Social Influence As Stimulus Control

Abstract

Many of the phenomena studied as examples of "social influence" in social psychology qualify as stimulus control by conspecifics from a behavior-analytic standpoint. Research on conformity, obedience, and social facilitation demonstrates that these constructs involve stimulus control. Recognizing social influence as stimulus control is advantageous because it is parsimonious, creates new avenues of research, and could potentially broaden the application of behavior analysis. To support this second point, we conducted a questionnaire-based study to demonstrate that the fundamental attribution error, a social-psychological phenomenon outside the typical definition of "social influence," is also influenced by the presence of conspecifics, as predicted from a behavior-analytic viewpoint. This prediction was supported, suggesting that recognizing social influence as stimulus control may prove fruitful.