assignment six

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social impact theory notes;

  • developed by Bibb Latane (‘81), explains why people conform in some situations and not others
  • he suggested the amount of influence a person has in a social situation depends on: number, strength, immediacy
  • number ~ the more people present the more influence they will have on others. study = Milgram’s field study (1969):
    –required 1,2,3,5,10, or 15 people to “pause” on a busy New York City sidewalk & look up.
    –% of people passing by who also looked up increased as the number of people looking up increased (from 1 to 5).
  • strength ~ the more important the people are to the individual the more influence they will have. study = Mullen et al (90) – jaywalking reduced when high status non-jaywalkers nearby.
  • immediacy ~ each individual can influence others, but the more people present, the less influence any one individual will have.
  • social impact theory predicts that as strength and immediacy increase within a group, conformity will also increase. In other words, the more important a group is (strength) and the more one is in its presence (immediacy), the more likely it is for one to conform to the group’s normative pressures.
  • latané constructed a mathematical model of the effects of strength, immediacy, and number.
  • support social impact theory ~ Continuing diversity – because of clustering, members of minorities can be shielded from the attempts by the majority to influence them. Their non-normative beliefs are maintained in the group, Correlation – Over time group members’ opinions converge so their opinions on a variety of matters become similar, Clustering – people are more influenced by closest neighbours, so clusters of group members of similar opinions emerge (e.g. cliques), Consolidation – over time the majority grows in size and minority decreases, so resisting conformity becomes even more difficult.

normative social influence; normative social influence is one form of conformity, it is “the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them.”

informational social influence; social influence occurs when one’s emotions, opinions, or behaviours are affected by others. Social influence takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership and persuade.

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