social impact theory Flashcards
social impact intro
levels of socail influnec in various socail sitiations can be predcited using math equation
not only a theory of obediamce but looks at functioning of individulas in the presnce of others
‘’ aany individual thought feelings or behavioir that is exerted by the real implied imagined presnce of others (nowak et al)
functioning of individuals can be seen to be affected by their socail group, individuals behaving socially may differ to behaviour as individuals
two types of people (source / target)
source:person amking the orders and doing the influncing
target:person beimg influnced and follwoing the orders
group polarization;
idea taht groups making decsiosn are more extreme compared to individuals
strength immediacy and numbers
strength: how much power you believe teh person influnecing you has
immdeicay: how close the group is to you at the time of the influnecing and how recent it is
eg an order from ur boss a minyte ago standing right next to u
numbers: how many people there are, the more people there are putting pressure on you the more social force they will have
eg milagram, obedinace lower when figure absent
obediance
explains why ppl in obedinace research werer so obediant.
high rates of complaince are that socail presuures in these studieds are usally directed to one lone particpant which agrees with social impact theory., if numbers of sources is small obedinace is higher.
also predivts that smometimes ppl resist socail pressure, usllay occurs when sources are divided among each other therefore obedimace rates drops when ppl are in compant of rebellious peers
formula
i = f(sin)
i=impact (whether they obey)
f= function
s= strength
i=immediacy
n= number
predicts whther ppl will be obediant
the higher teh strength,impact and number the higher teh social impact will be, called the multiplier effect
multiplicative effect
light bulb analogy : the higehr teh watts, light hulb creates a brihjter light ( strength)
when bulbs are placed near the wall lihht projected will be more intense , move further lights will dim (immdicay)
if you add more bulbs , lights will be brighter overall(number)
law of dimisnisging returns: as numbers inctreas beyond a certain level the % diff in impact will decraese
divisional effect
influnec of a source is shared out between a number of targets and therefore one source will have a greater impact when theres only one target as comapred to 5 as teh impact will be diffused aongst the group
diffusion of resposbinilyu
when a person is less likely to take responsiblity for an actio when theres other wotnesses or bystanders present, wait for someonelse to act instead
bystander effect
the presnce of others discorages a person to take action to intervene, more ppl present less likely to intervene
social engineering
planned efforts to cahnge the way society think, feel amd behave.
can be used to help ppl comply with orders from drs or persuade ppl to act malicously
Evidence
ao3: a strngetyh is that it is uspported by this tsudy
sedikies and jackson 1990: conducted field exp in new york zoo where vistors asked not to lean on railing.
researchers manipulated tsrengthy of source by dressing a confederate either as a zoo keeper 58% obedinace or in t-shirt and shorts 35% obedinace.
obedinace declined when they were further from person making request 61% in same room 7% in adjacent room (immedicay)
divisonal effect was tested : obedinace greater in a samller group of two vistors fewer targets 60% , compared with big group of 6 , 14%
obedincance greater in smaller grousp than large ones
ao1
strength measures how powerful we perceive the person the person making the orders
immedicay measure how the closeness the person is to us making the ordr and how recent itbwas, the further they are the lower the obedinace
number measures how many sources are present makimg the order, tthe law of diminshing return. the level of impact decareses if the number of sources increases beyond 3, each additional person has less influencing power
a03:competing
however due to it being a field experiment , experimenter could not manipulate number of groups, this threatens internal validity as ppl who decide to travel in big groups may have a less obediant personality, meaning its not the group size that determined obedinace
application
can be applied to understand how to increase somones social imapct eg gov partys can use face to face campagioning rather than online as immedinacy can increase obedinace the closer a person is the higehr levels of obedinace will be. this is a strength as it portrays how sit can be used to change hwo society feels thinks and ehaves this is called social engineering, planned efforts to help pplm comply with orders
comparisons/credibility
weakness of tjis theory si that immediacy may not be akey factor in explaining sit,
dr asked 22 nurses over the phone to administrate a drug overdose, 95% obeyed despite the ordee being over the phone,accordimg to sit the nurses wud have been less likelty to obey due to the proximity of the dr and nurse
this cahllanges sit as the source being absnet should have reduced effect but it didnt
HOW GOOD IS THE RESEARCH
Explains why people in resarch studys are so high in obediance,
eg in milgram, obedinace was lwoer when exp was absent
multiplicative effect can explain this using the light bulb anaology,
the more watts a light bulb has the brighter its going to be mesuringb strength
the closer a bulb is to the walla the more intsene the light will be measurig immedicay and the more light bulbs u add the brighter lights will be overall
