looks at the functioning of individuals in the presence of others
source
the individual provides the influence
target
those being influenced by the source
impact is determined by the strength, immediacy and number
Latane and Wolf (1981) found that the size and status of the group will affect when an individuals attitudes/behaviours are influenced
strength
the strength of the impact, this is greater if there are a lot of people in agreement or if its given by a perceived expert
number
the nuber of other people in the environment
immediacy
how close they are
psychosocial law
suggests that greater numbers have less impact
multiplicative effect
first source has the most influence
divisional effect
increasing targets, decreases social impact as its divided among them
research to support
Bickman and Milgram found that when 1 confederate looked up at a building 42% of passers by looked up, when 15 confederates looked up, 86% looked up until a certain point where additional confederates had less impact, supports mutiplicative effect
weakness of social impact theory
reductionist theory, does not take into account the reciprocal effects of the individual on their social environment and features of the individual are not tajen into account
support from Milgram
Milgram's results showed that when the participant had what they thought was peer support there was less obedience which can be explained by the divisional effect
alternate theory
agency theory, explains the role of evolution and can explain why people obey instructions in different settings
