21.5.2 Effects of the Group on an Individual’s Satisfaction The satisfaction function given does not take the satisfaction of other users in the group into account, which may well influence a user’s satisfaction. As argued in [12] based on social psychology, two main processes can take place.
Emotional Contagion. Firstly, the satisfaction of other users can lead to so-called emotional contagion: other users being satisfied may increase a user’s satisfaction (e.g. if somebody smiles at you, you may automatically smile back and feel better as a result). The opposite may also happen: other users being dissatisfied may decrease a user’s satisfaction. For instance, if you are watching a film with a group of friends than the fact that your friends are clearly not enjoying it may negatively impact your own satisfaction.
Emotional contagion may depend on your personality (some people are more easily contaged than others), and your relationship with the other person. Anthropologists and social psychologists have found substantial evidence for the existence of four basic types of relationships, see Figure 21.5. In Experiment 5 (see Figure 21.6), we confirmed that emotional contagion indeed depends on the relationship you have: you are more likely to be contaged by somebody you love (like your best friend) or respect (like your mother or boss) then by somebody you are on equal footing with or are in competition with.
Conformity. Secondly, the opinion of other users may influence your own expressed opinion, based on the so-called process of conformity. Figure 21.7 shows the famous conformity experiment by Asch [3]. Participants were given a very easy task to do, like decide which of the four lines has the same orientation as the line in Card A. They thought they were surrounded by other participants, but in fact the others where part of the experiment team. The others all