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Informational Influence

What do we do when we are uncertain about how to think or act in a situation? One solution is to look to the attitudes and actions of other people. Informational influence (also known as informational social influence) is a type of conformity in which individuals use the attitudes or actions of those around them as cues to correcting their own behavior. It is contrasted with normative influence, where people conform in order to be liked or accepted by others. Informational influence and normative influence are the two types of influence outlined in Morton Deutsch and Harold Gerard's dual-process theory of social influence.

Characterized as influence to accept information obtained from others as evidence about reality, informational influence is based on a desire to make informed decisions. This influence is most powerful when being accurate is more important, when others are perceived as especially knowledgeable or expert, and when the situation is particularly ambiguous or uncertain. The more uncertain people are about the correctness of their judgments, the more susceptible they will be to informational influence. However, the more uncertain people are about the correctness of the judgments of others, the less susceptible they will be to informational influence.

Informational influence is not irrational; rather, it is a functional way of defining a position in the face of limited information or ambiguity and uncertainty. Indeed, if others have access to more, different, or more accurate information, it may be sensible to adopt their opinions or to be influenced by their opinions. Informational influence is seen as “true” influence, as the individual accepts and internalizes it—that is, conforms because of a genuine belief that others are correct, and it is seen to lead to longterm, private, attitude change. This is contrasted with normative influence, which is seen as leading to public compliance—that is, to conforming to the behavior of others publicly without necessarily believing such behavior is correct. This entry looks at the history of the concept of informational influence and discusses related controversies.

History and Background

It could be argued that one of the first studies to demonstrate informational influence was Muzafer Sherif's work on the autokinetic effect. The autokinetic effect refers to the way in which a pinpoint of light appears to move of its own accord when it is viewed in a completely dark room where there are no visible reference points. In Sherif's studies, people were placed in a darkened room either alone or in groups and asked to state how much the point of light moved. In this ambiguous situation, people were always influenced by the judgments of other people, even if they first made their judgments alone. The groups converged on a norm that was used to make their judgments. Influence was accepted readily with little awareness and persisted in the absence of the group for long periods of time.

One early account for informational influence was offered by Leon Festinger, who suggested that individuals are motivated to test the validity of their beliefs and prefer to do so through a process of physical reality testing. However, when we cannot rely on our own direct perceptual and behavioral contact with the physical world, as is the case in the autokinetic paradigm, the subjective validity of our beliefs depends on social reality testing and on the consensual validation of our beliefs by other people. In such cases, we will become susceptible to influence from others. If we discover that other people do not share our beliefs and opinions, we will question whether our beliefs and opinions are correct.

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