Katherine and Amy are members of the same sorority at college and are members of the school's swim team. They have been trying to master a difficult dive from the high board at the college's swimming pool. Amy is showing faster improvement in the dive than Katherine is. If they compare their performance as team mates and sorority sisters, social identity theory suggests that .

Not all members of the radio audience of orson welles' war of the worlds broadcast panicked immediately. indeed, some didn't panic until they looked out of the window and saw empty streets; others didn't panic until they saw streets full of traffic. it was after checking out the situation that these citizens decided that the martians had indeed invaded earth. this example illustrates that contagion can result when people look to others for the interpretation of ambiguous situations . can result when cultural norms reinforce people's most likely responses. occurs primarily because humans are by nature irrational creatures. is especially likely when people are motivated to make independent decisions.