What We Can Learn by Observing Social Influence in the Natural World

March 8, 2023 by Donald Gorassini, howinfluenceworks.com

We can learn a great deal by observing social influence in the world around us. To this end, I describe here a case of social influence and look at what it tells us. The case might seem mundane but what it tells us about the influence process turns out to be quite interesting.

I chose to look at how a community determines the number of apprentices to be educated within a given technical trade, such as electrician or plumber. There must be an effective mechanism for keeping each trade supplied with new workers. The system operates efficiently thanks to social influences.

There is nothing special about apprenticeship education when it comes to illustrating social influence. I could have chosen just about any case of a community trying to get its members to do something. All that is needed, once you choose a case, is taking a little extra time to examine it. The effect will be like wiping condensation from a window pane. The world beyond, formerly obscured, will be revealed.

Take a look at the graph. You might have to zoom in for a better look. The graph displays the number of apprenticeship positions typically allocated in a given year in the Canadian province of Alberta. To fulfill trade requirements, an aspiring electrician would have to gain practical experience under the tutelage of a certified electrician. Notice from the figure, electrician has over 10,000 apprenticeship slots. A society needs a lot of electricians. There are many different trades, and each requires apprenticeship education. The number of apprenticeship positions depends on the needs of the community. You need a lot of electricians, welders, and plumbers but only a few tool and die makers, glaziers, and boiler makers. The community has an interest in insuring an effective system of trade education and makes sure that the right number of apprenticeships are allotted for each trade.

We can safely assume that a process of social influence exists for filling the various apprentice slots. Many different people are doing many different things to get many other people to perform envisioned conduct. What are some of the more obvious things that we can learn about social influence from an examination of this case? The short answer is, a surprising amount.

Some lessons:

1. People respond to influence attempts based on expected gain. A student would apply to become an apprentice to win certification in a trade, compete effectively in the job market, and secure a good job;
2. An important reason why an apprentice position is offered originates in the economic principle of supply and demand. A certain number of apprentices are needed in a community. Interested members of that community participate in the system that offers the positions. For example, home builders need carpenters and will offer paying jobs. These offers of wages for services are social influence. The technique prompts a response from a targeted audience. Aspiring carpenters will enrol in apprenticeships in the hope of being certified as carpenters and getting these jobs. A surprising amount of the social influences in society originate in the economy;
3. Some form of authority often participates in the influence process. The government of Alberta regulates apprenticeship education. It allows a specified number of apprenticeships per trade per year. It certifies the students who successfully complete apprenticeship education as qualified to practice the trade. When hiring, an employer is much more likely to hire a certified applicant. In some jurisdictions, only certified applicants may be hired. Certification is a social influence in large part. It is the province saying, hire this person because they are qualified to practice this trade;
4. Influence works on speculation. This means that the recipient acts to achieve expected gains. The apprentice must meet certain requirements before being awarded certification. Having to act before it is possible to know if expected outcomes will actually occur is a hallmark of social influence;
5. Source credibility serves as an important basis for judging the probability of occurrence of future outcomes. In the case of apprenticeship training, expecting to achieve certification on meeting the requirements of the training program is well-founded because of the credibility of the province of Alberta; and
6. Compliance offers the recipient a chance to evaluate against reality what were, prior to compliance, only speculations. The apprentice believes that the Province of Alberta is reputable and that completion of training will result in certification. Once training is completed, the apprentice gets to see if certification is actually awarded and the Province really is reputable. This new knowledge would affect the recipient’s beliefs about Alberta’s credibility and the recipient’s susceptibility to future influence by the province. In similar fashion, citizens continually evaluate the reputations of the institutions of their society, whether the banks, the police, the government, or the media.

This case study teaches several important lessons about how social influence works. Effective social influence occurs due to the recipient’s expectation of gain, supply and demand in the economy, the intervention of authority, the recipient’s expectations (not realities), and past experiences in similar situations with similar influencers. If you wish to learn about social influence, simply look at the many examples residing in the world you know to deepen your understanding of how the process works. It only takes a bit of time and effort to uncover some interesting and potentially useful facts.