Obedience: Social Impact Theory Latane Flashcards
who created social impact theory
Bibb Latané 1981
How did Latané describe the way humans behave?
In social forcefields - we all impact on each other in our ongoing interactions.
Define ‘sources’.
A person providing the influence.
Define ‘targets’.
Those who are being influenced.
What three factors impact the influence of a source?
1) Number
2) strength
3) immediacy
Impact on target formula
Impact on the target = f(SIN)
Strength
The perceived power/authority of the source and conveyed messages.
May be affected by status, age, nature of relationship with target.
immediacy
The closeness of the source in terms of physical distance as well as time.
Physical and psychological barriers can affect this.
number
How many sources are present during the interaction - which will determine the level of social impact.
division of impact
social impact is reduced if there are more targets than sources
division of impact formula
Social impact on the target = f (1/SIN)
SIN refers to the target.
The law of diminishing returns
Once the source group is larger than 3 each additional person has less of an influencing effect.
strength of social impact theory
It is supported by research evidence. Sedikides and Jackson 1990 conducted a field experiment in a New York zoo, they proved the need for strength: 58% obedience when visitors were asked not to lean on a railing by a man dressed as a zoo keeper and only 35% when asked by a man in a t-shirt and shorts.
this is a strength because it supports the idea that when the source has high strength people respond with high levels of obedience therefore supporting lateness equation
competing argument of social impact theory
theory doesn’t consider individual differences relating to personality and obedience, some maybe naturally more resistant to social impact and some may be more passive to it.
this is weakness because it means the theory is too simplistic when explaining reasons for obedience
strength of social impact theory
supporting evidence from milligrams original study where 6% of participants went up to the maximum 450 volts when the authority figure wore the lab coat, compared to ordinary man experiment where only 20% went up to 450 volts
this is a strength because milligram found that obedience rates were higher when the target saw a higher strength within the source due to the uniform therefore supporting the equation
competing argument of social impact theory
difficulties scan arise from the use of mathematical equations as the accuracy of the estimation depends upon the way in which the data was quantified regarding strength and immediacy.
this is a weakness because these concepts are abstract and cannot be measured in standardised units and may therefore be less objective and scientific
conclusion of social impact theory
the use of a mathematical equation strengthens the theory through being able to formulate predications about behaviour.
this is a strength because these predications have useful applications within society as they can help tackle obedience that is detrimental to society eg when used to reduce football violence
weakness is that the theory reduces the explanation for obedience to a mathematical equation and overlook many other social factors which could explain obedience within the situation.
this is a weakness because this theory is reductionist isolating a few specific factors as a reason for obedience and ignoring the complexity of this behaviour
