1. SOCIAL IMPACT THEORY Bibb Latane 1981
we are greatly influenced by the actions of others; we can be persuaded, inhibited, threatened and
supported by other people.

2. How we feel effect how we act in response.
SOURCE
People’s actions, effect changes to how we feel
TARGET
CONFORMITY
How we feel effect how we act in response.
OBEDIENCE
BYSTANDER

3. The likelihood that a person will respond to social influence will increase with:
Strength
how important the influencing group of people are to you.(status, authority, age)
Immediacy
how close the group are to you at the time of the influence attempt. (proximity, distance, buffers)
Number
How many people there are in the group.(sources and targets)

4. EXPLAINING OBEDIENCE SOURCE TARGET Authority figures strength number
immediacy
TARGET
strength
The greater the strength, immediacy and number of the source, the greater the impact on the target.

5. The multiplicative effect
PSYCHOSOCIAL LAW
The multiplicative effect
increasing the number
of confederates craning their neck increases the number of passers-by imitating their actions
one and 15 confederates congregated on the street and craned their necks to look up at the sixth floor of the university building
The effect eventually levels off as the number of passers-by grew smaller relative to the size of the confederate group.
passers-by who also stopped and craned their necks to look up
Berkowitz Bickman and Milgram (1969)

6. The divisional effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac
The ability of the speaker to persuade the audience is divided among many members of the audience
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
Therefore an authority figure would have a diminished capacity to influence someone if that someone had an ally or group of allies. (recall Milgram’s variation Expt)

7. EVALUATION Individuals are passive receivers of other’s behaviours
Mainly ignores individual differences
Predicting behaviour in unusual circumstances is useful
Application of principles can be observed in everyday behaviour
Cannot predict what will happen if two equal groups impact on one another (who is the source/target in football matches?)
Target and source interactions cannot be explained

8. HOMEWORK
Create a précis of the theory (include strengths and weakness)
Watch this bullying video and use your knowledge of Social impact theory to explain why the ‘targets’ behaved they way they did
5min