Social impact theory Flashcards
What is Latane’s social impact theory? (2 points)
Proposes a mathematical model to predict the level of social impact created by influence from other people due to social forces
Consists of basic rules which consider how individuals can be “sources or targets of social influence”
Define the term ‘source’ and ‘targets’.
Source - the authority figure who typically holds status symbols like rank or uniform
Targets - non-authoritarian figures like the general public attending a crowd gathering
What is the equation for the Social Impact Theory and its 3 components?
i = f(SIN)
S = Strength
I = Immediacy
N = Number of sources
What is the ‘Strength’ component of the Social Impact Theory equation? (3 points)
The power and influence held by the source
Two categories of strength that determine a source’s impact include:
+ Trans-situational strength - exists no matter the situation and includes personal characteristics like the source’s age and physical appearance
+ Situation-specific strength - focuses on the situation at hand and the behaviour that the target is being asked to perform, e.g. a public protest
What is the ‘Immediacy’ component of the Social Impact Theory equation? (4 points)
The immediacy of the source population to the target population - physically, temporally, and socially
Physical immediacy - how physically close in proximity the source is to a target population
Temporal immediacy - closeness in time e.g. a target is more likely to be influenced immediately after a source has ordered a command
Social immediacy - dependent on whether the source is close friends or family members with the target, as they may be more likely to influence them
What is the ‘Number of sources’ component of the Social Impact Theory? (3 points)
The number of sources present in a group setting who are exerting an impact
Psychosocial law states that the number of influencers eventually has less of an effect on the target population
Influence significantly increases up to 5 or 6 sources and the impact lessens from there - social impact is not as strong
What is the strength of Latane’s Social Impact Theory? (5 points)
The concept of social factors which influence social impact is supported by Bassett and Latané (1976)
They found that participants living in Boston would assign more column inches in a newspaper to nearby fictitious events rather than faraway real-life events
‘3 boys being found alive in a Boston swamp’ (fake) - more column inches and a larger front cover image
‘20 people being killed in an explosion in Beirut’ - small image space and fewer newspaper column inches
The physical immediacy of the event to the participant influenced obedience - supports immediacy as a social factor that affects obedience
How credible is Latane’s Social Impact Theory? (3 points)
Milgram, Bickman and Berkowitz’s (1969) - more confederates who looked up to a 6th-floor window caused more passers-by to crane their necks and stare
When 1 confederate looked up, only 42% of passers-by copied, whereas when 15 confederates looked up, it increased to 86%
This suggests the ‘Number of sources’ does impact obedience and can also be falsified through scientific investigation using quantitative data collection methods
Are there other explanations for obedience other than Latane’s Social Impact Theory? (3 points)
The theory was initially designed to explain group obedience in crowd dynamics
Milgram’s agency theory explains how obedience is exhibited by one individual - this theory doesn’t
This tells us there are alternative explanations for human obedience which better fit individual acts
What is Agency Theory, the alternate explanation to the Social Impact Theory? (3 points)
Proposes the ‘agentic state’, where humans perceive themselves to be the agent of someone else’s will
Authority figure giving commands is believed to be responsible for a person’s actions
Supported by Milgram’s original study of obedience - 65% of ‘teachers’ administered electric shocks upto 450 V, despite knowing that this could cause serious harm to the ‘learner’
What room for debate does Latane’s Social Impact Theory offer? (3 points)
Wider ethical implications - could lead to over-policing of marginalised groups in society with the implementation of ‘predictive policing’
Despite good intentions, analytical tools run the risk of limiting police enquiries to already heavily policed locations, which can reinforce bias
Potential for negative consequences to society as a form of social control - could disproportionately affect people of colour and residents of poorer neighbourhoods
How does the NDAS system support the Social Impact Theory having wider ethical implications? (3 points)
The National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS) system uses AI and statistics to assess the risk of someone committing or becoming a victim of gun or knife crime
Implemented by London’s Metropolitan Police - designed so that every police force in the UK could eventually use it
Critics argue there are “serious ethical issues” whether it is in the public good to intervene pre-emptively
How can Latane’s Social Impact Theory be applied to real life? (3 points)
Social Impact Theory has a strong application in trying to prevent organised crime
This could be applied to instances of football hooliganism, as seen with violent attacks between English fans and Russian fans during the 2016 European Championships
By predicting target and source populations, antisocial behaviour can be prevented:
S - equip sources with correct protective armour and equipment
I - correct level
N - enough ‘sources’
