CAN UNCLASSIFIED Situational characteristics and social influence: A conceptual overview Leandre R. Fabrigar Queen's University Thomas Vaughan-Johnston, Matthew Kan Queen's University Anthony Seaboyer Royal Military College of Canada Prepared by: Queen's University Department of Psychology Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 MOU/MOA: DND RMCC - Service Level Arrangement with Royal Military College of Canada (RMCC) concerning contribution to DRDC's Program Technical Authority: Lianne McLellan, DRDC – Toronto Research Centre Contractor's date of publication: June 2018 Defence Research and Development Canada Contract Report DRDC-RDDC-2018-C121 6HSWHPEHU 2018 CAN UNCLASSIFIED CAN UNCLASSIFIED IMPORTANT INFORMATIVE STATEMENTS This document was reviewed for Controlled Goods by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) using the Schedule to the Defence Production Act. 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Canada does not assume any liability in respect of any damages or losses arising out of or in connection with the use of, or reliance on, any information, product, process or material included in this document. Template in use: CR_EL1%20Advanced%20Template_EN%202018-04_04-v1_WW.DOTM © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada (Department of National Defence), 2018 © Sa Majesté la Reine en droit du Canada (Ministère de la Défense nationale), 2018 CAN UNCLASSIFIED Situational Characteristics and Social Influence: A Conceptual Overview by: Leandre R. Fabrigar, PhD Department of Psychology Queen’s University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Thomas Vaughan-Johnston, MSc Department of Psychology Queen’s University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Matthew Kan, MSc Department of Psychology Queen’s University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Anthony Seaboyer Director Centre for Security, Armed Forces, and Society Royal Military College of Canada National Defence, P.O. Box 17000 Stn Forces Kingston, ON K7K 7B4 June 17, 2018 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Objectives, Scope, and Overview………………………………………….. 4 Introduction to Key Concepts and Methodological Practices ……………....5 ORGANIZATIONAL TAXONOMY AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Overview……………………………………………………………………10 Taxonomy of Situational Characteristics……………………………….......11 Processes Underlying the Effects of Situational Characteristics…………... 15 REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL LITERATURE Conformity…………………………………………………………………. 20 Compliance………………………………………………………………….33 Obedience………………………………………………………………….. 50 Persuasion………………………………………………………………….. 63 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS General Observations Regarding the Empirical Literature………………… 94 Alternative Taxonomies of Situational Factors in Social Influence……….. 96 Implications for Influence Campaigns……………………………………... 103 3 Abstract The purpose of this report is to review academic research literature on the topic of social influence, with particular emphasis on the effects of situational characteristics. We present an organizing framework for categorizing the vast array of situational factors known to regulate four types of social influence: conformity, compliance, obedience, and persuasion. The framework is grounded in a theoretical perspective for understanding how, when, and why situational factors have their effects. We conclude by highlighting applied implications of this literature for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and note issues that remain to be resolved within the literature. Résumé L’objectif du présent rapport est d’examiner les travaux de recherche universitaires sur l’influence sociale en s’attardant aux effets des caractéristiques circonstancielles. Nous présentons un cadre organisationnel pour la catégorisation d’un vaste éventail de facteurs conjoncturels pouvant régir quatre types d’influence sociale : le conformisme, l’adhésion, la soumission et la persuasion. Le cadre est établi dans une perspective théorique permettant de comprendre comment, quand et pourquoi les facteurs conjoncturels produisent leurs effets. Nous terminons en soulignant les implications pratiques de ces travaux de recherche pour les Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) et en notant les questions non résolues par ces travaux. 4 INTRODUCTION Objectives, Scope, and Overview Social influence is a pervasive aspect of daily life. Each day, the typical person is bombarded with numerous influence attempts such as product advertisements attempting to influence consumer purchases, political advertisements seeking to secure votes, charities requesting donations, and friends asking for favours. In light of the centrality of social influence in people’s lives, it is not surprising that the study of social influence in its various forms has been a topic of great interest in social psychology and related disciplines (e.g., marketing and communications). Over nearly 70 years, researchers in social psychology and other disciplines have produced a vast literature documenting a host of factors that play a role in social influence (e.g., for reviews, see Albarracín & Johnson, in press; Cialdini, 2009; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Maio & Haddock, 2015; Petty & Cacioppo, 1996). The objective of this technical report is to introduce this extensive literature, with a particular emphasis on the impact of situational characteristics in social influence. Although our review will be predominantly based on research conducted in social psychology, we will also draw upon research from other disciplines including marketing, organizational behaviour, communications, health psychology, and political science. In discussing this literature, our goal will be to provide a conceptual review, rather than a detailed summary of the countless individual studies in this literature. Thus, we will focus on presenting readers with an organizing framework for categorizing that vast array of situational factors known to regulate social influence and a theoretical perspective for understanding how, when, and why these factors have their effects. Our intent is to review key themes and principles in this literature (i.e., general research findings and conclusions) rather than specific results. That being said, themes and principles can only be fully grasped if they are illustrated with concrete examples. Hence, for each major theme or principle in the social influence literature, we will discuss specific situational factors and empirical studies of them to illustrate broader concepts. Although space constraints preclude a detailed discussion of the full array of situational factors that have been studied in this literature, we will briefly highlight other situational factors beyond those we use to illustrate our themes so that readers have a clear sense of the scope of the literature. Our report will begin with an introduction to the central constructs in the social influence literature, as well to some key methodological practices in this literature. In the second section of the report, we will provide a framework for organizing the many situational characteristics that have been studied. We will then provide a broad theoretical perspective for understanding the ways in which these types of situational characteristics might be expected to have an impact on social influence. Following the presentation of our broader conceptual approach, we will then discuss the research 5 literatures associated with each of the four types of social influence that have commonly been studied. Our discussion of the research literature for each type of influence will be organized according to our categorization of situational characteristics. In the final section of the report, we will finish with a broad summary of the major empirical themes that have emerged from the literature and highlight some of the broader applied implications of this literature within the context of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). We will also note important issues that remained to be resolved within the literature. An Introduction to Key Concepts and Methodological Practices What is Social Influence? Broadly speaking, social influence refers to the ways in which people exert influence on the behaviours, beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of others (VandenBos, 2007, p. 865). Social psychologists have traditionally distinguished among four different types of social influence. Conformity is the tendency to change attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behaviours in ways that are consistent with group norms. For example, when a group of people are waiting at a bus stop and the bus arrives, people naturally form a line based roughly on the order in which people arrived at the stop. In many cases, the people engaging in this behaviour have never actually been directly asked to perform this behaviour nor has anyone attempted to actively convince them of its