Social Impact Theory Flashcards
What is the key concept of Social Impact Theory?
People’s behaviour is influenced by social forces (the effects of other people who ‘push’ or ‘pull’ their behaviours) e.g. causing obedience.
What is meant Strength?
This is how much power you believe the person influencing you has. For
example, if the person has a high rank in an organisation, if they have legitimate authority, their orders will have more strength.
What is meant Immediacy?
This is how recent the order was given and how close they were to you when giving it. An order you received a minute ago from your boss standing right next
to you (very immediate) will have more impact than an email you received from your
boss last week (not very immediate).
What is meant by Number?
The more people putting pressure on you to do something, the more social force / impact they will have.
What is the psychosocial law?
Each new person increases the impact (N) but each additional
person has less impact than the person before them (although they still add to overall impact). For example, 10 students might obey a teacher’s order, then when a second
teacher gives the same order, 6 more students obey. This means that obedience has increased but at a decreasing rate
What is the Multiplicative Effect?
The impact of S, I and N when multiplied together is greater
than each individual element. Somebody would be more likely to obey if the order was given by someone in uniform and if the order was recent (immediate) compared
to if the order was just immediate.
What is the Divisional Effect?
The more targets there are to impact, the harder it is for the source as their strength is divided by the number of targets.
What is Social Impact Theory supported by?
Milgram’s variations. Run down office block and ordinary man
variations show how when the strength of the source is compromised, the social force
is lowered and people obey less. Also, telephonic instructions show how immediacy is
important as when the authority figure is not in the room this also lowers the rates of
obedience. These show that the factors of Strength and immediacy etc. are credible
explanations of obedience
