Explainations Of Resistance To Social Influence

Question 1

LOCUS OF CONTROL

Answer 1

Rotter- extent to which people believe they have control over the event that occur in their life
- can explain why some people demonstrate independent behaviour and don’t conform or obey

Scale of internal———————external

Question 2

Internal locus of control

Answer 2

Believe that what happens to them is largely down to their own behaviour
Can control much of their life and succeed in difficult stressful situations as they can control them

Question 3

External locus of control

Answer 3

Believe what happens to them is largely controlled by external factors - uncontrollable and luck and fate are important factors
High external loc are less likely to be independent and rely on opinions of others
Don’t control their lives so need information from others
More likely to conform and obey

Question 4

Internal vs external loc

Answer 4

Internal- what happens is down to their behaviour- less likely to obey

External- what happens is due to external factors-more likely to obey

Personality is a dispositional factor
Loc is one aspect of our personality

Question 5

Loc evaluation - strengths

Answer 5

:) - Atgis meta analysis on loc and conformity- those with a higher external loc were more easily persuaded than those with a high internal loc

:) - practical application- can assign jobs based on loc - though could result in social control which removes free will in society and is not beneficial

Question 6

Loc evaluation- weaknesses

Answer 6

:(- correlational study so cannot show cause abs effect and the results may not be a true representation of loc and conformity

Question 7

SOCIAL SUPPORT- the perception of assistance and solidarity available from others

Answer 7

• presence of people who resist pressure to conform/obey helps others to do the same
• act as models for resisting SI
• more likely to also disobey if someone else is
• social support need to be continuously present to be long lasting

Question 8

Social support evaluation- strengths

Answer 8

:)- Allen & Levine - similar experiment to Asch- if a dissenter said they couldn’t see the lines very well this still decreased conformity as it frees participants of group pressure

:)- Mullen Pps were more likely to break the law and jay-walk when disobedient models did - everyday support

Question 9

Social support evaluation -weaknesses

Answer 9

:(- ASCH found that social support in the form of dissent must be given early on in the process -start of study- drops to 5.5% later in the study- drips to 8.5%. Social support alone may not be a sufficient explanation

:( - in real life even if someone dissents it does not always mean you will do what they do- especially if you feel strongly about it - often a matter of free will

Question 10

Minority influence

Answer 10

Minority influence is a gradual process that can lead to a long term attitude change (conversion)

Question 11

Key factors for minority influence

Answer 11

Consistency- consistent in viewpoint to be most influential -Wood et al metal analysis most influential =most consistent

Commitment- allows minority to be confident and show courage in the face of a hostile majority- more likely to be taken seriously

Flexibility- more effective than rigid arguments needs to be a balance to appear consistent

Question 12

Moscovici - consistent and inconsistent colour slides

Answer 12

-minority can influence a majority view

Pps described 36 colour slides 2/6 Pps confederates - slides were all blue but different filters changed brightness

Consistent condition - confederates called all slides green
Inconsistent condition- confederates called 24 slides green and 12 blue

Consistent- 8.42% green and 32% alo
Inconsistent- 1.25% green

Question 13

Minority influence evaluation- strengths

Answer 13

Moscovici- lab experiment =high levels of control + state cause and effect - increasing internal validity

Wood et al- meta analysis of over 100 studies less influential than majority but still persuasive- reliability for findings

Practical application- can bring our social change eg woman’s rights - everyday life examples

Question 14

Minority influence evaluation- weaknesses

Answer 14

Moscovici lab study- lacks ecological validity as not natural environment and not everyday task

Turner- people move towards members in their group and love away from out groups - also need to share some kind of membership to be able to make an impact

Question 15

Role of SI in social change

Answer 15

Minority influence is the driving force but then majority influence takes over - ideas then accepted as the norm -leads to internalisation - happens slowly

Martin Luther King , The suffragettes , Charles Darwin etc

Question 16

How do minority bring about social change

Answer 16

-drawing attention to social proof
-consistently
-deeper processing of the issue
-flexibility
-commitment
-the snowball effect
-social cryptomnesia -
Attitude become normal and people don’t think about how it has

Question 17

Social change through conformity

Answer 17

Majority influence brings about social change through normative or informational influences- want to be the same/right

Question 18

Obedience social change

Answer 18

Dictators can bring social change through power and obedience eg Nazi soldiers
Zimbardo - obedience can be used to create social change through gradual commitment ‘foot in the door technique’

Question 19

Barriers to social change

Answer 19

Bashir et al - why people resist social change even when they agree it’s necessary eg not behaving in an environmentally friendly way because they don’t want to be associated with ‘tree huggers’ -avoid being stereotypical as this is off putting to the majority you want to influence

Question 20

Evaluation of social processes- strengths

Answer 20

• empirical evidence to support- Nolan et al hung messages on front doors in San Diego every week for a month saying that most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage- other houses without the most residents
  Significant decrease in energy used by the first group compared to the last

Everyday examples of minority influence leading to social change - Suffragettes, Gay rights etc

Question 21

Evaluation to social influence processes in social change

Answer 21

Studies supporting have weaknesses in their methodology- doubts validity of explanations and findings

Social change happens slowly/not at all
Nemeth- effects of influence are likely to be indirect and delayed - effects may be fragile and limited