AS Paper Paper 1- Social Influence

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 1

• Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
• Ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.

Question 2

What is social support in terms of conformity ?

Answer 2

• Social support can help people to resist conformity. The pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who are not conforming. Person not conforming doesn’t have to be giving the correct answer but simply by not following the majority enables a person to be free to follow their own belief.

Question 3

What is social support in terms of obedience?

Answer 3

• Pressure to obey can be reduced if there is another person who is seen to obey. In one of Milgram’s variations the rate of obedience dropped by 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate. The other person’s disobedience acts as a model.

Question 4

Evaluation of social support - supporting evidence for resistance to conformity

Answer 4

• Allen and Levine found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in an Asch type study. More important this occurred even if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision ( no position to judge the length of a line).
• Strength - supports the view that resistance is not just motivated by what the dissenter says but it enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group.

Question 5

Evaluation of social support - supporting evidence for resistance to obedience

Answer 5

• Research that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience.
• Gamson et al found higher levels of resistance in their study that in Milgrams. Was probably because the participants in Gamson study were in groups. 29 out of 33 groups of participants rebelled.
• Strength - shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance.

Question 6

What is locus of control?

Answer 6

• People’s beliefs and expectations about what controls events in their lives.

Question 7

What is an internal locus of control?

Answer 7

• Individuals with this believe that was happens to them is largely a consequence of their own behaviour. Strong internal locus of control is associated with the belief that one can control much of one’s life and succeed in difficult if stressful situation.
• less likely to obey or conform.
• Less need for social approval.
• Better at resisting social pressures.

Question 8

What is an external locus of control?

Answer 8

• Individuals with this tend to believe that what happens to them is controlled by external factors and agents. Have a sense that things happen to them and are largely uncontrollable. Luck and fate are seen as important factors. People with an external locus tend to face stressful situations with a more passive and fatalistic attitude.
• More likely to obey and conform.
• Need social approval.

Question 9

Evaluation of locus of control - contradictory research

Answer 9

• Twenge et al analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period. The data showed that over this time span, people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external. If resistance were linked to an internal locus of control we would expect people to have become more internal.
• Weakness - challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistance behaviour.

Question 10

Evaluation of locus of control - limited role of locus of control

Answer 10

• Resisting social influence may have been exaggerated
• Rotter points out LOC only really comes into effect in Nobel situations. It has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will carry more weight. People who have conformed or obeyed in the past will do again, even if they have a high internal LOC.
• Weakness - goes against the theory that those with a higher internal LOC are less likely to obey and conform.

Question 11

Evaluation of locus of control - research support

Answer 11

• Holland repeated Milgrams original experiment and measured whether participants were internals or externals. 37% of those with an internal locus of control refused to continue to the highest shock, whereas only 23% of those with an external locus of control did not continue. Internals showed greater resistance to authority.
• Strength - increases validity and confidence that we can explain resistance.