Bibb Latané (; born July 19, 1937) is an American
social psychologist
Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...
. He worked with
John M. Darley on
bystander intervention in emergencies. He has also published many articles on social attraction in animals,
social loafing
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is seen as one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combin ...
in groups, and the spread of
social influence
Social influence comprises the ways in which individuals adjust their behavior to meet the demands of a social environment. It takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience (human behavior), obedience, le ...
in populations.
Biography
Latané received his B.A. from Yale in 1958 and his Ph.D. (under the mentorship of
Stanley Schachter) from the University of Minnesota in 1963. He taught at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
,
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...
, and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
. In the 1980s, he was director of
UNC's Institute for Research in Social Science (now the Odum Institute). He is currently director of the Center for Human Science
in Chapel Hill, NC, which he founded.
Latané's work with Darley involved a series of experiments that staged emergencies so that the social psychologists could observe how the presence of inactive bystanders affect the subjects' helping behavior. Latané was also instrumental in introducing ideas from
dynamical systems
In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models ...
theory into
social psychology
Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
, demonstrating, for example, how various forms of order could emerge spontaneously in large social groups from individual's simple attempts to fit in with their local neighbors. He also developed the
social impact theory, which holds that social influence is a function of the strength (S), the immediacy (I), and number (N) of sources present, or Impact = "''f''(SIN)".
Together with
Kipling Williams and Stephen Harkins, Latané introduced the term social loafing, a term that denotes people's tendency to slack off in groups due to the idea that one's personal contribution is unidentifiable. It is the opposite of social facilitation, which denotes arousal caused by the presence of others.
Latané was awarded the
AAAS Prize for Behavioral Science Research twice, in 1968 and in 1980.
References
External links
Center for Human ScienceOdum Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latane, Bibb
1937 births
Living people
21st-century American psychologists
American social psychologists
University of Minnesota alumni
Ohio State University faculty
Columbia University faculty
Florida Atlantic University faculty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
20th-century American psychologists