Obedience; Social impact theory. Flashcards
Who came up with the social impact theory and in what year and why?
Bibb Latane developed the social impact theory in 1981 to describe how we behave within social forcefields.
Who is ‘source’ who is the ‘target’?
The source is the person doing the influencing.
The target are the people influenced.
What is the mathematical equation on how sources impact targets?
Impact on target= f(SIN) [where SIN refers to the source]
What does Strength refer to? what will effect strength
Strength refers to the perceive/ authority power of the source and the message they convey.
strength can be affected by socio-economical status, age
What does immediacy refer to? and what will effect immediacy
Immediacy refers to the closeness of the source but also time.
Physical and or psychological barriers to communication will immediacy.
What does number refer to?
Number refers to how many sources are present during the interaction.
What is the multiplicative and divisional effects?
The multiplicative effect is used to explain how increasing strength, immediacy and number of sources can significantly increase social influence.
The divisional effect explains that social impact is reduced when there are more targets than there are sources.
What is the equation for the divisional effect?
Impact on target= f(1/SIN)) [where SIN refers to the target(s)
What is the law of diminishing returns?
Latane made a specific point about number- Once the source of the group is bigger than three each additional person has a less influencing effect.
A strength for social impact theory?
It is supported by research evidence. Constantine and Jefferey Jackson (1990) field experiment. zoo experiment all 3 factors (strength, immediacy and number were tested) . The confederate first dressed up in uniform and asked people not to lean on the railing and 58% obeyed but when he dressed up in a T-shirt and shorts only 35% obeyed. When he was in the same room as individuals 61% obeyed in comparison to him being in an adjacent room with only 7% obeying. And last when a smaller group of one or two people where told not to lean 60% obeyed while in a bigger group only 14% obeyed.
A weakness for social impact theory?
The role of immediacy may not be a key ingredient in social impact. Charles Hofling et al (1966) arranged for an unknown doctor to telephone 22 nurses and asked them to administer an overdose drug not on their ward list. 95% obeyed showing although the doctor wasn’t present they still obeyed. This challenges the theory as the source not being present should have reduced the effect but it didn’t.
What can social impact theory be applied to?
How people enhance their social influence
