Social impact theory Latane - 1980

Question 1

Define Sources

What are the characteristics that define them?

Answer 1

• they’re the ones making you follow orders (in terms of obedience)
• higher status, age, popularity, physical aspect

Question 2

Define Targets

Answer 2

• the one’s following the order, follow group behaviour, meet social norms

Question 3

What is the formula for the *impact on the target

Answer 3

impact of the target = f (SIN) - strength x immediacy x number

Question 4

Define strength (social forces)

Answer 4

• their status
• legitimacy of authority
• age
• these factors are only important if you respect the other or have a close relationship to you

Question 5

Define immediacy (social forces)

Answer 5

• the proximity and closeness (physical, a buffer like a wall) + (emotional between the source and target)
• at the time of influence attempt how close is the group are to you

Question 6

Define the number of sources (social forces)

Answer 6

• amount of people in the group (sources and target)

Question 7

Explain the multiplication of impact

Answer 7

The source has a weak strength but increased in immediacy and numbers

As strength of the source increases so does the immediacy and number and therefore also the social impact

Question 8

Explain the Division of impact

Answer 8

the source has strong strength but loses immediacy as unable to reach everyone in the group and loses in numbers as there is only 1 person

If your teacher has a 1 to 1 conversation with you they will have much more of an impact and influence with you than if a teacher talks to 30 people.

Question 9

Explain the law of diminishing returns

Answer 9

it resolves around the aspect that if a group exceeds an optimal amount its social forces will weaken hence social impact isn’t strong but if maintained then affects will be opposite

*simplified = if add more people to small group -> social impact will be significant.
if add more people to big group -> social impact will not be significant

Example: for you have a pair of people that are arguing about a topic on whose wrong and right but then another 1 or 2 people join the group an agrees on one person than the other then the social impact they would have on the one being disagreed will be significant

on the other hand if the group is already big for example in the 100s then an extra person or 2 wont make that much of a difference

Question 10

Explain what pro social laws are

Answer 10

when the number of a source has little impact when the people that they are trying to influence are acting in a way to not even pay attention to them

Question 11

Strengths

Answer 11

Applications and Implications to society:

P - Social impact theory can be useful in helping form social interactions,
E - it has led to the development of psychometric testing to assess interviewees.
E - For example, can help in deciding who should get the managers job in the workplace

P - Also can be used in other educational and workplace situations,
E - such as deciding on teams on the sales floor or in a classroom setting, what is the ideal size of a class of students to a teacher.
E - As the theory suggests in the ‘psychosocial law’ too many targets and the source starts to lose their effect

P - the theory uses a mathematical formula meaning that prediction can be about human behaviour in certain conditions.
E - as long as the factors (strength, immediacy, number) can be measured, the likely influence an individuals can be estimated, meaning the theory has useful predicative power
E - which is a useful contribution to society for example in football games where there are over excited fans and is further encouraged due to rebellious peers hence police can use this knowledge and create strategies by reducing the groups size that permitted or wear high vis jacket to show clear sign of authority

Question 12

Weakness

Answer 12

Credibility and Comparisons:

P - The theory assumes that social behavior can be understood purely in terms of interaction of individuals, without input from the wider society or social context (situational factors).
E - It ignores these factors which are equally as important in making people obedient.
E - Such as in Milgrams study, Yale university as a setting was equally as influencing in making participants obey as the experimenter himself.

P - The theory ignores individual differences and dispositional factors in obedience, these include gender, personality and upbringing.
E - As Milgram found those who has seen the effects of war were less likely to comply to his orders and did not go up to 450 volts.
E - Therefore their past experiences has a greater effect on their behaviour and not the situational context

P - The theory is limited in the type of social situation it is able to explain.
E - Such as in football, both sides of supporters can be equal in number, strength and immediacy, therefore the theory could not predict which crowd would be the most influential in the match.
E - It cannot predict what might happen when two equal groups impact on one another.

P - the theory can be seen as reductionist
E - there is an alternative theory called the authoritarian personality. this theory doesn’t regard the situation as important in obedience but rather focuses on internal factors. An authoritarian personality is typically submissive to authority and there obeys due to personality traits they posses
E - thus ignores the input of wider society and social context and oversimplifies the nature of human interactions

P - The theory is not a theory of obedience.
E - obedience is a behaviour by someone in response to someone else in a specific situation
E - and therefore most of the research doesn’t focus on obedience of individual people, therefore can only explain influence of groups on behaviour. Kelman and Hamilton support social impact theory as they also agree with the impact of social situations on obedience