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Have your friends ever insisted that you skip class? Perhaps you hesitated, but they ridiculed you for being a coward. In the end, you gave in. If so, you have been exposed to what psychologists refer to as a social impact.
Social impact is when individuals or groups influence the thoughts or actions of others through their behaviour or even just their presence. Social impact stems from the individual’s perception of events to feel influenced even if the others do not intend to influence them.
Social impact theory attempts to explain conformity, alongside other group behaviours such as obedience to authority, majority and minority behaviour, and the idea of social influence as a whole.
Social impact theory is crucial in this area and provides valuable information. Let’s go through some examples and its evaluation.
Social impact theory explains the well-known concept of social identity theory, which describes why people behave differently depending on whether they belong to the majority or the minority. In doing so, it explains prejudice, why it occurs, and how to stop it.
Social impact theory is still being researched today; however, it is now called the dynamic social impact theory. The dynamic social impact theory is similar to the social impact theory, but considers the target of influence's ability to influence the source (person influencing). It views influence as a two-way exchange rather than a one-way street.
Latané suggested that there are three laws of behaviour in the social impact theory: social force, immediacy, and numbers. Let us look at them in detail.
Social force is when people feel pressured to change their behaviour or ideas when they disagree with the majority. This pressure can manifest itself in various ways, such as direct persuasion by others or jokes about people who do not fit in.
If your whole group of friends bought new trainers, your friends might make jokes about your old ones, prompting you to buy new ones too.
Several factors can affect the power of social force.
Strength is the perceived power of the person exerting social force.
If a friend tries to get you to stay after class to study, you are less likely to do so than if a teacher does the same. The teacher has more influence and power to affect your life than a friend.
Immediacy refers to the proximity of the social force in terms of distance and time.
You may find it easy to turn down plans a friend tried to arrange with you over text a few days ago, but it may be harder to say no if your friend is right in front of you.
The numbers refer to the idea that a group of people exert more social force than a single person.
It will always be harder to turn down plans with friends when the whole group is acting on you, rather than just a single friend, because they exert greater social force together.
Latané has proposed a simple equation to calculate how much social influence there is in a given situation:
![Social impact theory [+] Latane social impact equation [+] StudySmarter](https://studysmarter-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com/media/1865576/summary_images/social_impact_theory_calculation.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4OLDUDE42UZHAIET%2F20220627%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220627T212718Z&X-Amz-Expires=90000&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=e7827c9aafe120c103b78fb6a643f67e38d84cfa5cdb8ade16cafd05fa865e84)
In Milgram’s 7th variation, in which the researcher confederate gave commands over the phone, obedience decreased as immediacy was reduced.
The psychosocial law states that the more sources of social pressure in a situation (i.e., the more people come into your space), the more the additional effect plateaus.
While there is a big difference between one person or five people trying to peer pressure you, there is not a big difference between 20 or 30 people trying to pressure you.
Division of impact is the idea that social impact is equally distributed among those to whom it is directed.
If your friends make fun of you for not wearing the latest trainers, there is less pressure to conform if you are not the only one they are making fun of.
This idea is known as diffusion of responsibility. It states that you feel less responsible and influenced when in a group than alone.
Latané had a similar equation for calculating social influence for the idea of the distribution of influence:
![Social impact theory [+] Latane division of impact equation [+] StudySmarter](https://studysmarter-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com/media/1865576/summary_images/latane_division_of_impact.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4OLDUDE42UZHAIET%2F20220627%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220627T212718Z&X-Amz-Expires=90000&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=f6cc56c66868f597247c3eba4669decd1340a0f6c75606153662d3a5aa875b7d)
Milgram’s findings supported this idea of division of impact. The study found that participants felt less compelled to deliver shocks when they had peers who would not follow instructions.
Numerous studies support the social impact theory. Let us take a look at some of the most notable.
This study was a field experiment in a zoo in New York. A confederate had to ask visitors not to lean on the railings. Sedikides and Jackson subsequently observed the visitors’ behaviour. This experiment provided evidence for the ideas of strength, immediacy, and numbers in the following way:
French and Raven found that power, as claimed by Latané, affects people’s actions, thoughts, and feelings. They divided this idea of power into five different categories. These are:
In this study, participants were placed in booths to discuss health issues. A confederate was instructed to fake a heart attack. Darley and Latané hypothesised that participants would be less willing to help if there were more people in the booth due to the idea of diffusion of responsibility.
This study supports Latané’s idea of numbers and diffusion of responsibility.
The dynamic social impact theory is similar to the social impact theory, but considers the target of influence's ability to influence the source (person influencing). It views influence as a two-way exchange rather than a one-way street.
Social impact theory is reductionist as it fails to consider the ability of the target to influence the source of influence.
Social impact theory is important because it provides a background explanation for many theories and studies in social psychology.
Factors that influence social impact are strength, immediacy, and numbers.
Social impact theory attempts to explain conformity, alongside other group behaviours such as obedience to authority, majority and minority behaviour, and the idea of social influence as a whole.
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