social impact theory of obedience

Question 1

what does the term ‘social impact’ refer to?

Answer 1

• social impact refers to the effect that real or imagined people can have our behaviour

Question 2

what does ‘social’ mean in the context of social impact?

Answer 2

• ‘social’ refers to the effect coming from other people

Question 3

who developed the theory of social impact?

Answer 3

• Latane

Question 4

what are ‘social force fields’?

Answer 4

• social force fields describe how we behave and influence each other through our ongoing interactions

Question 5

who is the ‘source’ in the SIMPT?

Answer 5

• the source is the person who is doing the influencing

Question 6

who are the ‘targets’ in the SIMPT?

Answer 6

• the targets are the people who are being influenced

Question 7

what are the three laws of behaviour?

Answer 7

• social force
• psychosocial law
• divisions of impact

Question 8

what is social force?

Answer 8

• the pressure put on people to change their behaviour
• if it succeeds, it results in social impact

Question 9

what factors make up social force?

Answer 9

• social force is made up of strength, immediacy, and numbers

Question 10

what is strength in the context of social force?

Answer 10

• strength refers to how much power the person influencing you has
• e.g. a high rank in an organisation means more strength

Question 11

what is immediacy in the context of social force?

Answer 11

• immediacy refers to how recent the influence is and how close the influence is
• e.g. an order from a boss standing next to you vs an email from last week

Question 12

what is numbers in the context of social force?

Answer 12

• numbers refers to how many people are putting pressure on you to do something
• more people means more social force

Question 13

how does social force apply to Milgram’s study?

Answer 13

• Milgram’s found that obedience was lower when the authority figure was absent (variation #7) or had less strength (variation #13)

Question 14

what is Latane’s equation for social impact?

Answer 14

• i = f (SIN)
• s is strength, i is immediacy, and n is numbers

Question 15

what is psychosocial law?

Answer 15

• suggests that the first source of influence has the most dramatic impact
• each subsequent source generates less social force

Question 16

how does the psychosocial law apply to being watched?

Answer 16

• being watched by one person may make you feel awkward, but being watched by two doesn’t make you feel twice as awkward
• increasing the number of watchers (e.g. 100 or 1000) doesn’t drastically increase the sense of pressure

Question 17

how does psychosocial law apply to authority figures?

Answer 17

• one authority figure, such as a teacher giving an order, generates significant social force
• however, bringing in more authority figures (e.g second or third teacher) doesn’t double or triple the social force

Question 18

does increasing the number of authority figures always increase social force?

Answer 18

• no
• bringing in the entire school staff to repeat the order won’t be as effective in increasing social force as expected

Question 19

what is the divisions of impact?

Answer 19

• means that social force is spread out between all the people it is directed at
• if directed at one person, the pressure is high, but if directed at two, each person feels less pressure

Question 20

how does the divisions of impact apply to multiple people?

Answer 20

• if there are ten people, each person feels only one tenth of the pressure

Question 21

what is diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 21

• diffusion of responsibility is the idea that the more people there are, the less personal responsibility each person feels

Question 22

how does the divisions of impact apply to Milgram’s study?

Answer 22

• obedience decreased is Milgram’s variations when the ppt had a rebellious partner, showing how the social force is divided

Question 23

what is Latane’s equation for divisions of impact?

Answer 23

• i = f (1(SIN)

Question 24

how does Latane describe social impact?

Answer 24

• Latane described social impact as a phenomenon where people affect one another in social situations

Question 25

what are some examples of social impact in daily experiences?

Answer 25

- examples of social impact include **embarrassment, persuasion, humour,** and many other experiences governed by the **presence and actions of others**

Question 26

how can social impact be observed?

Answer 26

- it can be **observed visually** and also alters **forces within the target**, such as **thoughts, attitude, incentives and physiological state**

Question 27

what do the impact of others on someone’s attitude depend on?

Answer 27

- **number of people** in the environment - **immediacy** of the impact eg I message is given by people you know - **strength** of impact eg persuasion power of those giving message

Question 28

supporting evidence: B + L

Answer 28

**Bassett and Latane** - found ppts would assign nearby fictitious events in a newspaper more column inches than faraway events - supports **immediacy** as a factor affecting obedience

Question 29

supporting evidence: B, B + M

Answer 29

**Berkowitz, Bickman and Milgram** - conducted study at **City University of NY** that demonstrates reduction is social impact **(psychosocial law)** - 1 to 15 confederates gathered on the street, **craning their necks** to look at the sixth floor of a university building - Milgram recorded the scene from a sixth-floor window - the number of passers-by who stopped and looked up was counted - **more confederates** led to **more passers-by imitating the behaviour** - however, the **effect diminished** as the confederate **group size increased** - the number of **passers-by grew smaller** relative to the group size, and the **effect levelled off** - **law of diminishing effect**

Question 30

supporting evidence: L + D

Answer 30

**Latane and Darley** - found that **lone person** was **more likely** to **help someone in need** compared to group of people - **diffusion of responsibility** similar to a divisional effect - suggests that an authority figure would have **diminished capacity** to influence someone if that someone had an ally or group of allies

Question 31

other things (weakness): active nature of social interaction

Answer 31

- **simpt** views individuals as **passive receivers** of others’ behaviour - it **disregards** the **active nature** of social interaction and what the target brings to the situation - the theory **oversimplifies** human interaction by **ignoring individual differences** - some individuals are more **resistant** to social influence, while others are more **passive** - considered a **static** theory because it **does not account for** the dynamic interaction between **target and source**

Question 32

weakness/strength: descriptive

Answer 32

- model is **useful** as a **general formulation** - it can **predict behaviour** under certain conditions - **descriptive** rather than **explanatory** - it **does not explain** why people are influenced by others, but rather **under what conditions** they are more likely to be influenced

Question 33

application (strength)

Answer 33

- theory is **quantifiable** because its principles can be **observed in everyday behaviour** - research on **conformity, obedience and bystander behaviour** has shown impact of: - **strength, immediacy and number** on human responses in social situations

Question 34

other things (weakness): limited

Answer 34

- theory is **limited** in the types of social situations it can explain - it cannot predict outcomes when **two equal groups** impact each other - e.g. **football crowds** where both supporting groups are equal in **number, strength and immediacy** - it is unclear who would be the **source** and who would be the **target** is such situations