How Does Context Influence Individual Behavior? Multilevel Assessment of the Implementation of Social Innovations.

Abstract

Posted October 1, 2003. Social innovations are designed and implemented to make positive changes in social systems and individual and collective behavior. The implementation of this type of innovation inevitably involves interactive dynamics among variables residing at different levels of analysis, such as individuals, groups, and organizations. Framing the implementation of social innovation as a multilevel phenomenon, this article focuses on top-down influence processes (e.g., group to individual, teacher to students) that have often been presumed to operate in various social innovations and that were tested in J. H. Kallestad and D. Olweus's (see record 2003-09567-002) study. Specifically, this article proposes a way to conceptualize the roles of context in the process of achieving the goal of the innovation, and offers dimensions to be considered in the investigation of differentiated routes linking context to targeted behavioral outcomes. Through a more systematic incorporation and examination of the multilevel dynamics of social innovations, theory and practice as related to their implementation may benefit substantially.