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MASS COMPLIANCE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
Author(s) -
KOHFELD C. W.,
LIKENS THOMAS W.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1982.tb00281.x
Subject(s) - compliance (psychology) , government (linguistics) , public policy , affect (linguistics) , social influence , focus (optics) , process (computing) , public relations , public economics , social psychology , political science , psychology , economics , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , physics , communication , optics , law , operating system
When government policy decisions affect the general public, people may or may not comply. How and why compliance occurs is not well understood. Current research on compliance has several weaknesses: (1) it tends to focus on the behavior of public officials rather than on the general public; (2) it relies on static rather than dynamic models; and (3) it underestimates the impact of social groups on individual choices. The present analysis treats compliance as a dynamic process incorporating both social influence and individual calculation. We assume that primary groups (family, peers), social status, and a society's culture all play important roles in changing compliance over time.