Social Impact Theory of Behaviour

Evaluation

Social Impact Theory

Strengths

Weaknesses

Refers to changes that occur in a person (cognitive, behavioural and emotional) due to actions of others, and the social impact of what they agree on also increases a number of factors

  • Can be applied to any social behaviour, including obedience, as it looks at the functioning of individuals in the presence of others
  • Social impact is "any individual feelings, thoughts or behaviours that are exerted by actions of others"

Strength: a message of stronger if it is repeated by a lot of people who are all in agreement

Status and knowledge: the message will be strengthened if the person doing it is an expert in the field

Number: as the number of people in agreement increases, the social impact of what they agree on also increases whilst the individuals impact decreases

Immediacy: the message will have more impact coming from friends rather than strangers

In terms of obedience this suggests authority figures who are perceived to be legitimate, who are immediate and who are greater in number, are more likely to ensure obedience

  • Appears to be useful as a general formulation and can predict behaviour under certain conditions
  • Quantifiable, principles can be observed in everyday behaviour
  • Research into conformity, obedience (Milgram) and bystander behaviour (Latane) have all demonstrated the impact of strength, immediacy and number on observable human responses in social situations
  • SIT views individuals as passive receivers of others behaviour towards them, disregards the active nature of social interaction
  • Everyone is different, this theory oversimplifies the nature of human interaction and ignores individual differences (some are more resistant to social impact and some more passive)
    - Static rather than dynamic, as it doesn't take into account how the target and source interact with each other
  • More descriptive as a theory rather than explanatory, not explaining why people are influenced by others, only under what conditions they are influenced by

The multiplicative effect (number)

Berkowitz, Bickman and Milgram (1969)

  • One and 15 confederates congregated on the street and craned their necks to look up at the sixth floor of the university building, passers-by who also stopped and looked up

The divisional effect

- Individuals feel less accountable as the number of people present increases - A lone person is more likely to help someone in need compared to a group of people; there is a diffusion of responsibility similar to a divisional effect

Exam tip

  • You may be asked to describe a theory of obedience or prejudice
  • You do not need to justify or explain your response, or evaluate the theory
  • Devise some prompts to help remember the key elements of a theory
    e.g strength, number, immediacy, multiplication