1.3.1 Social support and loci of control Flashcards
What is social support?
Resisting the pressure to conform can be easier if there are others also resisting the pressure to conformWhen someone else is also not conforming, this will appear to be social support and allows the person to follow their own conscience.
Evaluation of social support?
/Albrecht et al (2006) evaluated a programme designed to help pregnant teenagers resist smoking
/Social support was provided to some of the teenagers by an older mentor
/At the end of the 8 week programme, they found the participants who had a mentor were less likely to smoke than the control group who did not have a mentor:
/This shows that social support can helps young people resist social influence in the real world
/Therefore, it has strong practical applications
What is locus of control?
Locus of control is the extent to which we believe we have control over our own behaviour and life.
What does an external locus of control infer?
External Locus of Control: When a person feels they do not have control over their own lives and believe their life is controlled by external factors.
What does an internal locus of control infer?
Internal Locus of Control: When a person feels they have control over their own life and behaviour.
Evaluation of locus of control.
/Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline experiment and found that 37% of those participants who were measured to have a high internal locus of control did not continue to the highest shock, whereas only 24% of participants who were measured to have a high external locus of control did not continue to the highest shock level:
/This shows those with a high internal locus of control have a greater resistance to authority
/However, Rotter (1982) suggests our locus of control only has influence in new situations
/If they have previously obeyed or conformed to a situation, it is likely they would do so again, no matter whether their locus of control is internal or external
