Social Impact Theory Flashcards
(24 cards)
1
Q
Social Impact Theory
A
- not strictly an obedience theory
- explanation of social influence
- explains how the effects of others alters how we respond to a situation
- how others impact upon our behaviour
2
Q
Sources
A
- people who provide the influence
- the ones making you follow orders
3
Q
Sources - example
A
- authority
- Experimenter (milgram)
- Teachers
- Doctors
4
Q
Targets
A
- those who are influenced
- the ones following the orders
5
Q
targets - examples
A
- participants
- students
- nurses
6
Q
what impacts our chances of being influenced
A
- importance
- immediacy
- number of sources of influence
7
Q
Strength
A
- how important the influencers are to you in terms of status
8
Q
Number of sources
A
- we are more likely to be influenced by numerous sources
- as number of people who agree increases
- social impact increases
- how many people there are in each group
9
Q
Immediacy
A
- proximity at the time of influence attempt
- closeness in time and space
- psychological proximity
- emotional closeness
- were there buffers
10
Q
Multiplication of impact
A
- as a strength of the source increases so does immediacy and the number of people influenced
- so social impact increases
11
Q
Division of impact
A
- ability of a speaker to persuade the audience is divided upon the members of the audience
- number of targets to be influenced affects the impact of the source
12
Q
Evidence = Milgram
A
- 65% participants went up to 450 v
- experimenter was deemed as high authority (yale)
- in same room as participants
- uniform = high authority
13
Q
Jackson
A
- conducted an experiment in a zoo
- asked visitors not to lean on the railing
- manipulated strength
14
Q
how did Jackson manipulate strength
A
- dressing actor as a zookeeper
- or in T-shirt and shorts
15
Q
Jackson - evidence
A
- 58% participants obeyed source when dressed in uniform
- 7% obeyed when the source was not in the same room
- shows importance of uniform = alludes to high authority
16
Q
Applications = politicians
A
- political leaders use strong, persuasive communication
- try to talk to voters face to face
- increases importance, strength, immediacy
- increases chances of persuasion
17
Q
Applications = Workplace
A
- deciding class size of students
- psychosocial law = too many targets/ sources
- effect begins to get lost
18
Q
Hoffling - against
A
- doctor phoned 22 nurses to deliver an unknown drug overdose
- 21/22 obeyed
- if source is absent there should be a greater effect
- how important is immediacy
19
Q
Kelman and Hamilton
A
- agree with social situations on obedience
- more legitimate the source = greater obedience
- legitimacy of authority within the system
20
Q
legitimacy of authority within a system
A
- power individuals have to give orders due to their position in the system
21
Q
power
A
ability to make someone do something
22
Q
Law of diminishing returns
A
- incremental influence of each additional person decreases as the number of people increases
- once a source group is bigger than 3 each added individual has a less influential effect
23
Q
reductionist
A
- reduces human complexity ; thoughts / feelings / experiences to 3 numbers in order to predict the outcome
- quantifying strength can be too subjective
- SIT needs to gather qualitative data to understand how targets and sources perceive each other
24
Q
A
