SOFTCAT social impact theory

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Supportive evidence

  • Berkowitz, Bickman and Milgram 1960 1-15 confederates looking up. -supports the idea of psychosocial law (lightbub effect)
  • Darley and Latane (1970)  found that a lone person is going to help someone in need rather than a group. Supports social impact theory as it is a - diffusion of responsibility

                                                                                           - supports the divisional effect

  • Milgrams variation study where two peers rebelled. Obedience went to 10% -influence grater in number
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Offensive

  • Milgrams experiement was unethical, yet other supportive evidence was not unethical
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Fails to mention

  • Individual differences, some people obey and dissent - WHY? (some are more passive and resistant) what happens then?
  • Two groups of equal authority SIN, what happens? Who is source who is target?
  • What happens when the source and target interact?
  • More descriptive than explainatory, doesnt explain why we are obedient, agency theory does
  • Reduced to a mathematical formular, too reductionist.
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T

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Critical Research

  • Agency Theory explains why we are obedient and what happens when we become obedient (agentic state). Could be a better explaination of obedience.
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Application to real life

  • Diffusion of responsibility - if someone is in need in real life
  • When speaking in an audience (division effect
  • Psychosocial law - Berkowitz bickman and milgram, god supporting evidence that it can apply to everyday life.
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  • Mathematical formular too reductionist
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extra

  • strengths:
  • Generalisable to toher cultures around the world
  • Useful in predicting behaviour under certain conditions (divided responsibility) (SIN)
  • Reliable as it is set out clearly
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