Sources of Social Information: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

The degree to which co-workers, supervisors, doctors, instructors, family members, and patients are used to gather information regarding task characteristics was studied over a 3-month period. The influences of information sources changed as nurses and students gained work experience. Differences in information source influence was also found between nurses and student nurses. The findings support the social information processing approach to the study of task characteristics; however, relevant sources of social information should be expanded beyond the influence of co-workers and supervisors.