Social impact theory

Social impact theory

Social impact theory predicts that as strength and immediacy increase within a group, conformity will also increase. The more important a group is and the more one is in its presence, the more likely it is for one to conform to the group's normative pressures.

As the size of a group increases a single person has less of an effect. Thus, if one feels pressure from a group to conform, adding another person to the minority makes a much greater difference to a small group as opposed to a large group.

Bibb Latané, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published the theory in 1981. Latané constructed a mathematical model of the effects of strength, immediacy, and number. He applied this formula to the results of several conformity studies and it accurately predicted the actual amount of conformity that occurred within groups.

Examples

* Gay men living in communities highly involved in AIDS awareness activities report feeling more social pressure to avoid risky sexual behavior then gay men who live in less involved communities.
* Heterosexual college students reported that the likelihood in engaging in risky sexual behavior was determined by the norms for sexual behavior in their groups of friends.

References

* Aronson, E., Wilson, T., Akert, R. Piarson. "Social Psychology"(6th ed.) Prentice Hall, 2007. ISBN 978-0-13-23-8245-8
* Fishbein, M., Chan, D., O'Reilly, K., Schnell, D., Wood, R., Beeker, C., & Cohn, C. (1993). Factors influencing gay men's attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions with respect to performing sexual behaviors. "Journal of Applied Social Psychology", 23, 417-438.
* Bourgeois, M. J., & Bowen, A. (2001). Self-organization of alcohol-related attitudes and beliefs in a campus housing complex: An initial investigation . "Health Psychology", 20, 434-437.
* Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact. "American Psychologist", 36, 343-356.
* Latané, B., & Bourgeois, M. J. (2001). Successfully simulating dynamic social impact: Three levels of prediction, In J. P. Forgas & K.D. Williams (Eds.), "Social influence: Direct and indirect processes" (pp. 61-76). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
* Latané, B., & L' Herrou, T. (1996). Spatial clustering in the conformity game:Dynamic social impact in electronic games. "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology", 70, 1218-1230.
* Winslow, R. W., Franzini, L. R., & Hwang, J. (1992). Perceived peer norms, casual sex, and AIDS risk prevention. "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology", 22, 1809-1827.


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