dynamic social impact theory
an extension of social impact theory that seeks to explain the changes in physiological states, subjective feelings, emotions, cognitions, and behavior that occur as a result of social influence. The model assumes that this influence is a function of the strength, immediacy, and number of people (or, more precisely, sources) present, and that this influence results in consolidation (growth of the majority), clustering (the emergence of small groups whose members hold similar opinions), correlation (the convergence of group members’ opinions on a variety of issues), and continuing diversity (the maintenance of the beliefs of the members of the minority) in groups that are spatially distributed and interacting repeatedly over time. [developed by U.S. social psychologist Bibb Latané (1937– )]