many self-organized phenomena such as herding in cultural markets, the spread of ideas and innovations, and the amplification of fears.
• Premise of Behavioral Economics: Behavioral economics works on the premise that — both to help people individually and to have a positive impact on the widest number of people — individuals’ behavior can be influenced without restricting their liberties.
• Persuasion: Persuasion is symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people through transmission of a message to change their attitudes or behaviours
• Peer Pressure: It can help you to develop empathy, develop both negative and positive thoughts & actions, experiencing different cultures.

Conclusion

Humans are social beings, and thus, their choices are made in the context of social connections, personal relationships, and physical environments — all of which will have been influenced by other people.