Acceso usuarios
Gabriel Mugny, Fabrizio Butera, Alain Quiamzade, Agatta Dragulescu, Alexander Tomei
This article proposes a model accounting for social influence dynamics in aptitude tasks. It is a development of the model proposed by Butera, Gardair, Maggi and Mugny in 1998, which proposed that four influence dynamics result from the conjunction of high vs. low competence of the source and low vs. high competence of the target. It was argued that a high-competence source most often induces very little influence over an equally competent target, and induces mostly manifest influence over a low competence target. Moreover, a low- competence source was believed to have a deep influence only when facing equally incompetent targets ; no influence was expected in front of a higher- competence target. The present model introduces a supplementary factor : The presence vs. absence of identity threat, induced by the social context of comparison of competencies. It is argued that high-competence sources induce a competence threat most of the time, which is not the case for low- competence sources. The new model predicts the dynamics of influence that are supposed to appear when competence threat in reduced in the confrontation with a high competence source, and induced in the confrontation with a low-competence source. Experimental illustrations of these dynamics are reported.
