SOCIAL INFLUENCE AS AN INTERPRETIVE PROCESS: AN EMPIRICALLY GROUNDED MODEL IN DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

This article conceptualizes social influence as an interpretative process occurring within digital unorganized communities. Based on a theoretical framework and an empirical study (N = 137), the relationships between personality traits, value orientations, and social desirability are examined as factors associated with susceptibility to social influence. The findings indicate that social influence does not operate as a direct effect of external stimuli, but rather as a process of interpreting social signals, mediated by cognitive and motivational mechanisms. Social desirability emerges as a key factor influencing the perception and acknowledgment of influence, while personality traits and value orientations function as selective filters. On this basis, an empirically grounded interpretative-motivational model of intentional social influence is proposed, revealing its multi-stage and context-dependent nature in digital environments.