Social Ecology is a term used in public health to describe social influences that occur among different sized groups of people.

Each societal group is called a different “level” in the social ecology. Going from largest to smallest, they are:

Outline of a dark purple circle with white background, inside is a drawing of a building with a car driving in front of it and green pine trees in the background. This icon symbolizes the Societal Level of the Social Ecological Model, explained elsewhere on the site.Societal Level

Outline of a dark purple circle with white background, inside is a drawing of the silhouettes of six people clustered together.  This icon symbolizes the Community Level of the Social Ecological Model, explained elsewhere on the site.Community Level

Outline of a dark purple circle with white background, inside is a drawing of the silhouettes of two people standing together. This icon symbolizes the Interpersonal Level of the Social Ecological Model, explained elsewhere on the site.Interpersonal Level

Outline of a dark purple circle with white background, inside is a line-drawing of silouette of a person standing inside the circle. This icon symbolizes the Individual Level of the Social Ecological Model, explained elsewhere on the site.Individual Level

Some scholars add a broader level, the cultural level, and describe it as a layer that encompasses the institutions and structures of the societal level.