Invisible Influence (29 page)

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Authors: Jonah Berger

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2.
 Pronin, Emily, Jonah Berger, and Sarah Molouki (2007), “Alone in a Crowd of Sheep: Asymmetric Perceptions of Conformity and Their Roots in an Introspection Illusion,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
92, 585–95.

3.
 To control for order effects, we randomized the order of the questions. Sometimes people answered the questions about their own purchase first and then someone else's. Other times people completed the questions for someone else's purchase and then rated their own.

4.
 
Match.com
and Chadwick Martin Bailey Behavioral Studies (2010), “
Match.com
and Chadwick Martin Bailey 2009–2010 Studies: Recent Trends: Online Dating,” 1–5.

5.
 For a review of mere exposure research, see Bornstein, Robert (1989), “Exposure and Affect: Overview and Meta-Analysis of Research,”
Psychological Bulletin
106, 263–89.

1.
Monkey See, Monkey Do

1.
 Sherif, Muzafer (1935), “A Study of Some Social Factors in Perception: Chapter 2,”
Archives of Psychology
187, 17–22.

2.
 For a summary of some of Asch's studies, see Asch, Solomon (1956), “Studies of Independence and Conformity: A Minority of One Against a Unanimous Majority,”
Psychological Monographs
70, 1–70.

3.
 Waal, Erica, C. Borgeaud, and A. Whiten (2013), “Potent Social Learning and Conformity Shape a Wild Primate's Foraging Decisions,”
Science
340, 483–85. Other animal research shows that whales acquire new feeding methods from other whales. See Allen, Jenny, M. Weinrich, W. Hoppitt, and L. Rendell (2013), “Network-Based Diffusion Analysis Reveals Cultural Transmission of Lobtail Feeding in Humpback Whales,”
Science
26, 485–88; and Dindo, Marietta, T. Stoinski, and A. Whiten (2011), “Observational Learning in Orangutan Cultural Transmission Chains,”
Biology Letters
7, 181–83. Other work suggests that different groups of chimpanzees have different cultures, which is consistent with the notion that they learn from others in their own group but that different groups differ. See Whiten, Andrew, J. Goodall, W. McGrew, T. Nishida, V. Reynolds, Y. Sugiyama, and C. Boesch (1999), “Cultures in Chimpanzees,”
Nature
399, 682–85. Fish copy other fish. See Pike, Thomas, and Kevin Laland (2010), “Conformist Learning in Nine-Spined Sticklebacks' Foraging Decisions,”
Biology Letters
6, 466–68.

4.
 Little, Anthony C., Michael Burt, and David Perrett (2006), “Assortative Mating for Perceived Facial Personality Traits,”
Personality and Individual Differences
40, 973–84; Hinsz, Verlin (1989), “Facial Resemblance in Engaged and Married Couples,”
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
6, 223–29; Griffiths, Wayne, and Phillip Kunz (1973), “Assortative Mating: A Study of Physiognomic Homogamy,”
Social Biology
20, 448–53; Zajonc, Robert, Pamela Adelmann, Sheila Murphy, and Paula Niedenthal (1987), “Convergence in the Physical Appearance of Spouses,”
Motivation and Emotion
11, 335–46.

5.
 Turns out there are many reasons chameleons change color, including temperature, light, and mood. While many of these have nothing to do with the color of their surroundings, popular perception remains that chameleons change to fit their environment. Ligon, Russell, and The Conversation (2013), “Chameleons Talk Tough by Changing Colors,” The Conversation (December 19), reposted at
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chameleons-talk-tough-by-changing-colors/
.

6.
 Chartrand, Tanya, and John Bargh (1999), “The Chameleon Effect: The Perception-Behavior Link and Social Interaction,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
76, 893–910. For integrative reviews of research on mimicry, see Van Baaren, Rick, L. Jansen, T. Chartrand, and A. Dijksterhuis (2009), “Where Is the Love? The Social Aspects of Mimicry,”
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
364, 2381–89; and Chartrand, Tanya, and Jessica Lakin (2013), “The Antecedents and Consequences of Human Behavioral Mimicry,”
Annual Review of Psychology
64, 285–308.

7.
 Simner, Marvin (1971), “Newborn's Response to the Cry of Another Infant,”
Developmental Psychology
5, 136–50.

8.
 Mirror Neuron Forum (2011),
Perspectives on Psychological Science
6, 369–407.

9.
 For an early discussion of mirror neurons, see Fadiga, L., L. Fogassi, G. Pavesi, and G. Rizzolatti (1995), “Motor Facilitation During Action Observation: A Magnetic Stimulation Study,”
Journal of Neurophysiology
73, 2608–11. For a more recent discussion, see Gallese, Vittorio, M. Gernsbacher, C. Hayes, G. Hickok, and M. Iacoboni (2011), “Mirror Neuron Forum,”
Perspectives on Psychological Science
6, 369–407.

10.
 Maddux, W. W., E. Mullen, and A. Galinsky (2008), “Chameleons Bake Bigger Pies and Take Bigger Pieces: Strategic Behavioral
Mimicry Facilitates Negotiation Outcomes,”
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
44, 461–68.

11.
 For some examples of the consequences of mimicry, see Ireland, Molly, R. Slatcher, P. Eastwick, L. Scissors, E. Finkel, and J. Pennebaker (2010), “Language Style Matching Predicts Relationship Initiation and Stability,”
Psychological Science
20, 1–6; Maddux et al., “Chameleons Bake Bigger Pies and Take Bigger Pieces”; and Van Baaren, Rick, R. Holland, B. Steenaert, and A. Knippenberg (2003), “Mimicry for Money: Behavioral Consequences of Imitation,”
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
39, 393–98.

12.
 Sorensen, Alan (2007), “Bestseller Lists and Product Variety,”
Journal of Industrial Economics
4, 715–38.

2.
A Horse of a Different Color

1.
 LeBolt, Dr. Wendy (2014), “Are National Team Players Born or Made?”
SoccerWire.com
(December 2).

2.
 Hopwood, Melissa J., J. Baker, C. MacMahon, and D. Farrow (2012), “Faster, Higher, Stronger . . . and Younger? Birth Order, Sibling Sport Participation and Sport Expertise,” paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii (June 2012),
Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology
34, S235.

3.
 There is a great deal of research on birth order and academic achievement, but for some examples, see Zajonc, Robert, and Gregory Markus (1975), “Birth Order and Intellectual Development,”
Psychological Review
82, 74–88; Zajonc, Robert (2001), “The Family Dynamics of Intellectual Development,”
American Psychologist
56, 490–96; Zajonc, Robert (1976), “Family Configuration and Intelligence,”
Science
16, 227–36; Hotz, Joseph, and Juan Pantano (2013), “Strategic Parenting, Birth Order, and School Performance,”
Journal of Population Economics,
1–26; Behrman, Jere, and Paul Taubman (1986), “Birth Order, Schooling and Earnings,”
Journal of Labor Economics
4, S121–S145; Black, Sandra, P. Devereux, and K. Salvanes (2005), “The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Children's Education,”
Quarterly Journal of Economics
120, 669–700; and Black, Sandra, P. Devereux, and K. Salvanes (2008), “Small Family, Smart Family? Family Size and the IQ Scores of Young Men,”
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 13336
.

4.
 Paulhaus, Delroy, P. Trapnell, and D. Chen (1999), “Birth Order Effects on Personality and Achievement Within Families,”
Psychological Science
10, 482–88.

5.
 Altus, William (1966), “Birth Order and Its Sequelae,”
Science
151, 44–49; Clark, Roger, and Glenn Rice (1982), “Family Constellations and Eminence: The Birth Orders of Nobel Prize winners,”
Journal of Psychology
110, 281–87; and Sulloway, Frank (1996),
Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives
(New York: Vintage Books).

6.
 Theroux, N. L. (1993), “Birth Order and Its Relationship to Academic Achievement and Selected Personal Traits.” unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.

7.
 Ibid.

8.
 Sulloway, Frank (2010), “Why Siblings Are Like Darwin's Finches: Birth Order, Sibling Competition, and Adaptive Divergence Within the Family,” in
The Evolution of Personality and Individual Differences
, eds. David M. Buss and Patricia H. Hawley (New York: Oxford University Press), 86–119; Plomin, Robert, and Denise Daniels (1987), “Why Are Children in the Same Family So Different from One Another?”
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
10, 1–16.

9.
 The question of how much siblings' personalities are driven by shared environmental influences is an ongoing area of research. While some researchers find little evidence of shared environmental influences, others find some evidence that it exists. Regardless of the exact influence of shared environment, however, what is clear is that even growing up with the same genetic makeup, in the same household, with the same parents, can lead two people to come out drastically different. And desires for differentiation likely play at least some role in this process. Even if people merely perceive their brothers and sisters as different from them, this provides some evidence for the desire to differentiate oneself from one's siblings. See Matteson, Lindsay, M. McGue, and W. Iacono (2013), “Shared Environmental Influences on Personality: A Combined Twin and Adoption Approach,”
Behavior Genetics
43, 491–504; and Borkenau, Peter, R. Riemann, A. Angleitner, and M. Spinath (2001), “Genetic and Environmental Influences on Observed Personality: Evidence from the German Observational Study of Adult Twins,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
80, 655–68.

10.
 Loehlin, John (1992),
Genes and Environment in Personality Development
(Newbury Park, CA: Sage).

11.
 Loehlin, John, J. Horn, and L. Willerman (1981), “Personality Resemblance in Adoptive Families,”
Behavior Genetics
11, 309–30.

12.
 Schachter, F. F., G. Gilutz, E. Shore, and M. Adler (1978), “Sibling Deidentification Judged by Mothers: Cross-Validation and Developmental Studies,”
Child Development
49, 543–46.

13.
 Loehlin, John, J. Horn, and L. Willerman (1990), “Heredity, Environment, and Personality Change: Evidence from the Texas Adoption Project,”
Journal of Personality
58, 221–43.

14.
 Ariely, Dan, and Jonathan Leavav (2000), “Sequential Choice in Group Settings: Taking the Road Less Traveled and Less Enjoyed,”
Journal of Consumer Research
27, 279–90.

15.
 DeVito, Carlo (2008),
Yogi: The Life & Times of an American Original
(Chicago: Triumph Books).

16.
 Howe, Daniel (1988),
The Impact of Puritanism on American Culture
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons).

17.
 De Tocqueville, Alexis (2003),
Democracy in America
(New York: Penguin).

18.
 Tian, Kelly T., William O. Bearden, and Gary L. Hunter (2001), “Consumers' Need for Uniqueness: Scale Development and Validation,”
Journal of Consumer Research
28, 50–66; and Simonson, Itamar, and Stephen M. Nowlis (2000), “The Role of Explanations and Need for Uniqueness in Consumer Decision Making: Unconventional Choices Based on Reasons,”
Journal of Consumer Research
27, 49–68.

19.
 Semertzidis, Konstantinos, E. Pitoura, and P. Tsaparas (2013), “How People Describe Themselves on Twitter,” Association for Computing Machinery: Proceedings of the ACM SIGMOD Workshop on Databases and Social Networks, New York, NY (June 22, 2013).

20.
 People with unusual first names, firstborn or only children, children of interfaith marriages, and women whose nearest sibling is male rather than female all have greater desires for differentiation. Salient or unique personal attributes may lead people to see themselves as different, which in turn makes distinction seem desirable. Snyder, Charles, and Shane J. Lopez (2002), “Uniqueness Seeking,”
Handbook of Positive Psychology
18, 395–410.

21.
 Heejung, Kim, and Hazel Markus (1999), “Deviance or Uniqueness, Harmony or Conformity? A Cultural Analysis,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
77, 785–800.

22.
 Kusserow, Adrie (1999), “De-Homogenizing American Individualism: Socializing Hard and Soft Individualism in Manhattan and Queens,”
Ethos
27, 210–34; and Wiley, Angela, A. Rose, L. Burger, P. Miller (1998), “Constructing Autonomous Selves Through
Narrative Practices: A Comparative Study of Working-class and Middle-class Families,”
Child Development
69, 833–47.

23.
 For research on how working-class contexts shape behavior, see Argyle, Michael (1994),
The Psychology of Social Class
(London: Routledge); Markus, Hazel, C. Ryff, K. Curhan, and K. Palmersheim (2004), “In Their Own Words: Well-being at Midlife Among High School–Educated and College-Educated Adults,” in
How Healthy Are We? A National Study of Well-being at Midlife
, eds. Orville Gilbert Brim, Carol D. Ryff, and Ronald C. Kessler (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 273–319; Lamont, Michèle (2000),
The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press); Kohn, Melvin, and Carmi Schooler (1986), “Work and Personality: An Inquiry into the Impact of Social Stratification
,” Political Psychology
7, 605–7; and Miller, Peggy, G. Cho, and J. Bracey (2005), “Working-class Children's Experience Through the Prism of Personal Storytelling,”
Human Development
48, 115–35.

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