social impact theory

n. An understanding of social influence that supposes that persuasion, conformity, compliance, and obedience are obtained by a combination of (1) the social strength of the person exerting control relative to the person being controlled, (2) the proximity of the two people both physically and psychologically, (3) the directness of the influence, that is, how many sources and targets of influence there are in a given situation. This is often expressed in the equation \(Impact = f(SIN)\), 
where \(S\) = social strength, \(I\) = immediacy, and \(N\) = number of sources of influence.