social impact theory- theory of obedience Flashcards
what does social impact theory say
-people’s behaviour eg obedience is influenced by social forces
what is strength
-how much power you believe the person influencing you has
what is immediacy
-how recent the order given to you was
-the proximity of the authority figure when the order was delivered to someone
what is number
-the amount of people pressuring you to obey an order
what equation does latané suggest linking strength, immediacy and number
- i = SIN
- social impact (i) = strength x immediacy x number
what is psychosocial law
-as the number of people increases, obedience increases but at a decreasing rate
what is the multiplicative effect
-the impact of S I and N multiplied together is greater than each individual element
-(eg someone is more likely to obey if order is immediate and authority figure had strength rather than the order just being immediate)
what is the divisional effect
-the strength of the source is divided by the amount of targets
-eg teacher shouting at 30 students less effective than 5 students
AO3 strength- how do milgrams variations support SImT
-run down office block (10) and ordinary man (13) show people obey less when the strength of the source is less
-telephonic instructions (7) shows obedience is lowered when proximity is lowered
AO3 strength- how is social impact theory better than agency theory
-it takes more situational factors into account
-focuses on source and target rather than just the target
AO3 strength- milgram, berkowitz and brown
-confederates looked up at a high floor on a building
-the more people doing it, the more stopped to do the same (supports number)
-each new person had less impact than the one before (supports psychosocial law)
AO3 strength- how is it useful
-allows us to understand atrocities like mai li massacre
-soldiers who were given orders over radio didn’t follow them as much as those given them face to face
AO3 weakness- social impact theory ignores _______ ______ like ______ personality so it’s an _____ explanation of ______
-individual differences like authoritarian personality
-so incomplete explanation of obedience
AO3 weakness- social impact theory is _______ist since it oversimplifies _____ _________
-reductionist
-human behaviour
AO3 weakness- mullen found that ____ and __________’s effects weren’t consistent so might not be a _______ explanation of ________
-strength and immediacy’s effects weren’t consistent
-not be a complete explanation of obedience
