Citation

Harton HC, Bullock M. Soc. Personal Psychol. Compass 2007; 1(1): 521-540.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Blackwell Publishing, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00022.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dynamic social impact theory suggests that culture is created and shaped by local social influence as defined by four phenomena: (i) clustering, or regional differences in cultural elements; (ii) correlation, or emergent associations between elements; (iii) consolidation, or a reduction in variance; and (iv) continuing diversity. This article describes dynamic social impact theory and its propositions and reviews research supporting its predictions using a variety of methodologies and several types of cultural elements. This research suggests that cultures can be created and changed from the bottom-up through everyday communication with neighbors, friends, and coworkers. Attributes that are more important, observable, and demonstrable and less heritable may be more likely to spread and differentiate cultures than others.