Influence Of Social Groups Research Articles

Social influence on route choice in a virtual reality tunnel fire

IntroductionEvacuation from tunnel fire emergencies requires quick decision-making and swift action from the tunnel occupants. Social influence (SI) has been identified as an important factor in evacuation. MethodsTwo experimental groups were immersed into a virtual road tunnel fire. In the SI group participants saw a virtual agent moving on the shortest route to the nearest emergency exit. In the control group, participants were alone. Destination and exit choices were analyzed using functional analysis and inferential statistics. ResultsSI affected route choice during evacuation but not destination choice: There were no group differences regarding destination choice. Participants in the SI group were more likely to choose a route similar to the virtual agent. Participants in the control group were more likely to choose a longer route along the tunnel walls. DiscussionSocial influence does not only affect behavior activation but also more subtle choices, such as route choice, during evacuation.

Social influence in group recommender systems

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to generate recommendations for groups on the basis of social factors extracted from a social network. Group recommendation techniques traditionally assumed users were independent individuals, ignoring the effects of social interaction and relationships among users. In this work the authors analyse the social factors available in social networks in the light of sociological theories which endorse individuals’ susceptibility to influence within a group.Design/methodology/approach– The approach proposed is based on the creation of a group model in two stages: identifying the items that are representative of the majority's preferences, and analysing members’ similarity; and extracting potential influence from members’ interactions in a social network to predict a group's opinion on each item.Findings– The promising results obtained when evaluating the approach in the movie domain suggest that individual opinions tend to be accommodated to group satisfaction, as demonstrated by the incidence of the aforementioned factors in collective behaviour, as endorsed by sociological research. Moreover the findings suggest that these factors have dissimilar impacts on group satisfaction.Originality/value– The results obtained provide clues about how social influence exerted within groups could alter individuals’ opinions when a group has a common goal. There is limited research in this area exploring social influence in group recommendations; thus the originality of this perspective lies in the use of sociological theory to explain social influence in groups of users, and the flexibility of the approach to be applied in any domain. The findings could be helpful for group recommender systems developers both at research and commercial levels.

A Preliminary Examination of Perceptions of Social Influence in Group Decision Making in the Workplace

Theory and research on social influence in groups indicate that normative influence can be detrimental to important group outcomes, whereas informational influence tends to have positive effects. However, much of the research providing these results consists of experimental studies conducted in laboratory settings. We examine how normative and informational influences are perceived in decision-making groups in the workplace. We find, in a survey of 197 individuals involved in group decision making in their workplaces, that the use of informational influence is viewed as enhancing group decision-making effectiveness and group cohesiveness. In contrast, normative influence has a negative effect on perceptions of decision-making effectiveness. Flirting as a form of idiosyncratic influence in the workplace is also considered and is found to have negative effects on perceptions of decision-making effectiveness and cohesiveness.

Student Tourism and Destination Choice: Exploring the Influence of Traditional, New, And Social Media: an Australian Case Study

Greater attention is now being given to the increasing popularity of the Internet as a communication tool, particularly social media and other forms of user-generated content (UGC). Social media websites, representing various forms of UGC, are also specifically gaining considerable attention from tourists and potential tourists. Now, tourists have the option of seeking information from “new media,” such as the Internet and social media, as well as traditional media, including films, television, books, magazines, and newspapers. Whereas both new and traditional media will play key roles in influencing the destination choices of tourists, research must also consider the influence of social groups that then translates through word of mouth (WOM). The youth and student travel market is a valuable segment of the overall tourism market, although it is often dismissed or ignored by tourism operators as youth tourists are wrongly perceived as having little financial value. This is, perhaps, because youth and student tourists are generally perceived as having a low income, and thus little disposable income to contribute towards travel. This research addresses this lack of attention by examining and exploring the international destination choice influencers of students with regard to peer and social pressure, traditional WOM, online social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and other UGC websites. The research used a qualitative, focus group study strategy. The results found that all 24 university student participants indicated some level of apprehension about the reliability of information found on the Internet and social media in particular, and there were also varying degrees of reluctance to utilize social media as a credible destination information source. This contradicts previous research suggesting young people such as university students do not generally show concern about the credibility of information found in social media.

The social group influences of US health journalists and their impact on the newsmaking process

The news media play a vital role in disseminating health information, yet little is known about the social characteristics of health journalists or the impact they have on the newsmaking process. This study examines how the social group influences of US health journalists impact two important aspects of news production--'media agenda-setting' and 'framing'. Using data from a national survey of health and medical science journalists, the authors conducted multivariable logistic regression analyses to study the links between the gender, age and race/ethnicity of respondents, and the ways in which they utilized news sources, other resources, news priorities and story angles. Female respondents were more likely than males to say that educating people to make informed decisions and disseminating new, accurate information are important priorities. Female and minority journalists were more likely than white males to use a variety of sources, and to say it is important to develop the health and scientific literacy of audiences and influence public health behaviors. The gender and race/ethnicity of journalists play an important role in the production of health news. Health educators can foster improved coverage by learning more about the life experiences of health journalists and developing better working relationships with them.

Political Power and Institutional Change: Lessons from the Middle East

This paper focuses on the internal organisation of the societies of the Middle East and how that may have influenced the economic institutions to explain the economic trajectory of the region since the medieval era. Societies of the Middle East experienced a good deal of institutional change since the rise of Islam. While many of these changes were in response to the changing circumstances, they also reflected the social structure and prevailing power balances. Beginning in the medieval era and continuing with the Ottomans in the early modern period, political power was concentrated in the hands of the sovereign and the state elites around him. In contrast, the influence of various social groups, not only of landowners but also of merchants, manufacturers and moneychangers, over economic matters, and more generally over the policies of the central government remained limited. As a result, societies in the Middle East did not develop institutions more independent of the state and the state elites and more in favour of the private sector.

Hand Gestures and Perceived Influence in Small Group Interaction

A laboratory study was carried out to establish the relative importance of verbal and gestural behavior, as well as their interaction, for perceived social influence in more or less competitive small groups. Forty women (psychology students) participated in leaderless small group discussions of different sizes (four-member and eight-member): at the end, each member rated the perceived influence in decision-making of every other member. Verbal dominance coding is based on traditional quantitative conversational dominance (number of talk turns). Gestural coding (conversational, ideational, object-adaptor, self-adaptor gestures) is based on classical gesture classifications. Beside a substantial effect of verbal dominance, the main result is that frequency of object-adaptors and conversational (only in large groups) and ideational (in both small and large groups) gestures increases perceived influence scores particularly when the verbal dominance of the speaker is low.

Characteristics of XBRL adoption in Germany

The distribution of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is globally driven by the growing information needs of stakeholders in and around enterprises and by the mandatory reporting requirements of public entities. The aim of this paper is to show the adoption level and the impact parameters of the adoption of the XBRL standard in Germany and to compare it with the adoption of other information and communication standards. In order to gain knowledge and an understanding of this topic, managers from different business units used a survey based on institutional theory and the technology acceptance model. The results are discussed in terms of the lessons learned in the context of diffusion research. It is shown that the influence of social groups and top management leadership determine the level of XBRL adoption. The positive arguments for XBRL seem to be underrepresented or provide insufficient reasons for adoption. Comparisons with the adoption of other information and communication standards show differences in the parameters which influence adoption.

Helping hands: A cluster randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses

BackgroundHand hygiene prescriptions are the most important measure in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Yet, compliance rates are generally below 50% of all opportunities for hand hygiene. This study aims at evaluating the short- and long-term effects of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses.Methods/designThis study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with inpatient wards as the unit of randomisation. Guidelines for hand hygiene will be implemented in this study. Two strategies will be used to improve the adherence to guidelines for hand hygiene. The state-of-the-art strategy is derived from the literature and includes education, reminders, feedback, and targeting adequate products and facilities. The extended strategy also contains activities aimed at influencing social influence in groups and enhancing leadership. The unique contribution of the extended strategy is built upon relevant behavioural science theories. The extended strategy includes all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy supplemented with gaining active commitment and initiative of ward management, modelling by informal leaders at the ward, and setting norms and targets within the team. Data will be collected at four points in time, with six-month intervals. An average of 3,000 opportunities for hand hygiene in approximately 900 nurses will be observed at each time point.DiscussionPerforming and evaluating an implementation strategy that also targets the social context of teams may considerably add to the general body of knowledge in this field. Results from our study will allow us to draw conclusions on the effects of different strategies for the implementation of hand hygiene guidelines, and based on these results we will be able to define a preferred implementation strategy for hospital based nursing.Trial registrationThe study is registered as a Clinical Trial in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT00548015.

Influence of family environment and social group on smoking among Brazilian youth aged 15 to 24 years

To estimate the prevalence of smoking among Brazilian youth, examining individual, family, and social group factors associated with this habit. Data from youth aged 15 to 24 years living in 17 Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District, obtained from the Household Survey on Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases and Reported Morbidity carried out in 2002 and 2003 by the National Cancer Institute was analyzed. Individual variables (sex, age, schooling, alcohol consumption, self-rated health, physical activity, current school attendance), family variables (age and education of head of household and father, mother, or sibling smoking), and social group variables (best friend smoking, most friends smoking, boyfriend/girlfriend smoking) were analyzed. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach to evaluate the factors associated with smoking were used. Considering the effect of the sampling design, smoking prevalence was 12.8%, ranging from 6.8% in Aracaju to 24.1% in Porto Alegre. The following factors were predictors of smoking: male sex, older age, less schooling, not attending school at the time of the survey, poorer health perception, and alcohol consumption. Peer smoking (friends or boyfriend/girlfriend) and smoking among family members (father/mother or sibling) were associated with smoking. There was an effect of parental birth cohort on smoking, with a higher prevalence of smoking among youth whose parents were born in the 1930s. Individual characteristics and the influence of peers and family were relevant for smoking by the youth. Increasing the dialogue among teenagers, school, schoolmates, friends, and parents could lead to a reduction of substance use among youth.

Priming the Sleeping Giant: The Dynamics of Latino Political Identity and Vote Choice

Latinos are commonly referred to as the “sleeping giant” in American politics, and interest in the political potential of this fastest‐growing American ethnic group has risen in recent years. This article examines the influence of Latino political identity on voting preferences in the 2006 California gubernatorial election. A survey experiment linking Latino identity to support for either the Democratic or Republican candidate finds that vote preferences were influenced by group cues and that this effect was strongest in increasing support for the Democratic candidate among Latino Republicans and independents. The influence of Latino political identity is modeled as a two‐step process of social identification and group influence, both of which are found to interact with prior partisanship. These findings support a model of political identity that views identity as malleable and subject to contextual influences.

Emotion is for influence

Functional approaches to emotion are rapidly gaining in popularity. Thus far the functions of emotions have been conceptualised and studied mainly at the intrapersonal level of analysis, the key question being how individuals are influenced by the emotions they experience. Relatively little is known about the interpersonal effects of emotions; that is, how one person's emotions influence other people's cognitions, attitudes, and behaviours. We propose that a primary function of emotion at this interpersonal level of analysis is to engender social influence. Our analysis is informed by emotion as social information theory (EASI; Van Kleef, 2009). This theory posits that emotional expressions produce interpersonal effects by triggering affective reactions and/or inferential processes in targets, depending on the target's information processing and the perceived appropriateness of the emotional expression. We review supportive evidence from various domains of social influence, including negotiation, leadership, attitude change, compliance, and conformity in groups. We consider the viability of emotional expressions as tools of social influence, discuss the functional equivalence of various forms of emotional expression, and address implications for theorising about emotion regulation and the functionality and evolution of emotion.

Modeling the Influence of Family, Social Context, and Spatial Proximity on Use of Nonmotorized Transport Mode

This paper presents a joint model of the duration of walking and bicycling activity with the use of a hazard-based specification that recognizes the interval nature of time reported in activity–travel surveys. The model structure takes the form of a multilevel hazard-based model system that accounts for the range of interactions and spatial effects that might affect walking and bicycling mode use. In addition to the individual-specific factors, family (household-specific) interactions, social group (peer) influences, and spatial clustering effects are considered potential factors that contribute to heterogeneity in nonmotorized transport mode use behavior. The model system presented is capable of accommodating grouped duration responses often encountered in activity–travel surveys. A composite marginal likelihood estimation approach is adopted to estimate parameters in a computationally tractable manner. The model system is applied to a survey sample drawn from the recent 2009 National Household Travel Survey in the United States. Model results show that significant unobserved family-level, social group, and spatial proximity effects contribute to heterogeneity in walking and bicycling activity duration. The unobserved effects were also found to have a differential impact on bicycling activity duration, thus suggesting the need to treat and model walking and bicycling separately in transportation modeling systems.

Between Commitment and Pragmatism: Assessing International Influence on Human Rights Practices in Georgia

What explains the discrepancy between the avowed commitment of the Georgian government to human rights and praxis of human rights in the post-Rose Revolution republic? This article engages with this question and attributes persistent breaches of civil, political, and personal integrity rights in Georgia not only to its domestic circumstances but also to the international impact. The study develops a reference group theory; a type of social theory that stresses the influence of social groups of states on policies and behavior of their members. Reference groups endorse goals, values, and standards of behavior for their members and serve as the “frames of reference” that enable other states to assess the effectiveness and legitimacy of their actions. The findings of this study indicate that Georgia's reference groups, particularly the United States, contributed to its backsliding on human rights by (1) supporting the Georgian government in its goal of rebuilding the state prior to democratizing it and strengthening respect for human rights; (2) redirecting financial and other assistance from democracy promotion to state-building projects; and (3) providing the Georgian government with flattering, yet, misleading feedback concerning the republic's accomplishments in the area of human rights.

The age of smoke: environmental policy in Germany and the United States, 1880-1970

In 1880, coal was the primary energy source for everything from home heating to industry. Regions where coal was readily available, such as the Ruhr Valley in Germany and western Pennsylvania in the United States, witnessed exponential growth - yet also suffered the greatest damage from coal pollution.These conditions prompted civic activism in the form of anti-smoke campaigns to attack the unsightly physical manifestations of coal burning. This early period witnessed significant cooperation between industrialists, government, and citizens to combat the smoke problem. It was not until the 1960s, when attention shifted from dust and grime to hazardous invisible gases, that cooperation dissipated, and protests took an antagonistic turn.The Age of Smoke presents an original, comparative history of environmental policy and protest in the United States and Germany. Dividing this history into distinct eras (1880 to World War I, interwar, post-World War II to 1970), Frank Uekoetter compares and contrasts the influence of political, class, and social structures, scientific communities, engineers, industrial lobbies, and environmental groups in each nation. He concludes with a discussion of the environmental revolution, arguing that there were indeed two environmental revolutions in both countries: one societal, where changing values gave urgency to air pollution control, the other institutional, where changes in policies tried to catch up with shifting sentiments.Focusing on a critical period in environmental history, The Age of Smoke provides a valuable study of policy development in two modern industrial nations, and the rise of civic activism to combat air pollution. As Uekoetter's work reveals, the cooperative approaches developed in an earlier era offer valuable lessons and perhaps the best hope for future progress.

The influence of social groups on goal contagion

Goal contagion is the automatic adoption of a goal upon perceiving another’s goal-directed behavior (Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: Perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 23–37). This paper tests the hypothesis that goal contagion is more likely between people who belong to the same groups. Because past work on goal contagion has required participants to read about the behavior of others, we also test whether goals are caught when one sees rather than reads about another’s motivated behavior. Across three studies, this ecologically valid methodology reliably produced goal contagion, and this effect was more likely to emerge when participants shared a group membership with those they observed. In Study 1, participants were more likely to take on the goal of individuals who belonged to their same university. Study 2 demonstrated that this effect occurred even when participants were not explicitly focused on the group membership of others. A final study verified that our effects were motivational by demonstrating that failing at a goal relevant task increased negative affect, but only for those who viewed the motivated behavior of someone from their own group.

Social reference group influence on mobile phone purchasing behaviour: a cross-nation comparative study

This paper describes a comparative study investigating the influence of different reference group on consumer purchasing behaviour between the mobile phone users of USA and China. This study reveals that among the three reference group influence examined, only the utilitarian influence has resulted in statistically significant difference between China and US mobile phone buyers, and another two reference group influences, informational and value-expressive, have relative insignificant impacts. Based on the results of this study, managerial insights and practical implications for marketing strategies in the mobile phone market are recommended accordingly.

Decision-tree Model of Treatment-seeking Behaviors after Detecting Symptoms by Korean Stroke Patients

This study was performed to develop and test a decision-tree model of treatment-seeking behaviors about when Korean patients visit a doctor after experiencing stroke symptoms. The study used methodological triangulation. The model was developed based on qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with 18 stroke patients. The model was tested using quantitative data collected from interviews and a structured questionnaire involving 150 stroke patients. The predictability of the decision-tree model was quantified as the proportion of participants who followed the pathway predicted by the model. Decision outcomes of the model were categorized into immediate and delayed treatment-seeking behavior. The model was influenced by lowered consciousness, social-group influences, perceived seriousness of symptoms, past history of hypertension or stroke, and barriers to hospital visits. The predictability of the model was found to be 90.7%. The results from this study can help healthcare personnel understand the education needs of stroke patients regarding treatment-seeking behaviors, and hence aid in the development of educational strategies for stroke patients.

Individuality and Social Influence in Groups: Inductive and Deductive Routes to Group Identity.

A distinction between forms of social identity formation in small interactive groups is investigated. In groups in which a common identity is available or given, norms for individual behavior may be deduced from group properties (deductive identity). In groups in which interpersonal relations are central, a group identity may also be induced from individual group members' contributions, making individuality and individual distinctiveness a defining feature of the group (inductive identity). Two studies examined the prediction that depersonalization produced by anonymity has opposite effects for groups in which social identity has been induced or deduced. Results confirmed the prediction that depersonalization increases social influence in groups whose identity was more deductive. In contrast, depersonalization decreases social influence in inductive identity groups. Implications for the role of social identity in small groups are discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

Social influence in small groups: An interactive model of social identity formation

The present paper tries to overcome the dualism of group-level vs. individualistic analysis of small group processes, by presenting a model of social identity formation that incorporates factors at both levels of analysis as well as their interaction. On the basis of prior theorising in the social identity tradition and a programme of research spanning several interactive group research paradigms, we suggest that within small groups a social identity can operate as a contextual given, which shapes the behaviour of individuals within the group, as much as the behaviour of individuals within the group can shape social identity. This proposal is supported by a programme of research into social influence within small interactive groups. This research explores deductive (top-down) processes through which existing identities influence group processes, but also shows a reciprocal influence through which intragroup discussion creates a sense of group identity in the apparent absence of any direct intergroup comparison (an inductive, or bottom-up, path). It is the interaction between these two forces that we believe is characteristic of the way in which small groups achieve a sense of social identity. Supporting this view, we describe research that suggests that processes of identity formation play a key role in decision making, productive collaboration, consensualisation, integrative negotiations, and the development of shared cognition.