Every day we make hundreds of decisions, some of which are so trivial that we don’t even realize it. In fact, we often think that we make conscious and rational decisions, taking into account our needs and desires, but in reality, the decision-making process is influenced by multiple factors, many of which escape our awareness.
The mere fact that there is a person next to us, even if it is a complete stranger, already influences our decision. Others exercise an incredible power over us, even if we are not always willing to acknowledge it. The behavior of others, even if it has nothing to do with us, at least directly, affects us because they can manipulate our minds.
The airplane experiment
A study conducted at Stanford University analyzed the databases of different airlines and found that if someone next to us buys something on the plane, we are 30% more likely to buy it. It is the subtle pressure exerted by others that pushes us to do certain things.
In the study, these psychologists analysed no less than 1,966 flights, with more than 257,000 passengers and 65,525 financial transactions. After analysing the data, they discovered that if someone sitting next to us buys a snack or a movie, we are more likely to imitate them.
In this experiment, taking us as a reference point, the person sitting in front was the object of control since, as the purchases were made using a touch screen, he or she would not have been able to know.
On average, people who board a plane only make a purchase 15% of the time. However, if someone next to us does, the chances of us doing the same double. That’s a huge increase, especially considering that nothing has changed.
The steering wheel experiment
Of course, this isn’t the only experiment that demonstrates the influence people have on our behaviors and decisions, even if they’re complete strangers. For example, researchers at UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania handed out flyers to students. The flyers encouraged students to sign up for a free class, some stated that the entire class would know they had signed up, and others indicated that the list would be kept private.
The results were clear: 25% more students enrolled in the course among those who received the flyer indicating that others would know about it. This means that these people felt judged and that they acted out of social pressure or a desire for social recognition.
How do people influence our behavior?
Social pressure, or peer pressure, as this phenomenon is also known, refers to the influence that others have on our attitudes, values and behaviors, to get us to conform to group norms.
In theory, social pressure works like this: harmony is broken when we face the threat of an external conflict (i.e. social rejection) for not conforming to the group norms. So, we change our behavior and adapt, eliminating the external conflict. But the curious thing is that as soon as we do this, an internal conflict appears because we realize that we have violated our own norms. To free ourselves from this internal conflict (self-rejection), we perform an “identity change,” through which we adopt the group norms as if they were our own, thus eliminating both conflicts and returning to a state of harmony.
The most curious thing is that an experiment carried out at Emory University detected, using functional neuroimaging techniques, that the areas involved in this process are the anterior insular cortex and the anterior cingulate gyrus. Both areas are linked to the physiological activation that occurs as a result of negative emotions. Therefore, neuroscientists believe that social pressure generates a state of anxiety and a feeling of restlessness at a physical level, which we try to calm by changing our behaviour to adapt to others.
In other words, many people are hardwired to seek acceptance from others and, as a result, change their behavior and decisions, sometimes without even being aware of it, in the name of fitting in and being accepted. So, the next time a stranger sits next to you, be on the lookout – you might have a tendency to unwittingly mimic their behavior.
References:
Gardete, P. M. (2014) Social Effects in the In-Flight Marketplace: Characterization and Managerial Implications. Journal of Marketing Research; 52(3).
Bursztyn, L. & Jensen, R. (2014) How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments? National Bureau of Economic Research.
Berns, G. S. et. Al. (2010) Neural Mechanisms of the Influence of Popularity on Adolescent Ratings of Music. Neuroimage; 49(3): 2687.
