CCP Graduate Seminar Series

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CCP Graduate Seminar Series Convergence and
Bounded Normative Influence Theory
A service of the Communication Science
Research Resource Group
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Convergence and Bounded Normative Influence
Theory D. Lawrence Kincaid Center for
Communication Programs Bloomberg School of Public
Health The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore,
Maryland 21202 USA email lkincaid_at_jhuccp.org A
pril 16, 2004
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Batesons metalogue on knowledge
Father I once knew a little boy in England who
asked his father, "Do fathers always know more
than sons?" and the father said "Yes." The next
question was, "Daddy, who invented the steam
engine?" and the father said, "James Watt." And
then the son came back and with. . . but why
didn't James Watt's father invent it?"
Daughter It was because somebody else had to
think of something else before anybody could make
a steam engine. . . it means that knowledge is
all sort of knitted together, or woven, like
cloth, and each piece of knowledge is only
meaningful or useful because of the other
pieces." Gregory Bateson (Steps to an Ecology
of Mind, 1972).
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Problem INNOVATION
There is nothing more difficult to plan, more
doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage
than the creation of a new order of things...
Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack
the innovator they do so with the passion of
partisans, while the others defend him
sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party
alike are vulnerable. Niccolò Machiavelli,
The Prince (in Rogers, 1995, p. 1)
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General Communication Theory
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What is a theory?

• Theory is an explanation of how something
  happens, based on observation and inference.
• Theory is a coherent set of hypothetical,
  conceptual, and pragmatic principles that
  function as a frame of reference for some field
  of inquiry.
• A principle is a propositional statement
  about some aspect of reality that provides a
  basis for reasoning or a guide for action. A
  proposition is a presupposition about reality,
  not a fact.

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What is a theory?

• A theory is a collection of theorems. A theorem
  is
• a proposition which is a strict logical
  consequence
• of certain definitions and other propositions.

Two sources of validity

• The logical validity of any theorem is
  ultimately
• derived from assertions which are not proved
  but
• simply assumed and terms which are not defined
  
• but simply listed.
• In science, some of the terms must be related
• extensionally to referents and at least some
  of the
• assertions must be empirically verifiable.

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What is Communication?
Communication is feedback process in which two
or more participants share information and
converge towards mutual understanding and
agreement, and take collective action.

A process is a change in state over time.
To form means to give something a particular
shape, to shape it into a certain state.
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What is Communication?
Information is a difference that makes a
difference a pattern of matter/energy which
affects uncertainty in a situation where a choice
exists among a set of alternatives.

Feedback, if observed over time and effective, is
a series of diminishing mistakes--a dwindling
series of under-and-over corrections converging
on a goal. If ineffective, the mistakes may
become greater, widening the range of in- correct
responses ending in a breakdown.
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What is Meaning?
Ogden and Richards Triangle of Reference (1923)
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Interpersonal Triangles of Meaning
A
Thought
Variety of Meaning
Shared within
Referent
Referent
Referent
Symbol
Referent
Referent
Referent
Referent
The context of other symbols
Within a social context
Thought
B
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Variety of meaning establishes a situation in
which a choice exists among a set of
alternatives UNCERTAINTY
Which is implied by our definition of
information
Information is a difference that makes a
difference a pattern of matter/energy which
affects uncertainty in a situation where a choice
exists among a set of alternatives.
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Convergence and divergence as the increase and
decrease in shared meaning and perspective
Divergence
Convergence
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What is Communication?
Convergence is the tendency of two or more
objects (individuals/groups) to move towards one
point, or for one object to to move towards
another. In communication, that common point or
goal is mutual understanding, agreement, and
collective action. Divergence is a tendency to
move away or further apart.

Understanding is an inherent and involuntary
aspect of information processing.
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SMCR Model of Communication (Berlo, 1960)
Source
Receiver
message
Channel
Where feedback is simply knowledge of results
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Switchback Model of Communication (Schramm, 1973)
A
encoding
Message1
decoding
B
encoding
Message2
decoding
A
encoding
Message3
And so forth. . .
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A Convergence Model of Communication (Kincaid,
1975)
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Basic Components of the Convergence Model of
Communication
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY A
PHYSICAL REALITY
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY B
INFORMATION
Interpreting
Perceiving
Perceiving
Interpreting
Action
Action
Collective Action
Understanding
Understanding
Believing
Believing
Mutual Agreement
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
SOCIAL REALITY A B
Source Kincaid (1979) Rogers and Kincaid
(1981).
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Revised Model of the Convergence Model with
Emotional Response
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY A
PHYSICAL REALITY
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY B
INFORMATION
Interpreting
Perceiving
Perceiving
Interpreting
Feelings
Feelings
Action
Action
Emotional Response
Emotional Response
Collective Action
Understanding
Understanding
Believing
Believing
Mutual Agreement
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
SOCIAL REALITY and RELATIONSHIP A B

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Fundamental theorem of communication
In an informationally closed social system in
which communication among members is
unrestricted, the system as a whole will tend to
converge over time towards a collective pattern
of thought and behavior of greater uniformity
(Kincaid, 1987).
Divergence would result if the system were open
to new information or to new participants and
information is restricted. Restriction
bounded.
Convergence within the system creates divergence
simultaneously with respect to other social
systems outside of its boundaries.
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Bounded Normative Influence
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The Paradox of Innovation

• Every innovation begins as a deviation from
• existing social norms.
• Given the strong effect of social norms and
• pressure, how can any innovation ever diffuse
• to the point where it becomes a new social
• norm?
• The seeming paradox of how a minority can
• influence the majority has not been explained
• well by prevailing social science theory.

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Diagram of a social network based on
interpersonal communication links

• The next slide shows a diagram of a communication
  network of women in a Bangladesh Village.
• Each woman (node) is represented by a circle
  and a
• unique identification number. Communication
  links
• with other women are indicated by a straight
  lines.
• The diameter of the circle of each woman is
• proportional to the number of direct links
  she has
• with other women in the network
• The distance separating the nodes and their
  relative
• positions are calculated and graphed
  according to
• the number of links (steps) separating each
  woman
• from every other woman in the network.

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Network diagram showing the position,
communication links, and jiggasha group
membership among the women of a Bangladesh
village
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Graph of the distance among women in the
communication network of a Bangladesh village
with uniform contraceptive status
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Deriving a theory of normative influence from
fundamental communication theory
Examine the graph of women distributed spatially
in a communication network in the next slide. 1.
About 30 have adopted contraception. If only
interpersonal communication occurs among women
near one another with direct links, do you think
that over time adoption would increase, decrease,
or remain the same based upon this initial state
and communication theory? 2. What variables or
factors would influence the outcome? Why?
Would adoption decline and disappear eventually?
If you think it would increase, to what percent?
Which women? (i.e., at what positions).
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Figure 1. Graph of the distance among women in
the communication network of a Bangladesh village
with initial contraceptive status indicated
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Computer Simulation Based on Social Impact Theory
Social impact theory (Latane, 1996 Latane, 1981
Latane Wolf, 1981) formalized this convergence
process by means of an explicit mathematical
model which takes into account the location and
distance between members of the social system.
Social influence is "any influence on individual
feelings, thoughts, or behavior that is exerted
by the real, implied, or imagined presence or
actions of others"
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Persuasive Impact
îp No1/2(?(pici/di2)/No)
(1) where the mean persuasive impact, îp, on
each individual in the network is directly
proportional to the persuasiveness, pi, of source
i multiplied by the frequency of communication of
that source, ci , and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between source i and
the recipient, di2, divided by the number of
opposing sources, No.
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Social Support
Persuasive impact is the sum of influence brought
to bear by those who favor one point of view,
while social support is influence from those who
support the other point of view, defined
similarly as îs Ns1/2(?(pici/di2)/Ns)
2)
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Stability or Change
At any given point in time is the net difference
between the average persuasive impact and the
average social support impact on each individual
in the system. Specifically, the change of each
recipient is the ratio of persuasive impact to
the degree of social support if îp /
îs gt 1 (3) then change will
occur for that individual.
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Outcome
Any individual whose average persuasive impact is
greater than his/her average supportive impact
(îp / îs gt 1) will change to the other side.
After the new state of each individual in the
network is calculated, the overall pattern of
opposition and support in the network is changed.
The new configuration is then used in the next
iteration (time interval) of the simulation.
This process repeats until the system converges
to a steady state in which no further change
occurs.
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Figure 1. Graph of the distance among women in
the communication network of a Bangladesh village
with initial contraceptive status indicated
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Figure 2. Distance and contraceptive status
among women in the communication network after
two iterations of the simulation indicating the
emergence of a locally bounded, self-sustaining
subgroup
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Figure 3. Distance and contraceptive status
among women in the communication network after
nineteen iterations of the simulation indicating
the final division of the village into two
subgroups with behavioral oscillation at the
boundary
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Figure 4. Change in contraceptive status over
twenty iterations of the simulation by the total
village and within the boundaries of its two
subgroups
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Figure 5. Network diagram showing the MDS
distance, communication links, and jiggasha group
membership among the women of a Bangladesh village
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Figure 6. Graph of the final percentage by the
initial percentage of contraceptive adoption
with three different starting distributions in
the communication network of the Bangladesh
village (Fig. 5)
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Figure 7. Graph of the final percentage by the
initial percentage of contraceptive adoption in
the communication network of the village by
three different communication strategies
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The Principle of Bounded Normative Influence
Bounded normative influence is the tendency of
social norms to influence behavior within
relatively bounded, local subgroups of a social
system rather than the system as a whole.
Source Kincaid, 2004
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• As long as a minority maintains its majority
• status within its own, locally bounded
• portion of the network, then it can survive,
• recruit converts in the near surround, and
• establish its behavior as the norm for the
• network as whole.
• The process is accelerated when the
• minority subgroup is centrally located in
• the network and communicates more
• frequently and persuasively than the
• majority.

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Convergence and Bounded Normative Influence
Theory
References Berlo, D. K. (1960). The Process of
Communication. New York Holt, Rinehart, and
Winston. Kincaid, D. L., Schramm, W. (1975).
Fundamental Human Communication.
Professional Development Module. Honolulu,
Hawaii East-West Center Communication
Institute. Kincaid, D. L. (2004). From
innovation to social norm Bounded normative
influence. Journal of Health Communication, 9
3757, 2004. Kincaid, D. L. (2002) Drama,
emotion, and cultural convergence.
Communication Theory, 12 (2) 136-152. Kincaid,
D. L. (1987). The convergence theory of
communication, self- organization and cultural
evolution. In D. L. Kincaid (Ed.)
Communication Theory Eastern and Western
Perspectives. New York Academic Press. Latane,
B. (1981). The psychology of social impact.
American Psychology, 36, 343-365. Rogers, E.
M., Kincaid, D. L. (1981). Communication
Networks Toward a New Paradigm for Research.
New York The Free Press.